Page 1 of 31

BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT & STUDIES HANDOUT SUMMARIES

Contents
Pangs of Change.................................................................................................... 1
Banias and Beyond: The Dynamics of Caste and Big Business in Modern India. . . .2
Democracy and Secularism in India.......................................................................4
Affirmation without Reservation............................................................................ 5
Redesigning Affirmative Action.............................................................................. 7
From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond: Democracy and Identity in Todays India
9
Ideas of India, Rights........................................................................................ 12
Political Parties in India........................................................................................ 15
Indias Informal Economy: Facing the Twenty-First Century.................................18
Indias New Entrepreneurial Classes: The High Growth Economy and Why it is Sustainable 20
Everybody Loves a Good Drought........................................................................22
Political Economy of Agrarian distress.................................................................23
Knowledge@Wharton interview with M. Yunus, Founder of the Grameen Bank.. .24
Serving the Worlds Poor, Profitably.....................................................................24
Traditional Female Moral Exemplars in India........................................................26

Pangs of Change
MN Srinivas
Summary by Rithin B
The author speaks about India as a secular miracle of the world but suffering from poor
quality of democracy.
Indian democracy is one of the secular miracles of the modern world and is a model for
developing countries. Democracy is becoming deeply rooted through Panchayat Raj and
Nagarpalika Acts. Though India is emerging as a major power the rate of growth is slow. The
leaders do not seem to care about the countrys fortunes but in spite of its leaders India is still
showing progress.
Transfer of Power: Decentralization of power to districts, tehsils, villages, cities and towns
has made government officials accountable to the people. Though decentralization has
brought about speed, efficiency and openness, it has also given rise to conflicts in Panchayat
raj system. Rural dominant classes occupy privileged positions and use their power to receive
services from other backward classes in the society. Failure to perform such services leads to
bloody clashes which lead to translating the constitutional commitment to equality into a
reality. The police, law courts, media should support the Dalit demand for equality and make
the dominant castes to accept democratic values and practices.
Quality of Indian Democracy: The quality of our Democracy is poor. This is reflected by the
low literacy rate (48%) at national level. This is even lower in the BIMARU states (Bihar,
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh) which also presents very low female literacy rates.
Political parties are trying to make education a fundamental right believing that public interest
litigation will atleast goad the states to implement it.
One of the achievements of our democracy is banning of untouchability (Article 17)
by constitution of India (1950) by making its practice a cognizable offence under the Civil
rights Act 1975. This is viewed as incidental to constitutional assertion of equality of all
citizens which prohibits discrimination of citizens on the grounds of religion, caste, race, sex
etc.
Reservation of seats in legislatures, education and employment for scheduled castes
and tribes is a continuation from the colonial rule. This is intended to protect and promote the
interests of groups who thought they would suffer under conditions of open competition.
Reservation in legislatures is to enable them to work for the betterment of their communities
and constituencies. Empowerment of backward classes occurred prior to independence in
South India and post independence in North India.
Job reservations for OBCs developed into a national issue in 1990. Secondary
Backward Classes Commission had made several recommendations for improvement of

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backward classes. In 1989, Janata Dal included this in its election manifesto. Janata Dals
leader V.P Singh agreed to implement the mandal commissions recommendation of reserving
27% of government jobs for backward classes. This created considerable unrest in the
country. Nehrus aim of establishing casteless and classless society gave away under V.P
Singhs leadership to socialism with caste farce ideology. Many People hailed V.P Singhs
decision as a secular revolution while others considered it extremely divisive. In 1992,
Supreme court provided approval for 27% reservation of government jobs to OBCs. It decreed
that quantum of reservation should not exceed 50% and also to exclude the creamy layers
among the backward classes from the benefits.
Reservation has become popular in the recent years as a means to access education,
employment and power. Reservations are being demanded by different communities on the
whole (Muslims, Dalit Christians) and/or for the backward classes among them. This has lead
to conflicts as scheduled castes believe that providing reservations to these communities
would cut into their share of quota.
Woman reservation seeking 33.3% reservation in Parliament and state legislatures
has become an emotive issue which has been further complicated by demand for sub
reservation for women from OBCs.
Reservation is now unfortunately treated as a panacea for poverty, lack of education,
employment, political power. Reservation is helpful only up to a certain point and it cant be
used as a tool for restructuring the society. The benefits are mainly used by the creamy layers
rather than the deserving. This causes envy among the very poor groups of such classes who
become bitter and antagonistic to the scheduled castes. Such envy is widespread among the
dominant classes who are unable to adjust themselves to the easy access provided to the
backward classes for education, employment etc. This results in clashes between the
dominant and the scheduled castes which will further increase as education spreads. This
revolution will not be swift and bloody but rather long and bleeding.
Reservation seems as a total solution to backwardness in India. Those in power think
that once reservation status is provided to a group, the government responsibility towards
such group ceases. No attention is given to monitor the progress of such groups. No measures
are taken to ensure that the backward classes are benefited from these reservations.
Finally reservation fails to address the most important problem of the country i.e,
masspoverty andthe many ills associated with it. Resolving mass poverty issues involve
addressing failure to make primary education universal, lack of primary healthcare facilities,
drinking water and sanitation problems, neglect of girl children and empowerment of women.
Eradication of mass poverty would help in releasing and utilizing the creative energies of
people in an efficient manner.
Another striking but not sufficiently addressed issue is the great divide that exists
between the leaders and the people of the country. Leaders are involved in using power to
their own good rather than that of their people. As Gandhi once said My people are ahead of
me, I must run and catch up with them for I am their leader. But todays leaders are not even
aware that the people are far ahead of them.

Banias and Beyond: The Dynamics of Caste and Big Business in

Modern India
Harish Damodaran
Summary by A V Naga Chaitanya
The article examines diversity in economic and business spheres.
Quotes and (or) Views
Supporting Views/Points
We are going to enter a life of
The Author is of the view that Dr. Ambedkars
contradictions. In politics we will have
prognosis stands vindicated even today.
equality and in social and economic life
1. Politics: Increasing involvement of
we will have inequality Dr. B. R.
lower castes in Indian politics
Ambedkar at the penultimate sitting of
2. Business: Situation is better off than in
the Constituent Assembly
1947 but still long way to go
South India is much better off than north Southern enterprises run by non-trading
India as far as involvement of nonclasses: Eenadu(Kamma), GMR (Komati),

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mercantile classes in business is

concerned. The West does better than
the north

Reasons for regional disparity in the

involvement of non-mercantile classes
in business

Asianet(Nair), Many sugar mills in

TN(Gounders), The Hindu (Brahmins)
North: Business dominated by Bania castes.
Jats the primary growers of sugar and Gujjars
the primary owners of milch cattle have little
or no presence in Sugar mills and Dairies.
West:Peasant castes like Marathas and
patidars have made successful entry in to
industry
Education:Exposure to English and
technical disciplines in south->formation of
middle class->better employment and
wealth->further stress on education. The
north still has a long way to go.
Affirmative Action: Non-brahmin
movements in South ->redefined social
hierarchies->forced upper castes to look for
alternative employment->socially
heterogeneous middle class
Stranglehold over business by
traditional communities: Chettiars and
Komatis of the south were nowhere as
overbearing as the ubiquituous northern
bania

There are three general trajectories of

industrial transition by communities
1. Bazaar-to-Factory route: Banias
and Vaishyas
2. Office-to-Factory route:
Brahmins, Khatris, Kayasthas and
other scribal castes
3. Field-to-Factory route: Involved
Shudras: one of the castest in
the chaturvarna system ,
Kammas, Reddys, Jats, Patidars,
Marathas, Nadars etc.
The Dalits however, have little or no
presence in business

Caste identities are ephemeral in the

business space. Capitalism overrides
ideals of collective enterprise
Community feelings are strong amongst
the financial weak. But community
feelings are invoked by the elite, it is
usually done with an opportunistic
intent.
Even regional and other ethnic identities
fade in the business space. An emergent
bourgeoisie may play up subnational

The authors did not come across a single

dalit industrialist in their studies even in
the south. The rise of BSP is expected to
create a favourable environment for Dalits to
enter business (mooting tax breaks). Buts its
still early days.
The Nadar Mahajan Sangam financed the
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank to finance Nadar
entrepreneurs. Over a course of 70
years(1921-1990) the bank changed hands
to finally end up in the hands of a Californiasettled Mudaliar. The Sangam could do
nothing to prevent this.

Dismantling of licence raj occurred almost

simultaneously with coalition politics
becoming the order of the day. Regional

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pride and provincial politics (Telugu
Desam, DMK, Akali Dal etc.). But as
capital accumulates the lines between
regional and national bourgeoisie are
blurred. Previously provincial
demagogues develop greater stakes at
the centre.
Summary
Summary
Diversity in the political sphere is much
greater than in the business sphere.
The involvement of non-mercantile classes
in business has been higher in South and
West than in North. Three reasons:
1. Education
2. Affirmative Action
3. Strangle hold of mercantile castes in the
North
Castes have taken three routes for
transition to business
1. Market-to-Factory: Mercantile castes
2. Office-to-Factory: Scribal castes
3. Field-to-Factory: Sudras
Dalits still have no presence in industry.
Even in the South.
Caste,regional and ethnic identities fade in
the business sphere as capital accumulates
As capital accumulates the identity of
national bourgeoisie becomes stronger.
Regional parties develop greater stakes at
the centre. Coalition politics becomes the
order of the day.

parties are propping up the national

government.

Supporting quotes and (or) examples

Democracy and Secularism in India

Amartya Sen
Summary by Anjan Kumar
It is a section taken by Mr. Amartya Sen from a chapter named What is wrong with India?
from one of the talks delivered in Cornell University. He has tried to bring out the loopholes
which still persist in Indian democracy and secularist form of system, compared with
authoritarian countries, scope of development and merits of following the system.
He asserts that Indians should rightly learn from their errors of the past and must not forget
our social commitments based on which we galvanized as a nation, pre independence. The
same was reflected in our aspirations to set the country free.
We pledged to mould India into a secular and democratic country. It was a challenging task
more so because none of the poor country were both and India was experiencing bloody
communal riots at that point of time. However, as we grew the vision seem to be plausible.
But in the process, the underlying principles suffered hard knocks. Embracing this system of
government has many a times led to frustration as it didnt deliver as was expected. On the
other hand, Authoritarian countries like South Korea, Singapore and China seem to have
achieved much more in economic growth and enrichment than India has. India though has
tried to become a secular country but due to multi-ethnic and multi-religious conception, it
has always been a pro-Hindu country. But the proto-Hindutva which is basically the group
surrounding the hard core of Hindutva are less extremist. There are other challenging
questions like endemic hunger, ill health, illiteracy, gender in equality, inequality of class,

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survival of social barriers of caste, unequal economic opportunities etc which India should
worry about.
Advantage of Democracy:
Indian democracy has been affected by violation of political and civil rights and individual
liberties. Economic growth is important in removing poverty. In assessing the democracy we
must also taken into account its impact on the lives and capabilities of citizens. The role of
eradicating famine has received attention. The financial crisis in countries like South Korea,
Thailand Indonesia took its toll on these nations and hence, during famines the people didnt
have voice to raise the issue. Democracy gives an opportunity to opposition to change the
policies even when the problem is chronic.
China and India:
(1) Greater Chinese success in handling endemic deprivation
(2) Larger Chinese success in making use of the opportunities from global trade
(3) Worse Chinese records in handling the famines
(4) Greater life expectancy of Chinese people than Indians
(5) Radical economic reforms in 1979 gave an advantage if nearly two decades to china
However, India of late has surpassed the life expectancy rate as compared to china. In India,
the rate grew three times after independence while in china it came to a stagnation point.
Kerala whose life expectancy is 75 is greater than chinas 70 which was earlier dominated by
China. It is possible to argue that Kerala, with its left leaning politics and competitive
democracy combined has the same kind of political commitment that favored china as a
whole over India.
If something lies wrong in Indian democracy then it is in timidity of its practice. It will depend
upon certain factors such as preservation of democracy, much greater political focus on social
progress, incentives and openness and equity among different economic groups.
Assessment of secularism:
The incidences of Babri Masjid case and the attack on minorities in Gujrat (Riots), has made
Proto- Hindutva group to criticize severely the secular commitments of India at the time of
independence.
There are two facts which cannot be denied:
(1) The statistical fact that Hindus form the overwhelming majority of Indians.
(2) The historical fact that Hindu tradition is more than 3000 years old in Inidan history and
has its imprints on Indian culture.
Hence, Hinduism cannot be treated as a mere set of beliefs of one community among others
in a multi-religious and secular India. And yet India has more Muslims than any other Muslim
nations. Indian constitution recognizes that the rights of minorities are not violated and the
political and legal fairness of demand of rights exists for every citizen of India. There is
nothing called majority in India as it can be categorized under different segments like set of
non rich people, set of rural residents, people who do not work in the organized sector etc.
Hence, the statistical facts given for Hindutva can be discussed on a broader perspective than
in figures. When Bangladesh wanted a separate nation it was not because their religion was
different from west Pakistan but based upon their language, literature and political priorities.
The weakness in Hindu majoritarianism lies because there are other parameters which is to be
considered like class, region, literature, political convictions, language, culture etc. Hence, the
statistical argument is misconstrued and hollowed.
The other argument of Hindutva because of its strong presence of
historical background is also a misconception. The Buddhism, Jainism and Christian
communities which lasted over a millennium in Indian civilization has deeply impacted its
culture and society at large. Evn before Islam arrived in India, it was known as a Budhdhist
country and hence, the arguments are futile. Gandhiji and Rabindrnath Tagore both wanted
India to be distinct in its identity but not on the basis of privilege of one community over other
but on political reasoning.

Affirmation without Reservation

Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Summary by Ravi M V

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Quotes and (or) Views
Author feels that there has to be a middle
ground when it comes to reservations. And
reservations are not against a country
development.

Supporting Views/Points
Malaysia has extensive programme for
private sector reservation but it still has
prospered economically.

Summary
Those Who seek reservations are a bit ingenuous when
they tell that such reservation in the private sector will
solve all problems for the dalits and the poor.
Reservations alone will not alleviate the conditions of
the marginalised communities of India
Proponents of reservation are on much stronger footing
when they base arguments on the premise that Indian
labour market require anti discrimination measures
Similarly reasons opposition to reservations are
untenable
Most dalits feel that they have too much to lose by the
liberalization. Some commitment will have to be made
to demonstrate that dalits will not be left out of the
wealth creating process of market.
Modern India has record of policies that are undertaken
in the name of deprived sections but hurt them the
most.
By resisting reservations corporate India is missing out
on an opportunity to leverage some real change.
Reservations could be part of dialogue on restructuring
of the labour market that yields more optimal trade offs.
There is widespread impression that for all the talk of
merit, recruitment in the private sector is not fair, open
and transparent.
It is dishonest for industry to talk about merit when
most of its policies hinder the discovery of talent.
Indian industry would do itself some good, if its own
norms of recruitment became more professional and
open.
Who gets to decide what merit is? Standard signals like
educational qualifications are not adequate signalling
devices for merit and the corporate sector relies on
more intangible measured qualities that cannot be
ranked.
What employers fear is that conceptions of merit will be
imposed upon them from outside to determine whether
or not they are being discriminatory.
The debate on who should be the beneficiary of
affirmative action is complicated. There is a national
consensus that scheduled castes and tribes should be
the prime beneficiaries of affirmative action. There is
comparatively less consensus on reservations for the
OBC population.
When we talk of the private sector it is clear that
something approaching 50% reservations makes a
mockery
of
the
private
sector's
status
as
private.Unfortunately reservations have an inherent
nature of escalation and expansion.
Anti reservation lobby says that the concept of

Supporting quotes and (or)

examples

Malaysia, US, Canada, South

Africa have anti discrimination
legislatures

Openings are not listed in the

employment exchanges.

A case could be made for

limited reservations in the 22.5
percent range.

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reservation should be only related to poverty but in this
case the argument is flawed as people can be poor for
any number of reasons as a stagnant economy and their
own individual choice. Reservation on caste basis takes
this point into account that the dalits are oppressed.
Their probabilities of success are simply low because of
who they are.
There is crucial conceptual distinction between a non
discrimination principle and affirmative action. Non
discrimination is more like a passive principle. It
suggests that no one should be discriminating simply
because of who they are. Whereas a affirmative action
demand a measure of fairness that goes beyond non
discrimination.
Anti discrimination legislation will have tendency to
push towards de facto reservations i.e. by forcing
companies to give equal opportunities to all sections of
society.
There are numerous other instruments for affirmative
action other than reservations. Another incentive should
be the tax breaks for companies who implement this
reservation for the dalits voluntarily.
It would be a tragedy if modern India became a project
not for transcending caste, but perpetuating it. Unless
used in a very limited scale, reservations threaten to
become the latter.

Conceptually anti discrimination

and reservations are different
but in practice they
metamorphose into one.

Licences for liquor shops and

broadcasting licences will help
the dalits to be benefitted on
grass root level.

Redesigning Affirmative Action

Yogendra Yadav and Satish Deshpande
Summary by Anuprakash
The article talks about the quota system that has been in implementation in India for
education sector. It dissects the existing system and exposes its advantages and
disadvantages. Further, the authors propose a new model where the quota system, though
based on caste also has other factors of considerations.
The Article discusses the following:
Specificity of OBCs and challenges they pose to policy design
Decision of Government of India to implement OBC reservations in elite professional
education
Available micro-statistical evidence on which an alternative design can be based
Basic features of he model that addreses the group and individual disadvantages
Specificity and potential advantages of the model specified
Point-wise summary
Summary
Supporting quotes and (or) examples
Indias affirmative action policy is among the
largest, longest standing, most elaborate and
successful initiatives of its kind in the world.
Indias weakness - Lack of sustained efforts
Since adoption of constitution in 1950, there
to affirmative action policies
have been no substantial changes in the
basic affirmative action prescription or
reserving proportional quotas in selected
fields.
Virtues of targeted quotas:
1. Encourage Political solidarity and
loyalty
2. Ease of administration and monitoring

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3. Resistant to appropriation by unentitled group
Not necessarily the best option

Limitations of quota system:

1. Alters status quo of inter group power
equations
2. Political costs are higher and social
benefits are meagre or badly targeted
Affirmative Actions and OBCs
OBC reservation has faced questions
on precise relationships between caste
and backwardness
Alternative approach
Move towards a nuances policy design
that captures the degree of
disadvantage and kind of
disadvantage
Transition to a more integrated policy
framework where caste is only one
among the many parameters of
evaluation
Mandal II : The road not taken
Available evidence shows that OBCs as
a whole are disadvantaged compared
to the upper caste as a whole.
The caste bloc approach adopted by
the government will help us reduce
the inequality
Disadvantage: Has high long-term
costs; one dimensional caste quota
result in inefficient targeting.
Relatively better off families fro the
upper OBCs will be the benefactors.
Non OBC families will rightly feel that
they are more disadvantaged than the
OBC category
Recommendations:
o Making creamy layer within the
OBCs as the last claimant of the
benefits of reservations
o Sub dividing the quota into
upper and lower OBCs
Long Term Measures should also be
taken up. Independent organisations
like National Sample Survey
Organisation can be requested to
conduct a nation wide survey to create
a social profile of higher educational
institutions and job holders. This will
help fine tune the policy making in the
future.

Examples in recent time:

Extension of quotas to groups other
than SC/ST
More women in legislature
Altering social profile of job holders in
private sector

For SCs reservation was based on

the idea of untouchability
For STs reservation was based on the
separation from the mainstream Hindu
society and undisputed poverty
Mandal conflagaration of 1990 when
quota system was questioned
Anti reservation movement of May
2006

Even a crude caste quota is better

than none
Veerappa Moily Oversight Committee
on implementation of reservation in
higher education
The system has to build in guards to
prevent a handful of OBC communities
to get all the benefits(who are much
better placed than the others)
Committee can suggest some special
provision for OBC women to access
quota.

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Setting up a permanent statutory body

to regularly monitor the diversity
profile of the public institutions and
advise the government on improving
them.
Towards Better Policy Design

The effort is aimed at explicitly linking

empirical information related to
disadvantages
The system should bring out the basic
reason why the affirmative action is
being undertaken
The initiative should provide rational
explanation why specific castes and
communities are entitled to
compensatory discrimination and
undermines the attitude that treats
such entitlements as birthrights
More nuanced and comprehensive
framework will lead to more precise
targeting Will produce faster and
better results.
Disadvantage: Due to this the policy
design can become much complicated
and the institutional mechanisms
involved can become fragile.

An Alternative Model
The new model addresses the four
dimensions-Caste/communities,
gender, region and sector of residence
The scheme should also look at the
individual disadvantages apart from
the group disadvantages
Specificities and Advantages
Create a bloc of reserved seats
Apply the proposal to all the seats not
covered under the existing reservation
for SC/ST
Disadvantage of the government
proposal is that it only recognises the
caste as the sole criteria for group
disadvantage
The new scheme addresses the
interaction effects between different
axes of disadvantages.
The new model consider: individual
disadvantages relating to family
background and type of schooling.
Disadvantage of the proposed model
is that it intensifies caste identities. It
concentrates on the identities rather
than on the valid social reason why
these identities are used.
The model with its transparent

Better affirmative actions can be designed to

cultivate the following features:
An evidence based approach
Sensitivity to multiple dimensions of
disadvantage including but not limited
to caste
Sensitivity to the inter action effects of
the different dimensions o the
disadvantage
Sensitivity to degrees of relative
disadvantage
Should introduce a stable method of
measuring things like interaction
effects and relative intensity of
disadvantage

Exact weights to be allocated for academic

performance and social disadvantage will be
a key issue.

While Government proposes to have

all or nothing approach to recognising
disadvantage, the proposal given is
flexible in dealing with variations in
degrees of disadvantage.
The model proposed will push the
thinking on social justice along
constructive and rational lines.
It will allow us to demonstrate that
affirmative action is not about
appeasement of particular castes or
communities but about abolishing
continuing sources of tangible
disadvantages in our unequal and
unjust society.

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indicators , allows scrutiny and

oversight as well as legitimate debate
It also addresses the prickly issues
like the legitimate claim of the poor or
the disadvantaged upper castes.

From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond: Democracy and

Identity in Todays India
Shashi Tharoor
Summary by Saurabh Verma and Potala Sai Babu
Pluralism: A social organization in which diversity of racial or religious or ethnic or cultural
groups is tolerated.
[This is one keyword that appears over and over again in this interesting written speech,
which Im sure all of us must read for the sheer insight it offers into our country, and its
strengths that we often tend to overlook. This is why I have extensively quoted him verbatim
in this summary.]
Shashi Tharoor starts by comparing his role as a UN diplomat with that as an Indian citizen.
He says that both emerge from the same pluralistic convictions. Indian adventure is that of
human beings of different ethnicities and religions, customs and costumes, cuisines and
colours, language and accents, working together under the same roof, sharing the same
dreams. That is also what the UN, at its best, seeks to achieve.
He says that generalisations are too hard to make for a country such as India, such that
whenever you say anything about India, the opposite is also true. Pluralism is also
acknowledged
in
the
way
that
at a time when most developing countries opted for authoritarian models of government to p
romote nationbuilding and to direct development, India chose to be a multiparty democracy
.
Pluralism is a reality that emerges from the very nature of the country; it is a choice made in
evitable by Indias geography and reaffirmed by its history.
He mentions the 4 most important questions facing all countries at the beginning of the 21 st
century:
The bread versus freedom debate: can democracy work in a country of poverty
and scarcity, or do its inbuilt inefficiencies impede growth?
Centralization versus federalism debate: does tomorrows India need a strong
Govt. that transcends fissiparous tendencies, or one that centralized very little?
The pluralism versus fundamentalism debate: should
India
find
refuge
in
assertion of its own religious identity?
The CocaColonization debate: or globalization versus selfreliance.
He then takes up the debate on Indias identity and democracy. He talks of H.D. Deve Gowda
who as the PM of India makes his Independence Day speech in Hindi, reading it from a paper
written in Kannada script. He says such an episode is possible only in India, where the PM for
that matter, half the population doesnt understand the national language.
He says we all are minorities in India, because our native language, origin, religion, caste,
gender, all divide each one of us into a very small bracket of people, none of which is a
majority. Ethnicity further complicates the matter, bringing in dress, appearance, customs,
tastes, language, political objectives etc. He also says that nationalism is rare to find in India,
since it cannot be based on geography, ethnicity or religion, all of which are available in
diverse forms.
Indian nationalism is the nationalism of an idea, the idea of an everever landemerging fro
m an ancient civilization, united by a shared history, sustained by pluralist democracy.
So the idea of India is of one land embracing many, a democracy where you dont really
need to agreeexcept on the ground rules of how you will disagree, i.e. a consensus on
how to manage without a consensus.

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He then moves on to criticise the Hindu Rashtra view of some of our countrymen by
reminding us of the concept of unity in diversity. Westerns dictionaries define secularism
as the absence of religion, but Indian secularism meant a profusion of religions, none of which
was privileged by the state. Secularism meant, in the Indian context, multi-religiousness.
He says that Indias secular status was made possible by the fact that a majority are Hindus,
which is itself a religion without fundamentals: no organized church, no compulsory beliefs
or
rites
of
worship,
no
sacred
book.
He
says
that
the Hindu idea that religion is an intensely personal
matter,
that prayer is between you and whatever image of your maker you choose to worship.
He laments that the politics of deprivation has eroded the cultures confidence, and Hindu
chauvinism
has
emerged
from
competitions
fro
limited
resources.
The suggestion that only a Hindu, and only a certain kind of Hindu, can be an authentic India
n, is an affront to the very premise of Indian nationalism.
He further urges us to celebrate diversity, and says that if America is a melting
pot, then to me India is a thali, a selection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls. Each tastes
different, and does not necessarily mix with the next, but they belong together on the same pl
ate, and they complement each other in making the meal a satisfying repast.
After all, India is too diverse a nation to be confined to only one view, and democracy is the
only way of doing justice to all these diverse sections. One encouraging observation is that in
India, the democracy is embraced by the poor who turn up in huge numbers to vote, whereas
in countries such as US, its the rich that participate more often in democratic processes. This
has given immense power to the lowest of Indias low. He talks of Dalit leaders like Mayawati
and K. R. Narayanan.
He talks of the extraordinary degree of change in India, which takes place in politics,
economics and caste-relations. All three of these add up to a revolution of sorts,
a democratic revolution, sustained by a larger idea of India, an India which safeguards the
common space available to each identity, an India that remains safe for diversity.
Then he touches upon economics of nationalism, which put political independence and
economic self-sufficiency in the same bracket, but actually led to a distribution of poverty, and
regulation of stagnation. He advocates that India open the floodgates of globalization, and
harp on its own ability to absorb foreign influences and transform them into something that
belongs naturally on the soil of India. He expresses optimism that India will, as it has always
been, be open to the contention of ideas and interests within it, unafraid of the influence of
the outside world.
He sums it all up by summarizing his vision for the India of the future:
If the overwhelming majority of a people share the political will for unity, if they wear the du
st of a shared history on their foreheads and the mud of an uncertain future on their feet, and
if they realize they are better off in Kozhikode or Kanpur dreaming the same dreams as those
in Kohlapur or Kohima, a nation exists, celebrating diversity, pluralismand freedom.
There are few questions in this period to Shashi Tharoor which are being transcribed as
follows
Question 1: Is India should move toward a common civil code?
Answer by Shashi Tharoor: After the partition of India, Nehru decided to let the minorities
feel a sense of self-assurance that would come from having no interference with their civil
codes. There has been diversity in the civil code which has been followed by Hindus and
Muslims. Hindus followed the common civil code across the country, despite regional
variations in practice but Muslims were allowed to retain personal law. I dont think that were
going to move rapidly toward a uniform civil code, and thats simply because the politics of
this the politics of diversity.
Question 2: To what extent the Muslim awakening particularly coming from across the
border, is affecting India and does it have a connection to the rise of Hindu sentiment?
Answer: I think, yes, chauvinisms tend to feed on one another and so there is no question in
my mind that the assertion of a particular identity be one group. Look at the rest of our
country, they say A Muslim says, I am proud to be Muslim, a Christian says, I am proud to
be Christian, and a Hindu says, I am proud to be..secular. Hindu can afford to say that,

Page 12 of 31
because there is to that degree safety in numbers. It is identity asserted at its pettiest level,
and not at the kind of level that makes any meaningful religious sense.
Follow up question: Where are young going?
Answer: Young are going both ways. There are lots of young people who are, slogan-shouting
assertions of pride and there are some who are simply too busy seeking jobs at call centers to
worry about one thing or other and there are some who would go out in the street to defend
the sorts of ideas.
Question 3 from Jitendra Singh, Professor at Wharton School of Business: What it means to
you to be a novelist as I have to say that I enjoyed your novels over the years?
Answer: I started writing fiction at age six. It is what I do; I have to do it; if I dont, it will be
extremely painful for me. I started reading the books on my parents shelves as I couldnt
figure out time to spend as I dont have brothers and sisters. I started writing the stories. I
was blessed with a father who actually encouraged this, and got it published. I became a bit
of a recidivist. I wrote throughout my school days. I wrote and published short stories in
English in pretty much every Indian magazine that existed in my student days, and kept
writing. I was the only author in U.N which was permitted to write as long as I dont violate
the staff rules. I had to take considerable amount of time span of five years between my
books because in fiction we require considerable amount of time. I still write outside the office
nothing but at home, I do write a column in the Indian newspaper The Hindu.
Question 4: How does the idea of India has changed?
Reply : Ill be very honest, the generation of my parents, by enlarge, had a totally different
attitude from my generation, or people slightly older or slightly younger, who are now
imparting values to their children. My father never told me about my caste upto the age of
twelve where I had to ask to submit the details to my school. I had friends of all religious
faiths, I was never encouraged to think of them by their religion. I feel the minority
community is the rich people in India. We are always getting sanctimonious politicians making
speeches on national integration. It was constantly exhorted, impressed upon us. This is a
degradation of public discourse.
Question 5: How is the future of India getting shaped?
Reply: I believe in the prospect of India doing extremely well; economically, as you know,
were already in purchasing power parity terms the fourth-largest economy in the world. There
are some tangible improvements to peoples lives, everything from the construction of roads
to the job opportunities arising from increasing globalization and liberalization. But we do
have to do things right, and that the fact is that we are consistently taking two steps forward
and one step back.
Question 6: How is the violence which erupted in Gujarat 2002 is different of the Babri
mosque demolition in 1992?
Reply: Riot, be stopped, both by administrative and police action. What has been planned in
Gujarat has been deliberately planned and executed, and condoned by those whose job it
was to stop it and elsewhere in India these plans didnt exist. If governments do their jobs
properly and uphold the mechanisms of law and order, anything of that nature can be
prevented.
Question 7: Whats your opinion on current talks between India and Pakistan?
Reply: As an U.N official I keep my distance from official matters involving my country. But it
appears that it has been conducted in bonhomous atmosphere. There is at least an important
change in the atmospherics.
Question 8: Question on Indian Diaspora, the stresses they are feeling, higher incidences of
depression among Indian-American teenagers than amongst other ethnic groups
Reply: The first, and perhaps most obvious, is that a majority of the kids to fulfil the
expectations of parents and many Indian kids are excelling in their studies. The second kind is
in deep those who dont want to conform or feel the pressure and who in fact feel the
discordance between family pressure and the world outside. I m sure that the experiences is
different for those Indian-American kids growing up in place where there are large
concentrations of people from the subcontinent. Certainly the identity from where we came
affects the choice we make. It may be more a difference of what it is that they feel of
association with the identity.

Page 13 of 31

Ideas of India, Rights

Ramachandra Guha
Summary by Alok Jain
Executive Summary
The article goes into detailed discussion of emergence of Caste based politics and the
conflicts that were rooted in castes in various parts of the nation. In the first half of the article
Guha details various events that helped in making caste based politics the prime face of
Indian democracy, in the second half he talks about the conflicts and insurgency in various
parts of the country in which in one form or another started as organized resistance by certain
castes.
Even though with economic and social changes post independence, we saw the weakening of
the association between caste and occupation, and acceptance of inter dining and inter caste
marriages, caste continued to play a striking role in society and politics. Most Indians were
defined by the endogamous group into which they were born.
The article is not an opinionated one; it is more or less factual and details following events Following are some major events in evolution of Caste based politics
Reservations for ST/SC
Emergence of OBC in the Indian politics in the 1960s and 1970s
o Mandal Commissions
o V.P. Singh implements Mandal commissions recommendations of 27%
reservation to OBCs
Emergence of Bahujan Samaj Party
o Strong leaders such as Kashinram and then emergence of Mayawati
o Success of BSP had an influence on other parties to do active caste based politics
Following are the major conflicts that have happened in various parts of country
Naxal movements
Conflicts in Kashmir
Violence in the North East states
Summary:
Emergence of OBC in the Indian politics in the 1960s and 1970s: These acted as a
vote bank, lining up solidly behind a politician of their caste. It was these OBCs that formed
the social base and provided the leadership of the parties that successfully challenged the
dominance of Congress. Examples: DMK in madras, Lok Dal, the Socialist party etc. Economic
power had come to OBCs through land reforms and green revolution; political power through
ballot box; what lacked was administrative power.
Janta Party govt. appointed the Mandal Commission which defined on the basis of state
surveys 3743 specific castes which were still backward. These were represented very
poorly in the administration and thus Mandal Commission recommended a 27%
reservation for them in all posts in central government to give them an immediate
feeling of participation in the governance of the country.
By the time Mandal commission submitted its report, Janta govt. had fallen.
Congress regime followed headed by Mrs. Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi gave it a quiet
burial
1989 National Front Govt. - Mr.V.P.Singh- sensible of the rising political power of the
OBCs- implemented Mandals report as a corrective to dominance of upper castes in the
public services.
1990- case in SC contesting the constitutional validity of Mandal Commissions
recommendations:
o Extension of reservation violated the constitutional guarantee of equality of
opportunity
o Caste not a reliable indicator of backwardness
o Efficiency of public systems at risk

Page 14 of 31

September 1990 DU student Rajeev Goswami set himself on fire in protest against the
Mandals report. Many more self immolators. Around 200 suicide attempts. 62
successful!
Stronger resent in North as compared to south. Why?
o Affirmative action programs had long been in existence in south
o South thriving industrial sector- less dependence on govt. sector
o Upper castes less than 10% of population. In north, 20% of population
Strongest supporters of Mandal Commission were two rising politicians Mulayam
Singh Yadav(UP) and Lalu Yadav(Bihar) 1991- Congress back to power- to gain strength
in North and woo the backward castes- Narsimha Rao- endorse Mandal report- 27%
reservation to OBCs with preference to poor amongst them
1992- SC dismissed the petition filed in 1990 against Mandal Report. But 2 additional
things: reservations should not exceed 50% of the jobs in govt. and caste criteria only
in recruitment and not in promotions.
Initially in 1980s CPI and CPM opposed Mandal coz believed that class and not caste is
the major axis of political mobilization. BJP opposed coz accorded pride of place to
Hindu religion. But finally in 1990s, all parties saw the political costs of opposing it and
thus accepted it.
Emergence of Bahujan Samaj Party:
1956: Dr. Ambedkar, died
Then most prominent Untouchable leader- Jagjivan Ram- Congress. Died in 1988. Now
active, Kanshi Ram
1971 Kanshi Ram had formed All India backward and Minority Communities
Employees Federation (BAMCEF), an organization to represent govt. employees from a
disadvantaged background, a trade union of SC elite. By 1980s had membership of
200000. Mainly in North, particularly UP
1984 elections- Kanshi ram started BSP (Dalit = SC; Bahujan = SC+OBC+Muslim).
Garnered more than a million votes but not any seat.
In subsequent elections, better performance
Best in UP, at the expense of Congress- BSP stood for social justice and social
transformation. Had emerged as one of the three major political groups in the state,
the others being Mulayams Samajwadi party and BJP.
By 1990s, Kanshi Ram supplanted by Mayawati who realized that the Dalits could never
come to power on their own and thus built cross party and cross caste alliances.
Became thrice the CM, heading coalition govt. formed with SP or BJP.
Increased visibility of SCs, now knew of their rights under the Constitution and were
fighting for them.
Clashes between upper castes and Dalits:
Following the increase in power of Dalits, there were numerous violent clashes between the
upper caste Hindus and OBCs against Dalits. The clashes were seen more severe in the
southernmost districts of the Tamil Nadu and in Bihar.
Growing power of Naxalites:
Bihar max oppression of Dalits historically;grossest forms of feudalism; land reforms in West
Bengal but not in Bihar. Middle and upper class owned the land and Dalits tilled it.
1970s- Maoist radicals took up the case of Dalits. Naxalites disappeared from West Bengal
where they were prominent a decade ago and now gathered strength in the districts of
Central Bihar. Formed agricultural labour fronts and demanded higher wages, equality, end to
forced labour, share to village common land and an end to social coercion. New found self
respect in Dalits - most significant achievement of Naxalites. Other achievements
End to forced labour
Equal rights to women laborers
No forced labor
Better working conditions etc

Page 15 of 31
However long-term aim of these radicals to overthrow Indian state. Hidden, illegal activities
carried on side by side, collection of weapons. Naxalites had their own army called Lal Sena
and Safaya squads who were trained to assassinate oppressive landlords.
In response, the upper caste and ruling elite formed senas and private armies of their own.
Infinite violent incidents between these and Naxalites. By mid 1990s- in much of Bihar, state
had no visible presence at all.
Scheduled Tribes:
Naxalites active also amongst STs. STs also called Adivasis lived in the most resource rich
areas of India. Over the years losing resources to state or outsiders.
Activists among tribals- Marxists and Gandhinians. Csuses of tribals:
Access to forests and tribals. Particularly angry with the forest department which
restricted their access to wood and non forest products.
Were paid niggardly sum for like tendu leaves collection used for making bidis.
Provisions of decent schools and hospitals
1990s- Narmada Bachao Aandolan- Medha Patkar- against displacement of around 200000
tribals due to construction of dam on Narmada river.
1998- Three new states- Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal
Conflicts in Kashmir:
1989: violent again!
November 1989: V.P.Singh replaced Rajeev Gandhi as PM. Appointed Kashmiri politician Mufti
Mohammed Sayeed to Union Home Minister to please Muslims of India.
December 1989: Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the home minister kidnapped in Srinagar by
JKLF(J&K Liberation Front). 5 jailed ministers released by the Indian Govt. to free her. Major
victory for militants.
32 separatist groups in the valley, including JKLF(independent non denominational state of
J&K in which Hindus and Sikhs would have same rights as Muslims) and Hizb-ul
Mujahideen(Islamic regime nad not averse to merger with Pakistan)
Govt. finally moved a lot of armed forces (80000) to the state.
Who was caught in the cross fire? The innocent inhabitants of the valley. Cases of tortures by
CRPF, violent killings etc reported on large scale.
Violence in the North East states:
1990s- Assam- good news- accord reached with the Bodos, allowing for an autonomous
council to be formed in those districts where that community was in a majority.
Assam- secessionist ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam)- tea plantations paid an annual
sum to these rebels, mounted raids on banks, and mass violence.
Tripura- 2000 killings between 1993 and 2000- mostly civilians.
Manipur- had once been an independent kingdom. Chiefly ethnic rivalries and also all ethnic
groups saw themselves as non-Indians (banned screening of Indian films) and wanted an
independent state
Nagaland- NSCN (National Socialist Council of Nagaland) - stubbornly committed to the idea of
an independent and sovereign Nagaland. NSCN had well trained fighters and operated from
Burma making raids across the border and engaging the army. Even govt. officials paid a
monthly tax to the underground!
1997- church groups and civil bodies forced the rebels and govt. to declare a ceasefire. Talks
on but no agreement reached. The Indian govt. agrees to give Nagas the fullest possible
autonomy but within the terms of Indian constitution. But Nagas want creation of a new
greater state- Nagalism- consisting also of parts of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh,
where Nagas live. This of course is violently opposed by these states. Also want greater
sovereignty and retention of a separate Naga army.
North east- region of violence and migration- immigration from Bangladesh.
Also a massive military presence
External security since borders China, Bangladesh and Burma.
to maintain the flow of essential goods and services
to protect rail roads
to suppress rebellion and insurgency
Army operates under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act(APSPA)- special extra powers to
army- misused by the army. Human rights groups have asked for the repeal of APSPA

Page 16 of 31
Condition of Women in Indian Society:
Gender discrimination very high. Boys given more freedom and education and rights as
compared to their sisters.
Sex ratio consistently declining from 972 females to 1000 males in 1901 to 927 in 1991
1980s- sex determination techniques made things worse
Situation more grave in Punjab and Haryana
Variations in gender relations were spatial as well as cultural. In south, the condition of
women was not that worse. Also things were better in cities where there was an upsurgence
of feminist movement. Changes in law. Amendment of Hindu Succession Act,1956- for the first
time bought agricultural land in its purview, allowing women the same inheritance rights as
men.
Situations getting better in Mizoram in the 1990s:
Return of peace in Mizoram. Leaders of Mizoram National Front(MNF) had made a spectacular
transition, from being insurgents in jungle to politicians in Secretariat, put there by ballot box.
Construction of water pipelines, roads and schools. Mizoram soon replaced Kerala as the most
literate state. Were learning Hindi and since were very fluent in English, gradually grabbing
positions in the service sector. Targeted to make the state Switzerland of East India, to
encourage tourism and a smoother trade with the neighbouring countries. The CM also
carried out a larger role in bringing about a settlement between the government of India and
the Naga nd Assamese tribals.
Situations getting better in Punjab in the 1990s:
1987- presidents rule and repeatedly extended by 6 months. Chaos and gun battles killing as
many as 20000 lives between 1981 and 1993, with 11000 of them as civilians.
1990- army called for help, withdrawn in 1991
1992- elections to state assembly. The Akali Dal boycotted the elections and the elected
congress minister killed by a suicide bomber!
1993- Akalis returned to democratic politics. 1997- won emphatic victory in the assembly
polls. Militancy was on wane. Sikhs saw themselves as part of India. Industrial sector in the
state flourishing. This alienated community had regained its self esteem and resumed its
leading role in nation building. Sikhs commanded some of the most important jobsd in nation
was widely hailed as a sign of Punjabs successful reconciliation with India.

Political Parties in India

Rajeev Gowda and E Sridharan
Summary by Ashis Nayak
This summary introduces roles of political parties and the party system in deepening Indian
democracy specifically on their role in evolution in institutionalized mechanism of power
sharing and the promotion of inclusive resilient state. India adopted written constitution in
1950, which features fundamental rights and freedoms, and universal adult franchise. India is
organized into twenty-eight states and seven union territories.
Indias politicized social cleavages are of religion, Language, caste, tribe rural v/s urban
residents and class. Hindus are internally divided by language, caste and sects. The broad
caste clusters are Upper caste, intermediate castes and two constitutionally recognized
grouping SCs and STs. Other numerically significant religious communities are Muslims
(13.4%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%), Buddhist and Jain.
Theories of party system evolution
Democracys success depends on vibrant competition among political parties. Political parties
evolve within party systems. There are two theories for political parties evolution first The
social-cleavage theory and second The electoral-rules theory. The social cleavage
theory postulates party systems are a reflection of the principle cleavages in a given society. (
e.g. Cleavage between capital and labor). The electoral rules theory postulates that the rules
of political system and of electoral system, create incentives for political forces to coalesce or
to splinter. The principle causal features are the size of electoral districts, the structure of
ballot and the decision rule or electoral formula.
Several theories are tabulated in the following table
Author
Theory

Page 17 of 31
Maurice
Duverger
Pradeep
chhibber
and
ken
kollman

Arend
Likphart
Atul kohli
Rudalph
Linz,
Stepan
and yadav
Kanchan
Chandra
Chandra

Ashutosh
varshney
Paul Brass

Argues that combination of mechanical and psychological

effects tends to produce a two party system
Argues that division of power between level of
government- national, state of provincial and local -affects
the formation of parties at different levels
e.g. more centralized power over decisions with state
affects the citizens but more incentives for political
entrepreneurs to form nationwide political parties and for
voters to vote for them
Indias political system has institutionalized grand coalition
governments and has included all religious and linguist groups; allowed
cultural autonomy, provided proportionality in political representation
as well granted minority veto on minority vital issues.
Supports power sharing in Indian politics
Indian politics is persistently centrists because of the marginality of
class politics; fragmentation of the confessional majority; cultural
diversity and social pluralism and the single member plurality system.
Argues that nation is forged by state institution; policies that respect
and protect multiple and complementary identities and that is not
limited to ethno linguistic federalism. It allows power sharing but does
not privilege to any one identity.
Argues that Indian political economy is conducive to the ethnification
of parties. India is patronage democracy where most modern sector
jobs and services are in the public sector; public officials have
discretion in the allocation of public jobs and services
If ethnic categories are constructed ones as are Indias SC, ST and
OBC. The danger of permanent majorities and minorities can be
sidestepped and the ethnification of parties can be redistributive and
conductive to power sharing in its operation without being
exclusionary. This causes intra-group competition.
Argues that pressure from below (i.e. poor people) has ensured that
parties promote interventions that mitigate poverty. Such policies are
politically rewarding but economically inefficient.
Critiques is that the consociational argument asserting that political
accommodation in democratic societies is an art not a system and
consociationalism is device for freezing existing divisions and conflicts.
Eventually fragmentation of Indias political system and the emergence
of cleavage-based parties do point to the difficulties of practicing the
art of political accommodation over time
Evolutions
Of
political
parties

Party system fragmentation

Indian national congress hegemony, 1952-67
Congress won in first four Lok Sabha elections based on plurality of votes competing
against fragmented oppositions, which varied from state to states.
The multiple bipolarizations of state party systems, 1967-89
In the year 1967, congress strength started declining at the national and state levels. It lost
powers in eight out of then sixteen states. Politically mobilized cleavages emerged, including
language based parties such as DMK. Intrastate alliances of non-congress parties the
Samyukta Vidhayak Dalsemerged and pooled votes to oust congress. However, due to lack of
coherence in the alliances resulted in instability and collapse of these parties.
In 1971, the congress won with 2/3 majority in the Loksabha. In response to congress
dominance, anti-congress alliances slowly emerged at the state level. This raised Index of
Opposition Unity against Congress. During 1975-77 emergency, congressed faced
temporarily united opposition in the form of Janata Party. Congress lost elections to Janata
Party in 1977 but J P did not compete against fragmented opposition. Here Durvergers law
held at national level with two party democracy.

Page 18 of 31
In 1980, janata party disintegrated and congress won the elections. But in 1989, an opposition
alliance emerged supported by BJP and other left wing parties, the congress share of the votes
dropped to 39% and seats too. The National Front coalition of 1989-90 was novel in three
senses. First learning from janata party experiences and built common manifesto. Second, it
brought in reginal parties like DMK. Third, coalition was the first spatially compatible interstate
alliance of parties. However, this coalition had not moderated or set aside ideological
extremes.
National Party-system fragmentation and the emergence of coalition and minority
governments, (1989-2006)
1989 general elections signified a seismic shift in Indias party system with BJPs rise to
prominence and Congress relative decline. From no more than 35 seats and 10% vote
nationally till 1989 (except for the historic 1977 election) to becoming the single largest party
in 1996, it has been a phenomenal rise. Riding on its hindutva agenda and cashing on the
upper-caste backlash on Mangal commissions report of government job reservations for OBC,
BJP won 161 seats in 1996 and came to power. But it could stand no more than 13 days. It
was perceived as a significant ideological statement on the part of a range of secular parties.
BJP however learnt a lesson and in further elections sought a wide range of alliances in its
nonstronghold states and shelved the religiously divisive points on its agenda.
Since 1990s, alliances have more or less been based on spatial compatibility, at the expense
of ideological compatibility. The two BJP-led coalitions (98-99 & 99-04) were based on both
spatial compatibility (between BJP & regional parties) & ideological compromise (the BJP set
aside its hindu-nationalist agenda and other parties ignored its communal character).The
congress-led coalition UPA gained power in 2004. UPA was based on a variety of intrastate
spatial compatibility as well as ideological commonalities (anti-BJP) and ideological
compromises (on economic policy between congress and left). Same was the case of United
Front coalition in 1996. Since the 1960s, however, alliances have been driven by the desire to
aggregate votes and not by ideology, programs or social cleavages.
A process of bipolar consolidation at the state level was the key feature of and driving force
behind the fragmentation of the national party system: Multiple bipolarities (viz. congress-BJP,
cong-left, cong-regional parties) in state party system empowered a large number of parties
at the national level where they wielded great power. This also indirectly led to bipolar
consolidation of BJP and Congress led coalitions at the center.
The social cleavage theory explains the formation of parties based on religion & caste. At the
same time, as congress centralized many leaders who were feeling marginalized in congress
left and formed new rival parties. (eg: in AP, TN & Assam)
The Duvergerian multiple-bipolarization explanation along with the Chhibber-Kollman
explanation based on state powers in a federal system explains the incentives for singlestate-base party formation, leading to the multiple-bipolarization of state party systems. This
leads to a highly fragmented national party system with very large and ideologically disparate
coalitions.
The authors dont really affirm to the point that it is leading to a sustained bipolarity of 2
alliances but they emphasize here the full representations of politically mobilized groups
across states, indicating power-sharing among groups through their participations in diverse
coalition rather than in an umbrella party.
The Decline of Ideology
India has a long history of forming party alliances without a match of ideology. None of these
alliances stick together since no ideological, social or policy held them together. Initially BJP
was untouchable because of its Hindutva agenda, but then again it was conveniently ignored
when the non-congress parties needed to forge a front. Since 1998, BJP has also somewhat
moderated its Hindu-ness in order to sustain governing alliances.
Apart from Secularism, the other major ideological issue is Liberalization of the
economy.Example: the dispute between UPA and Left in the last government. But since the
liberalization started, it hasnt been majorly halted. Arun Shourie says One reform creates
pressure that other reforms be put through. This has enabled the NDA too to support the
reform during their power. At the individual levels also, ideological labels have gradually lost
their significance with politicians changing parties without concern for ideological views.
Overall, this development may merely reflect an ideological consensus: the acceptance of
liberal economic reforms with a human-face and a somewhat diluted secularism.

Page 19 of 31
The rise of Dynastic Politics
The dynasty reign has been present in Indian politics since Gandhi-Nehru time which just got
strengthened with emergence of Indira, Sanjay, Rajiv, Sonia Gandhi and more recently Rahul
Gandhi. Congress has always been somewhat personalized by these charismatic leaders.
Following their steps, now even leaders like Sharad Pawar, Mayawati have chosen to run
highly personalized parties. According to K.C. Suri, the charismatic leaders maintain weak
party organizations to prevent challengers from emerging is the logic behind these
personalized parties.
The benefits of dynastic politics are: 1) the leaders generally wont face much of challenge
inside the party. 2)The dynasties inherit an already established network and brand-appeal.
They no longer need to build a political base.
Because the dynastic politics stifles the emergence of grassroot leadership, some scholars
blame it for fragmentation of parties, decline in democratic deliberations and the role of
parties being mediating institutions. They advocate a return to intraparty democracy and
transparent, open funding of political parties.
The larger consequence of decline in Ideology and rise of dynastic politics is the reduction of
party organizations to mere election-winning machines. (example: BJP nominating many film
stars for 2004 elections)
The impact on the quality of democracy
The fragmentations of party system, nature of coalition politics and internally top-down
character of parties have mixed effects on the quality of Indias democracy.
Based on Larry Diamond and Leonardo Morlinos eight dimensions of democratic quality,
the authors feel that on 4 fronts (freedom, participation, competition & Horizontal
accountability) there has been +ve effect. While on rest 4 fronts (Rule of Law, Equality,
vertical accountability & responsiveness) there has been ve impact.
Competition: The decline of one-party system and emergence of small regional parties have
ensured a strong competition in the state-level elections.
Participation: There has been an increase in participation, especially by the lower castes and
class as well as women and minority groups in the politics.
Horizontal Accountability: The emergence of multiparty system has weakened the dominance
of the governing party on the organs of horizontal accountability like election commission,
courts. The same applies for the media industry also. These developments have bolstered
democratic freedom.
Equality: While on one hand, the emergence of caste based parties have increased the
influence of minorities, at the same time anti-muslim parties like BJP have threatened the
equality for the minorities. This also weakens the rule of the law. The rule of law also gets
weakened by attempts of lower-caste parties to use state power to further their social base
interest in a manner uncompromising to norms and institutions (eg: bihar & UP) Another
threat to rule of law is the greater influence and participation of criminals in politics.

Indias Informal Economy: Facing the Twenty-First Century

Barbara Harriss-White
Summary by Mayank and Sunil
The main argument in this article is that the larger part of the Indian economy is regulated in
significant ways by social structures that are resistant to change by means of macro-economic
policy. In its regulation of the informal economy, the Indian state is not proof against the
influence of these structuring identities, as a result of which it does not work as one would
expect a modern developmental state to work. The implementation of reforms and
liberalization is filtered through these structures.
The Social Regulation of the Indian economy:
In this section, the author examines the ways in which the most significant social structures of
accumulation religion, caste, space, classes and the state regulate Indias informal
economy.
Gender:
The informal economyis for the most part a matter of family businesses which are essentially
structures of hierarchical authority between men. As firms grow in size, the demand for male

Page 20 of 31
family labour increases; but as fertility decreases, the number of male agnates decrease. Yet
instead of drawing women family members into these firms, women tend to be deprived of
productive work and live fairly secluded lives based on the home.
Marriages and alliances are carefully controlled to create and protect the resources flows
crucial to capital accumulation. When a family contracts a good marriage, its credit increases.
Because of these patriarchal arrangements, competition between firms is frequently
suppressed resulting in oligopolies. Other adverse affect of keeping strong family control over
young male property owners is that they are often educated only to the level compatible with
continuing to live at home or with close kin. The reinforcement of patriarchal relations in the
class controlling local capital also has contradictory effects on the welfare of women. Relating
dowry to the social status of women, the author argues that s the economic costs of women
rise and their economic benefits fall, so does their relative status. As the gender bias can be
explained by low relative female status arising from lack of earned income, by the costs of
dowry, and by the demand for male family labour in firms, it can be concluded that wealth
creation and property accumulation benefit men disproportionately.
Religious Plurality:
The roles of religions in Indian economy have been very specific. Religious groups are often
found regulating and distributing livelihoods, and providing insurance and social security. In
these ways, forms of noneconomic and divine authority may be found to govern economic
behaviour. eg. The economic significance of the Jain religion is far greater than the share of
Jains in Indian population. The existing religious plurality in India has meant that the
deepening division of labour and the proliferation of new and technologically upgraded
commodities and services are easily and sometimes exclusively aligned with religious sub
castes and sects. This results in the social patterning of residential areas and the spatial
patterning of economic activity. Religions also owe their roles in the economy in part to the
secular aspirations of the state. In setting out constitutionally independent of all religions, The
Indian State has left the economy vulnerable to religious competition in various ways, from
the provision of infrastructure to communal conflict. The Indian state has been penetrated by
religions- by the routes of political patronage, by the consequences for minority politics of
reservations and by unequal treatment of religions. As a result of this penetration, neutral
development policy will have differential impacts on people of different religions.
Caste:
In India, most Backward Castes and Scheduled Castes form 80% of the labour force. Backward
castes are gaining ground as owners of businesses, but Forward Castes dominate the
concentration of capital. A third of all firms use family labour alone while a further 15% will
not employ labour not of their caste. So, nearly half the firms are caste-homogeneous. The
local economy is increasingly organized in corporatist forms based directly or indirectly on
caste. The regulative roles played by caste vary with the position of individual castes and the
distribution of castes in different states.
The disposal of waste is part of a paradigm of service and subordination where caste and
gender still reflect rank and stigma. Schedule caste labourers do the sanitary work, but they
have also entered trade in commodities with certain physical properties, such as foodstuffs
with skins, or things that have to be transformed by cooking prior to consumption, or that are
traded in physically dirty surroundings. Caste has been reworked as an economic institution,
ad it is least flexible at the base where social disadvantage is most entrenched. While
caste/trade associations are intermittent and called into life only when the trade is
threatened, many, especially those of business sectors in which Backward Castes operate, ate
playing increasingly important roles in regulation. These include the rationing of entry to a
trade, the definition of proper contracts, the settlement of disputes, collective insurance, and
collective security.
Quotes and (or) Views
Caste is no longer an important agent
of social placement of control Andre
Beteille of India

Supporting Views/Points
The author gives a counterpoint to the
argument stating that the remnants of
occupation based castes are organised
in several loose hierarchies based on
work, diet, religion

Page 21 of 31

Note: The article contains a lot of examples, this summary does not concentrate on the
examples and rather we have tried to emphasis more on the content.
The articles focus is on India's informal economy, what Harriss-White calls "the economy of
the India of the 88 per cent". This term is used since more than 74 per cent of the population
is rural and another 14 per cent lives in towns with a population below 200,000. The
remaining 12 per cent lives in metropolitan cities (page 1). The informal economy generates
90.3 per cent of all livelihoods in India and 60 per cent of the country's net domestic product.
Her study of the informal economy leads us, as well, into the country's black economy, with
which the informal economy overlaps at several points.
White's central argument in the book is that "the social structures of accumulation" in India
create "the matrix through which accumulation and distribution take place" .She argues: "In
the India of the 88 per cent, it is clear that a range of non-State social structures, and the
ideas and cultural practices attached to them, are even more crucial for accumulation than
they are in industrial societies. Six reasons are explored in this article: the structure of
the workforce, social classes, gender, religion, caste and space"
Harriss-White draws primarily on data on small-town India, arguing that this is where one can
best examine "the non-corporate (economy) in which 88 per cent of Indians live and work" .To
delineate the micro-economies of small-town India where the "intermediate classes", who are
her main focus, reside, she draws on her own field research from northern Tamil Nadu.
The article focuses on the business classes in their daily dealings with each other, with their
workforces and with the local state, reveals the ways in which the local economy is very
tightly - though "informally" - controlled and regulated by these mercantile business classes.
Her detailed documentation of the business methods of these "intermediate classes", shows
the ways, mainly hidden but sometimes brazen, by which the state's control is neutralized and
rendered harmless, competition is eliminated, and new entrants kept out of the market. (A lot
of examples are given for the same).
Harriss-White argues that it is these intermediate classes that are, in fact, the dominant
segment in India's economy. She defends this thesis by arguing that the informal economy, in
which the intermediate classes are hegemonic, "accounts for two-thirds of Gross Domestic
Product (GDP)" and that "at least half of the informal economy is `black'" .This is why she
characterizes the informal economy as "anti-social" - it is regulated by the intermediate
classes and ruled by their narrow values based on self-interest.
White further argues that the size of the intermediate classes is growing and a "new wave of
small capital, based on primary accumulation, is reinforcing and expanding the informal and
black economy, intensifying the casualisation of labour and transferring the risks of unstable
livelihoods to the workforce". The severely exploited labour force is radically subordinated and
"labour is regulated through the social structures of gender, religion and caste, and of local
markets". Her study of the local hegemony of the intermediate classes leads her to conclude:
"Fraud and tax evasion are part and parcel of Indian capitalism.... The bulk of the economy is
beyond the direct control of the State. Countering this literally anti-social economy calls for
the emergence of a more robust and active culture of collective accountability".
The other issue this article raises is the arguments relating to the impact of India's religious
pluralism on the structure of its economy and the question of whether capitalism in India is
proving to be the "social solvent" that it was widely expected to be. A major contribution of
this article is its discussion of the debates on "industrial clusters" (or "industrial districts") in
India. Here Harriss-White argues that the overly positive view of "industrial clusters" and
"flexible specialisation" in India, that currently prevails, is quite mistaken. She points out that
industrial clusters are a common, not exceptional, form of development in India. Low
technology is usual in these industrial districts. Contrary to what cluster theory enthusiasts,
whose numbers are growing, claim, most industrial clusters do not have the "developmentally

Page 22 of 31
positive potential" shown by highly exceptional clusters like Bangalore and Tirupur. In fact,
most industrial clusters in India excel in the "super-exploitation" of workers, especially women
and children.
Importantly - and this is a fact that cluster enthusiasts often choose to ignore in studied
silence - a lot of field research shows that entrepreneurs demonstrate "a complete disregard
for anything other than private profit". This, coupled with "the inadequate and negligent
enforcement of effluent standards" by the co-opted state, has resulted in vast tracts of
agricultural land being rendered unfit for agricultural use, while large sections of local
populations have been deprived of their sources of drinking water, because these are now
toxic. In Tamil Nadu such disasters have occurred in the Palar Valley (due to tanneries) and in
Tirupur (due to the hosiery industry). The state has remained indifferent or slow and
extremely reluctant to act against the entrepreneurial class, with whom it is in close collusion.
The result is that the burden of these "negative externalities", created by highly profitable
(and much admired) industries, falls, crushingly, on those least able to bear this
environmental disaster - the virtually disenfranchised rural poor.
The article describes the strength of the powerful political and institutional forces that rule the
economy today, in unholy alliances that have institutionalised corruption and fraud, making
them an accepted, everyday part of the economy. These hegemonic forces have created
almost overwhelming obstacles to the possibility of "democratically determined
accountability".

Indias New Entrepreneurial Classes: The High Growth Economy

and Why it is Sustainable
Sunil Bharti Mittal
Summary by Tarun Kumar
The article is from the speech of Sunil Bharti Mittal at Center for the Advanced Study of India,
(Occasional Paper Number) on 25th February 2006. The article outlines the story of economic
development of India since independence. The story of economic reforms in India and the
associated political repercussions have been presented by Mr. Mittal in his speech. He further
goes on to establish various factors which ensure that Indias economic growth is permanent
and sustainable.
Important Quotes
Quotes and (or) Views

Supporting Views/Points

Mahatma Gandhi First they ignore

you, then they laugh at you, then they
fight you, and then they lose

Story of Bharti showcased all the four

stages

Point wise Summary

Summary
Main issues after independence

Socialism was not only fashionable but

appropriate
India in 1947-64; under Jawahar Lal

Supporting quotes and (or) examples

Famine, hunger, poverty

Refugees from Pakistan

Serving
humanity
through
intervention was a global norm

state

Command and Control economy

Page 23 of 31
Nehru

India in 1964-65; under Lal Bahadur

Shastri
After 1965; Under Indira Gandhi

1965 war with Pakistan; India was

unprepared after 1962 China war;
setback for economic momentum

Emergency of 1975-77
1977; First Non Congress government
in Centre
1980; Return of Indira Gandhi to power

Non
Gandhi
miserably

1984; Assassination of Indira Gandhi;

Rajiv Gandhi took over as prime
minister; lost in 1989

Shaky start; until 1969

Bangladesh
war
in
1971;
Supremacy of India established
Concept of mixed economy floated
By 74 politics again overwhelmed
economics
Some business houses like Modis,
Oswals showed up their presence

Setback to business houses coming to

mainstream economics

Indian economy under Mrs. Gandhi

No role of private sector except in

core sectors e.g. Tatas, Birlas
Govt. Job was most coveted one;
IAS, IPS
Profit motive was considered
unjustified

Government

failed

Support to private sector along

with dealing with poverty and
hunger
Bharti & Reliance born during this
time
Complex import-export policies;
license raj
Lack
of
transparency;
Only
incremental
steps
taken
to
improve economy
For e.g. sudden ban on import of
generators under pressure of
Indian manufactures
China overtook india in growth
rate
Industry were developed with aim
of export to Soviet; estranged with
US; close ness to US helped china
Increase in opportunities to new
entrepreneurs
Introduction
of
computers;
manufacture of telecom device
and private air taxies
Rajiv loss strengthened view that

Page 24 of 31

1989-91; After Rajiv V P Singh came to

power followed by short stint by
Chandrasekhar

1992; P V Narasimha Rao takes over;

lost in 1996

Vajpayee
continue

took

over

but

reforms

Unique business model of telecom

industry in India

Reforms
continued
Manmohan Singh

under

Dr.

Agriculture Sector; Gaining Attention

political
telephone

New hope to non business class;

attack on business houses; fall of
growth rate
India reached verge of bankruptcy
Pledged gold in international
markets
Big Business houses grew bigger
but no opportunities to new
enterants
Entrepreneurs move out of India
Removal of license raj; deftly
unshackled from Soviet union
New
entrepreneurial
classes
emerged
Although govt. Supported but new
entrepreneurs had hindrances of
bureaucracy
and
established
businesses
Emergence of companies like Jet,
Zee, Infosys, Wipro, Satyam
New telecom policy; mergers and
collapse of various companies

Lowest tariffs in world

Technology was outsourced to
IBM, Ericsson, Nokia; Bharti got
involved in customer relationships

FDI in telecom raised to 74%;

equivalent to that in developed
countries
Gradual development of Stable
policie, low taxes, infrastructure

Manufacturing Sector

are

Service Sectors which have potential of

exploitation; Capability to add 1.5% to
growth rate

economic reforms
suicide
Bharti
enters
manufacturing

Software, BPO, ITES (already

tapped)
Healthcare; Tourism; Innovation
and R&D
Creativity
and
Entertainment
industry
Lost opportunity to China
Still sectors as biotechnology

Use of technology can enhance exports

Page 25 of 31
Sustainability
growth

of

Indian

Issues to tackle

economic

Large market size

Large working population

Regional inequality mismatch in

population
distribution
and
contribution to GDP
Urban and rural balance in
development

Other Issues in Q&A round

Undertaking of CSR by many

companies
Need to develop good relationship
with smaller neighbours
Need of Infrastructure; power,
roads, airports, education
Need of Tax Reforms

Everybody Loves a Good Drought

P. Sainath
Summary by Sandeep Nair
In this article, the author wants to elucidate the fact that fund allocation process for the
drought relief programs involves a lot of politics and the media also plays an important role in
this process.
The author starts by stating that the benefits of drought relief programs do not reach
the people who need them. It is an opportunity for many to derive financial benefit out of it.
He justifies it by providing some figures on how at few places like that in Maharastra, Orissa,
etc the budget allocated was more than the required. He then explains the concept of
Drought-Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), under which the government has ability to
include blocks of land affected by drought. Once the blocks under DPAP, they receive huge
amount of money as well as benefits from host of other schemes, including Employment
Assurance Schemes (EAS), anti desertification projects, drinking water missions etc.
He then explains with the help of figures that how in the past the, the number of blocks under
DPAP scheme has increased significantly and the blocks which are included had good average
rainfall figures. (Example: lowest rainfall in past 20 years in Kalahandi, Orrisa is 978 mm,
which is way above from many other districts)
He says that the poor suffer acute drought even in cases of abundance of rainfall
because the water resources are colonized by the powerful. He says that government thinks
that by throwing money at such regions, the small fish, who have big votes, can be pacified.
He then explains the spiral of drought scam. It also happens to be a, who will bring the
maximum fund to their district tussle. Contractors and politicians take up the cause to
collector and get local newspaper to print about the situations. And this spiral goes on from
here to district headquarters to state level to central level to international level organization
like UNDP,UNICEF etc. all in order to demand allocation of funds. At the same time people at
various levels also use the media at both local and national level to exaggerate the situation.
The reverse spiral begins when funds are actually allocated by foreign donors looking for
some good PR. As the money trickles down to the districts, various parties including
politicians, consultants, private contractors etc. take their cuts. The places actually affected
by the drought do not get much money. Since, the basic problem is not solved, this whole
process starts afresh next year too.
He then introduces the other problems linked with water, like river water sharing within
the states of India and with Bangladesh. Therefore the struggle over water resources operates
at various levels, coming down to between villages and between castes & classes.

Page 26 of 31
Finally he ends with following lines, There are now two kinds of drought: the real and
the rigged. Both can be underway at the same time, in the same place. As the reports that
follow seek to show, they often are.

Political Economy of Agrarian distress

K C Suri
Summary by Chayan Mukhopadhyaya
The author believes that the reasons for agrarian distress in India lie in the conjunction of the
changing nature of agriculture and democratic politics.
Aim of the author: - To examine the inter-relationship between the structural and economic
changes since independence to the political domain and see how the changed nature of
politics and policy priorities have exacerbated the agrarian distress.
Quotes and (or) Views
Two paradoxical situations:First, a large number of farmers
suicides have been reported from
states which are relatively
agriculturally developed, which have
seen strong peasant movements in
the past and where the leadership of
political parties has come
predominantly from farming
communities.

Supporting Views/Points

Second, Democracy is supposed to

respond to and accommodate the
interests of different sections of the
society. But it is aparadox that the
interests of the farmers who constitute
a large chunk, one-fifth of the
electorate, are not cared for by the
government.
Changes in Agrarian Political Economy:1. British rule increased the market oriented production(cash crops). Some sections
benefitted while some degraded.
2. After independence, there has been 3 phases of evolution of agrarian relations
(a) 1950s and 60s:- Reform and consolidation of agriculture on the lines charted
out during freedom struggle :- need to take up modern methods and political
efforts to increase production and well being of farmers
(b) 1970s and 80s:- Green revolution and growth of political populism:- costs to
farmers increased and so did their yield. But uncertainty of crop yield and
fluctuations in prices for agricultural produce caused a great deal of mental
distress to the farmers. The government though took steps for farmers
welfare by imposing quotas on imports
(c) 1990s onwards:- liberalisation and deterioration of farmers condition:- once
we opened gates to foreign competition, the condition of the farmers here
degraded because of obvious reasons.
3. Some economists suggest nowadays that farmers should stop producing cash crops
and produce light crops to get out of this predicament. However, farmers say that t is
not possible since they are already deep in debt and if they produce light crops they
wont be able to repay their loans.
4. Farmers dont have any confidence on the minimum return on their labour and
investments.

Page 27 of 31
5. Crop insurance scarcely available; even where it is available, insurance companies find
umpteen methods to avoid payment.
6. The loss of status, uncertainty of income, unbearable debts, unfulfilled needs and the
inability to decipher the factors responsible for their predicament, all combine to make
farmers desperate. It is not poverty that is driving them to suicide, but it is
pauperisation and immiserisation.
Changing Nature of Politics:
1. Political parties earlier were concerned about the farmers status and their problems,
but slowly they lost interest and started taking farmers votes for granted. This
happened because farmers were not united and thus, didnt have enough clout to
influence the government.
2. Political leaders source of wealth changed to industries and businesses from
agriculture.
3. It is difficult to organise farmers because they are not homogeneous in terms of
economic conditions as well as social background.
4. During the last two decades, we havent seen any strong all-India peasant movement.
5. Farmers interest matter little to the national ruling elites.
6. Since fighting elections i very expensive nowadays, even the wealthiest farmer cannot
think of doing so.
Recent change:Political parties have begun to speak about farmers distress in the wake of many farmer
suicides.
Need of the hour:Change in the strategies of economic development which have hitherto downgraded
agriculture and stunted non-farm employment, with mechanisms to ensure proper
remuneration to agricultural produce, and the willingness of the political class to support
farmers and curb the growth of corruption and their own illegal amassment of wealth.

Knowledge@Wharton interview with M. Yunus, Founder of the

Grameen Bank.
Summary by Bharathan Gopalakrishnan
Muhammad
Yunus is
a Bangladeshi banker andeconomist.
He
previously
was
a professor of economics where he developed the concept of microcredit. These loans are
given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. Yunus is also the
founder of Grameen Bank. In 2006, Yunus and the bank were jointly awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize, "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below."
M. Yunus believes that micro-finance has to be provided without collateral and most
commercial organizations dont do it as their main intention is profit-making.
Yunus influenced the Govt to introduce regulations to control the interest rates offered
by Micro-credit organizations in general.
He also is against the free run of globalization and wants rules in place to prevent large
economies from dominating smaller ones
The current financial crisis is a good opportunity to re-design the whole system so that
no one (rich or poor) is ever thrown out of the financial system
Even though Grameen Bank is NOT a non-profit organization, it is not run on a profit
maximization mode. This objective is also understood by the employees at Grameen
Bank
Grameen Health Management Centres are being set up where the technology of the
mobile phone is being used to provide health care for patients in villages. For this
Grameen has already tied up with Intel and is trying to get into partnership with Google
too.
Grameen food products rely on very little marketing and hence cost very less. The idea
is to make nutrients available for everyone in the country.

Page 28 of 31

Lots of other business ventures are approaching Grameen for tie-ups. The main
intention of all this is to make goods available to the poor at cheapest of prices without
sacrificing the quality.
Grameen bank is encouraging entrepreneurship among the children of Grameen
families.

Serving the Worlds Poor, Profitably

C.K. Prahalad & Allen Hammond
Summary by KrishnaRao Bodepalli
Improving the lives of the billions of people at the bottom of the economic pyramid is a
noble endeavour; it can be a lucrative one.
This is the theme for his views (the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid)
15 yrs from now the global economic scenario may be bleak or bright and that depends
upon the big multinational companies to enter and invest the poorest markets. The MNCs
need not thrive for the social upliftment but do their business in a fair manner. In the future
the markets are going to be saturated and trying out this will only help them to sustain.
The developing world also needs financial aid and improved governance.
Misconceptions The barriers like corruption, illiteracy, inadequate infra although real but are much lower
than what is typically thought.
The goods are sold incredibly cheap and there is no room for the new competitor to
enter the market.
The margins are so low that it becomes unprofitable.
But, the real problem lies in the establishing market and distribution channels.
Several examples stated:
Grameen telecoms village owned by a single entrepreneur earning $90 per village a
month. And villagers spend their 7% of their $200 per capita income
Kenya teenagers are trained to be successful web page designers.
Poor farmers in El Salvador use internet to sell crops.
Indian women use PCs to interpret real time satellite images so that their husbands can
go for fishing as per the date
Centers run in Uganda by women information resource electronic information (WIRES)
focuses on markets and prices as well as credit and trade support system.
Gyandoot started in central India, network of 1000 learning centers to distribute vidya
to BOPs(bottom of pyramid)
Dupont company uses internet kiosks to provide information on agriculture and receive
inputs from farmers on several crop disease, fertilizers.
Hindustan unilever does business of $2.6billion with zero working capital in BOPs
ITC initiative through e-choupal serving 600000 farmers has benefitted both with latest
information on weather and best practices. It helps in easy e-procurement for ITC in
return.
US based dandin corp. Uses ultrawide band communications to unite 1000 islands
remotely connected.
Untapped potential
(in terms of) Purchasing power parity
4 billlion people < $2000
2 billion people < $2000- $20000
100 million > $20000
So a huge chunk of people is being left out at the bottom of the pyramid (financial inclusion)
Comparing the high cost economy of poor

Page 29 of 31
Urban gets interest rate for 12-18% rural gets- 600-1000%
That is the case in phone calls, in rice purchases, diarrhoea medication etc
So higher quality at lower prices, maintaining attractive margins with wide base will sort the
issue.
Using latest technologies and innovation will lead to the elimination of the intermediaries and
can be done by E- commerce.
These markets are at the earliest stages, so rapid growth.
Strategies for serving market
Many employees want to work on projects that make a real difference in the lives of the
poor.
Hul managers from CEO to reconnect with the poor and spend six weeks , to gather the
experience, abt their products.
HP introduced a e-inclusion response, it got overwhelming response frm its employees
MNCs take mentoring roles for the entrepreneurs in the BOP markets in terms of
technical help, seed funding, business support
Pay particular attention to women entrepreneurs for all the reasons.
BOPs can be risky, so partnerships, consortia will alleviate a bit
Metcalfes law- usefulness of network equals the square of the numbers of users.

Traditional Female Moral Exemplars in India

Madhu Kishwar
Summary by Jagadeesh
The write-up is about the flexibility provided by the Hindu religion to its followers in terms of
moral codes with an emphasis on the female deities and their relevance to the lives of Hindu
women.
Quotes and (or) Views
Supporting Views/Points
The Hindu religion is highly flexible and allows
The central theme of the passages,
great degrees of freedom to its followers to
which is brought out with many
interpret and follow the religion.
examples.
Hindu religion reveres the females among the Gods
Explained through the examples of
and humans and the Hindu society bestows a huge Goddess Shakti who is not dependent
amount of power to the Goddesses and ladies
on any male God and Meerabai who
devoted to a cause.
flouted societys rules through the
virtue of her devotion.
The divide between humans and the Gods are not
Incarnartions of Gods on earth and
sharp in Hinduism and the Gods are changed or
the elevation of humans to the divine
created with changing times.
level. Interpretations and redefinition
of Hindu Gods explained with
examples.
Summary
The Hindu religion allows atheists to be an integral
part of the community without punishing them.
The deities have been ingrained in the collective
psyche of the community. They are not perceived
to be distant heavenly figures, but are present in
most peoples lives. The gods demonstrate
standards of morality which are not prescriptive but
can be interpreted and emulated (not replicated)
by the followers.

Supporting quotes and (or)

examples
The Hindu divinities do not issue any
commandments.
It is very common for a dutiful son to
be praised as Ram incarnate.

Page 30 of 31
There is no sharp divide between the divine and
the human. Gods descend to earth and allow
themselves to be judged by believers and nonbelievers alike. They do not claim perfection
The religion allows its followers to rewrite and
redefine the roles of Gods.
The religion even allows humans to punish Gods.

Humans are allowed to be elevated to the divine

levels for their exceptional devotion in matters
ranging from morality to valour. A lot of importance
is attached to people/Gods who devote themselves
to a cause larger themselves, those who are
extraordinarily committed towards performing their
worldly duties. Parents and their kids are expected
to love each other more than themselves.
Feminine energy is believed to represent the
energising force of every being and everything.
The followers have the freedom to create new
deities if required, which allows them to get closer
to their Gods.
Women who manifest extraordinary strength and
are not afraid of men are treated with reverence.
Any woman could exercise this strength to bring
order to the chaos around them.
Hindu women have a wide range of moral
exemplars. One category reveres the marital bond,
yet another category of female saints are those
who abstain from marriage altogether.
Hindu women, once they devote themselves to a
higher religious/social/political cause, are allowed
to break all the rules of the society. Celibacy is
considered a sign of power derived from high levels
of resolve. Thus single Goddesses like Durga
provide a role model to the women who want to opt
out of matrimony.
Hindu Goddesses are potrayed to preach peace and
co-existence.
Hindu shastras emphasise that codes of morality
have to be time, place and person specific. The
religion allows us to rework our codes based on
changing times.

Vishnus incarnation, Ram though

touted to be the best of men, till date
receives sharp criticism on his harsh
treatment of Sita.
Ramayan and Mahabharat have
hundreds of known versions.
Yashoda punishing Krishna for his
pranks (Story)
Drought prone villages immerse the
idol of the deity in water until the rain
arrives (Reality)
Meerabai achieved divinity through
her Bhakti.
Ganesha won the right to be the first
to be invoked in religious rituals by
treating his parents, as his entire
world. Pundalik through his devotion to
his parents could mesmerise Lord
Krishna make him stand on a brick for
a very long time.
Every God is static/dead without
Shakti. But Shakti is complete in
herself. She needs no male to
legitimise her power.
Creation of new Gods like Santoshi Ma
and Bharat Mata who are products of a
particular era.
Village women who rise in rage
against men grow in stature and
become village deities.
Even Indira Gandhi was compared to
Durga.
Sita is deified, so are other saints like
Meerabai, Avvai, Andal, Akka
Mahadevi and Lal Ded who either
rejected or walked away from
marriage.
Meerabai despite being a Rajput
queen could flout all the rules of the
society through her unflinching
devotion to Krishna. The participation
of women in the Freedom movement
was likened to Meerabais devotion.
Proven by the fact that there are no
clashes between Goddesses while the
devotees of male Gods have known to
fight each other historically
Gandhi used Sita as a symbol to
promote womens liberation. His Sita
was no slave of Ram and even Ravan
was afraid to approach her. The
essence of Satyagraha which is
securing a moral victory over ones
opponent by winning his heart is
exactly how Sita managed to be one-

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up on Ram.
In Hinduism the right to interpret and attribute
meaning to the Gods belongs to each devotee.
Thus Hindu religion and culture have extraordinary
versatility and ability to adapt to diverse situations.

No orthodox Hindu opposed the use of

Sita by Gandhi.