The inequality of opportunity in education is the worst in India says Pranab Bardhan in an interview in Livemint.
Now in a country like ours, inequality of opportunity depends on three things primarily:
One, inequality in distribution of land—how much land I have inherited by my family determines my future if you are in agriculture sector.
Second, inequality of education, because for good jobs, I need education.
Third, the inequality of social status, so an Adivasi or Dalit compared to high caste or dominant caste, that’s different.
In all these three respects, India is much more unequal than most countries of the world. Social inequality is very high, most people agree, so let me not go into that. Land inequality is extremely high, much higher than China.
The other thing that surprised me, when I looked into the data, is how unequal is an opportunity to education. I looked into some data collected by World Bank for more than 100 countries, so they computed the inequality in number of years of schooling and I was shocked. I always thought Latin America is one of the world’s (most) unequal regions. Inequality in education is much more in India. So, even if you don’t have land, if you are not of high caste, the way to climb out of poverty is education; but if that is being blocked for so many people, no wonder, if you ask me, that India is one of the most unequal in terms of opportunity in the whole world.
Raghuram Rajan, made much the same point in another earlier interview in Livemint, expanding on the ideas outlined in his book - Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy
What I worry about India, however, is the problem of inequality. The rural areas, in many ways, are falling behind because they are not connected to the urban and coastal areas. Many of the ones that are backward do not have access to education, healthcare. It is very much a thing that the US has; so, in that sense, while 8-10% growth is fantastic, we also need to figure out how to expand opportunities for those being left behind.
There is no substitute for giving people the capabilities to be productive workers. We are not a rich country. How much redistribution can we afford? Which means schools, healthcare, some level of insurance, financing, access to markets; roads that connect them to bigger markets; railway and transport lines. In a sense you have to move the vibrant economy into interior parts of India. So, I would say that many of these schemes are palliatives to keep the pressure down before they explode. I think they are necessary, but you can’t let palliatives overcome what is essential—creating those capabilities. There are ways, but they are enveloped in the old ways of socialist thinking, which I think is holding us back in tremendous ways.
Not having been able to provide an education for all our children even after 60 years, it seems to me that the the passing of the Right to Education Act in its current form is nothing but a palliative to lull the people into believing that the Government cares about education and is doing something. The states seem to be in no position to implement the Right to Education Act, not having enough funds or the operational bandwidth to do so. The Centre cannot do much more than passing the legislation and asking the states to deal with the challenges of implementation.
