CHENNAI, India — When it comes to dealing with his fellow students at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Warner, a 21-year-old aerospace engineering major, says the fact that he comes from a group of farmers known as the Pallar community means nothing.
But when it comes to his enrollment status as a student at IIT, it makes all the difference in the world.
The Pallars are among the groups recognized as a “scheduled caste” by India’s government.
Such groups, according to “Improving Access and Quality in the Indian Education System,” — a new paper by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and development — are considered the “lowest group in the caste hierarchy.”
There also is a set of groups referred to as “scheduled tribes,” and another referred to as “other backward classes,” or “OBCs. The word “backward,” despite its negative connotation, has a meaning somewhat similar to “disadvantaged” in the United States.
Under the law of the land with variations by region about 49.5 percent of all seats in institutions of higher learning are reserved for such students. Collectively: 15 percent are for scheduled castes, 7.5 percent are for scheduled tribes and 27 percent are for OBCs.
This is affirmative action, Indian style.
