Skip to main content

Gujarat govt doesn't want to reveal: Cept Univ untouchability study suggested massive economic discrimination

Cover of the Navsarjan report
The Gujarat government may have refused to table the Cept University’s “alternative study on education” titled, “Impact of Caste Discrimination and Distinctions on Equal Opportunities: A Study of Gujarat”, in the state assembly, giving the technical explanation that it has not been prepared by a commission appointed by the state government.
However, ironically, following several Right to Information (RTI) pleas, top Dalit rights NGO Navsarjan Trust forced the state government in 2013 to part with the Cept study, which runs into 300 pages.
The study was handed over to Navsarjan Trust activist Kirit Rathod, who sent the RTI plea, following a State Information Commission (SIC) order in June 2013, asking Gujarat’s social justice and empowerment department to part with it “within a month.”
Earlier, refusing hand over the report, in a strange explanation, the state government trued to argue out that providing information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on prevalence of untouchability in the state would lead to “a sharp rise in incidence of enmity in the rural areas of Gujarat.”
Downloadable HERE, significantly, the Cept University study, commissioned by the state government, was supposedly meant to “counter” a 2009 Navsarjan report, “Understanding Untouchability” (click HERE), which had claimed, on the basis of a survey in 1,589 villages involving 5,462 individuals, that untouchability was part of way of life in rural Gujarat.
Prepared by a group of scholars led by Prof R Parthasarathy, formerly with Cept University and currently director, Gujarat Institute of Development Research (GIDR), the study, despite saying that caste discrimination in Gujarat is “largely related to perceptions”, agrees, through a plethora of data from the five villages it surveyed, that economic discrimination has remained intact.
The five villages it surveyed were Khavda in Kutch district, Kherva in Surendranagar district, Nava Nesda in Banakantha district, Transad in Ahmedabad district, and Menpura in Kheda district.
Samples taken by the scholars reveal that 65.3 per cent of Dalit of scheduled caste (SC) households in the five villages are dependent on agricultural labour as the main source of income, as against 30.6 per cent other backward class (OBC) households and just about 4 per cent other castes and community (OCC) households.
They Cept study said that while just about 12 per cent of SC households are dependent on regular employment, where it is possible to earn a higher income over a longer period of time, compared to 22.4 per cent OBC households and 34.7 per cent OCC households.
The study revealed, among the cultivators, 63.2 per cent of the SC households own less than one hectare (ha) of land, as against 29.8 OBC households, and just seven per cent OCC households.
The study suggests, a larger number of SC and OVC households are forced to migrate to other places for agricultural work with family because of poverty. “Households were enquired if any members undertook migration for work in the last three years…” Among those who migrated, “whereas 55 per cent of the households are OBC, 42 per cent are SC, there are just one per cent OCC households.”
Coming to assets, 53.7 per cent of SC households and 51 per cent of OBC households live in pucca houses, as against 90 per cent OCC households. Further, only 26.7 per cent of the SC households and 20 per cent OBC households have toilets at home, as against 87.6 per cent of OCC households.
Just about 8.6 per cent of SC households own scooters or motorbikes, as against 17.9 per cent OBC households and 61.1 per cent OCC households. And, 6.3 per cent SC households have fridge as against 9.7 per cent OBC households and 62.2 per cent OCC households.
The study also shows that 63.40 per cent SC households are below poverty line (BPL), and are dependent on subsidized BPL ration, as against 37.2 per cent OBC households and just about 4.40 per cent OCC households.
Interestingly, while the Gujarat government asserted in the state assembly on Tuesday that the Navsarjan report “Understanding Untouchability”, was “one-sided and anti-government”, possibly the reason why the Cept University was commissioned an alternative study, top scholar Prof Ghanshyam Shah believes there is little reason to brush it aside like this.
The Navsarjan report has been authored, among others, by well-known scholars attached with the prestigious Robert F Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights (RFK Center), USA. Three of them are from academic institutions in the US – David Armstrong, University of Wisconsin, Christian Davenport, University of Notre Dame, and Allan Stam, University of Michigan.

Comments

TRENDING

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

Why's Australian crackdown rattling Indian students? Whopping 25% fake visa applications

This is what happened several months ago. A teenager living in the housing society where I reside was sent to Australia to study at a university in Sydney with much fanfare. The parents, whom I often met as part of a group, would tell us how easily the boy got his admission with the help of "some well-meaning friends," adding that they had obtained an education loan to ensure he could study at a graduate school.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Of lingering shadow of Haren Pandya's murder during Modi's Gujarat days

Sunita Williams’ return to Earth has, ironically, reopened an old wound: the mysterious murder of her first cousin, the popular BJP leader Haren Pandya, in 2003. Initially a supporter of Narendra Modi, Haren turned against him, not sparing any opportunity to do things that would embarrass Modi. Social media and some online news portals, including The Wire , are abuzz with how Modi’s recent invitation to Sunita to visit India comes against the backdrop of how he, as Gujarat’s chief minister, didn’t care to offer any official protocol support during her 2007 visit to Gujarat.  

Area set aside in Ahmedabad for PM's affordable housing scheme 'has gone to big builders'

Following my article on affordable housing in Counterview, which quoted a top real estate consultant, I was informed that affordable housing—a scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—has deviated from its original intent. A former senior bureaucrat, whom I used to meet during my Sachivalaya days, told me that an entire area in Ahmedabad, designated for the scheme, has been used to construct costly houses instead. 

Just 5% Gujarat Dalit households 'recognise' social reformers who inspired Ambedkar

An interesting survey conducted across 22 districts and 32 villages in Gujarat sheds light on the representation of key social reformers in Dalit households. It suggests that while Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's photo was displayed in a majority of homes, images of Lord Buddha and the 19th-century reformist couple, Savitribai Phule and Jyotiba Phule, were not as commonly represented.