Press on CSR and caste discrimination
Below you will find links to a number of media articles describing the issue of caste discrimination in the business world:
Capitalism in India, especially its globally integrated variant, has used modes of social discrimination and exclusion to advance itself (Frontline - April 2011) - This Frontline magazine column by Jayati Ghosh argues that India's economic boom has based itself on caste and gender discrimination. According to UK Newspaper ‘The Guardian’ – “Jayati Ghosh is one of the world's leading economists. She is professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru university, New Delhi, and the executive secretary of International Development Economics Associates (Ideas). She is a regular columnist for several Indian journals and newspapers, a member of the National Knowledge Commission advising the prime minister of India.
Combating Caste Bias in the Private Sector (India Journal) There is no denying that India's rapid economic growth and increase in urbanization have opened new economic and social opportunities for Dalits, who fall at the lowest end of the caste spectrum. Even so, the sad reality is that caste-based discrimination and outright violence against lower castes
India's Untouchable Millionaire: Entrepreneur who escaped the rigid caste system warns that it is becoming more divisive as India grows richer (The Guardian): In this article Amelia Gentleman interviews Hari Pippal who has fought caste discrimination and become a millionaire. Pippal warns, however, that he does not wish to be a poster boy for social mobility as he believes that caste divisions are worsening in India, not dissapearing. Pippal comments "The social mobility which usually accompanies rapid economic growth has barely touched this 150 million-strong community, the bulk of whom remain deprived and oppressed. Dalits die sooner and are more likely to be malnourished, unemployed and murdered than others."
New [Dalit] millionaires hope to serve as role models for India’s lower castes (The Washington Post - April 2011)
Industry moves to duck enforced job reservation - Business Today: The CII has - ” chalked out a roadmap to provide job-oriented training to 50,000 people from the SC/ST category this year and arrange employment for them in different categories this year itself.” ..
“The CII has asked all member companies to take this up on a priority basis. CII will provide training to the people at different centres in India. The companies will directly recruit them and a CII team would monitor this on a continuous basis. This is a marked change as CII has been acting as a lobbyist for the corporate sector for over 115 years. In the past five years, the focus is changing to improving the quality of life of the community as a whole. The voluntary job offer for the disadvantaged is in line with this. "This year we have decided to intensify efforts on affirmative action by our member companies, which includes providing 50,000 jobs to members of the SC/STs. The other two focus areas are skill development and corporate governance," said B. Muthuraman, president, CII."
55 pvt companies to disclose staff's caste in annual reports (Indian Express, 8 Aug 2010)
India mulls private sector caste quotas (FT blog, 3 Aug 2010)
End the Apartheid (on affirmative action, OutlookBusiness, 31 Oct 2009
Bite the caste bullet (on corporate caste policies in India, OutlookBusiness, 2 May 2009)
