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Indrajit Roy Writes on Caste-based Job Reservations in India for scroll.in

In an article for Indian news site scroll.in, ODID's Indrajit Roy has analysed Indian media commentary surrounding job reservations for the group of castes and communities known as 'Other Backward Classes'

Indrajit notes that OBC's have been accused of 'cornering' job reservations at the expense of more disadvantaged groups such as Scheduled Castes and Schedules Tribes. However, his analysis suggests that this argument is flawed.

Drawing on data on OBC employment in the public sector as well as OBC reservations compared to population shares in six states, he demonstrates that the provision for OBC affirmative action (protective discrimination) is in fact less than their population share.

He also uses data on a range of social, economic and educational indicators to demonstrate that, as a whole, OBCs are significantly disadvantaged when compared to the privileged Savarna castes, particularly in urban areas.

In another article for the site, Indrjait explores the real significance for the country's poor of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which has been publicly derided by the new Modi government.