Tracing The Roots Of Corruption In Education System In North- Maharashtra
By Swapnil Dhanraj
14 May, 2014
Countercurrents.org
There are various ways of exclusion maintained by Caste Hindus to exclude Dalits from the process of achieving social, economic and educational equality. Since 1990’s we have witnessed large scale privatization of education sector and marginalized are people missing several opportunities of education and employment. However, there is a greater need to question and examine the caste nepotism in education industry because education is the only way through which people can be liberated and made conscious about their oppression. Today education has become an industry, where industrialists, businessmen and similarly politicians invest a large amount of money in order to escape from taxes. However, escaping from taxes is not the only motive behind investing in educational institutions but this process should be seen as creating hegemony over the knowledge production and to prevent marginalized communities from education. The marginalized communities like Dalits, and Tribes have been traditionally excluded from the knowledge production system. Perhaps a challenging task for these communities is to locate themselves in the mainstream education sector and secure economic and political advantages in the era of globalization.
This piece deals with the issues of caste nepotism and corruption in the state of Maharashtra, particularly in north Maharashtra where communities like, Maratha Patil, Leva Patil, Deshmukh and other Marwadi communities have monopoly over educational institutions. The first three communities play an important role in education industry in north Maharashtra due to their caste influence and socio-cultural capital. In this connection we need to examine the linkages between upper caste lobbies, corruption and recruitment procedure in North- Maharashtra.
Dalits in India have traditionally witnessed the process of exclusion from education system which was controlled and regulated by Brahmins. In spite of having constitutional provision Dalits are still lagging behind in education. Exclusion of Dalits is seen at various levels in education sector. According to Vivek Kumar ( 2007), there are four types of educational exclusion faced by Dalits – 1) Exclusion from the ownership of educational centers 2) Exclusion from becoming knowledge seekers 3) Exclusion from becoming knowledge givers and, 4) Exclusion of world view and icons of Dalits from educational curriculum ( Kumar 2007: 369).
Upper caste lobbies in north Maharashtra dominate the procedure of recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff, which consequently has resulted in a bribery system. For example, in Jalgaon district of North Maharashtra, a person aspiring to become a primary teacher has to pay a bribe amount of 15- 20 lakh rupees. The rates for lecturer are around 30-40 lakhs in upper caste dominated institutions. Places like Chopda, Yawal, Raver, and Amalner in Jalgaon district are renowned for bribery and corruption. Moreover, institutions like, Raisoni, Suresh Dada Jain engineering college etc. demand hefty donations from students.
Even if a person from a marginalized community manages to pay the required amount his chances for selections are rare because priority is being given to their community members by these lobbies. Thus we can say that, through practicing caste principles in education system, there is a continual attempt to keep the members marginalized communities away from teaching as a profession.
The nexus of these caste lobbies has branched out in several directions from rural to urban areas, however, the corruption in these institutions often goes unnoticed. So when we talk about corruption in general we need to understand the real face of corruption which is camouflaged in the caste identity. As Vivek Kumar argues that, corruption is not a faceless enemy but has a identity of caste and he expounds that “Corruption can be defined as a mechanism by which, a numerically small section of society denies majority of its people a plethora of rights and privileges whether it is ‘Human rights for dignified existence’, ‘equality: economic, political and social’, ‘liberty of occupation, residence and religious practices, fraternity etc. By doing this numerically smaller group monopolizes religious, political, economic and educational and judicial institutions etc” (Kumar 2013:58).
In conclusion we may note that the hierarch of caste and its influence still perpetuates in various socio- economic and educational institutions. Above mentioned example of North Maharashtra presents an example of how the resources and educational institutions are regulated with caste lobbying. Despite of having good academic performance in academic and professional courses Dalits and other backward candidates have to face the politics of favoritism. There is a need to find out a significant way to stop this discrimination against marginalized people and ensure their proper representation in the selection process. It can be done through monitoring the recruitment procedure to reduce the caste prejudices and uproot the roots of social-educational discrimination against Dalits.
References
Kumar Vivek. 2013. “Recognizing Structures of Corruption and Understanding the Nature of Mobilization Against it”. In: M.N. Thakur & D, Rai. Ed. 2013. “Democracy on the Move? Reflections on Moments, Promises and Contradictions”. New Delhi: Aakar Publications, pp- 57-68.
Kumar Vivek (2007) “Representation of Marginalized Sections and Indian Political Parties”.
Wankhede G.G. (May, 2001) “Educational Inequalities among Scheduled Castes in Maharashtra”. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol- XXXVI No 18, Pp. 1553-1558.
Swapnil Dhanraj is a Ph.D Scholar at Center for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
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