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Article: Caste aside. (social relations in India) (Asia)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- August 18, 1990
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1990 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IT IS not just the United States that wrestles with the question of reverse discrimination-privileged treatment for groups of people (in America, usually blacks) who have been discriminated against in the past. Ever since it became an independent country 40-odd years ago, India has made clumsy efforts to make up for the centuries of oppression the rigid Hindu caste system was responsible for. The attempted redress only made matters worse.
Now they are being made worse still: the prime minister, Mr V.P. Singh, has just announced that 27% of government and public-sector-company jobs are to be set aside for "intermediate" castes, which account for almost half of ...