Minding the gap

The Equal Opportunities Commissions expanded ambit should be applauded...

After a protracted bicker about the exact canvas of the Equal Opportunities Commission,and who in the government would own and operate it,the minority affairs ministry seems to have taken the larger view.

It was conceived from the Sachar Committees recommendations on addressing the deprivation of Indian Muslims,but the commission was intended as a revolutionary step that would go beyond the realm of reservations and have the widest footprint,according to Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid. The question of real import was whether it should remain restricted as a platform to redress minority disadvantage and be handled by that ministry,or be given greater amplitude to address disparities across religion,gender,caste and other axes. If the latter,there are logistical and philosophical hurdles as it cuts across the mandates of other panels for Scheduled Castes,women,children,etc,and several ministries had voiced their concerns. However,the minority affairs ministry has now ceded its claim to the EOC in the interests of a larger egalitarian mission. Driven with its own data and a deprivation index,it will inspect the diversity profile of institutions and incentivise them to better it.

Certainly,this could take the question beyond a competitive politics around reservations and try to front-and-centre equality and social mobility. The Sachar Committee revealed the extraordinary disadvantages of Indian Muslims. Other social groups,say,women,can also claim insidious disparities in their life chances. We know how economic disadvantage reinforces itself cumulatively,and across generations. So it is only fair that we broaden our sensitivities to difference,privilege and discrimination. This fits in with a global trend where separate legislations for race,sex,disability,etc have been merged into single equality-oriented bodies. So finally,anti-discrimination and diversity issues will be dovetailed into a single approach. However,it needs to ensure that its categories are open-ended and that its protective mechanisms are crystal clear,and that it not be prone to litigious procedure,etc. For instance,while employment and educational skews are easier to prove,there are all kinds of other hostilities in,say,the housing sector. Whats more,public bodies must be required to mind the diversity gap,and government tenders,subsidies,grants,etc must factor in this inclusivity profile of other institutions. Meanwhile,the EOCs back-and-forth with commissions for SC/ STs, minorities,women and human rights should be clarified and worked out.