Slice by slice

Narrowing of the gender gap in education is a key measure of a nations progress on the development arc. And Indias made some progress. According to data from the Central Statistical Organisation,in 1950-51 there were just 15.4 women for every 100 men in the arts discipline in universities. In the commerce stream,there were just about 0.5 women for every 100 men,and in engineering,0.3. Change began to be consolidated in the 1990s and later. By 2004-05,there were 87.3 women for every 100 men in the arts,and just about as many in the sciences. The corresponding figures for commerce and engineering were 51.6 and 31.1. Thats progress,but it is not near enough.

The first question that arises therefore is,will the Uttar Pradesh governments decision to enforce reservations for women in state universities and affiliated colleges make a difference? The Mayawati government issued an order on June 11 stipulating a 20 per cent quota for women in all categories to be implemented horizontally. That is,there shall be a 20 per cent sub-quota for women within existing quotas for instance,for SCs,STs and OBCs. Should there be an insufficient number of women eligible for a certain course and category,the seats would be filled by other candidates. As enrolment figures indicate,women tend to be present in relatively abundant numbers in arts,sciences and commerce courses. Therefore,the impact of the quotas will likely be felt in engineering and perhaps,medical courses. The measure is also clearly targeted at rural areas,and at increasing enrolment within socio-economic subsets.

But given that the UP government has dovetailed inexplicable quotas for assorted categories dependents of ex-army personnel and freedom fighters,for instance,admissions departments will be pulling out their calculators for a perfect fit. Indeed,to optimise benefits of affirmative action,India needs to move away from indelibly laying down exactly how many of a particular category of aspirants must be included in each course. Nonetheless,by adding different criteria like gender and physical disability and overlapping them with existing ones for reservation,Mayawati has recast the debate on how to measure and extinguish disadvantage.