Relative deprivation of marginalised groups: an exploration of variations in school participation across states

Abstract

Muslims, constituting around 14 per cent population of the country, has been one of the most disadvantaged section of the Indian society. On most socio-economic indicators, they are on the margins of structures of political, economic, and social relevance; their average condition is comparable to or even worse than the country’s acknowledged historically most backward communities, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes. Education is both cause and effect of this disadvantage. When compared to their high-class Hindu equivalents, Muslims have been found to be deprived of education. An analysis of the factors contributing to deprivation in education among Muslims can give us more insights into the potential solutions of the problem. While studying deprivation at the national level has been useful to some extent, it does not explain why Muslims are better off in few states compared to others. Therefore, a state-level analysis of relative deprivation is more helpful. We undertook this project to study about the efficacy of state-level policies on development and upliftment of Muslims. We believe that identifying the relevant factors will help the government make better policy decisions for these groups.