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The report stresses that affirmative action needs to be backed up by effective enforcement, combined with capacity-building for implementation, strengthening accountability, and developing tools to support practitioners and those responsible for implementation
Dalits continue to face the severest forms of work discrimination in India, according to a new report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The report 'Equality At Work: Tackling Challenges At Work', released on May 10, says that although untouchability has been abolished by law, caste remains a dominant factor in determining the economic and social status of dalits. Dalits are confined to the most menial tasks. "Discrimination rooted in caste or similar systems of rigid social stratification is most widespread in South Asia, particularly in India and Nepal," says the report.
With limited access to education, training and resources including land and credit, dalits are generally not considered for any work involving contact with food and water for non-dalits. They also face discrimination in a wide range of work opportunities both in the public and private sector, says the global report. A persistent form of discrimination in South Asia has been caste-based discrimination, the report states, pointing to the continuing practice of dalits being engaged in the most menial jobs of clearing excreta or removal of dead animals.
It stresses that affirmative action needs to be backed up by "effective enforcement," combined with capacity-building for "implementation, strengthening accountability, and developing tools to support practitioners and those responsible for implementation".
The advantage of such a system, the report says, is that formal job evaluation, testing for job applications, training needs assessment, training evaluation, and performance-related payment may be more likely to develop in such a context.
The report cites the success of countries like Canada, South Africa and the US where legislation has made affirmative action mandatory. It notes that "where laws impose costs on employers in the event of non-compliance but do not enforce rigid measures such as quotas, employers have greater incentives to develop more sophisticated human resource systems".
The report also notes that Asian women face discrimination in terms of both employment opportunities and wage differences. In East Asia and the Pacific, the female share of non-agricultural paid employment increased to 43.5%, whereas in South Asia, the rate remained at 16.5%. In India, where the economy is growing, newer types of discrimination based on gender and age are being seen. Some 12% of employees in Indian workplaces said they were discriminated against on account of being HIV-positive. The report says HIV-positive women faced more discrimination (76%) than men (68%) even though 90% of them in the sample had been infected by their husbands.
The report also notes that negative attitudes towards hiring and retaining older workers are rooted in the perception that they are slow learners and less adaptable. It adds that the age bias can be reduced by adjusting workers' needs through job design or work re-organisation.
The report underlines the need for quality education to bridge the socio-economic divide, and urges greater action at the community and school level. It calls for more investment in quality education of younger members of disadvantaged groups in order to reduce school dropout rates and help improve the employment potential of backward classes.
Source: www.livemint.com, May 11, 2007
www.hindustantimes.com, May 11, 2007
Outlook, May 2007
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