From Equity to Preferential Equity

This chapter describes at great length the extension of reservations (quotas) to Other Backward Classes (OBCs), by far the most important and most controversial initiative during Arjun Singh’s second stint as Minister, MHRD. It also describes the policy initiatives to advance the education of Muslims including a special focus on Muslims in programmes like SSA, constitution of a National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions with far reaching powers, of the Rajendra Sachar committee on the social economic and educational status of the Muslim, and the Ranganath Mishra Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities. In order to place these developments in a historical perspective the chapter offers an analysis of different dimensions of equity in education, the policies adopted from time to time advance equity in education, the distinction between equalization of opportunities and preferential equity, the seminal contribution of Ram Maonhar Lohia to the concretisation of the concept of preferential equity in the Indian context, and the sociological and political connotations of inclusion in education.