Abstract
In this thesis I explore the affect positive discrimination has on the Scheduled Caste (SC) students on University of Hyderabad (UoH) in India. The aim is to analyze how reservation policies on central and state level in India affect the students who benefit from this policy. I take a bottom- up perspective and start out by asking three questions: First, how has positive discrimination affected the SC students’ sense of identity? Second, what is the role of the Dalit students’ organizations? And finally, how is casteism reproduced in the university?
I have analyzed structures on government level and on local level, childhood memories, political participation, discrimination and conflicts. And I found that since the reservation policy is based on caste identity, caste becomes an imperative identity for the SC students’ everyday life. SC identity can in many situations decide if a low caste person will be accepted in higher education, get a particular job or receive scholarships. Caste identity becomes very relevant in smaller spheres like the university where the effects of reservation policies are manifested and where everyone is affected, one way or the other.
In the absence of the reservation system, many SC students would not be able to enter in to higher education. Education is a scarce resource and the competition for university seats and scholarships are fierce. As a result, resentment and stigma is generated among the students. Students who do not receive benefits experience that they are losing opportunities, due to the increase of reservation seats in the universities. The reservation policy allows SC students with less merit to enter the university. For the reserved category students, being enrolled in the university is perceived as a possibility which has been kept from them.
The SC students come to the university as individuals, with different economical, religious, social status and language backgrounds. But when they enrolled at the university they are treated as one group, stigmatized as low performing and incompetent students who were able to enter the university because of their caste identity.
Based on my findings, my argument is that, both government structures and the university structures highlight the importance of caste and contributes to the production of casteism in the university context.