Higher Education and the Socio-economic Development of Indian Minorities MOHAMMAD ALLAM Minto Circle, AMU Aligarh Mob:8899487660 e-mail-mohammad_allam@rediffmail.com

Higher Education and the Socio-economic Development of Indian Minorities

MOHAMMAD ALLAMMinto Circle, AMU AligarhMob:8899487660e-mail-mohammad_allam@rediffmail.com

INTRODUCTION

India is the second largest country in the world after China in term of population. According to Census 2011, the total population of India is 1.21 billion 1.The total populations of minorities (here in term of religion) is about 19 percent. There are six minority communities in India. The last community which declared as minority community is Jain.2At present, there is six government declared minority communities in India.3 Among all the minority communities, Muslim is in a dominant position with the largest numbers while the numbers of Parsi is merely 69000(2001); very negligible to the total population of the country and minority communities. So, the data related to Parsi uses to be omitted by the various studies.There is a strong relationship between socio-economic development and higher education which the UNESCO acknowledges in its World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty- First Century: Vision and Action. As per the UNESCO Higher education has given ample proof of its viability over the centuries and of its ability to change and to induce change and progress in society. Owing to the scope and pace of change, society has become increasingly knowledge-based so that higher learning and research now act as essential components of cultural, socio-economic and environmentally sustainable development of individuals, communities and nations4 Due to emergence of knowledge-based society, higher education has assumed the importance among the people, nations and world community. The speedy emergence of the Global world in the 21th century has put the importance of higher education beyond the boundaries of the nations. The research oriented development models of the societies around the world and ongoing market-driven regions in the world have put higher education as a catalyst for economic, social, human development etc. of the world.

In the context of a nation like India, the socio-economic development of minority communities is important for the advancement of the nation. The socio-economic development means the improvement in the standard of living due to changes in education, employment, income, skill development etc. In this paper, the socio-economic development has been used to see the overall improvement in the standard of living of the community due to changes in the higher education. The socio-economic development is referred to the ability to produce an adequate and growing supply of goods and services productively and efficiently, to accumulate capital, and to distribute the fruits of production in relatively equitable manner5There are many indicators of the improvement in the standard of the living of a community. These are employment, income, skill development, life expectancy; education etc. This paper has used some important indicators to find the impact of higher education on the socio-economic development of the communities.There is a wider difference at the socio-economic, educational, cultural, political etc. levels among the minority communities of India. The most backward community among the minorities is Muslims. In spite of being the largest community among the minorities, constituting about 72.6 percent of all minority population, Muslims are behind than other minority communities of India. There are many reasons for the backwardness of Indian Muslims. These may be the low educational attainment, weak economic condition, low level of access to modern technology, poor health care system, lack of employment, political marginalization etc. This paper has taken higher education as one of the reasons for the study of the socio-economic conditions of Indian minorities comparatively.

OBJECTIVE OF STUDYThere are following objectives of the paper.To study the population of Indian minority communitiesTo study the higher education of minority communitiesTo study the role of higher education in socio-economic development of minority communities To compare the socio-economic condition of Indian minority communities QUESTION AND IMPORTANCE OF STUDYIn the light of the objectives, there are following questions which have been raised by the present paper whose answers are essential to understanding the central points of study the relationship of higher education with the socio-economic condition of minorities. These questions are:What is the population of Indian minority communities?What is the status of higher education among Indian minorities? What is the role of higher education in the socio-economic development of minorities?Is any community ahead in higher education, also ahead in socio-economic development?

This study is important to understand the role of higher education in the socio-economic development of minority communities. In many studies much emphasis has been put on just education particularly on primary education. There is no doubt that primary education is important but without converting that primary education attainment into higher education, no community could advance in socio-economic matters. Higher education provides skills for employment, for business, for the job, for innovation, for research, for vision, and for political empowerment. This paper has studied the socio-economic advancement of the minorities due to attainment in higher education. This paper would give insight to the policy maker, planner, community developer, NGOs, international communities and international organizations into the socio-economic development of the minority communities of India. So, in future, they could consider on the attainment of the higher education and its impact on the socio-economic development of a community. They could allocate more resources on the expansion of higher education among minority communities particularly Muslims.The present government under Honourable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has started numerous campaigns like Make in India7, Start-Up India8 to make India as leading economic powers of the world by encouraging manufacturing in India. This study would help to understand the potentialities of minority communities and their contribution to the economic development of the country. The Make in India campaign could be realized through higher education and human development as many leading economies of the world have achieved in the past. The more a community would attain higher education, the more that community would be higher in human development and the socio-economic development.

METHODOLOGY AND DATA

The present study is based on the secondary data derived from various sources and has used Descriptive Analytical Method. The data have been derived from the following sources.Census SurveyMinistry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)Ministry of Minority Affairs (MOMA)All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE)University Grants commission (UGC)NATIONAL ASSESSMENT AND ACCREDITATION COUNCIL (NAAC) UNESCONational Sample Survey (NSSO)Make In India websiteSachar Committee ReportPlanning CommissionDocuments of Five Year PlansJournalsMagazinesPaperThesesNews Papers etc.The data have been taken directly from the sources while in somewhere the data have been taken from the sources and re-arranged as per the requirement of the paper. Much care has been taken to use the reliable data derived from the authentic sources and concerned special agencies. So, the study would be more valid and reliable.

MINORITY COMMUNITIES AND THEIR NUMBERS

Among all the six declared minority communities of India, Muslim is the largest and dominant community. As per the Census 2011, the numbers of the various minority communities are given in Table-1

Table-1 Population of Minority Communities in India

Source(s): a-Census-2011 b-The Hindu 9

S.NoName of the Minority CommunityTotal Population(in Crores)Percentage of the Total population of Country(2011-1.21 billion)Percentage of Increase in the population1Muslim17.2214.224.6%2Christian2.782.315.5%3Sikh2.081.78.4%4Buddhist0.840.76.1%5Jain0.450.45.4%6Parsi69000(2001)-0.007(2001)12% decadal decline

The Table-1 shows that in term of numbers, among all the minority communities, Muslim is the largest community. This community is about sixth times bigger than the second-largest minority community of India. Among other minority communities, Sikhs are 2.08 crores, Buddhists are 0.84 crores; Jains are 0.45 crores and Parsi below one lakh. In term of the rate of growth, Muslim community growth rate is 24.6 percent which is the lowest growth rate in six decades. The other minority communities like Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain are 15.5 percent, 8.4 percent, 6.1 percent and 5.4 percent respectively. The growth rate of Parsi is on the decline and their numbers have negligible impact in comparing to the total population of the country and minority communities.

MINORITY COMMUNITIES AND THEIR LEVEL OF LITERACYThere is a need to see the literacy ratio to understand the socio-economic condition of minority communities. The more the literacy ratio of a community, the more that community is advanced in numerous areas. The Table-2 gives the literacy ratio of major minority communities of India.

Table-2 Literacy Ratio of Minority Communities of India

Source(s): a-Census survey b-ClickPune.com10

S.NoName of the community 2001 2015MaleFemaleTotalMaleFemaleTotal1Muslim67.650.159.172.963.968.42Christian84.476.280.391.485.388.33Sikh75.263.169.487.681.284.44Buddhist83.161.772.789.276.582.85Jain97.490.694.198.394.696.46Parsi-------97.9----------

The Table-2 shows the data of literacy of Census 2001 and 2015(calculated on the basis of Census 2011).As per the Table-2, the community which lags behind in the literacy is 2011 and 2015 are Muslim while the highest literacy rate is of Parsi and Jain. The Jain has been declared as a minority community in 2014.The other communities which follow Jain in literacy are Sikh, Christian Buddhist etc. How near a community is to Higher education?There is a need to see the status of minority communities from just literacy to senior secondary levels to understand the performance in higher education. The question is; are those communities which higher in literacy ration, ahead in senior secondary-the near to higher education, too? The Table-3 gives the status of minority communities from primary level to senior secondary level.

Table-3 Status of Minority community from Primary to Senior Secondary levels.

Source: Census 2001Includes Literacy without education level, below primary level and Primary levelThe Table-3 shows that the status of all minority communities is not equal at every level. The status of Muslims is better at Primary level with 65.31 than other communities but reaching to senior secondary level, the community lags behind than other communities while other communities somehow are reaching to senior secondary level in better position. Over all, the minority communities could not sustain the momentum till senior secondary level. There may be many reasons which are right now beyond the scope of the present paper.

S.NoName of CommunityUpto Primary Level*MiddleSecondarySenior Secondary1All Religion55.5716.0914.136.742Hindu54.9116.1814.256.923Muslim65.3115.1410.964.534Christian45.7917.1317.488.75Sikh46.7016.9320.947.576Buddhist54.6917.5214.097.657Jain29.5112.2721.8713.848Others62.1217.4811.244.55

Minority Communities in Higher EducationThe purpose of this paper is to see the relationship between higher education and socio-economic development. The advancement in higher education is mostly seen in term of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER).GER is defined as the ratio of students enrolled in a particular level of education (regardless of age) to the population of ocial school age for that level of education11There is a wider gap among the condition of minority communities in Higher education in India. The Table- 4 gives the clear picture of the minority community for the last 25 years. The data have been derived from NSSO gives a constant growth in higher education among all minority communities. The data about the Jain has been given as religious group as this community has been declared as a minority community in 2014 only. The Table-4 is about the Gross Enrollment Ration (GER) of the minority communities taking both rural and urban status.

Year Gender/ReligiousGroupsHinduMuslimChristianSikhJainBuddhistOthersTotal1983Male14.82 7.3515.1412.1336.6913.3614.5413.91Female7.12 2.8023.058.8727.214.4110.317.01Total12.15 5.5917.2011.2833.0410.7713.3411.521993-94Male16.45 8.3023.009.9030.8117.5415.6115.61Female8.01 4.3619.2711.0124.837.727.987.98Total12.38 6.3921.1410.4828.1912.4411.9211.922004-05Male19.86 11.1530.0715.6456.8820.7417.6618.84Female14.04 7.4425.6819.1627.1121.508.7013.53Total17.08 9.3827.8317.2443.6821.1013.3216.312007-08Male20.50 11.3125.3014.5747.3316.277.4019.12Female16.08 7.6831.3919.5060.0222.945.1915.32Total18.40 9.5628.4516.9053.4419.576.2417.312009-10Total2011.331.323.154.617.9-----18.8

Table-4GER by Religious Groups: Rural + UrbanSource(s): a-National Sample Survey b- Dalit Studies12

The Table- 3 shows the GER of the minority communities of India. The GER in higher education is highest in Jain community; followed by Christian, Buddhist and Hindu communities. The lowest GER in higher education is of the Muslim community; Starting from 5.59 GER in 1983 to 9.56 in 2007-08.The main features of GER of minority communities are: the lower growth of GER in a rural area as compare to urban area and less GER of female against male. There is also a difference between a male of urban and rural areas and female in an urban area to the rural female of rural area. There is a constant increase in all communities higher education with the passage of time. The advancement in higher education for those communities is higher whose economic condition is better than other communities. This relation shows that higher education promotes socio-economic development and socio-economic development promotes higher education.What Role the Higher Education plays in the Socio-economic Development of Minority Communities?Higher education plays an important role in the socio-economic development. A community which is higher in higher education is also ahead in socio-economic development. Here, only a few parameters of socio-economic development have been taken to the advancement of the minority communities. These are Income of the community, Level of poverty, Work participation, employment, life expectancy etc. The Table-5 gives the status of the various parameters of the in the socio-economic development of the communities.

Table-5 Status of Minority Communities in Socio-economic Development

S.NoName of minority communityLiving standardLevel of PovertyExp-2009-10(Monthly Per Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE)/Per Day)2004-052011-121All India1,128/37.51 37.722.02Muslim980.00/32.6643.625.43Christian1,543/51.4324.516.44Sikh1,659/55.3018.95.95Buddhist-----------------6Jain-----4.63.37Parsi--------------------

Source(s): a-NSSO Data 2009-10 b- The Hindu 13 , c- Panagaria A.14 d-Sunita Sanghi, A Srija 15

The Table-5 shows due to better in higher education, there is also found the difference in the living standard of the communities. In term of living standard, the Muslims are lowest both at rural (Rs. 833) and Urban (Rs 1,272) areas. The condition of other communities is better than Muslims in rural areas. The MPCE of Hindu is Rs 888, Sikhs Rs 1,498 and Christian Rs 1,296 respectively.In term of urban areas, the other communities are also better than Muslims. The MPCE of Sikh community is Rs 2, 180, Christian Rs 2,053 and Hindu Rs 1,797 respectively.If one sees in term of per day MPCE, Muslims are behind than other communities with 32.66.The other communities like Christian and Sikh etc. have Rs 51.43 and Rs55.30 per day respectively.Due to better higher education, the other minority communities also have less incidence of poverty. If one compares the level of the poverty of 2004-05 data with 2011-12, he finds that the level of poverty has declined. The level of poverty is highest in Muslim community. According to the calculation of Panagaria A. (Columbia University), 16 the incidence of poverty is the least among the higher educated people. It is about 2.8 for 2011-12(on Tendulkar Line) as compared to other levels of education and illiterate. The incidence of poverty for Secondary or higher secondary is 9.9, Middle is 18.3, Primary or less is 24.5.5 and illiterate is 33.5 for the year 2011-12.This shows the more the higher education the less level of incidence of poverty in a community.

Another parameter of socio-economic development is employment. The more and higher education a community attains the more and higher employment it gets. The Table-6 gives the employment status of the minority communities. The categories of employments e.g. Self-Employment (SE), Regular(R) and Casual(C) have been taken into consideration.

Table-6 Per 1,000 Distribution of Usually Employed by Status during 2009-10

CommunityRural MaleRural FemaleUrban MaleUrban FemaleSERCSERCSERCSERCHinduism537 83379547 41411397 441161393 404203Islam(Muslims)528 7939364939312496298205597216187Christianity500 168332554114332294450256284607109Sikhism545 12333378986125444352204515367118All India535 853805574439941141917041139396

SE=Self Employed R=Regular C=CasualSource(s):a- NSSO Data 2009-10Sunita Sanghi, A Srija 17The Table-6 Shows that the self-employment is higher among Muslims than other minority communities. While in the case of Regular Employment( R) the number of Muslims is less than other communities. Most of the Regular employment is based on the education. Here the number of employment (for males rural) in1000 for Muslim, Christians, Sikhs is 79,168 and 123 respectively. In rural for female in 1000 is least among Muslims which is 39.In Urban (males) and Urban (Females), Muslims numbers are 298 and 216 respectively which are less than other communities. Even, both at Rural and Urban levels, Muslims numbers are less than All India levels.

CONCLUSION There are many reasons for the socio-economic advancement of minority communities in India. The present paper has studied the relationship between Higher education and socio-economic development of minority communities of India. The role of the higher education in the socio-economic development has been studied and reached on this conclusion that those minority communities of India which have a higher level of higher education they are ahead in socio-economic development too. The Muslim community is behind in higher education than other minority community; as a result, this community is also behind in socio-economic development. The highest number in higher education is of Jain, so this community is higher in socio-economic development too. The study proves that higher education plays an important role in the socio-economic development.

SUGGESTIONS In the light of the study about the relationship between higher education and socio-economic development, the following suggestions could be put forwarded.There is a need to enhance the Gross Enrolment Ratio at All India level to advance the higher education among all the minority communities.There is a need to promote higher education among the members of Muslim, Sikh, and Buddhist communities.There should be an increase in the expenditure on higher education. The present spending of 1.2 percent of GDP on higher education is not sufficient as compared to worlds leading economies.The Human development of India could not meet the world standard without the high expenditure on higher education. The performance of the country could not improve at international level until and unless there would be no advancement of higher education accessible to all communities equally in India.Socio-economic development and higher education are interlinked. So, there is a need to promote the development of both.There is a need to emphasis on the higher education for women. In the study, it has been found that women of rural and urban areas are behind than their male counterpart at every level. No improvement can be done without the advancement of higher education among women.There is need to release complete data on various aspects of the higher education of minority communities.There is need to release data on higher education of minority communities at an equal interval. The government should direct the concerned departments/agencies to release data yearly community wise for higher education.There is a need to direct to Ministry of Minority Affairs to the commission or assign the duty to the organizations/agencies to collect data on socio-economic development and higher education of minority communities and release regularly.There is a need to promote higher education among minorities, particularly among Muslims by granting financial help or scholarship or loan or waiving fees at an institutional level to admitted students.

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