"Darkness under lamp" in "not a cow dung" state and ruled by 'liberals', populated by "academic intellect"
In the class of "Academic intellect" and "the torchbearer of equal/liberal rights", there are few Indian states often called as "Bimaru","Cow dung" states. They may be totally correct in giving those labels to states like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand are backward in terms of equality and inclusivity on gender, caste religions, education, and economy. Often the "conservative rulers/politicians" and "cow dung mindset of people" of these states are blamed for the unfortunates state of affairs in this part of geography.
Let me today ask a few questions which point towards "darkness under lamp." Yes, I am going to talk about a state which is mostly ruled by "liberal parties," and its society is claimed to be full of "liberal" and "progressive" values and in no way it is "Cow dung" /"Bhindi" state.
Can you guess the name of the state?
Ok, let me give one more hint: this state is going for assembly polls in eight phases!
Yes, you got it right, West Bengal.
Let me put those questions pointing towards "darkness under lamp" backed by well-established facts:
1. Can Women Freedom go well with high prevalence of Child Marriage?
In West Bengal, 41.6% girls of 20-24 years are married before the age 18 as per the latest NFHS 2019-20 report. This is HIGHEST in the country. Why? It was the same in NFHS 2015 as well. Why no decline?2. Can "Liberal Academic inclusive environment" go with poor inclusivity of Dalits and Adivasis in Higher education?
Despite having the most academic intellect, West Bengal has not been inclusive in higher education. You don't think so? Ok, let us look at the following facts as per AISHE 2018-19 data of Ministry of Education, Govt of India :
A) Only 9.6% of Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes) females (18-23 year group) are able to access to Higher Education. It is 16.5% at all India level. Why and how in a state which is 'progressives' and not 'casteist' for sure.
B) Only 14.1% Dalits (Scheduled Caste) and 10.1% Scheduled Tribes people of age 18-23 are enrolled in colleges and universities. Why?
Let's also look at the representation gap of STs state wise in Higher education which is calculated as the gap percentage of the category enrollment ratio to the overall enrollment ratio (=(Category GER-Overall GER)*100/Overall GER).
Let us go one step up, at the level of PhD students. let us look at table showing the women percentage among PhD pursuing students.
It is often told that we should judge the inclusivity of Dalits, Adivasis, and Women by looking at the Job level. What could be the best profession than Teaching at Higher Education which creates all other professionals?
In West Bengal, we only have 33.81% female among assistant professor in colleges/universities in similar category of Uttar Pradesh.
Now, look at the table showing the state-wise representation of Dalit, Adivasis, and backward class (SC-ST-OBC) among Faculty jobs in colleges/universities. There are only 20.83% of Faculty from SC-ST-OBC community in West Bengal which is almost half to so called 'most casteist' state Bihar. Only 1.21% of faculties are from Scheduled Tribes in college/universities in West Bengal as per AISHE 2018-19.
I have asked above questions without any intention to malign the image of West Bengal. There is no shame to accept that states like UP, Bihar are the most backward, and govt, politicians and the general public at large of these states deserve to be criticized for betterment. This blog's sole purpose is to look at the scenario of claimed to be progressive state West Bengal where I have spent more than 7 years and got in touch with few marginalized and underprivileged village people residing outside the "metropolitan area". Is not it "Darkness under the Lamp" ? Tell in comment sections on our social media pages!
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