Abstract
The idea of equality insinuates the ‘idea of sameness’, and equity, on the other hand, includes ‘the idea of fairness’. These two concepts are often misinterpreted and interchangeably used, and this has led to impractical outcomes, further augmenting the divide between the privileged and the unprivileged. The editors and contributors of the volume under review have comprehensively questioned this difference of equality and equity across India’s North-eastern region, touching upon various themes of socio-economic injustices. The book critically highlights India’s multifarious social structures (ethnicity, religion and region) and reflects upon the perspectives of the disadvantaged communities.
The wide range of topics dealt with in this volume methodologically draws upon interdisciplinary research. It is organised into four sections covering the concept and the context of equity and equality, examining ethnicity, development and governance through a diverse range of politics, food, boundaries, women reservation and agriculture. The volume delves into the issues of marginalising women and religious minorities and examines the idea of equity in the domains of education. The introductory section by Kikhi and Gautam provides an extensive overview of the entire volume. Sharma and Bhuyan begin by arguing that Indian society manifests inequalities in multiple ways, be it in terms of gender, race, class, caste and varied lived experiences of citizenship. However, socio-economic inequalities are not taken into consideration when basic institutions are set up, as a consequence of which they fail to accommodate the interests of diverse categories of people. On similar lines, Kumar further demonstrates the misconceptions of equality and equity. The author posits how equity takes into consideration the existing differences of people and makes opportunities available to all. On the other hand, equality uniformly distributes opportunities among the unevenly located people. Jose SVD further examines India’s growing religious (Hindu) majoritarianism and exclusivity, corruption and violence that greatly restrict the idea of equity. In regions like the North-east the issues are more complex and the author highlights how developmental strategies must be reinvented to promote equity. A similar line of argument is presented by Gupta, who reflects upon the equity discourse by examining the states of North-east India and critically highlighting how ethnic conflicts arise when different ethnic groups compete for valued resources and opportunities. Such deprivation entangled with ethnicity, development and governance can lead to the formation of politically driven ethnic groups to demand for certain rights and privileges like the case of Sikkim as argued in Sinha’s chapter. On the note of imbalanced development, Kipgen’s work on the entitlement of food and its relation to the Kuki-Chin groups in Manipur reflects the consequences of unequal distribution of resources and malfunctioned policies (e.g., the Public Distribution System or PDS during the Mautam famine) that exacerbated ethnic tensions and imbalanced development. Roluahpuia’s chapter examines the various land reforms, regulations and laws, such as the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms Bills (Seventh Amendment) (1960), and how it operates in the valley areas alone, excluding the hill areas where lands are governed under the customary tribal laws. Through the analysis of land issues and reforms, the author shows how the persistent demand for a uniform land policy by dominant valley-based groups and organisations will drastically affect the marginalised hill tribes. The chapter by Lalfakzuala questions the inclusivity of women in tribal areas governed by traditional institutions. At least one-third of the seats in the village councils are reserved for women; however, by examining the statistical data from the state reports in Mizoram, the author questions how and why tribal women are still under-represented. Das presents an interesting chapter based on comparative ethnographic analysis to posit how the idea of equity can be understood by reflecting upon various resource egalitarianism and sustainable resource management systems practised by various North-eastern tribes (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya).
The third section, through the combined works of Goswami, Deka and Singh, provides a useful overview of the marginalisation of women and religious minorities. Goswami delineates the issues of women trafficking from the North-east region and argues that an integrative and comprehensive approach must be contrived to tackle this issue. On the note of gender, Deka further examines the role of women within ethnic movements in Assam and reflects how group rights and ethnic identities often overpower and delimit the question of gender equality. Singh’s chapter studies the subjugation of a religious minority called ‘Pangals’ (one of Manipur’s religious minorities). The author presents a brief historical analysis of the group and their issues relating to political representation and reservation which has led to religious insecurity. The last section provides a critical examination of the education system in India that has created a lacuna for the North-east. Josephine explores an understudied area of high literacy and high youth unemployment rate in various parts of the North-east and presents the myriad of problems faced by them and the possible solutions that might be able to tackle these challenges. Malish’s chapter offers a subtle argument on how the democratisation of higher education can create an inclusive education system. The author argues that non-academic attributes of individuals (social and economic circumstances) should be removed as an obstacle for one’s access to and success in education and certain groups should no longer be favoured. On similar lines, Haripriya further questions the fractured space of stratification in universities and explores how ‘neutral meritocracy’ continues to be used against those marked out as ‘category’ students.
The volume represents an important culmination of work by different contributors who have comprehensively reflected upon the idea of equity across a plethora of issues. Though the volume is not extensively exhaustive, it binds together distinct topics ranging from education, agriculture, women, religion, food, development and recurrent themes to extensively resonate with the equity discourse. The working of democratic politics in regions like Nagaland, the ethnic conflict, the ongoing infrastructural development in North-east India and its interconnections with many of the aspects of equality, equity and sustainable development can provide further room for research in the future. The volume’s comprehensive exploration of equity and its practical implications and outcomes in the context of North-east India provides new ideas for scholars, researchers, policy makers and for anyone who works to uplift the society for sustainable development.