Discrimination rife in Indian economy

---

Jo Johnson, FT Syndication Service
NEW DELHI: Male graduates applying for private sector jobs in India are far more likely to progress to the next round if they have high-caste Hindu names than if they have surnames associated with dalit (formerly untouchable) or Muslim origins, new research has found.
Far from being a hangover from the past found only at the margins of a newly meritocratic society, such discrimination is rife in the most dynamic sectors of the Indian economy, according to a joint study undertaken by academics from Princeton University and the Indian Institute for Dalit Studies.
Making use of techniques pioneered in the US to measure discrimination against blacks and other minorities, researchers made 4,808 job applications to 548 graduate level openings advertised in newspapers by blue chip Indian and multinational companies, changing only the names of identically qualified candidates.
Appropriately qualified applicants with a dalit name had odds of progressing to the next stage of the recruitment process that were two thirds of those of an equivalently qualified candidate with a high caste Hindu name, while those of an equally qualified Muslim candidate were only around a third as good.