THE PROBLEM OF EDUCATION OF BACKWARD CLASSES IN MAHARASHTRA

This essay on the problem of backward classes in Maharashtra is not only a very, very important issue, since neoliberalism has now made dominant agrarian castes impoverished and thus pushed them down the ladder of political economy. It is also important since it recalls the very important question: should Indian society be understood in terms of “class” (the usual Marxist analysis) or that of “caste”? And where does one fit in the idea of “backward classes? Is this idea a scientific one? It is with these questions that we turn to the problem of education of backward classes in Maharashtra. After independence we had First Five Year Plan in 1951 in which we decided to provide special facilities for the education of the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes. It was expected that their advance would be so rapid that within a period of 10 years protective discrimination would no longer be required. In other words, it was hoped that the gap between the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and the others was expected to be bridged during the space of these 10 years. It is necessary to point out here how these expectations have been fulfilled in Maharashtra.