In the old Sufi story about the wise-fool, Mullah Nasruddin, the mullah, is seen searching for a key under a street lamp. Helpful passers-by join in, but to no avail. They ask the mullah if he is sure he lost the key there. The mullah replied that he actually lost it yards away but since it was dark he thought of looking for it under the street lamp. For close to 60 years, India has had reservations to help SCs/STs, who are severely under-represented among Indians, with higher education. Yet it has reservations for them in institutions far away from where the target population lives.

India seems to have missed learning from the American experience with respect to the higher education of African-Americans, Hispanics and native Americans. Together with affirmative action in universities across the US, the higher education institutions that significantly impacted these populations were the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). HBCUs were situated in towns and cities with a very high Blacks or Hispanic populations. For example, more than 80 per cent of African-American doctors and dentists were trained by the two traditionally Black colleges of medicine and dentistry, Meharry and Howard. In other words, even though all institutions in the US provide affirmative action, the impact of the HBCUs on the higher education of African Americans is huge.

While outside of the Northeast many lists of backward districts, many of them tribal dominated, have been made and special programmes targeting them have been formulated, none of these programmes have had an adequate impact. In this regard, let us take the example of the ill-famed KBK districts of Orissa. They show up in most lists of backward districts and have a very high tribal population. After it was realised that short-term ‘band aid’ solutions did not quite do much to address the backwardness of this region, several special programmes, both Central and state, have focused on the KBK districts since 1995. However, none of them have had an operational higher education component. This has restricted their effectiveness. More often than not, teachers, doctors and other professionals treat a posting in these districts as a punishment and do not show up.

... contd.