ABSTRACT
Educational empowerment of disadvantaged groups is such a critical concern that can neither be understood nor addressed without taking into account the overall context of the location of the groups. Social location of groups has deeper implications on access to public institutions. Access to public institutions, especially educational institutions, bears deep imprints of social location and economic standing of groups and communities. Educational institutions may appear as site of inclusion for those who have initial advantages of their social and economic belonging but they turn out to be site of exclusion for all those who lack ‘cultural capital’ due to their initial disadvantages of social and economic belonging. Therefore, despite the fact that education is considered to be an important means of social mobility and empowerment, access to the means itself becomes a problematic issue in a deeply hierarchical and unequal society like in India. Equal access to public institutions, including educational institutions, in a socially and culturally diverse and unequal society is a complex question. In such condition it is not only necessary to have a regime of formal guarantee of equal access and strong public policy interventions but also necessary to be supported by enabling conditions to realise the guarantee of equal access and inclusion. It must be taken note that the idea of formal equality of opportunity may not be realised as a substantive concern without an array of strengthened institutional structure and enabling social condition and environment. In a sense, any concern of inclusion and empowerment cannot be detached from the principle of parity of participation. 1 This is more so in the case of advancing the principle of equity in education as a means of inclusion and empowerment of all irrespective of their social, cultural or class belonging. The principle of democratic inclusion necessitates parity of participation. If parity of participation is a requisite of inclusion and empowerment, creation of enabling environment as a necessary condition of inclusion is equally important.
