Rakesh Basant: An Economic Perspective on the Condition of Muslims in India

Rakesh Basant of the Indian Institute of Management will be speaking on the �Socio-Economic Conditions of Muslims in India: Issues and Policy Response� on February 22, 2010, at the MacMillan Center. Dr. Basant received his M.Phil in Applied Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University and his Ph.D. in Economics from Gujarat University. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at Yale University�s Economic Growth Center from 191-1993. Many well-respected institutions have hired him for his expertise as a consultant, including the World Bank, The Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) in London, the UN University Institute of New Technologies in Maastricht, and the Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS) in Jaipur.

Dr. Basant is a faculty advisor for the National Entrepreneurship Network, a nonprofit which aims to create and support high-growth entrepreneurs, as well as to drive job-creation and economic growth in India. He is a Senior Fellow with the Observer Research Foundation, a think-tank which strives to research and influence India�s economic policies. His research experience includes a variety of issues relating to agricultural and industrial technology, industrial policy, and labor markets.

Dr. Basant identifies three inter-related issues typically faced by minority communities within a country, which include equity, security, and identity. Recent studies have compared the socio-economic conditions of Indian Muslims with other socio-religious groups, and they seem to suggest that having policies focusing on greater equality would positively impact issues of security and identity.

The Indian Muslim community exhibits a high degree of heterogeneity which affects the way that socio-economic problems should be addressed. Some prefer community specific interventions, whilst others desire equitable representation in more general programs. Dr. Basant posits that the analytical challenge is to properly understand the interplay of issues of security, identity, and equity, with a mind to identifying policy mechanisms which can address all of these concerns.