Inequality in policy implementation: caste and electrification in rural India

Abstract

We examine unequal outcomes in the implementation of India’s national rural electrification program in Uttar Pradesh. We ask two questions: (1) to what extent did Dalits, the lowest group in India’s caste hierarchy, receive less attention when the state electrified rural communities? (2) Was BSP, the state’s Dalit party, able to reduce this inequality? Using data from a hundred thousand villages, we provide robust evidence for unequal outcomes. Villages inhabited solely by Dalits were 20 percentage points less likely to be covered by the program than villages without any Dalits. Moreover, a regression discontinuity analysis shows that the electoral success of BSP failed to reduce such differences. These results highlight the magnitude and persistence of caste inequality in the implementation of democratic public policy, despite political representation.

Electrification and welfare for the marginalized: Evidence from India

“…10 Dugoua et al [2017] addressed the issue of caste-based social exclusion by looking at the differential effect of the RGGVY on the likelihood of electrification by caste groups at the village level for six relatively poorer states in India. Aklin et al [2020] looked at the caste based electrification rate in Uttar Pradesh between 2001 to 2011. Both studies found that the likelihood of electrification was significantly higher for villages with more forward caste communities than Dalit (SC) communities.…”

“…Socioeconomic disparities between dominant and marginalized groups has been widely documented in India [Thorat and Neuman, 2012, Drèze and Sen, 2013, Thorat et al, 2017, Zacharias and Vakulabharanam, 2011. However, less is understood about the effects of public policies on these disparities [Aklin et al, 2020, Kennedy et al, 2019, Pelz et al, 2020. Social discrimination can have negative welfare impacts, but can public policies counter these effects?…”

“…Available studies on caste and electrification have focused only on the extensive margini.e., the likelihood of electricity access for marginalized caste groups. Empirical studies have used either cross-sectional estimations at the national level or village and household fixed effects analysis at the regional level to quantify the likelihood of electricity access for the marginalized groups [Dugoua et al, 2017, Saxena and Bhattacharya, 2018, Aklin et al, 2020, Pelz et al, 2020. These studies have generally found that marginalized communities, at best, did not have a higher likelihood of gaining electrification as compared to the dominant groups.…”

“…Filling these gaps in the literature is important for several reasons. First, studies have found large variation and redistribution of electricity hours at the household level despite the progress in providing electricity connections [Sedai et al, 2020a, Aklin et al, 2020. Aklin et al [2020] found that the poor quality of electricity connection in rural areas was driven by socio-economic inequalities and political motivations.…”

“…First, studies have found large variation and redistribution of electricity hours at the household level despite the progress in providing electricity connections [Sedai et al, 2020a, Aklin et al, 2020. Aklin et al [2020] found that the poor quality of electricity connection in rural areas was driven by socio-economic inequalities and political motivations. 6 Second, electrification is only a 4 For example, see Dinkelman [2011], Sedai et al [2020a], Churchill and Ivanovski [2020], Allcott et al [2016], Rao [2013], Khandker et al [2014], Samad and Zhang [2019], Sedai et al [2020b], Chakravorty et al [2014] for positive effects.…”