Reachout Anti Discrimination Project Delhi NCR Discrimination Survey 2014 Key Findings

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Reachout Anti-Discrimination Project : Delhi-NCR Discrimination Survey 2014 - Key Findings -

Kishalay Bhattacharjee *

Reachout Anti-Discrimination Project : Delhi-NCR Discrimination Survey 2014

Why This Survey?

Reachout Anti-Discrimination Project was launched to address the need to recognize ethnic and racial discrimination that is so prevalent in India.

To take effective measures to prevent and combat discrimination needs deepening the understanding of discrimination, its causes and extent - as well as the impact of policies and practices designed to tackle it.

With frequent reports of alleged racist attacks in Delhi and the National Capital Region, Reachout Foundation perceived a lack of comprehensive data on the nature of alleged discrimination against people from Northeastern India in cities like Delhi. Our emphasis thus has been to generate comprehensive and defensible empirical data on the extent and variation of racist attitudes and experiences, in order that they could inspire or guide anti-discrimination policies.

The main objective of the present survey is to understand the extent and scope of ethnic/racial discrimination perceived by people from India’s Northeast living in Delhi-NCR. The targeted population for the survey were people from all the eight north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura who are currently living in Delhi and the NCR (Ghaziabad, Noida and Gurgaon). The respondents were selected using mixed sampling techniques of probability and non-probability methods. The targeted sample was of 1000 respondents across thirty different locations in Delhi and the NCR.

Key Findings:
Is Discrimination A Reality?

Is discrimination a reality for those individuals from the Northeast who are living in Delhi? While we can’t say for certain whether or not these individuals have been discriminated against, study reveals that slightly more than half of respondents perceived as such.

o 54 per cent respondents experienced some kind of discrimination

What Are The Kinds Of Discrimination?

The study reveals that majority of respondents who felt discriminated said that they faced ethnic or racial discrimination. Males and females reported along similar lines when it came to the basis of discrimination.

How Is The Situation In Delhi In Terms Of Discrimination?

The situation in Delhi regarding racial/ethnic discrimination is most worrying at least for the Northeast people.
74 per cent respondent felt that the situation in Delhi about discrimination is most worrying

Discrimination by profession

Profession	Yes	No
Government Service	57	43
Private Service	58	42
Private Enterprise	54	42
Unemployed	44	53
Students	54	44
Other	57	43

Response To Discrimination:
The worrying statistic is only 4 per cent of the victims of discrimination reported it to the police.

o Measures against Discrimination disaggregated by gender

Kind of Responses	Male	Female
Reported to the police	4	4
Told family and friends but not police	19	35
Told friends but not family	21	12
Told family but not friends	1	2
Did not say anyone	11	13
No response	44	34

o Discrimination due to ethnic origin

The Causes Of Discrimination:
The major cause for discrimination that emerged from the survey was prejudice and lack of awareness about the Northeast people

Causes of discrimination

Cause of discrimination	Per cent
Prejudice and lack of understanding	64
Indifference	13
Lack of Interaction	20
No response	3

Perception About Themselves

One of the most worrying trends is that the respondents feel they are being looked upon with suspicion. Most of the respondents said that there is trust deficit between them and other ‘Indian people’.

Way Forward
The most positive response is that most people hope that discrimination will be eliminated. They feel that the government and social bodies will be integral in addressing the problem of discrimination.

What they think about Delhi?

In a positive response at least 47 per cent respondents have hope that this city can be free from discrimination in the future while 30 per cent have negative feelings regarding this and they think that it cannot be free from this attitude.

Note: The report is being released by Justice K G Balakrishnan, Chairperson NHRC at IIC, New Delhi on Dec 6th 2014 at 2:30 p.m

Read/Download the full report here

* Kishalay Bhattacharjee sent this information to e-pao.net
The writer can be contacted at kishalayb(at)gmail(dot)com
This article was posted on December 06 , 2014.

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