Inequality of Opportunity in Indian Society

Recent debates on distributive justice have started to prioritize inequality of opportunities, thatis exclusively generated from circumstance factors beyond individual control. Using data from theNational Sample Survey we estimate inequality of opportunity for India in consumption expenditureand wage earning, on the basis of caste, sex, region and parental backgrounds as our circumstances.Adopting the widely used methods of non-parametric and parametric analysis, we find that even in2011-12, more than one-third of the total wage inequality can be attributed to the differences in theascribed social positions of an individual. Inequality of opportunity in consumption on the otherhand is relatively low. Furthermore, we used the regression tree algorithm to find the hierarchicalorder among the circumstances and construct the opportunity tree for India, that the previousmethods are unable to provide. In the fashion of machine learning, the opportunity tree identifiesparental background as one of the most important circumstance factor behind the underlying unequalopportunity in the country, for either outcomes. But the effect of casteism is prominent as well, thatin interaction with region, affirms a forward caste premium for most part of the country, particularlyfor the regular salaried wage earners.