If caste census is the ‘X-ray’, mining can be the ‘treatment’

The Bihar government recently published the results of their caste survey which revealed that 85 per cent of Bihar’s population belong to the oppressed backward castes, Dalits, tribals and minorities and only 15 per cent to ‘forward’ castes.

However, nearly half the organised private sector jobs are taken up by the ‘forward’ castes while 90 per cent of uneducated people are from oppressed castes. Even in poor Bihar, the disparity among privileged and oppressed castes is very stark. The Bihar government’s response was to increase reservation for oppressed castes in government jobs from 50 per cent to 65 per cent. This is a lazy, thoughtless, cosmetic non-solution. It will neither solve Bihar’s caste divide nor give hope to the underprivileged.

The bulk of India’s future jobs will be created by the private sector, not the government. Sharing more of a shrinking cake of government jobs is futile and deceitful. India’s fiscal situation does not permit either the Centre or state governments to expand the public sector and create more government jobs. There is not enough money and if they do so, it will come at the expense of cutting down on welfare for the poor, which will be detrimental to the oppressed castes.

Then, is the solution to force reservations on the private sector? If the private sector does not take public resources for its business, it will be unconstitutional to impose reservations, which will be deemed as an attack on private property. The only solution then for inclusive economic development is to direct government policy to help create jobs in sectors that can employ large numbers of unskilled, uneducated people from the oppressed castes.

One such sector where many stars seem to align in India’s favour currently is mining and exploration for rare earths and critical minerals. The transition in global mobility from oil-based combustion engines to electric vehicles is now a certainty. Electric mobility technology is driven by batteries made up of minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earths. Demand for such minerals is expected to increase 20-40 times over the next few decades.

The global shift to electric mobility has triggered a race for critical minerals and rare earths across the world. China has pulled far ahead in this race in dominating the entire supply chain, from extracting minerals to battery technologies to designing and producing electric vehicles. The new bi-polar world order of a western bloc of democratic nations pitted against a China-led bloc of autocracies can work to India’s advantage. A partnership with the western bloc for technology and capital in return for access to opportunities to explore, mine and produce in a democratic India (at least on paper) can be mutually beneficial and can bring jobs and prosperity to hundreds of millions of youth.

Afghanistan has reportedly struck rich with a trillion-dollar find of these critical minerals in its Hindu Kush Mountain range, which China is now exploiting along with the Taliban. Geological reports suggest that it is likely that such minerals could also be found in India since it is roughly the same topology. India also has one of the longest coastlines in the world, which can be conducive for deep-sea mining. Reports indicate that the seabed around the Indian coastline is home to large deposits of nickel and cobalt. However, less than 10% of India’s landmass is explored and 2% mined, making it one of the least-explored large countries in the world. We simply do not know what lies beneath our feet and below our waters. It could potentially be riches.

Although a large percentage of extracts from exploring and mining critical minerals are often just waste and unusable, even starting large-scale exploration can unleash millions of jobs for people from oppressed castes. Mining and exploration are much more job-intensive than other economic activities such as manufacturing or agriculture. A previous Planning Commission report had said that mining produces six times more jobs than traditional manufacturing activities such as automobiles or semiconductors. More importantly, mining is location- and geography-specific. It takes jobs to people than move people to jobs and helps employ locals. Since minerals are often found in areas inhabited more by tribals and backward castes, it increases employment opportunities for these communities. Further, mining and exploration require much more unskilled labour vis-à-vis manufacturing, which makes tribals and backward castes more recruitable for mining, given the education and training disadvantages they tend to face. The intersection of these factors makes it logical that mining and exploration can be a crucial sector to create jobs for those that are left out currently from development.

Of course, there are legitimate potential pitfalls in spotlighting the mining industry, including ecological insensitivity and environmental concerns. Further, India’s private sector miners have not covered themselves in glory in the past with major issues of labour and land exploitation, and cronyism. However, all these concerns and past experiences are still not a reason to shun mining altogether, especially when there is a confluence of various factors and forces that have presented India a unique economic opportunity for truly inclusive growth. A robust, strict approach to regulation and enforcement to protect the environment, preventing loot and capture of land, and safeguarding the rights of labourers is a necessary and sufficient condition to tap into this opportunity.

A national debate has been triggered championing the case for a caste census, with Rahul Gandhi calling it a much-needed ‘X-ray’ of Indian society. The Modi government is reluctant to open this ‘Pandora’s Box’ for lack of clear solutions to what might emerge from that ‘X-ray’. But hiding from the problem won’t make it go away. Unique opportunities such as mining for rare earths and critical minerals can be the keys to opening this box.