Strong son preference in developing countries often motivates parents to undertake sex selection at birth, infanticide, and subsequent neglect of daughters, leading to low child sex ratios in these countries. An interesting question is whether such attitudes also lead to gender discrimination in...

Primary completion rates of Muslims in West Bengal are substantially lower than that of upper caste communities as well as backward castes, scheduled castes and tribes. Further, analysis of age-specific pcr indicates that differences in pcr between Muslims and other communities may have actually...

The low level of literacy within the Muslim community is traditionally explained in terms of the conservative values characterising Muslim society. Based on a field survey of slum dwellers in selected areas of Kolkata, this article argues that economic factors and uncertainties in the labour...