Article-Who are thinking for the upliftment of Dalits?
by
Dr.Debesh Bhowmik
EDU WORLD ,VOLUME-IV,NO-1,JANUARY-DECEMBER2015
APH PUBLISHING HOUSE,NEWDELHI
Who
are thinking for the upliftment of Dalits ?
Abstract
This paper discussed about the economic status of
dalit focusing their deprivation ,social exclusion and discrimination. To what
extent they are protected by Indian constitutions have been classified through
various acts. What did the India’s Five Year Plans formulate programme for
dalit has been explained in details with much criticisms. Some recommendations
from the national and international institutions have been given to justify the
assessments of the dalit’s developmental programmes.
Key
words- Social status of dalit,
opportunity in constitution, dalits in the plans, recommendations.
JEL-D63,J15,I30
I.Introduction
Dalit is a
designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as untouchable. Dalits are a
mixed population, consisting of numerous social groups from all over India; they speak a variety of languages and
practice a multitude of religions. The word Dalit—literally translating to
“oppressed” or “broken”—is generally used to refer to people who were once
known as “untouchables”, those belonging to castes outside the four‐fold Hindu Varna system.
According to the Hindu caste hierarchy, there are four castes namely the
Brahmins (priestly caste), the Kshatriya (warriors), the Vaishyas (traders) and
the Shudras (menial task workers). Below this four-tier caste ladder there is
another rung of peoples, who are called the untouchables (Panchamas). Among the
untouchables, the status of women is further eroded and closely linked to the
concept of purity. This is what the rigid, fundamentalist Hindu promotes
through continuation of caste system, imposing the Brahminical values to
maintain the caste system. Discrimination against Dalits has metamorphosed over
time from overt, open and accepted norm to subtle, invisible, hidden and
‘unaccepted’ behaviour. Through history, the practice has been to assume that
Dalits are the serving class and therefore what they need at best is the skill
to be able to serve the rest.
Origins of Untouchability and the
Dalits Untouchability were initially introduced for the purpose of segregating
what Indian society perceived as two individual races. Vedic literature
classified India into the Aryan race and the Anaryas or Dasyus
race. The segregation of the two was based upon specific phenotypic
differences such as skin pigmentation, the shape of the lips, and the nasal
bone. As time passed,skin pigmentation became the most distinctive racial
dividing line and continues to remain so today.
Of the two races, the Aryan populations
are light-skinned and traditionally formed the
first three varnas of the caste
system. These three original levels represented class and social
distinctions within the Aryan
race. For example, the highest members of society were part of the
Brahman caste, the next highest
were part of the Kshatriya caste, and so on. It is suggested that
around 2,000 B.C., partial Aryan
descendants, known as the Sudras, were also allowed entrée to
the caste system in an extremely
restricted sense. They were made the fourth and last caste of the
Aryan community (Dahiwale, 2002).
In this manner the caste system was first formed.
In opposition to the Aryan
population, those labeled as Anarya and Dasyus were dark-skinned
and traditionally functioned as a
slave class. Because of their low status in the Indian
social structure, this group of
people was shifted and isolated away from the Aryan houses and
living areas. As a result they
were separated physically and socially from caste members. They
were given the names of Antya,
Antyaja and Antyavasin, which mean untouchable, isolated, and
non-caste. This was the
initiation of untouchability in India (Rao, 2001).
In an effort to preserve caste
structure, the ancient Code of Manu (Manusmruti) details thousands of
rules describing acceptable social intercourse among different castes. The Code
of Manu is an ethical code maintained by classical Hinduism. It teaches that
the caste system is divinely ordained and the only means of transcending the
caste system is through repeated incarnations (Massey, 1994). The laws include
descriptions of what items can or cannot be accepted by a person from a
particular caste, what one can and cannot eat, with whom one can or cannot eat,
and, perhaps most importantly, who one can and cannot touch. Untouchables were so
called because the mere sight of their shadows was thought to be polluting.
Dalit women are also coerced to be victimised
in the patriarchy. Dalit women are bearing the burden of double day caste and
sexual division of labour. Dalit women are demeaned and degraded and their body
is a free terrain of colonization by men from other community. Dalit women are
a deprived section and at the lowest level of economic and educational
structures. They are poor, illiterate, sexually harassed, faces state, caste
violence and exploited. Doubly, triply or multiply discriminated, Dalit women
face a lot of struggles in daily bases otherwise just being overwhelmed with
those surges of discrimination up to them. Without being struggling, Dalit
women would be just left in despair.Dalit women are thrice discriminated,
treated as untouchables and as outcastes, due to their caste, face gender
discrimination being women and finally economic impoverishment due to unequal
wage disparity, with low or underpaid labour. Within the dalit community, Dalit
women face more burdens due to caste and gender discrimination. Dalit women are
subjected to systematic oppression and structural violence both from the
general community and from within their own community and their families. They
would be influenced, pressurized, blocked, intimidated, stigmatized and
revictimised. If they still take up the struggle for justice, it would really
be a difficult path that they have to travel.
II.
Social And Economic Status Of Dalit
According to census 2011, Dalits make up24.4%of the total Indian
population, but their access &control over resources of the country
is marginal—less than 5%. Close to half of the Dalit population lives under the
Poverty Line, and even more (62%) are illiterate. The Dalit population is
broadly distributed across Indian states and districts. In 2011, the state of Punjab had the highest
proportion of its population as Dalit, at about 31.9 percent, and the state of Mizoram had the lowest
at nearly zero. The government of India recognises and protects them as Scheduled Castes(SC) and Scheduled Tribes(ST). The term
Dalit has been interchangeably used with term Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled
Tribes.They belong to various religion.22% SC and 9% ST are Hindu .90% SC and
7.40% ST belong to Buddhism and 9% SC and 33% ST are Christrian,31% SC and
0.9%ST are Sikhs,16% ST belong to Zaroa and 2.6% ST are Jains
respectively.
Among the Dalits, most of those engaged in
agricultural work are landless or nearly landless agricultural labourers. The
average household income for Dalits was of Rs. 17,465 in 1998, just 68% of the
national average. Less than 10% of Dalit households can afford safe drinking
water, electricity and toilets, which is indicative of their deplorable social
condition. About 65 % and 56 % of ST and SC women respectively suffered from
anaemia compared to 47.6 % of non‐SC/ST
women . About 90 % of women working in unorganized sector are mainly from lower
castes . In 1991, about 71 % of Dalit women workers in rural area were
agricultural labourers. Only 19 % of them owned land .
According to the Ministry of
Labour, 85% of the Dalit women have the most formidable occupations and work as
agricultural laborers, scavengers, sweepers, and disposers of human waste. In
2001, about 57 % of SC and 37 % of ST women respectively were agricultural wage
labour in rural areas, as compared with 29 % for non‐SC/STs. In urban areas, 16 % SC
and 14 % ST women were daily wage labourers as compared with only 6 % from non‐SC/STs. Only 21 % of SC women
were cultivators compared with 51 % for STs and 45 % for non‐ SC/STs. SC/ST women also faced
differential treatment in wage‐earning,
particularly in urban areas. In 2000, SC and ST women casual labourers received
daily wages of Rs 37 and Rs 34 respectively, compared with Rs. 56 for non‐SC/ST women; the national average
was Rs 42.
In rural areas, 37.8% of
government run schools make Dalit children sit separately from other children .In
27.6% of rural villages, Dalits are prevented from entering police stations. In
33% of rural villages, public health workers refuse to enter Dalit homes.48.4%
of Dalit villages are denied access to water sources .In 70% of rural villages,
Dalit and non-Dalit people cannot eat together.
III.Dalit
And Indian Constitution
The provision and safeguards for
Backward Classes and especially for SCs and STs have been incorporated in the
Constitution of India. The safeguards are in the field of social, economic,
political, educational, cultural and services under the State for the people
belonging to these communities for their development. The safeguards provided to Scheduled Castes
are grouped in the following broad heads:
[i]Social Safeguards
[ii]Economic Safeguards
[iii]Educational & Cultural
Safeguards
[iv]Political Safeguards
[v]Service Safeguards
Social
Safeguards
Article 17, 23, 24 and 25 (2)(b) of the
Constitution enjoins the State to provide social safeguards to Scheduled
Castes. Article 17 relates to abolition of untouchability being practiced in
society.
Article 23 prohibits traffic in human beings
and ‘beggar’ and or other similar forms of forced labour and provides that any
contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance
with law. Althogh there is no specific mentions about SCs in this Article but
majority of the bonded labour belong to SC community. Article 24 provides that
no child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or
mine or engaged in any hazardous employment. Even in this Article, there is no
special mention about the SCs but substantial portion of child labour engaged
in hazardous employment belong to SC community. Article 25 (2) (b) provides
that Hindu religious institutions of a public character shall be opened to all
classes and sections of Hindus. The term Hindu includes persons professing
Sikh, Jain and Buddhist religion.
Economic
Safeguards
Articles 23, 24 and 46 form the economic
safeguards for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Article 46 states
that, “The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic
interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular, of the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social
injustice and all forms of exploitation.”
Educational and
Cultural Safeguards
Article 15 (4) empowers the State to make
special provisions for the advancement of any socially and educationally
backward classes of citizens and for SCs. This provision has enabled the State
to reserve seats for SCs in educational institutions in general and
professional courses etc.
Political
Safeguards
Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes in the local bodies of the State/Union Territories,
Legislative Assemblies of the State and in Parliament are provided in the
Constitution of India as follows: the
Article 243 D- Reservation of Seats, Article 243 T- Reservation of Seats:- Article 330- Reservation of Seats for
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in House of the People, Article 332-
Reservation of Seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the
Legislative Assemblies of the State, Article 334- Reservation of Seats and Special Representation to Cease after
60 Years, etc are to be mentioned.
Service
Safeguards
Service safeguards are contained in Articles
16(4), 16 (4A), and 335. In the year 2001, the Parliament through Constitution
(Eighty-fifth Amendment) Act, 2001 amended the provisions contained in Article
16 (4A). In Article 16 (4A) for the words: “in matters of promotion to any
class” the words “in matters of promotion, with consequential seniority, to any
class” has been substituted. The effect of this amendment is that the SCs/STs
promoted earlier than their counter-part in general category by virtue of
reservation policy shall be senior to general category in the promoted
scale/post.
Important
Legislations
In addition some of the legislations of
specific as well as general nature have greater relevance to Dalit communities.(a)
The Untouchability Offences Act, later reformulated as the Protection of Civil Rights
Act (1955) and rules 1977,(b) The Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act 1989 and rules1995,(c) Bonded Labour (system) Abolition Act,
1976
d) Employment of Manual
Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993
e) Devadasi system Abolition Act
in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
f) Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act, 1986,(g) Minimum Wages Act, 1948, (h) Equal Remuneration Act,
1976 and ( i) Land Reforms Act in different states.
Moreover,there is a provision to
set up Special Courts for trying cases registered on the grounds of
untouchability and atrocities under inflicted on Dalits and Adivasis under the
SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
But these are not enough to
protect them for their living in society.The international institutions thus
raised some inefficiencies about Indian Constitutions for safeguarding SC and
ST.The following are the objections.
[a] On 2/1/07,
European
Union passed a resolution that found India's enforcement of laws to
protect Dalits "grossly inadequate. Also found that "atrocities,
untouchability, illiteracy and inequality of opportunity, continue to blight
the lives of India's Dalits." The resolution called on the Indian
government to end caste-based discrimination.
[b] On 2/13/07,
Hidden
Apartheid Caste Discrimination Against India's Untouchables-113 page
joint report was published Human Rights Watch and The Center for Human Rights
and Global Justice at New York University School of Law. Report found that
India systematically failed to uphold its international legal obligations to
ensure the fundamental human rights of Dalits, despite laws and policies
against caste discrimination.
[c] On 3/9/07,
United
Nations Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
found that "de facto segregation of Dalits persists" and highlighted
systematic abuse against Dalits including torture and extrajudicial killings,
an "alarming" extent of sexual violence against Dalit women and caste
discrimination in post-tsunami relief.
[d] On 7/24/07, US House of Representatives passed
a concurrent
resolution
condemning the caste system and untouchability in India.
[e]
The greatest deficiency of the Protection of Civil Rights Act was the fact that
abuses against Dalits were not limited to name-calling or denial of entry into
public spaces: violence was a defining characteristic of the abuse. Thirty-four
years after the introduction of the PCR Act, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, was enacted to bring these other
forms of abuse to an end. “In the Atrocities Act_ the complainant is given more
weight... There are also stringent provisions against the police for
negligence.”
[f]
Although Article 17 of the Indian Constitution banned untouchability in 1950,
Dalits still suffer widespread discrimination and mistreatment, particularly in
villages and rural communities. Local law enforcement personnel often refuse to
document, investigate, and respond adequately to Dalit complaints. Upper caste
members often threaten and assault Dalits who dare protest against the
atrocities The 1989 Act also requires states to set up Special Courts to
adjudicate Scheduled Caste offenses. In addition, the Act provides punishment
for public servants who fail to enforce the protections set forth in the Act.
The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules of
1995 further delineate procedures for state governments to take toward investigation,
prosecution, and punishment pursuant to the 1989 Act.
[g]
While Indian domestic law is designed to protect Dalits, the fact that Dalits
often do not benefit from these laws demonstrates India’s failures under
CERD.Compliance is monitored by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD Committee), which reviews periodic reports written by
States Parties, conducts hearings, and issues comments on inter-state and
individual complaints.
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