GS Paper 1
Syllabus: Indian Society
Source: The Hindu
Direction: Go through it once.
Context: On the eve of 75 years since independence, the author gives the evolution of the changing contours of the caste system in India
Caste definition: Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, the hereditary transmission of a style of life.
Caste today is active in three main ways:
- Source of inequality: It is a system that regulates the distribution of material opportunity or life chances, and hence it is a source of enduring inequalities.
- Source of political mobilization: It remains one of the primary modes of political mobilization, even though caste politics is now far more disaggregated, complex and uncertain than it used to be.
- Source of Kinship: For everyone except a small upper-class, upper-caste elite caste continues to be a form of the community offering a sense of kinship, belonging and identity.
The contexts of caste have changed in ways that affect all three modalities:
Caste as a mechanism for regulating material opportunities:
- This can be understood by the rise and fall of the reservation-merit system.‘Reservation’ was a pre-Independence idea emerging from the Poona Pact of 1932 and codified in the Government of India Act of 1935, intended to be an antidote for caste discrimination rather than a remedy for backwardness.
- The new Constitution abolished caste in principle but did not interfere with its practice. Reservation was now positioned as the exception to the general principle of castelessness, and seen as a kind of unearned ‘benefit’ provided by the state to certain castes.
- The reservation merit system has now collapsed which is evident by the quota for Economically Weaker Sections.
Caste as a form of political mobilization:
- Caste politics was first confined to the campaign around untouchability and then strangled by the Poona Pact, which effectively ensured that only Dalit representatives acceptable to the upper castes would be elected
- Universal suffrage: Backed by the irresistible force of numbers, backward caste politicians began mobilising their caste constituencies in the 1960s.
- Today, there is a stark difference that can be seen – between upper caste politics in power and the struggle of lower caste politics to fight for their rights.
As per World Inequality Database, the Upper caste in India earned about 47% more than the annual national average household Income in 2012. Further Oxfam report says the top 10% of the Indian population own 77% of national wealth, but the condition of SC and ST and other lower caste still remain at the lower bottom of the income group. India’s historical and present Caste disability is a big factor in determining one’s opportunity and subsequently wealth.
Government measures to address increasing inequality are:-
Constitutional Protections:
· Article 14 (promotes equality)
· Article 15 protects from discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth.
· Article 16 (equality of opportunity in public employment)
· Article 38 (asks state to minimize inequalities in income, status, facilities, and opportunities)
· Article 46 (state to promote the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections esp. SC and STs)
Legislative measures:
· Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 (Transgender are as discriminated as Dalits in India)
· The ‘Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013’
· The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989
· The Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955
Economic measures:
· Institutional support for entrepreneurship: using MUDRA Bank, microfinance, and by creating National Hub for SC/ST entrepreneurs
· Standup India scheme and Credit Enhancement Guarantee Scheme for Scheduled Castes
· Public Procurement: 4% of procurement by PSUs to be done from MSME owned by SC/ST
· National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation: to provide Skill development and financial assistance to Scheduled Castes
· National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation: to uplift the economic situation of Safai Karamcharis (mostly belong to lower castes)
· Entrepreneurship: Venture Capital Fund promoted for SC/ST young entrepreneurs
Community measures (by including Gram Sabha and Civil Society Organizations)
· Greater voice to traditionally oppressed and suppressed groups: e.g. ActionAid India works for a world free from poverty and injustice esp. of among the Dalit community
· Allowing the formation of unions and associations at workplaces that promote social equality and raise voices against any discrimination.
Conclusion
In view of increasing social and economic inequality, there is a need for government to formulate a robust social security net for socially disadvantaged sections, introduce further progressive taxation to redistribute wealth, bring behavioral change to reduce discrimination (using the help of CSO, NGO, and SHG), and increase spending on Education, Health, Skill development, etc.
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Q. Discuss in detail features of the Caste System in India, also, identify various reasons for strengthening caste-based identity in today’s times. (15M)
