'Casteless society will lead India to bright future'

Kolkata, Jun 3: A casteless society has always been the need of the hour, but India had failed to achieve unity in that perspective.

Speaking at a seminar on Casteless Society: Equality and Social Justice, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar said this and added, ''Education could have been the pall bearer of social reforms, but in India even the educated youths are dogmatised when it comes to respecting the lower castes.'' Iterating that India is a caste divided society, Ms Kumar said the country is poor because of its caste division.

Citing the Gujjar and Meena riots in Rajasthan, she said the status of the dalits and the ''adivasis'' have already been reserved and now all the minorities would ask for a reserved seat.

''When minorities have merit why should they wait for reservation to materialise their dreams,'' she questioned.

The seminar, organised by the Bengal Provincial Depressed Classes League to mark the birth centenary of Babu Jagjivan Ram, was also attended by Left Front Chairman Biman Bose and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise Santosh Mohan Dev.

UNI