Caste census grossly people-unfriendly

Untouchability came into practice in India after the invasion of Islam. First references of it can be seen in 1020 AD when Dahir, the last Hindu king of Sindh, was killed and his queens immolated themselves to not to fall into the hands of the wanton Muslim invaders.

So, the caste census began in Bihar early this month. As per its reported plans, the State government will be conducting this exercise in two stages. In the first phase, it would count the number of households. In the second, it would collect data pertaining to the people's castes, sub-castes, religions and their financial status. The whole exercise will be completed by May this year.

The other day, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, "The caste-based headcount will be beneficial for all... It will enable the government to work for the development of various sections of the society, including those who are deprived." Kumar and his political allies seem to argue this exercise would lead to a scientific counting of caste groups and help the government to broaden the scope of the government's social justice goals.

One, however, finds such an exercise grossly people-unfriendly and undemocratic. Objectively speaking, the census is aimed at identifying just certain numerically larger caste groups, giving them some limited reservation in government jobs and winning their electoral support. This will not help the whole groups even of such identified castes. The government has hardly any economic programme to accommodate all in the targeted groups. There are few jobs in the government sector. More importantly, the right to employment and development has to be universal in a democracy. The country has an ocean of the unemployed today. Unless each and every competent person gets employment for their development, the talk of social justice would be anything but real.

The spirit of our Constitution is to establish a caste-free society and foster all-inclusive multi-faceted development in the country. The Preamble of our Constitution talks of equality of opportunity to all, irrespective of their caste or creed. Our Constitution guarantees all citizens equality before law (Article 14), non-discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, sex or birth (Article 15) and the equality of opportunity in matters of public employment (Article 16).

In view of this, India today needs such policies and strategies as would foster all-inclusive employment and development across the country. India's Constitution directs the State to promote the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections and protect them from all forms of exploitation (Article 46). The government should focus on making such provisions of affirmative action meaningful so that the weaker sections in the country could advance their lifestyles and join the national mainstream in all spheres of life.

The government needs to pay special attention to over 160 million ex-untouchables in the country. Most of them are still subjected to a variety of deprivation, discrimination, oppression, violence and stigmatised ethnic identity. Affirmative action, such as reservation in government jobs, has so far meant little to them. Benefits of quotas are being availed of mainly by the educated urban Dalits.

Large proportions of the ex-untouchables are in India's informal sector. Their wages are unregulated and low. Seventy percent of the untouchables are landless. In States such as Punjab, Bihar, Haryana and Kerala, this figure is as high as 90 percent.

Presently, some of our States do allocate development funds to the Scheduled Caste on a par with their ratios in the total populations. But their actual expenditure on it is somewhat between two and eight per cent of their allocation.

Needless to stress, untouchability is alien to our soil. The practice of untouchability started in India after the invasion of Islam. First references to the practice of untouchability can be seen circa 1020 AD (Ashwini Deshpande, Affirmative Action in India, Oxford, 2013, pp 10-12). The transliteration of the word 'untouchability' is 'mlechcha'.

A story goes that this word was mentioned, for the first time, when at Raja Dahir's (last Hindu king of Sindh) household his queens were on the way to commit 'johar' (an act of self-immolation). The queens said they needed to hurry, or else 'mlechchha' would touch them and make them impure.

In ancient times, India had the 'Varna' system. This system referred to an occupation-based division of society for its all-inclusive development. The society was broadly divided into four groups - professors, protectors, producers and providers (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Shudra respectively). The Varna system was fluid. Balmiki was a Shudra. He became a Maharshi (great sage). Chandragupta Maurya, a Shudra, rose to become an emperor. The Satavahana rulers were born into a Shudra family. They were later proclaimed Brahmins.

Unfortunately, over time, the Varna system degenerated into the 'jati' (caste) one, based on birth and graded inequality among different social groupings, and the latter gave birth to the evil, such as untouchability, in our society. 'Caste' is a Portuguese word meaning lineage-based succession and inheritance in society. We hear of the feudal lord and slave system that once prevailed in the West.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.