ஆந்திர
பிரதேஸம், கர்நாடகம், கேரளம், புதுச்சேரி, தமிழ்நாடு ஆகிய தென் மாநில
பஹுஜன் ஸமாஜ் பார்டியின் (BSP)தக்க்ஷின் பாரத் மஹாஸம்மேளன மாநாடு 10-02-2013 அன்று 11:00 மணிக்கு பாலஸ் கிர்வுண்ட், பெஙளூருவில் நம்முடைய நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் மற்றும் உத்திர பிரதேஸ முன்நாள்
முதலமைச்சர் பஹென் குமாரி மாயாவதிஜி சிறப்புத் தலைமை விருந்தினராக
பங்கேற்க்கும் விழாவில்  அனைவரும் பங்கெற்போம்.

 மதிய மாநில பொது துறையில் இயங்கும் SC/ST
நலசங்கங்கள், தங்களுடைய சம்பள உயர்வு, பதவி உயர்வு, பணிமாற்றம் குறித்து
மட்டுமே கவனம் செலுத்தாமல் அண்ணல் அம்பேத்கர் மற்றும் கான்ஸிராம் ஜி
அவர்களின் கனவான உன்னத திறவுகோலால் (MASTER KEY) முன்னேற்ற
அபிவிருத்திக்காக எல்லா கதவுகளின் பூட்டைத் திறக்க BSP (பஹுஜன் ஸமாஜ்
பார்டி)யின் தலைவி செல்வி மாயாவதி அவர்களுக்கு நேரம், திறமை, நிதி ஒதுக்கி யானைச் சின்னத்தில் வாக்களித்து ஒப்படைக்க பாடுபட உறுதி ஏற்போம். தயவு செய்து தொழிற்சாலை, அலுவலகம் அருகில் சுவரொட்டி , விளம்பரப் பலகை , விளம்பரத் திரைச் சீலைகளை இயக்கத்திற்கு ஆதரவாக வைக்கவும்.

Socio-Economic Conditions of SCs and STs in India

- speech delivered on 22-01-2013 at Chancery Hotel, Levelle Road, Bengaluru on th occassion of  Bharatiya Reservation Protection Andholan Forum, karnataka

by

                                                                           Dr. V. Shanmugam, MA. Ph.D.
                                                                           Associate Professor of Economics,
                                                                           University Evening College,
                                                                           University of Mysore, Mysore.

India has completed two generations (60 years) as an independent nation in the year 2007. Now one can evaluate the performance of India in terms of improvement in socio-economic conditions and quality of life of SCs and STs under the leadership of upper caste Hindus, who are ruling this country after independence. They had governed this country under the modern Constitution of India which preaches liberty, equality, fraternity and justice in the fields of social, economic and political. Before entering into these domains it is better to under the population profile of India. The socio-economic conditions of SCs and STs is dealt in three sections.

Section- I

Distribution of Population in the Indian Social Order

    Distribution of population in the Indian social order analyses the dissection of Indian population based on different social groups to understand their de-facto socio-economic status in the Indian society. The Indian social order involves the Hindu social order and the societies of other Religious Minorities. The distribution of population based on the caste system of the Hindu social order is as follows:

    According to 2001 census based on religion, 80.5 percent of the people are Hindus, followed by 13.5 percent Muslims and other social groups including Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians etc. constitute around 6 percent of the Indian population. Among the Hindus, 43 percent of people belong to the OBCs, followed by 26 percent of upper caste Hindus which includes 11percent upper caste Shudras, 22 percent are SCs and 9 percent are STs.

    As far as other religions such as Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists are concerned, they are formed from the converts from different castes of India. Therefore caste is the foundation of all religions in India. If all castes and religions are merged together, the population of India based on social groups would constitute 41 percent of OBCs, 30.5 percent of upper caste Hindus who include upper caste Shudras, 20 percent of SCs and 8.5 percent of STs. This is how the caste based distribution of population has taken place in India (Rajindar Sachar, 2006, P. 6 & 7).

    The Hindu social order (80.5% population of India) consists of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras (OBCs) and Ati-Shudras (SCs and STs). There are 3.5percent of Brahmins, 5.5percent of Kshatriyas and 6percent of Vaishyas (Baniyas) in the country. Out of the total population of India, these people constitute 15 percent and have been the upper caste minority Hindus. (Manohar Atey). These people have been foreigners and have absolute social status and economic power in the Indian society. Contrary to this, the Indian indigenous people being 85percent of total population of India have been the majority. They are Shudras (OBCs), Ati-Shudras (SCs/ STs) and Religious Minorities (RMs). The RMs includes Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and Buddhists etc. Among these RM’s’, Most Backward Castes and Dalit Muslims, Dalit Christians, Dalit Sikhs and Buddhists are the most backward in their socio-economic conditions. These people have the least social status and economic power in the Indian social order. 

    The Shudras comprise around 54 percent of the Hindu population. Among the Shudras, about 11 percent are upper caste Shudras and remaining 43percent constitute the Most Backward Castes (MBCs). They are below the upper caste Hindu people in social status and economic power.

    The Religious Minorities constitute around 20percent of the Indian population. The Religious Minorities comprise of 15percent of Muslims, 2.5percent of Christians, 2.5percent of Sikhs and they are below the Shudras in social status and economic power. The SCs and STs, who are 20percent and 10percent respectively, in the total population of India, have been untouchables (Rajshekar V.T., 2006). All together their population is 30percent of the Indian population. They have been the lower castes in the Indian social order. These people do not have any social status in the Indian social order and economically they have been absolutely poor and disempowered.

    The population has been distributed in the Indian social order as shown in the below pyramid. Even though the Religious Minorities have remained outside the caste system of the Hindu social order, their social status and economic power have been put in the middle of the pyramid in the Indian social order. Even the Rajinder Sachar Committee report has identified the deprivation based on caste among Muslims. Among Muslims ‘Ashrafs’ are converts from upper caste Hindus, ‘Ajlafs’ are from OBC’s and ‘Arzals’ are from SC’s. According to that study report, ‘arzal’ Muslims are the worst sufferers of social deprivation as they are converts from SC’s (Neena Vyas, 2006).  The Rajinder Sachar Committee report has noted that “In fact, by and large, Muslims rank somewhat above the SC’s and ST’s but below OBC’s and upper caste Hindus in almost all indicators considered” (Vidya Subrahmanian, 2006).    

    Fig. 1: Indian Social Order and Her population
                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                       Upper Caste Hindus 15%                                                                                                                                 OBCs (Shudras) 36%                                                                                                                           Religious Minorities 20%                                                                                                                  STs 9%                                                                                                                                                     SCs 20%

                                      Indian Social Order

      Even the Chairperson of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (Arjun Sengupta) in his research Report has collected the opinions of the Indians regarding their identity and has concluded that the Indian society has strong caste foundations. As noted by Arjun Sengupta “so far they did not have a voice but certainly a strong individual identity based primarily on their religion or caste” (Arjun Sengupta, 2007).

The followers of Islam and Christianity were originally indigenous people of India. Today’s Muslims converted to Islam religion 800 years ago due to the unbearable inequality, persecution and atrocities perpetrated on SC’s, ST’s and OBC’s by the upper caste Hindus. In the case of Christians, the people of the lower caste embraced Christianity, when the Britishers came to India and even today people from SC’s and ST’s are converting to Christianity because of the same reason. The Hindu religion is based on the principles of inequality, ranked caste system, caste based discrimination and caste based professions and practice of untouchability. Unfortunately, today, in India, the Islam and Christianity also practise the caste system. The Hindu unequal principles have penetrated into these two religions as well. This is evident from the formation of ‘Dalit Muslims’ and ‘Dalit Christians’ in these religions. In Islam, Arzals are converts from untouchables (SCs), Ajlafs are converts from OBC’s and Ashrafs are converts from the upper caste Hindus. In Islam, Dalit converts have remained backward and are constituted as Dalit Muslims. They are Khatiks, Mehters, Bhangis, Halakhors, Mochis, Mukris and Garudis (Rajinder Sachar, 2006). In Christianity, again Dalit converts have remained backward and have become Dalit Christians.

Genetic profile of Indians 

          Currently, Brahmins, Kshtriyas and Vaishyas have been the upper caste Hindus and are actually the foreigners who came from central Asia and they are the minority people. The majority people of India are Shudras, SCs, STs and Religious Minorities who are the indigenous people together comprise 85percent of Indian population and are the lower caste majority people. The 15percent upper caste minority people are foreigners and have their roots from central Asia, and the evidences are available in the fields of Archeology, Anthropology, Linguistics and history. Besides this, the scientists of genetics have also confirmed this.

     Balasubramanian. D (2003) in his article “who are we, the people of India” has examined the findings of the DNA analysis of the Indian population by Prof. Partha Mujumder and colleagues of Kolkatta in their study on the origin and ethnicity of the people of India, published in the journal, ‘Genome Research’ of the October 2000 issue. This has given an authoritative Genomic view of ethnic India. The Dravidian (DR) tribal were widespread throughout India before the arrival of the Indo-European (IE) nomads. This conclusion is consistent with historical and linguistic inferences (Thapar, Renfrew). The latter suggests that when the ranked caste system was formed after the arrival of the IE speakers about 3500ybp, many indigenous DR people embraced (freely or forced) the caste system. As the IE speakers advanced into the Gangetic plain, many of the DR tribes retreated to the Southern parts of India to avoid dominance. According to their findings the central Asian populations have contributed to the genetic profiles of upper castes, more so in the north of India than in the south. They are also genetically closer to the upper castes than to the middle and lower caste population of India. The same conclusion is reached by the earlier DNA analysis of Andhra University Scientists B. B. Rao, M. Naidu, B. V. R. Prasad and others.

    In the Indian graded social caste pyramid, one finds a descending scale of (worthiness) respect and dignity (status) as one goes towards the lower castes. That means there is a descending order from Brahmins who have been placed at the summit down to the untouchables who are at the bottom of the pyramid and have no (even minimum) social status and opportunities. In other words in this social order one can see the ascending order of empowerment of privileges, opportunities, power, respect and dignity and a descending order of deprivation of power, privileges, opportunities and only contempt and disrespect towards the lower castes. This Hindu Social Order is an unequal graded caste system. It has discrimination as high and low, which leads to acute exploitation. This caste system has separated the people into exclusive communities and made no communications and relations among these castes. In this unequal Indian social order the upper caste Hindu minority people are getting advantages in all fields of life whereas the lower caste majority people are reeling under from all sorts of disadvantages and disabilities. Besides this, the alien upper caste Hindu people have become the ruling class, while the indigenous lower castes majority people have become the servile class. Thus even though the Constitution instructs to the government to establish the social democracy in India the present ruling class of India has not materialized this goal. Instead of this they are continuing the tyranny on SCs and STs of India through their social intolerance, social boycott and practice of untouchability.

Social Intolerance and Atrocities

    Social intolerance is the consequence of social inequality. When the lower caste people claim their rights for equality and liberty, the upper caste Hindu people commit atrocities against these lower caste people. They make not only physical assault on these people but also impose social and economic boycott to make them fall in line according to their set of mind and rules. This is because, when the lower caste people claim equality with upper castes, this not only hurts their feelings of superiority but also damages their socio-economic privileges. Hence they impose social and economic boycott and commit atrocities against SC’s, ST’s and MBCs. This is what is called social intolerance. The social boycott includes economic boycott. The upper caste people not only prohibit social association and gathering but also prohibit engaging lower caste people for work.

 Subsequently as these people are wage earners and they cannot bear the burden of social boycott, which snatches away their very livelihood. So that, they are forced to surrender to the upper caste dictates in the villages.

Estimates of Atrocities on Dalits

Numerous atrocities which are unaccountable are committed on Dalits on a daily basis in India. Some massacres and atrocities have been committed along with the support of the state organs e.g. State police commit atrocities against Dalits and the government is insensitive even to these kinds of extreme atrocities. An animal (Cow) has more value than the lives of Dalits. According to the Chairman of SCs/STs Commission of Karnataka, Nehru Olekar (2008) “Even animals are treated well by people these days, However, Dalits were treated inhumanly and it is miserable to see them distanced from the mainstream”. Further, he said that untouchability continued to be practiced rampantly in many places of Karnataka. According to the report of the National Commission for SC’s and ST’s 1997-98, New Delhi, between 1995 and 1997, 1617 Dalits were killed in caste related incidents and 90925 were assaulted.

According to Hudagi more than 42,000 Dalits were massacred after Independence, but only a negligible percentage of cases ended up convicting the accused. Further he has said that the conviction rate in cases relating to the atrocities on Dalits was abysmally low. Since Independence out of 3.60 lakh atrocities cases registered in the country, only 4600 cases constituting 1.27 percent cases ended up in conviction (Special Correspondent, 2006). While analysing the efficacy of the SCs/STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989, Brinda Karat noted that “only one percent of the 1.43 lakh cases registered under the Act resulted in conviction every year. This was in contrast to 40 percent conviction in cases registered under the Indian Penal Code”. She had also criticised the police and the judiciary for “casteist bias” while dealing with crimes against the Dalits. The police unilaterally disposed of the 50 percent of the 30,000 cases relating to crime against the Dalits without any trial in the year 2000, while one of the judges had asked how the “casteist bias” in an upper caste man involved in the rape of a Dalit woman could be proved (Special Reporter, 2009). This judge, while delivering a judgment relating to the rape on a Dalit woman states that an upper caste man cannot rape a Dalit woman. This is how the casteist bias runs in the Indian judiciary. According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s records for the period 1995-2007, under the SCs/STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989, the police registered 441424 crimes committed on SCs and STs, but the field survey estimates suggest that the recorded figure is about one-third of the actual figure (Sivaramakrishnan Aravind, 2010).

The conviction rate in caste atrocity cases committed against SC’s in 2007 was 50.7percent in Uttar Pradesh, 47.3percent in Rajasthan, and 39.9percent in Madhya Pradesh. The lowest conviction rate was in Maharashtra with 2.9percent and Karnataka with 3.2percent for the same year (Rahi Gaikwad, 2010). This reveals how, the Manu Code is ruling this country even today where even the administration is hostile to the Dalits, the administrative setup which is supposed to be impartial in implementing the provisions of the Constitution of India. Thus, the upper caste Hindus and Shudras have been the foot soldiers in implementing Manu Code on lower caste people violating the Constitution of India.

Causes for Social Intolerance

The following are some of the causes for social intolerance of the upper caste Hindus to commit atrocities on Dalits.

1. Attempts to enter Hindu temples
2. Attempt to take water from the common well or tap
3. Trying to get educational facilities
4. Sitting on a cot or chair in the presence of an upper caste Hindu person
5. Trying to get a cremation ground for burial of their dead
6. Refusing to lift or remove dead animals from the common streets
7. Taking out a marriage procession through main streets of the village
8. Refusing to serve the upper caste Hindus
9. Demanding Government land for cultivation and for due wages
10. Walking in the common streets where the upper castes live, wearing sandals
11. For daring to play cricket better than the upper caste Hindu children
12. Inter caste marriages
13. Religious conversion to other religions

    If the untouchables violate the rules framed by the upper caste Hindus, it would cost them their life, body limbs and their little properties. The government is insensitive to these atrocities. If Dalits approach the police to register complaints’ they refuse to register the First Information Report and no charge sheet will be prepared (Staff Reporter, 2006). Even in government programs like Integrated Child Development Scheme, caste based discrimination is practised.

As reported in The Week, dated February 03, 2008, the following are the atrocities committed on Dalits in the every day’s life in India at present: Twenty-seven atrocities have been committed against Dalits every day. Thirteen Dalits are murdered every week. Five homes and possessions of Dalits are burnt every week, At least three Dalit women are raped every day and at least eleven Dalits are beaten up every day. But as only five percent of such cases are reported, the actual figures could be much higher. Dalits are denied access to water sources in 48.4percent villages. Public health workers refuse to visit Dalits homes in 33percent villages. Dalits are barred from entering police stations in 27.6percent villages. Dalit children are made to sit separately while eating in 37.8percent Government schools. Mail is not delivered to Dalit homes in 23.5percent villages (The Week, 03-02-2008, P-8 & 9).

Section -II

Economic Democracy in India

Economic inequality refers to the skewed distribution of economic resources among the different economic classes and among the different social groups in a country. Economic democracy indicates that the equal distribution of economic resources and opportunities among all the people in any economy. The articles 38 and 39 of the Indian Constitution give direction to establish economic democracy in India. In India neither economic classes nor social groups have been given much importance in the distribution of economic resources. To measure the economic inequality ownership of assets, income earnings and employment profile can be considered. The ownership of economic resources in the three sectors of the Indian economy is as follows.
I Primary Sector or Agriculture and Allied Activities

           The important economic activities of the primary sector are agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery. This sector has provided livelihood to the 65percent of the Indian population and contributes about 15percent of income to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The most important source of assets, employment and income in this sector is land. Now let us examine the ownership of agricultural land in this sector. According to a report of the Ministry of Rural Development of 1994-95, the ownership of agricultural land, the assets of the rural India is as follows.

Table 1: Distribution of Agricultural Land in India during 1993
Farmers
Percentage of Farmers
Percentage of ownership of Assets
Big and medium farmers
24
71
Small and Marginal Farmers
43
29
Landless Farmers
33
00
Total
100
100

According to the statistics of table1, 24 percent of big and medium farmers possess 71percent of agricultural land in India and are the upper caste Hindus in the Indian social order. 43 percent of small and marginal farmers who own only 29 percent of land of the nation are lower caste majority people. They have only 1to 4 acres of land holdings. The land owned by SC’s and ST’s have been unsuitable for cultivation as they are barren land, rocky land and marshy land. The remaining 33 percent of farmers do not have any land and they belong to the lower caste farmers working as landless labourers. According to one estimate, between 75percent and 80percent of all agricultural labourers belong to the SCs’ (Dutt Ruddar and K. P. M. Sundaram, 2007). Hence they are living as agricultural labourers and bonded labourers in the lands of the upper caste Hindu landlords. Thus the SCs/STs/OBCs/Muslims, the indigenous people of this country lead a life of utter dependency without having any land ownership and even they do not get minimum wages for their work to fulfil their basic needs.

II. Secondary Sector or Industrial Sector.

           The important economic activities of this sector are mining, manufacturing, electricity, gas, water supply, construction etc. In this sector, the assets are completely owned by the upper caste Hindus. However the lower caste majority people work here as industrial labourers, casual workers, security guards and menial jobs in the mines, industries and other plants of upper caste Hindus. Let us examine some economic activities in these sectors. 

Manufacturing: In this sector the property, employment and income is owned by the upper caste Hindu ruling class. The upper caste Hindu people have the ownership of large, medium and small-scale industry and indigenous lower caste majority people are managing small, cottage and handicraft industries. As they lack assets, they run enterprises, which require less capital and earn less income. But the upper caste Hindus, who are the owners of Indian assets, invest more and earn more and more income and assets through establishing capital intensive and less employment generating large and medium scale industries. In the list of 20 big industrial houses in India none is represented by the SCs and STs.

Narayanmurty of Infosys, Adi Godrej, Ruia brothers of Essar groups, Kiran Majumdar Shaw of Biotechnology, Indu Jain of Bennett, Coleman & Co, Shobhana Bhartia of the Hindustan Times, Ms. Savitri Jindal of O.P. Jindal group, Anu Aga of Thermax group, also belong to the upper caste Hindus. According to the Forbe’s list of 100 richest Indians for 2009, 52 persons are billionaires. The collective asset of these 100 richest persons is $276 billion equivalent to nearly Rs.13 lakh crores, which is almost one-fourth of the Indian GDP. The Chinese counter parts have total net worth of $176 billion which is $100 billion less than India’s richest people (The Hindu, 20-11-2009, P. 20). Out of the 10 richest Indians 9 belong to Vaishya community and one belongs other and none from the SCs and STs. All these billionaires of India belong to the upper caste Hindus.

           Further Santhosh Goel’s study in 1979-80 reveals the caste wise distribution of higher postings in private industries is as follows.

 Table 2: Castewise Employment in Private Industries in Percentage
Total higher posts
Caste
Recognized
Brahmins
Kshatriyas
Vaishyas
Shudras
3129
2082
41.2
18.5
17.9
4.2

Sources: Gail Omvedt, Reservation in the Corporate Sector II, The Hindu, 1-6-2001.

From the above table 2, it is clear that more than 80 percent of the higher posts are held by 15 percent of upper caste Hindus, who are Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas and only 4.2 percent of higher posts are held by Shudras who constitute around 40 percent of the Indian population. The 30 percent of population belonging to SCs and STs do not have any share in higher posts of the Indian private industries. This situation is continued even today which is confirmed by the study conducted by the Sukhdev Thorat, former Chairman of the University Grants Commission. This is because ownership of assets creates employment but the indigenous people such as OBCs, SCs, STs and Muslims don’t have meager or no assets and recruitments are made on caste lines. Hence they do not have their representation in the higher postings of private industries. In this sector, they may be workers and security guards and other fourth class employees. Thus, it is clear from the data that the lower caste majority people lead a dependent life in this sector too.

This secondary sector provides assets, employment and income to 13 percent of total population of India and contributes about 28percent to the national GDP. But due to caste-based distribution of assets, employment and income, the lower caste majority people neither have ownership of assets nor higher posts. Hence they are working as industrial workers, security guards and in other menial jobs of the upper caste Hindu’s industries for low wages.

III. Service Sector or Tertiary Sector.
         
 The economic activities of this sector can be divided into two parts. 1. Private services and 2. Public services.
Private Services: The private services come under this sector are trade, commerce, transport and communication, hotel and restaurant, tourism, finance, insurance, share market, film industry, advertisement, sports, education, health, legal services, mass media, Government contracts and services in non-Governmental organisations etc.

A social profile of more than 300 senior journalists in 37 Hindi and English newspapers  and television channels in the national capital has found that out of 315 top senior journalists who are the decision makers in the Hindi and English newspapers and TV channels, 71percent are the upper caste Hindu men who form 8percent of the country’s population. If men and women of the upper caste Hindus are taken together, their share in the media is 85percent. These upper caste Hindus account for 16percent of the Indian population. Among them Brahmins alone enjoy 49percent in the national media. In contrast OBC’s share 4percent whose population is 40percent of the national population. Muslims constitute around 15percent of the population but their share is 3percent in the national media. Conspicuously, the representation of SC’s and ST’s is zero in the national media. Not even one of the 315 key decision makers belonged to the SC’s and ST’s whose population is 20percent and 10percent respectively in the national population (The Hindu, June 5, 2006, P.14). This indicates that the upper castes Hindus are controlling the entire media which is the fourth estate of the government.

In the legal services no leading advocates are found among SCs and STs. Out of 31 judges in the Supreme Court of India no one from these communities. Out of about 620 judges in the High Courts of India only 20 judges belong to these communities. In all other service sector activities SCs and STs are appointed to menial jobs such as scavengers, workers, security guards, drivers etc with few exceptions. Thus assets, employment and income of the service sectors are also in the hands of the upper caste Hindu people. Hence, the SCs and STs lead a life engaged in the menial services in these sectors.

The emerging sectors of the economy such as aviation, hospitality, animation, journalism, designing, entertainment, retail sectors etc. would require more number of work forces. The upper caste Hindus have prepared themselves to take up jobs in these sectors as the jobs in these sectors demand education, training and skills while the lower caste majority people would not be able to get employment in these sectors as they do not have required skills. 
 
Public Services or Government Services

The governments are established at different levels such as central government, state governments, quasi-governments and local bodies. To run the government, it engages its citizens to its various departments such as defense, police, public works, education and health departments, public sector undertakings etc. The following table 2.7 provides data about the employment in the public sector by different organisations
               
Table 3: Employment in the Public Sector by Organisation        
Organisation
Employment in lakh persons
1991                  2008
Central government
34.10                 27.39 
State governments
71.12                 71.71
Quasi-governments
62.22                 57.96
Local bodies
23.13                19.68
Total
190.57              176.74
                
 Source: GOI: Economic Survey, 2010-11, Table A-52.
  
 The table 3 highlights that the public sector employs 176.74 lakh persons during 2008, which constitutes 4percent in the total employment. Of this, central government has provided employment to 27.39 lakh persons, state governments employed 71.12 lakh persons, quasi-governments offered employment to 57.96 lakh persons and local bodies provided employment to 19.68 lakh persons in the same period. On the whole, the government sector employees 176.74 lakh persons.

The upper caste Hindus have enjoyed the majority of employment in the government services. However due to the reservation policy maintained as per the Constitution of India in this field a small number of lower caste people get employment and lead a respectable life by earning enough income. Though, according to the Constitutional provisions, 22.5 percent of government jobs are reserved for SCs and STs among the lower caste majority people, as per the National Commission for SCs and STs Report, only 12 percent of reserved jobs have been filled. (Hanumnthappa H, 2001). Similarly, over the last fifteen years of the implementation of reservation for the OBC’s only 5percent has been filled out of 27percent of jobs reserved for them. According to a Home Ministry survey, the OBC representation was 4.7percent in A group jobs, it was a mere 2.3percent in B category and 5.9percent in C class (Neena Vyas, 2008A). Thus, as on 1st January, 2005, the quota positions filled in central government services was 12percent for SC’s and ST’s and 4-5percent for OBC’s (Neena Vyas 2008B). The Muslims’ representation may be around 3percent in the government services.

On the whole, 20 percent of representation in government employment has been given to the lower caste majority people, that too, in the lower grade jobs but their population constitutes around 85percent of the total population of India, the rest, which is of 80 percent of the government jobs are enjoyed by the upper caste Hindus whose population is just 15percent. The lower caste majority people who get employment in government services are able to lead a respectable and decent life because they get a regular fixed monthly income.
Along with this government organized sector, the private organized sector has provided employment to the 98.38 lakh persons which constitutes about 2percent of the total employment in the economy here there is no reservation policy hence SCs and STs representation is negligible.. The remaining 94percent constitutes as unorganized sector employment where there is no labour policy and no social security measures. Thus, the private sector agriculture, industry and services generate more than 94 percent of employment of the nation. But all the jobs of these sectors are in the hands of the upper caste Hindus. As almost all the lower caste majority people are working in the unorganised sector, they are leading their life, depending on the upper caste Hindus for their livelihood. This is because the reservation policy does not apply to the private sectors. The reservation policy applies only to 4percent jobs of public organised sector. Even in this sector only 20percent of jobs are given to the lower caste majority people while 80percent of jobs are grabbed by the upper caste Hindus. Hence the owners of assets in these sectors have been the upper caste Hindus. In the total employment of the nation only 4.38 percent of employment is created by the government services. Due to this only 2 percent of lower caste majority people who get employment in government sector lead a dignified life in society. However 98 percent of the lower caste majority people working in the private sector are leading a life of dependence and are exploited by the upper caste Hindus.

Fig.2: Indian Social and Economic Inequalities
Economic order

             15percent                      85percent

      85percent                        15percent

                    Social order
 
  In this diagram, one pyramid shows the Indian social order (caste system) and another inverse pyramid which represents the Indian economy. These two pyramids look like a parallelogram indicating 15 percent of upper caste Hindu people own 85 percent of assets and income in India. Conversely 85 percent of lower caste majority people own only 15 percent of assets and income. In this hierarchical social order, assets and income have been distributed in an ascending order and the deprivation of the same in a descending order. In other words upper caste Hindus have the major portion of Indian assets and income and lower caste majority people have little of the same. This is the economic inequality of India. Due to this skewed distribution of assets and income, the majority population of the lower caste people is leading a life of dependency and exploitation.

    Manu’s code created the Caste based ownership of land and other physical properties and education, training and skills of intellectual properties, it awarded all rights on economic resources to upper caste Hindus but denied education and property rights to Shudras (OBC’s) and Untouchables (SC’s and ST’s) for nearly 2000 years, which has not been redressed even after adoption of the new Constitution on 26th January 1950.  Even after 65 years of Independence, 70percent of farmland is still in the hands of tiny upper caste Hindus. The equal distribution of assets and income leads to increase in the rate of economic development. This is because, higher the equality in the distribution of assets and income, lower the deficiency in the effective demand for goods and services, so that, there is a faster economic growth, while lower the equality in the distribution of assets and income, higher the deficiency in the effective demand so there is a slower rate of economic growth. To increase effective demand, the majority people should spend more. To spend more there should be equality in the distribution of assets and income. Hence to stimulate and accelerate the economic growth, the equality in the distribution of assets and income should be brought into existence.

Equal accessibility to economic resources is essential to lead a dignified life in a society. In India, the government is the owner and distributor of all natural resources. All natural resources such as land, water, forest, mineral, energy resources etc. are owned by the government. When the government allows some people to extract these resources and some people are denied this right, this naturally helps some people to progress and some people to remain backward. In India, the upper caste Hindu rulers are hostile to the lower caste majority people, these community people are not allowed to make use of these natural resources for their economic development. Hence these lower caste majority people have remained backward in all spheres of life. In India, both, the central as well as state governments have failed to provide equal access to natural resources.

Concealed Black Economy in India

The upper caste Hindu rulers have created and managing the illegal economy along with the legal economy. If the Indian legal economy produces worth about Rs.90lakh crores during 2011-12, the illegal economy known as parallel economy is producing more than 50percent of what the legal economy is producing in India. This is increasing economic inequality in India. The Indian ruling class has established this parallel economy to evade tax payments and to continue status-quo in the socio-economic spheres of Indian life.

Reasons for Creation of Black Economy in India

To maintain status quo in the socio-economic spheres, black economy is created and being expanded after independence. This black economy helps to continue the status quo in the socio-economic fields that is the ranked caste system and unequal distribution of economic resources. Black economy is created to conceal the assets and income of the upper caste Hindus and to perpetuate poverty among the lower caste majority people.
To evade taxes to the Government, black economy is being flourished. If the unofficial, illegitimate economy becomes legal and official economy, then taxes have to be paid and the revenue obtained has to be spent on the economic development of the lower caste majority people who have been in the grip of poverty. Hence this unofficial economy is allowed to continue with the covert support of the Indian ruling class.

To capture political power, black economy is being expanded at a faster rate. The upper caste Hindus use their concealed income during elections to purchase the votes of the lower caste majority people and secure political power to protect their assets and income and make still more black income.

Black income is generated from illegal economic activities and corruption. According to N. Kaldor, the creation of black money was only 6 percent of GDP in 1953-54 (Ruddar Datt and K.P.M.Sundharam, 1995, P-328). The International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff survey on the unaccounted sector of the economy has estimated Rs.72,000 crores as black income in 1982-83, which was 50 percent of Gross National Product (GNP) of Rs.1,45,141 crores in India (Ruddar Datt & K. P. M. Sundharam, 2006, P. 364). If this black economy had been expanded even at this rate, one can imagine how far the Indian ruling class has corrupted the Indian economy after Independence and now India has become one among the most corrupt nations in the globe. The table 4 below shows the India’s position in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

              Table 4: India’s Position in Corruption Perception Index  
Year
No. Of Countries
CPI
Rank
1995
41
2.78
35
2000
90
2.80
69
2005
158
2.90
88
2010
178
3.3
87
                 Source: CPI, Transparency International, Berlin.
                         Deccan Herald, 29-10-2010, P-10

Transparency International, a global level institution, which assesses the level of corruption has been preparing corruption perception index. In 1995, out of 41 countries assessed for corruption, India ranks at 35 with a score of 2.78. By 2005 its score increased to 2.9 out of 158 countries surveyed with 88th rank. This integrity score and rank indicates that India is one among the most corrupt nations in the world. Unfortunately even the judiciary is not free from corruption in India. The Transparency International Report of 2007 has projected the judiciary as the third most corrupt institution in the country and concluded that 77 percent of the corruption in the judicial system has been lawyer-driven (Madhava Menon N. R., 2008). According to Shanti Bhusan, former Union Law Minister, eight of the 16 former Chief Justices of India (CJIs)-before K. G. Balakrishnan were corrupt and who has submitted a sealed cover containing 8 names of corrupt former CJIs to a Supreme Court Bench of three Judges (Venkatesan J., 2010). This reveals that the Indian higher judiciary itself is rotting in corruption indicating all organs of the government are corrupted. According to the latest report of Transparency International, India has come down from 72 to 85 in a list of 180 countries while China was ranked as 72 (Pratiyogita Darpan, 2009B). In 2010, India is ranked at 87th out of 178 countries with an integrity score of 3.3 indicating India is one among the most dishonest countries in the world (Deccan Herald, 29-10-2010, P-10).

      According to Swiss Banking Association Report 2006, the citizens of the following countries have been the top five depositors in the Swiss bank and other banks of Switzerland.

Table 5: Top Five Money Holders in Swiss Banks
Countries
Amount in Billion Dollars
India
1456
Russia
470
U.K.
390
Ukraine
100
China
96
Source: Singh Sanjeev Kumar (2009): Hindus keep their stolen money ($1500 Billion) in Swiss Banks, Dalit Voice, vol.28, No. 5, March 1-15, 2009, P.12.

 The table 5 reveals that Indian citizens are the toppers in keeping the money out side the country. The Indian citizens have kept the deposits of about $1500 billion in their personal accounts at the Swiss banks. This amount is more than three times the amount of the second highest, which is the Russian Federation with $470 billion. The former union law minister, Ram Jethmalani and five others have approached the Supreme Court of India through a Public Interest Litigation for a direction to bring back Rs. 70,00,000 crores illegally stashed in Swiss and other foreign banks (Legal correspondent (2009). As per the Global Financial Integrity Group, which tracks illegal financial flows out of the developing countries, India lost about 27 billion dollars every year between 2002 and 2006. According to Prof. Vaidyanathan “over the 60 years since Independence, the Republic of India could have lost as much as 1.5 trillion dollars” (Special Correspondent 2009). According to the Washington based research and advocacy group, Global Financial Integrity, the corrupt ruling class of India including politicians and bureaucrats have siphoned off public money of $ 125 billion, which is equivalent to Rs.5.8 lakh crores and transferred illegally abroad between 2000 and 2008 (Press Trust of India, 2010). This shows how the black money holding Indian dishonest rulers, politicians, industrialists, financiers, officers, businessmen and sports and cinema personalities have cheated the people of India and sucked their blood to earn this money and are trafficking this ill-gotten money to Swiss banks. Further it shows how these people have looted this country after Independence and have forced the lower caste majority people to continue in poverty which proves that they are the most unpatriotic people in the world.

Section- III

Quality of life of Indians

According to traditional society, Brahmins were assigned the job of priesthood and teaching, Kshatriyas were kings, soldiers and administrators of the country and Vaishyas were looking after the commerce of India. Along with this there are feudal landlords. These together constitute the upper caste Hindus, who are the ruling class of India even after Independence. Being the ruling class, they are in administration and at the helm of affairs and are the decision makers of India. These groups of people believe in the Manu Code and even today they are trying to implement this code as against the provisions of new Constitution. As these people have created socio-economic inequality, the quality of life of the SCs and STs as Indian is as follows.

The Socio-Economic Indicators among Selected Social Groups

The upper caste Hindus (UCHs) are frontline leaders in all the fields of life such as in society, religion, education, economics, politics etc. Hence in India there is a wide variation among different social groups in the field of social, economic, education and politics. Therefore the socio-economic indicators such as poverty, educational indicators and health indicators and quality of life among selected social groups are discussed here.   

Table 6: Incidence of Poverty according to Social Groups
Social Groups
Poverty in Percentage
UCH’s
8.7
OBC’s
21.00
Muslims
31.00
SC’s & ST’s
35.00
All India
                   22.7
 Source: Sachar Rajindar (November 2006), “Prime Minister’s High Level Committee on Social, Economic and

Educational status of the Muslim community of India” Government of India, P-157.
The above table 6 offers the incidence of poverty by social groups in India. According to 61st Round of NSSO data, 22.7 percent of India’s population was poor in 2004-05. This poverty has been distributed as per the Indian social order of the ranked caste system. Among the upper caste Hindus, the poverty stricken population is just 8.7 percent, followed by OBC’s with 21 percent, Muslims with 31 percent and SC’s/ST’s with 35 percent. This shows that the highest numbers of poor people are in the lower caste majority people namely SC’s and ST’s, Muslims and OBC’s and the lowest numbers of poor are found in the upper caste Hindus. This indicates that higher the caste lower is their poverty and lower the caste, higher is their poverty. This is in accordance with the Indian ranked caste system. On the whole, the upper caste Hindus have the lowest number of poor people and the lower caste majority people have the highest number of poor people.

According to a new study carried out by Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Institute (Oxford University) to prepare new UN poverty index to be used for United Nations Human Development Report of 2010, the following table 7 reveals the Multidimensional Poverty (MPI) among selected social groups in India.

Table 7: Percentage of People Living in Multidimensional Poverty among Selected Social Groups
Social Groups
Percentage of People Living in MPI
Other Indians
33
OBC’s
58
ST’s
81
SC’s
66
      
 Hasan Suroor, 2010, Media hype and the reality of ‘new’ India, The Hindu, 20-07-2010, p.11.
Dr. Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Institution (OPHI) the study in-charge, who has traveled extensively in India on behalf of this study reveals the MPI poor among different social groups of India. The STs have a headcount of 81 percent of MPI poor (headcount is the percentage of people who are MPI poor among ST’s), the SCs have a head count of 66percent of MPI poor, the Other Backward Castes with a 58 percent MPI poor and about 33percent of the other Indian are MPI poor. In the category of the other Indians, it is the Muslims who are the real poor and not the upper caste Hindus.
According to the same study, 41 crores people live in multidimensional poverty in the Indian states and India is ranked at 63rd out of 104 countries in this poverty index. As revealed by this study, in the eight states of India such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, poverty was worse than in some of the poorest countries of Sub- Saharan Africa (Jason Burke, 2010). These regions are sidelined from the development process as the lower caste majority people are concentrated in these parts of the country.

According to the report of the UN World Food Programme, more than 27 percent of the world’s undernourished population lives in India, of whom 43 percent are children (under 5 years) and are underweight. The figure is higher than the global average of 25 percent. Nearly 50 percent of child deaths in India occur due to malnutrition (Prasenjit Chowdhury, 2009).

Table 8: Mean Per-Capita Consumption Expenditure (MPCE) by Social Groups
Social Groups
MPCE in Rs.
UCH’s
1023
OBC’s
646
Muslims
635
SC’s/ST’s
520
All India
712
            Source: Sachar Rajendar (November 2006), P-153.

The above table 8 provides data on the mean per-capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) for the year 2004-05 by social groups. If the all India average of MPCE is Rs.712, the MPCE is the highest for the upper caste Hindus (UCH’s) with Rs.1023, followed by OBC’s with Rs.646, Muslims with Rs.635 and SC’s/ST’s with Rs.520. This shows the upper caste Hindus have an MPCE which is double than that of SC’s and ST’s. All the social groups have an MPCE of less than the all India average of Rs.712, but the UCH’s have more than Rs.1000 of MPCE. This shows the glaring inequality in the consumption expenditure between UCH’s and other social groups of Hindus.

Educational Indicators among Selected Social Groups
The educational parameters such as literacy rate, proportion of graduates and students enrolment ratio among selected social groups are examined here.

Table 9: Literacy Rate by Social Groups (In percentage)
Social Groups
Literacy Rate in 2004-05
UCH’s
80.5
OBC’s
63.4
Muslims
59.9
SC’s & ST’s
52.7
   Source: Sachar Rajindar (Nov. 2006), P-54.

The table 9 offers data about the literacy rate among selected social groups of India. The upper caste Hindus have the highest literacy rate of 80.5 percent followed by OBC’s, who have 63.4 percent, Muslims have 59.9 percent and SC’s and ST’s have 52.7 percent of literacy rate. The table shows that among all the social groups of India, the upper caste Hindu social group has the highest number of literates and the SC’s and ST’s have the lowest number of literates. On the whole, the upper caste Hindus have the highest literacy rate and lower caste majority people have the lowest literacy rate.

Table 10: Graduates as Proportion of Population of Selected Social Groups in 2004-05
Social Groups
Graduates in Percentage
UCH’s
15.3
OBC’s
4.4
Muslims
3.4
SC’s / ST’s
2.2
       Source: Sachar Rajendar (Nov. 2006), P-67.

The table 10 furnishes the percentage of graduates among selected social groups during 2004-05. In UCH’s there are 15.3 percent of graduates in their population. The OBC’s have 4.4 percent, Muslims have 3.4 percent and SC’s and ST’s have 2.2 percent. This shows how all the higher educational benefits have been garnered by UCH’s only. The UCH’s have 7 times more graduates than SC’s and ST’s, four times more than the Muslims and three times more than OBC’s. Being the ruling class and decision makers they are enjoying all the fruits of development ignoring all the other social groups in the development process. Here also the UCH’s have the highest percent of graduates in their population while the lower caste majority people have the lowest number of graduates in their population.

Receiving higher education is important for the creation of intellectual assets for both the individual and the community. The following table 8.2.5 presents the percentage share of students of different social groups in the Post Graduate (PG) Courses in the Universities and other educational institutions of India. This table also shows which social group has garnered most of the fruits of higher education in India.
Table 11: Students Enrolled in PG Courses for 2004-05 by Selected Social Groups in Percentage

Social Groups
Arts
Commerce
Science
Engineering
Medical
Professionals
Total
UCH’s
51
60
58
30
80
60
50
OBC’s
20
18
20
50
05
18
24
Muslims
03
07
05
04
05
08
05
SC’s/ST’s
18
10
10
07
05
10
13
Other Minorities
08
05
07
09
05
04
08
Total
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
Source: Sachar Rajindar (Nov. 2006), P.71.

The table 11 exhibits the enrolment at the Post Graduate (PG) courses by students of selected social groups of India for 2004-05. In the Arts course, the UCHs have enjoyed 51percent PG seats followed by OBC’s with 20 percent, SC’s/ST’s with 18 percent, other minorities with 8 percent and Muslims share is just around 3 percent.
Relating to the Commerce & Professional education, the same pattern is found in the PG seats shared by the different social groups. The UCH’s have shared 60 percent PG seats, followed by OBC’s with 18 percent, SC’s/ST’s with 10 percent, and Muslims with 7 to 8 percent and other minorities with 4 to 5 percent respectively.
In the case of Science, the UCH’s enjoyed 58 percent PG seats, followed by OBC’s with 20 percent, SC’s/ST’s with 10 percent and Muslims and other minorities with 5 percent and 7 percent respectively. In the distribution of Engineering seats, the OBC’s have grabbed 50% PG seats, followed by the UCH’s with 30%, SC’s/ST’s with 7%, Other minorities with 9% and Muslims with 4%.

In the case of PG Medical courses the UCH’s have grabbed about 80% of the PG seats while 20% seats are shared by the other social groups with 5% each in the Indian medical colleges. In the overall PG courses for the year 2004-05, the UCH’s have obtained 50 percent, followed by OBC’s with 24 percent, SC’s/ST’s with 13 percent, other minorities with 8 percent and Muslims with just 5 percent. The important highlights of the table are:

Firstly the UCH’s have grabbed more than 50 percent of the PG seats in all the courses except Engineering where their share is 30 percent.

Secondly the UCH’s have entered the courses such as medical, professional, commerce and science PG courses where the availability of jobs is assured.

Thirdly in the PG medical courses the UCH’s have about 80 percent of seats and thus denied access to students of other social groups.

Fourthly OBC’s enjoy 50 percent of the engineering seats and another 30 percent is shared by the UCH’s and remaining 20 percent seats are shared by the SC’s/ST’s, Muslims and other minorities who constitute around 50 percent of the Indian population. Fifthly the SC’s/ST’s students have 18 percent share in arts PG courses and in the remaining courses their share is 10 percent and below, even though their population is 30 percent in the Indian total population.

Sixthly the share of Muslims is around 5 percent but their population is about 14 percent.
Lastly the most denied social groups in higher education like PG courses are the SC’s/ST’s and Muslims. This highlights the facts that the upper caste Hindu rulers have not equally distributed the fruits of development among all sections of society.

Health Indicators among Selected Social Groups
Health indicators like anaemia among women, child mortality, infant mortality and under-five mortality rate per 1000 births among selected social groups is analysed here.

Table 12: Women with any Anaemia in 1998-99 among Selected Social Groups
Social Groups
Percentage of Women
SC’s
56
ST’s
64.9
OBC’s
50.7
Others
47.6
     Source: National Family Health Survey, 1998-99, Sukhadeo Thorat, 2006: Empowering Marginalised Groups,

P.67, taken from India: Social Development Report 2006, Council for Social Development, Oxford University press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi, 110001.

        The table 12 offers data regarding women with anaemia during 1998-99. There are more number of women among SC’s and ST’s suffering from anaemia with more than 56 percent, followed by OBC’s women with 50.7 percent while only 47.6 percent of the women from other social groups are suffering from anaemia. Here the ‘Others’ include the social groups like Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and UCH’s. However in this group the other women suffering from anaemia are, mostly the women belonging to the Muslim social groups. The lower caste majority people suffer from anaemia because of deficiency of nutritious food. Due to lack of balanced food and medical services close to 300 women die every day during childbirth or of pregnancy related causes (The New India Express, 10-11-2009. p.9). According to the “State of the World’s Mothers 2010” report by Child rights organization ‘Save the Children’, India is ranked 73 in the list of 77 countries rated for the “best place to be a mother”. The country is rated much lower than a host of conflict ridden countries like Kenya and Congo. China is at 18th rank, Sri Lanka at 40 and Bangladesh at 14 among the Indian neighbours (Mea Tujhe Saleem, 2010). This report prepared on health care and well-being of mothers in the countries of the world shows how the Indian ruling class has neglected the mothers of India.

Table 13: Child Health Indicators among Selected Social Groups
Social Groups
Child Mortality
Per 1000 Births
Infant Mortality
Per 1000 Births
Under-5 Mortality
Per 1000 Births
SC’s
39.5
83
119.3
ST’s
46.3
84.2
126.6
Muslims and OBC’s
29
76
103.1
Others (UCH’s)
22.2
61.8
82.6
Source: National Family Health Survey, 1998-09, India: Social Development Report (2006), P.67.

The table 13 reveals the child mortality, infant mortality and under-five mortality rate per 1000 births among different social groups. The child mortality is highest among ST’s with 46.3 followed by SC’s with 39.5, OBC’s with 29 and it is only 22.2 for others who are the upper caste Hindus (UCH’s). The infant mortality is 84.2 for ST’s, followed by 83 for SC’s, 76 for OBC’s and 61.8 for others. In the case of under-five mortality rate is the highest among ST’s with 126.6, followed by SC’s with 119.3, OBC’s with 103.1 and others with only 82.6. This highlights the fact that the upper caste Hindus are enjoying the highest child health care facilities, hence they have very less child deaths when compared to the lower caste majority people whose children are dying due to lack of nutritious food and health care facilities.
    
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report on child survival the “State of the World Children 2008”, India has the largest number of under-five children dying in the world. It accounts for 21percent of the 9.7 million children dying globally before they reach the age of five. India has as many as 35percent of the worlds under nourished children live in India. About one-third of the world’s under weight children under age five are living in India (Special Correspondent 2008A).

According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3, carried out in 2005-06, 46percent of India’s children under the age of three are underweight, which is very high when compared to most other countries such as Sub-Saharan Africa which is 28percent and China has 8percent. The estimates show that 20-30percent of babies weigh less than 2500 grams at birth in India. Further the NFHS reveals that one-third of Indian women suffer from chronic energy deficiency and have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of less than 18.5 kg /m2. During 2005-06, only 44percent of children were fully immunized, only 26percent children with diarrhoea were given oral re-hydration salts (Shivakumar A.K, 2007A). As per the same survey, seventy percent of children between 6 months and 59 months are anaemic. The other emerging economies facing the same problem have overcome this challenge. China reduced its child under-nutrition from 25percent to 8percent between 1990 and 2002, Brazil reduced its number from 18percent to 7percent between 1975 and 1989, and Thailand reduced its child under-nutrition from 50percent to 25percent from 1982 to 1986 which is not even a decade (Karin Hulshof, 2009). This indicates that the Indian upper caste Hindu rulers are not bothered about the children of the lower caste majority people.  

According to the same survey, the child malnutrition rate in India is 46 percent. This figure is almost double that of Sub-Saharan Africa, which is economically poorer than India. According to the International Food Policy Institute (IFPRI), in the hunger index (2008) India ranks 66th among the 88 countries. It comes below Sudan, Nigeria and Cameroon (Zoya Hasan, 2009).

Table 14: Households with Electricity Connection in 1991 Selected Social Groups

Social Groups

Percentage of Households Connected Electricity
Others
48.06
SC’s
28.10
ST’s
22.80

Source: GOI (March 2002): NHDR 2001, P-178.

The table 14 shows the households which have electricity connection till 1991. The table highlights the fact that the households of ST’s and SC’s have the lowest number of households which are connected with electricity this is 22.8 percent among ST’s and 28.1 percent among SC’s. In the category of others 48 percent of the households were connected with electricity in 1991. The category of others includes UCH’s, OBCS and Muslims. Almost all the households of UCH’s are connected with electricity. In this category it is only the OBC’s and Muslims households who do not have any electricity connection.

Work and Leisure among the Selected Social Groups

Work and leisure play a major role in improving the quality of life of the masses in any country. In any community if more number of people are working, it implies that their quality of life must be satisfactory. In the same manner if the population of a community works less and enjoys more leisure it means that the quality of life of that community is quite good. Now the following table 8.2.10 provides information about work and leisure among different social groups of India.  

The below table shows that the worker population between 15 years and 19 years age group is 36.8 percent in the whole country. The workers population is the highest in the SC’s and ST’s with 46.2 percent in this age group, followed by OBC’s with 39.5 percent, Muslims with 35.2 percent and the lowest in UCH’s with 32.8 percent.  This age group between 15 and 19 is the age for college education and to improve their skills and training etc. In this age group the highest number of working population is among SC’s/ ST’s, OBC’s and Muslims. This shows that the children of the lower caste majority people are out of college education and are working in the different sectors of the economy and the children of UCH’s are in colleges.

Table 15: Age Specific Worker Population by Social Groups in 2004-05
Age
All
SC’s/ST’s
OBC’s
UCH’s
All Muslims
15-19
36.8
46.2
39.5
32.8
35.2
20-29
63.0
69.9
65.4
56.1
54.4
30-39
75.0
81.5
77.5
69.3
63.4
40-49
76.4
82.8
79.7
70.0
64.8
50-59
70.2
76.7
73.5
63.3
61.1
60-64
52.5
58.1
56.5
42.8
48.4
15-64
64.4
71.4
67.3
57.4
54.9
       Source: Sachar Rajendar (Nov. 2006), PP-319.
 
  In all the age groups between 15 years and 64 years, the working population is highest in the SC’s / ST’s category with 71.4 percent, followed by OBC’s with 67.3 percent, UCH’s with 57.4 percent, Muslims with 54.9 percent and the all India average is 64.4 percent.
 
   In the case of UCH’s, in all the age groups, the worker population is far less than the all India average. In the college going age group population, the working population is very less among the UCH’s indicating their children are in college and in higher educational institutions. Even in their population between the age of 60 and 64 years, their worker population is very less than the other social groups indicating that their population is enjoying leisure and a comfortable retired life. 

    In the case of Muslims, in all the age groups the worker population is less than the all India average but their worker population is higher in the age group between 15 years and 19 years and also above 60 years age group when compared to UCH’s.

    In the case of SC’s/ST’s and OBC’s, in all the age groups, the worker population is very much higher than the all India average. Among all the social groups, the worker population of SC’s/ST’s is 71.4 percent and OBC’s is 67.3 percent which is above the all India average of 64.4 percent. In the college going age group population, the worker population of SC’s and ST’s is higher than the all India average and also among all the social groups. Thus it  indicates that the children of SC’s and ST’s who ought to be enjoying their college education are out of it and have been drop outs and are being exploited as worker population by the upper caste Hindu economic firms. After 60 years of age the worker population among SCs/STs is very high when compared to all other social groups and the all India average. This indicates that their population is working even after 60 years and is not enjoying a retired leisurely life in society. Therefore, the table reveals how the SC’s/ST’s and OBC’s population is working more and enjoying less leisure in their old life.

Life Supporting Basic Amenities in India

The life supporting basic facilities such as water, electricity and cooking gas connection, living in spacious house, keeping radio, two wheelers, bank accounts etc improve the quality of life in society. These are examined in terms of ratio of population obtaining these facilities to the total population. The performance of India in providing these life-supporting amenities is shown in the table 16.

Table 16: Life Supporting Basic Amenities in India in 2001
Life facilities
Numbers of Families in millions
Percentage
Total No. of  Families
192
100
No. of  families without electricity
85
44
No. of families without Radio
125
65
No. of families without two wheelers
170
88.5
No. of families without Bank Accounts
124
65
No. of families without cooking gas connection
159
82.9
No. of families using wood for cooking
101
52.6
No. of families using kerosene for lighting
83.5
43.5
No. of families having one bed room
74
38.5
No of families without water facility
-
>50
Source: Family Survey 2001, Prajavani, Saptahika Puravani, 10-08-2003, P-1.
       
 The table 16 reveals that during 2001, 44 percent of the Indian families were living without electricity, 65 percent of families did not have radio, 88.5 percent of families did not have two wheelers, 65 percent families did not have bank accounts, 82.9 percent of families had no cooking gas connection, 52.6 percent of families were using firewood for cooking, 43.6 percent of families were using kerosene for lighting, 38.5 percent of families were living in a single bed room house and more than 50 percent of the families had no water connection facilities. This shows how the lower caste majority people of India were deprived of the essential needs to lead a decent life in society.

Slumdogs
 
   During 2006-07 India’s total population was 112.2 crores (GOI, 2007-08), out of that, 34 crores which is about 30percent of the total population accounts for the urban population. Out of 34 crores of urban population, 25percent is living in slums, which is about 8.5 crores of Indian population. According to a report by an expert committee of the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry, there will be a 93.06million (9.3crores) slum dwellers in the 2011 census as against 75.26million (7.5crores) estimated in the 2001 census (Aarti Dhar, 2010). According to the National Housing and Urban policy 2007, the housing shortage is put at 24.7 million units. About 99percent of this deficit pertains to the low income groups (Editorial, 2008). The lower income groups living in the Indian slums are the lower caste majority people, among them SC’s and Muslims are predominant. In these slums all civic amenities such as water, electricity, roads, drainage and sanitation, hospitals, schools and parks are absent. The lower caste majority people such as SC’s/ ST’s, Muslims, and OBC’s are living like slum dogs in these Indian cities. According to one estimate among the slum dwellers, about 70percent are SCs/STs and 28percent are religious minorities and most backward castes.

Plight of Manual Scavengers

The most oppressed section in India’s social order is the manual scavengers, who belong to SC’s and only a section of Dalits undertake this menial job. These people physically lift and carry human excreta by head loads. These people comprise their dignity due to this degrading act and for livelihood. The children of manual scavengers are being segregated in schools. This is a severe form of human rights violation. According to the government data, even now, at least 115000 scavengers exist in the country. The Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), an NGO spearheading the cause of manual scavengers says the official “figure is fictitious”. It puts the number of scavengers at over 10 lakh and over 90percent of them are women. An SKA survey found that 62percent manual scavengers suffer from respiratory diseases; 42percent from jaundice; 32percent from chronic skin infections and 23percent from trachoma. This is how, apart from the indignity and discrimination of the profession, the manual scavengers is exposed to the most virulent forms of viral and bacterial infections (The Week, 2009). The official dead line to eradicate manual scavenging in India was in March 2009 but manual scavenging still continues. Machines have been introduced to take away other jobs of people in India except scavenging. The Hindu social order has continued the hereditary scavengers even after 60 years of Constitutional governance. As this people do not have other livelihood options they work as manual scavengers. This shows how far the caste system is rigid and made the Indian society immobile.    

Bonded Labourers

It is estimated that about 32 lakh bonded labourers are there in India. They are bonded labourers due to poverty and indebtness. In social groups, the bonded labourers belong to the lower caste majority people, who are SC’s and ST’s. These people have no choice to escape from this exploitation, as they have no other livelihood options. The upper caste Hindus are keeping the people of lower caste majority people as their bonded labourers. Even though the Constitution of India has prohibited the forced labour, the so called civil society is not against to this system and the Indian government is not showing any interest in eradicating this system. So that it is still continuing in India.

Child Workers

 According to the 2001 census, the working children in the age group 5-14 years are 12.66 million. The National Sample Survey has estimated the number of working children at 17.36 million. The World Bank report published in the month of June 2006 has declared that there were 6 crores working children in India. India has the largest number of working children under 14 years in the world. About 50percent of the child labourers are from Dalits out of the six crores child labourers in the country. They are working in the units of manufacturing match boxes, crackers, painting, slaughter houses, cleaning toilets and clearing the carcasses of cattle (Special Correspondent, 2008B). Thus the children of the lower caste majority people who should be at school are working as child labourers in production units of upper caste Hindus in hazardous tasks and who have no childhood at all.

Waste Pickers

According to a survey conducted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, there are about 60000 waste collectors in Mumbai, 85percent of them are women. The majority of rag pickers are Dalits and landless people (SC’s and ST’s). These waste pickers live in the slums of Mumbai city without their own home. These people work in the most hazardous job of sorting and separating the waste in the garbage dumps exposed to hazardous waste. These people do their jobs constantly bending and carrying head loads of waste. They engage in this activity to earn their livelihood. (Kalpana Sharma, 2010) This can be seen in almost all cities of India. In India, it is estimated that there are about 15 lakh waste and scrap collectors (Staff Reporter, 2010A).

Beggars of India

Beggary is sanctioned and allowed by the Hindu religion in India. As reported by a survey made by Delhi School of Social Work there are about 60000 beggars in Delhi, according to a Action Aid report of 2004 there are more than 300000 beggars in Mumbai, as reported by the Beggar Research Institute 75000 in Kolkata, as per the police records 56000 in Bangalore, according to the Council of Human Welfare in 2005, one for every 354 people in Hyderabad are beggars. The number of women beggars was 49percent in 2001 and there are about 10 million children beggars begging for livelihood in the Indian streets (http//www.youthkia.com/2008/04/beggary-in-india).  In the month of August 2010 about 25 beggars died at the Beggars’ Rehabilitation Center at Bangalore. However in the government run destitute centers at Bangalore, about 300 beggars died between January and August of 2010. This is due to mal-nourishment, anaemia and diseases. This shows that even in these government destitute centers, no basic needs are fulfilled, whereas the animals in the zoos run by the government are well treated.   

When this incident occurred, the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission Chairperson, S. R. Nayak had sought a report from the Warden of this beggars’ Relief Center about caste composition of a section of inmates which had 108 people in this relief camp. The break-up of the inmates revealed that out of 108 inmates, 94 belonged to SCs and 14 to STs (Special Correspondent, 2010). In India lakhs of people who are begging in the streets belong to SCs, STs, Muslims and other lower caste people. This reveals that the upper caste Hindu rulers of India have made the SCs, STs, Muslims and other lower caste India beggars of India.

Prostitution in India

The Indian Constitution has prohibited human trafficking and prostitution. However it is found in every part of India. Prostitution also has religious sanction in India, so that it is socially acceptable. For example, the practice of Devadasi system in Belguam district of Karnataka state, where young girls are offered to the gods and made them as ‘religious prostitutes’. Along with this, due to poverty young girls and women are being lured by offering job or promise of marriage and finally pushed into brothels. According to an estimate the number of prostitutes in India is about 7936509. As per UNICEF estimates there are at least a million child prostitutes in Asia alone with the highest numbers in India, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines (http://www.catw-ap.org/programs/research-document-publication…). These people become prostitutes due to their adverse socio-economic conditions and the majority of them become prostitutes against their will. The apathetic attitude of the upper caste Hindu rulers towards the development of the lower caste majority people made them as prostitutes.
Plight of Senior Citizens

According to a survey, out of 10 crores senior citizens 66 percent in the country are not able to afford two square meals a day, 73 percent are illiterate and forced to earn their living by physical labour, 90 percent have no social or health security and 37 percent are living alone. This indicates that the National policy on Older Persons formulated by the Union Government in 1999 and the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007 remains unimplemented (Staff Reporter, 2010B). As these senior citizens are ditched by their family members they live as destitute. 

The above analysis of different socio-economic indicators in the section III shows that the upper caste Hindus are enjoying a high standard of living and the lower caste majority people are having a miserable standard of living. Being the ruling class of India, these upper caste Hindus have acquired all facilities of life and have exploited the life of the lower caste majority people and made it a life of absolute misery. According to the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS), 86 percent of the working population (39.49 crores) belong to the unorganised sector, work under “utterly deplorable” conditions with “extremely few livelihood options”. In 2004-05, a total of 83.6 crores people (77percent) had an income below Rs.20 a day. Out of these population, the report points out that 88 percent of the ST’s and SC’s, 85 percent of the Muslims, and 80 percent of OBC’s pertain to the category of “poor and vulnerable” section who earn  less than Rs.20 a day (Special Correspondent, 2007). This is the socio-economic conditions of SCs and STs in the independent India, who are below among all the social groups in almost all socio-economic indicators. 

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar has made many provisions to destroy this unequal economic order and to establish an equal economic order in the Directive Principles of State Policy (Articles 38 and 39) of the Constitution of India. However the upper caste Hindus who are ruling this country have not implemented these provisions. Hence this unequal, unfair economic order is still continuing leading to the wretched socio-economic conditions in India.
Further, it appears that this system will be perpetuated in the globalized era, where privatization, liberalization and globalization policies have been pursued. In this New Economic Policy, the government jobs are shrinking and private jobs are in increasing in small rate. This policy promotes jobless growth and distribution-less growth and also encourages competition in all the spheres of economic life, which would only spell doom to these lower caste people as the gap will only be wider and wider between the upper caste Hindus and lower caste majority people. This will go against the dream of Ambedkar’s nation of Prabhuddha Bharatha in which socio-economic inequalities would all be ironed out.

References
Section- I

Arjun Sengupta ( 2007), “The approach to planning should change”, The Hindu, 5th September 2007, P.13).
 Balasubramanian D. (2003), “Who are we, the people of India”, The Hindu, Science and Technology, 06-11-2003, P-12.
Manohar Atey, The editorial of Kanshiram, Part I, P-1&153.
Neena Vyas (2006), Include specific Muslim groups among SC’s; report, The Hindu, 1st December 2006, P.12
Nehru Olekar (2008), Deccan Herald, 24-1-2008, P-4.
Rahi Gaikwad, (2010), Maharashtra’s dismal record in conviction rate in caste atrocity cases, The Hindu, 20-6-2010, p.12.
Rajindar Sachar (2006), Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India, p.6-7, Government of India, Sardar Patel Bhawan, Parliament street, New Delhi. 
Rajshekar V.T., (2006), Danger of India’s break-up and its Islamisation, Dalit Voice, August 16-31,2006, Vol. 25, P-07.
Sivaramakrishnan Aravind, (2010), Global casteism, a reality, The Hindu, Magazine, 18-04-2010, p.4
Special Correspondent, (2006), Special habitats for Dalits favoured, The Hindu, 25-12-2006, p.6
Special Reporter, (2009), “caste based discrimination eclipses democracy”, The Hindu, 12-09-2009, P.13.
The Week, 03-02-2008, P-8 & 9.
Vidya Subrahmanian (2006): Muslims deprivation widespread: Sachar Committee, The Hindu, 1st February 2006, P.1.
Section-II
Dutt Ruddar and K.P.M.Sundaram (2007), Indian Economy, P.607, S. Chand and Company Ltd., 7361, Ramnagar, NewDelhi- 110055.
Gail Omvedt, (2001), Reservation in the Corporate Sector II, The Hindu, 1-6-2001.
GOI, (2010-11), Indian Economic Survey,, Ministry of Finance, NewDelhi.
Hanumnthappa. H., (2001), National Commission for SC’s and ST’s, The Hindu, 5-2-2001.
Neena Vyas (2008A), An excuse to keep OBC’s out: JD (U), The Hindu, 12th April 2008, P.12.
Neena Vyas (2008B), BJP’s caste politics and the Gujjars, The Hindu, 31st May, 2008, P.11.
Legal correspondent (2009), PIL on black money politically motivated: centre, The Hindu, 03-05-2009.
Madhava Menon N.R. (2008), Reforming the legal profession: some ideas, The Hindu, 20th February, 2008, P.12.
Pratiyogita Darpan, (2009B), Current Events Round-up, Vol.1, February 2009, p.37.
Press Trust of India, (2010), The New Indian Express, 15-09-2010, p.1.
Datt Ruddra &K.P.M.Sundaram,(2006), Indian Economy-2006, P-364.
Suraj B.Guptha, Black Income in India (1992), P-146.
Ruddar Datt and K.P.M. Sundharam, (1995), Indian Economy, P-328.
Special Correspondent, (2009), Billions worth of Indian wealth in Swiss Banks, The Hindu, 30th August, 2009, P.12.
Venkatesan J., (2010), Eight out of 16 former CJIs were corrupt: Shanti Bhushan, The Hindu, 17-09-2010. p.15.  
Section-III
Aarti Dhar, (2010), Any ill-equipped settlement of 20 households to be slum, The Hindu, 05-09-2010, P.20.
Editorial (2008), Inequality in Cities, The Hindu, 20th November, 2008, P.10.
GOI, (2007-08), Indian Economic Survey, P.A-2
Jason Burke (2010), More Poverty in India than Sub- Saharan Africa, The Hindu, 15-07-2010, P.22.
Kalpana Sharma (2010), Invisible environmentalists, The Hindu, Sunday Magazine, 13-6-2010, p.3
Mea Tujhe Saleem, (2010), India not a happy place for mothers: report, Deccan Herald, 10-05-2010, p. 7.
Prasenjit Chowdhury (2009), India is still world’s hunger capital, Deccan Herald, 27th August 2009, P.10.
Sachar Rajindar (November 2006), “Prime Minister’s High Level Committee on Social, Economic and Educational status of the Muslium community of India” Government of India, P-157.
Shivakumar A.K (2007A), why are levels of child malnutrition high? The Hindu, 22nd June, 2007, P.12.
Special Correspondent (2008A), Under-5 mortality rate high in India, says UNICEF report, The Hindu, 23-01-2008, P.15 
Special Correspondent (2008B), The Hindu, 24-02-2008, P.4.
Special Correspondent (2007), Most unorganised workers get below Rs.20 a day, The Hindu, 10th October, 2007, P.16.
Special Correspondent (2004), Drastic fall in net availability of food grains, The Hindu, 11-03-2004, P.11.
Special Correspondent, (2009), “Abolish single-teacher schools”, The Hindu, 05-10-2009, p.7.
Special Correspondent, (2010), Its mostly Dalits, The Hindu, 22-08-2010, p.4.
Staff Reporter (2010A), Waste pickers demand ID cards from Government, The Hindu, 20-6-2010, p.5.
The Hindu, 17-7-2003.
Staff Reporter (2010B), 37 percent of senior citizens living alone, The Hindu, 17-08-2010, P.05.
The Week, August 9, 2009, P.14.
Zoya Hasan (2009), Legislating against hunger, The Hindu, 27th August, 2009, P.10.

Selected Bibliography
Shanmugam. V.(2011): Hindu Hegemony, Asmitha-Arhanth Publications, U-21, Pampapathi Road, Saraswathipuram, Mysore-570009.
Thorat Sukhadeo & Katherine S. Newman (2010), Blocked by Caste, Economic Discrimination in Modern India, Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110001.  
 
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