As it is revealed from various periodic Government reports, the last 70 years of constitutional governance has failed in many ways to ensure a proportionate share in development to the people belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) who comprise around one-fifth of the population of Odisha. Now the question is how long it will take to bridge the socioeconomic gaps among various social groups while many recent reports such as periodic labour force survey by NSSO 2019-20 shows a rise in poverty and also related reports indicate increase in many forms of inequality, including discrimination and atrocities against SCs.
Let’s see the situation of SCs in Odisha by using various Government data on specific issues such as atrocity, poverty, landlessness and employment status. It is a fact that the core issue of SCs is linked to their low caste identity by birth that decides their status. In spite of many legal measures and social reform movements, still the practices of untouchability and caste based atrocities are rampant. The two important protective legislations that primarily address the issues of atrocities are PCR Act -1955 and SCs and STs POA Act 1989. For last 10 years there were about 20,000 reported cases booked under these two Acts whereas about 10,000 cases are pending for trial in special courts and most shockingly the annual conviction rate has been between 0 to 3 per cent as revealed in the NCRB data.
The Prisoner statistics says that the presence of inmates from SCs were disproportionately in higher number. Why the conviction rate is so less? Is there any study or discussion by the appropriate bodies? The Government of Odisha has paid around Rs 20 crore to 1,883 atrocity victims as monetary relief in the year 2020, and has engaged 700 full time legal retainers and hundreds of public prosecutors to provide free legal aid to victims. The Government made operational three exclusive special courts at Baleswar, Balangir and Cuttack added to the existing 92 special courts for speedy trial of atrocity cases. As part of all India approach to reduce untouchability and caste discrimination, inter caste marriage between non-SC Hindu and SCs are being promoted with cash incentive of Rs 2.5 lakh to couples of inter caste marriage and last year the State Government has spent around Rs 20 crore for 978 couples.
As per legal provision of the POA Act, the matter of atrocity cases needs to be discussed in the State Assembly, but in spite of presence of 57 SC and ST MLAs in the House, there is no review to arrest the growing of atrocities.
Not just social discrimination, the SCs are also reeling under acute poverty as 42 per cent of SC households are featured among the people below poverty line (BPL) and the poverty ratio among SCs and STs is much higher in comparison to other social groups.
There have been targeted anti-poverty schemes in operation for last so many years but mostly used as advertisement of Government. The SCs’ livelihood and development are connected to ownership over land, access to quality education and equal opportunity to access employment.
What is the land status of SCs in Odisha? The agriculture census on land holing speaks more in details. A vast majority of SC households depend on land for livelihood, mostly as agricultural workers, sharecroppers and very few are small and marginal farmers owning less than minimum economic holding. About 20-30 per cent of the rural SC households have no record of rights over homestead land to construct a permanent house of their own. In spite of land settlement laws such OGLS Act and OPLE Act, still a sizable number of family lives inside coconut groves, bank of rivers and village ponds, former landlords’ land , and un-surveyed lands which is not yet demarcated and not being allowed a legal possession.
Many of them are deprived of PMAY benefits though the scheme attaches priority to housing for SCs. There has been provision since 2013 to purchase private land for PMAY beneficiaries if Government land is not available for settlement but the Government of Odisha has done nothing in this regard.
The OLR Act has provision of settlement of ceiling surplus land, Bhoodan land, waste land and many other categories of land with landless SC families but what is the status now? Long back, the State Government had made promises to make the State landless free. What changes has the department made in ensuring land to landless families including SCs? There are thousands of homestead-less families routinely languishing in Revenue offices. The sharecroppers have been suffering for so many years without any rights at par with
land owning farmers. Majority of the SCs hamlets have no basic amenities such as drinking water, toilet, electricity and all-weather linking road which is largely linked to land entitlements. The Census 2011 revealed that not even 1 per cent of rural SC households was in salaried jobs in Government, corporate and private sector. The much propagated job reservation has only helped accommodate the SCs and STs in selective class 4 and class 3 jobs while class-2 and class -1 jobs still remain a day dream for them. Experience shows that the job reservation policy of the Government always has to pass through judicial scrutiny and dilution which has obstructed these sections of people from getting their legitimate share. Currently, the costly quality technical education has become unreachable for SCs and other poor which has a bearing on their access to salaried jobs.
The caste based hate campaign by a few so -called meritorious social groups against reserve category also has created an undeclared social exclusion in the private job market. Even that affected the technically qualified SCs in getting access to job market.
Social barriers are a major stumbling block for self-employment of SC youths in rural areas. It is found that distress migration is quite high among rural SCs. Odisha’s economic growth is not possible with this kind of continued social and economic exclusion of a sizeable historically neglected mass.