Narendra Damodardas Modi: From tea boy to India’s leader…The sentence sounds like an ideal headline. It tells the tale of a boy from a low-caste family, who rose to fame as one of India’s most revered Prime Ministers. Such a story gives countrymen, especially those who are at the bottom of the caste/social pyramid, the promise of a brighter future, where caste does not decide their fate.
But Gauri’s story says otherwise. A 42-year old Dalit woman living in the village of Kanthampoondi in Thiruvannamalai, Gauri works as a caregiver to a person with disabilities at a school. She is the only one who earns a living in her family, sustaining three kids and a husband. Dalits being the minority in a village of 250 families of upper-caste Hindus, everyday discrimination has become her reality. During elections, people from her caste are not allowed to stand up for positions, despite having quota reservations; the panchayat only consists of members from the upper caste Hindus, so upper caste dominance continues. Moreover, money allotted for the welfare of dalits does not even reach them. “Recently the Government had a scheme through which we could build free toilets. But toilets are only being built in their village with the money provided by the government,” said Gauri.
As paradoxical as it sounds, India is a hierarchical democracy. Despite being constitutionally abolished for over 50 years, India’s caste system still decides the fate of many Indians, and their success in moving up the social ladder. Even though the definition of Jati is a complex web interwoven between one’s religious, social, and economic conditions, a part of the Jati tradition in India is not only the distinction based on caste systems that exist within religions, but also distinction created between religions, thus the preference of people from certain religious backgrounds than from others. Religious caste systems, such as the Varnas that divide the Hindu society, suppress lower-caste members from rising up in the social hierarchy. Additionally, notwithstanding affirmative action, many traditional lower-caste and low-income families innately believe they are incapable of social mobility. Fundamentally, in India, social mobility is not as attainable as it appears to be.
After the implementation of laws like the Protection of Civil Rights Act, untouchability is a thing of the past, or so we think. With a government that supports Hindu nationalist movements like Hindutva, and a Hindu dominant society, the caste system does not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. “They even tell the shopkeeper to give different stocks for upper caste Hindus and us,” said Gauri, while talking about her experience of getting monthly ration from a local store in her village. “When we go to get monthly ration from there, we have two different queues and we are not supposed to touch them.” If a dalit touches a caste Hindu by mistake, it can lead to major fights. This culture, woven around a conservative mindset, is what confines the lower-caste communities like Gauri’s to their labels.
Sweeping the streets, killing pests, slaughtering animals, leather tanning, latrine cleaning, and preparing dead bodies for funerals are activities usually handled by Dalits. Since devout Hindus consider them ‘impure’, they are usually limited to such menial, low-paying jobs, which makes it harder for them to raise their economic status.
But with the forward castes, the case is different. The Indian upper caste households earned almost 47 per cent more than the national average annual household income. The upper caste of India, which the Constitution refers to as “general category,” continually ascend up the social hierarchy, whereas the lower-castes are mostly stationary. People born into wealthy families have easier access to better quality necessities, in addition to the numerous luxuries, for example, cars.
According to a study published in 2018, the wealthiest 1 per cent among the top 10 per cent of wealthy upper-caste grew richer by 16 percentage points to 29.4 per cent. This demonstrates how India’s economy is stuck in a cycle, where the rich grow richer and the poor become poorer.
Syma Sahu is a student of class XII Woodstock school Mussoorie.