Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
The Scheduled Castes[1] and Scheduled Tribes are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India.[2] The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designated in one or other of the categories.[3]: 3 For much of the period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent, they were known as the Depressed Classes.[3]: 2
For other uses, see Dalit and Adivasi.
In modern literature, the Scheduled Castes are sometimes referred to as Dalit, meaning "broken" or "dispersed" for the untouchables.[5][6] The term having been popularised by the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar during the independence struggle.[5] Ambedkar preferred the term Dalit over Gandhi's term Harijan, meaning "people of Hari" (lit. 'Man of God').[5] Similarly, the Scheduled Tribes are often referred to as Adivasi (earliest inhabitants), Vanvasi (inhabitants of forest) and Vanyajati (people of forest). However, the Government of India refrains from using derogatory and anthropologically incorrect terms. Instead, it uses the terms Anusuchit Jati and Anusuchit Janjati, as defined by the Constitution of India, for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.[7][8] In September 2018, the government "issued an advisory to all private satellite channels asking them to refrain from using the derogatory nomenclature 'Dalit', though rights groups and intellectuals have come out against any shift from 'Dalit' in popular usage".[9]
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes comprise about 16.6% and 8.6%, respectively, of India's population (according to the 2011 census).[10][11] The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 lists 1,108 castes across 28 states in its First Schedule,[12] and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 lists 744 tribes across 22 states in its First Schedule.[13]
Since the independence of India, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were given Reservation status, guaranteeing political representation, preference in promotion, quota in universities, free and stipended education, scholarships, banking services, various government schemes and the Constitution lays down the general principles of positive discrimination for SCs and STs.[14][15]: 35, 137
History[edit]
The evolution of the lower caste into the modern-day Scheduled Castes is complex. The caste system as a stratification of classes in India originated about 2,000 years ago, and has been influenced by dynasties and ruling elites, including the Mughal Empire and the British Raj.[26][27] The Hindu concept of Varna historically incorporated occupation-based communities.[26] Some low-caste groups, such as those formerly called untouchables[28] who constitute modern-day Scheduled Castes, were considered outside the Varna system.[29][30]
Since the 1850s, these communities were loosely referred to as Depressed Classes, with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The early 20th century saw a flurry of activity in the British authorities assessing the feasibility of responsible self-government for India. The Morley–Minto Reforms Report, Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms Report and the Simon Commission were several initiatives in this context. A highly contested issue in the proposed reforms was the reservation of seats for representation of the Depressed Classes in provincial and central legislatures.[31]
In 1935, the UK Parliament passed the Government of India Act 1935, designed to give Indian provinces greater self-rule and set up a national federal structure. The reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes was incorporated into the act, which came into force in 1937. The Act introduced the term "Scheduled Castes", defining the group as "such castes, parts of groups within castes, which appear to His Majesty in Council to correspond to the classes of persons formerly known as the 'Depressed Classes', as His Majesty in Council may prefer".[3] This discretionary definition was clarified in The Government of India (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1936, which contained a list (or Schedule) of castes throughout the British-administered provinces.[3]
After independence the Constituent Assembly continued the prevailing definition of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, giving (via articles 341 and 342) the president of India and governors of the states a mandate to compile a full listing of castes and tribes (with the power to edit it later, as required). The complete list of castes and tribes was made via two orders: The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950[32] and The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950,[33] respectively. Which are derived from colonial list and first updated in Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Lists (Modification) Order, 1956. Furthermore, independent India's quest for inclusivity was incident through the appointment of B. R. Ambedkar as the chair of the drafting committee for the Constitution. Ambedkar was a scheduled caste constitutional lawyer, a member of the low caste.[34] After 15 years since the first amendment listing Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the government adopted updated criteria for inclusion and exclusion based on the Lokur committee report of 1965.[20]
Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan[edit]
The Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) of 1979 mandated a planning process for the social, economic and educational development of Scheduled Castes and improvement in their working and living conditions. It was an umbrella strategy, ensuring the flow of targeted financial and physical benefits from the general sector of development to the Scheduled Castes.[43] It entailed a targeted flow of funds and associated benefits from the annual plan of states and Union Territories (UTs) in at least a proportion to the national SC population. Twenty-seven states and UTs with sizable SC populations are implementing the plan. Although the Scheduled Castes population according to the 2001 Census was 16.66 crores (16.23% of the total population), the allocations made through SCSP have been lower than the proportional population.[44] A strange factor has emerged of extremely lowered fertility of scheduled castes in Kerala, due to land reform, migrating (Kerala Gulf diaspora) and democratization of education.[45]