Caste and the Census

Caste and the Census

May 23, 2010 By

Also published in Frontier and Forward “See no caste, hear no caste, speak no caste.”

The policy of the Indian elite towards the issue of caste has been that of the three monkeys: one of denial. It doesn’t exist; if it does it is not so bad; it should not be talked about, and those who do talk about it or try to act on it are the ones who are “casteist.” The entire onus is placed on the victims of the system trying to fight it. This has also guided the policy of the government of India. Now that the Census of 2011 is coming closer, with preparations getting well in hand, it is clear that once again there will be no question of caste identification, except for the broad and rather useless (for most purposes) categories of “Scheduled Caste” and “Scheduled Tribe.” The issue has been raised in the past, and quite frequently has met with a rather frantic response that this would lead to turmoil, dissension and bitter conflict. Yet for years the British government asked questions about caste in the Census; though the issue became politicized (with some groups seeking and proclaiming new identities) it led to no really serious problems. Again, the United States asks about race in each of its censuses; and while race in the U.S. is as contentious an issue as caste in India, it has led to no great problems. Gail Omvedt Gail Omvedt The fact is that to deal with an issue, one has to have information about it. Policies require understanding and analysis; pretending that caste doesn’t exist is perhaps the best way to perpetuate it. On one hand, there are numerous acts and regulations dealing with caste; on the other hand, there is a genuine dearth of information. There is no encouragement for studies of caste; indeed, the only sociology students who are at all encouraged to deal with the issue are an occasional student from subaltern caste background who is taught to write on his own people. But looking at the caste system as a system is not so often done. The National Sample Surveys, for example, have only recently started using the very broad (and often not very useful) categorization of “OBC”; but this pulls together a diverse and hierarchically broad group of castes or jatis into one overall category. And Brahmans – those who, as sociologist Satish Deshpande has argued, “ride incognito in our social system” – are never looked at; all the “upper” castes together are lumped in the “other” group. There is almost no solid statistical data available about them. And issues like intermarriage – all we can do is speculate, on the basis of scattered personal experience and matrimonial ads in the newspapers, about what percentage of marriages (95%? 99%?) are still within caste marriages. Yet it would be so simple to include a question about caste in the Census. Let it be a matter of self-identification ; people would be free to identify their caste as they like, or (if they wish), reply “no caste” or “mixed.” This itself would yield valuable data. I would guess that the number saying “no caste” would be less than one percent! Then, a committee at the state level could identify the broad categories within which the data can be summarized. This would hardly be a utopia. But it would provide a beginning for an honest attempt to deal with the issue, to gather data to deal with the issue. Caste has undoubtedly changed in modern India – though some extremely “feudal” and backward forms remain, such as the fact that cleaning human excrement is still done in so many places in India by members of particular dcastes. Even cases such as those of Chitralekha in “developed” and “left-progressive” Kerala show the degree to which many occupations are “reserved” by ongoing, brutally enforced tradition for members of particular caste groups. In other cases, most of the old forms of the jajmani system have vanished. Yet the correlation of caste and economic status remains strong. Education continues to be two-track and it is the children of the subaltern castes who suffer particularly from this. Another Census is going by without dealing with the harshest, most peculiar aspect of india’s social system. Let this be the last one.

‘Institutes like IITs and IIMs should be closed down’

Mandal is back. With the news that a crore a year has just become slightly less dear for the B-school grad, came the rider that it may soon become that much more difficult for a general category student to make it to IIMs, IITs or central universities.
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The government is considering a proposal to reserve 27 per cent seats there for those applying under the OBC quota. There has been an instant uproar in the corporate sector and the student community. Most are sniffing political opportunism in the move.

But there is another side to the debate. In an exclusive interview to DNA, author of Why I am not a Hindu? and one of the country’s foremost Dalit intellectuals Kancha Ilaiah tells Daipayan Halder this was long overdue.

The Election Commission has, on Saturday, sought an explanation from HRD Minister Arjun Singh over the Centre’s proposal to reserve seats for OBCs in IITs, IIMs and all central universities, saying he has violated the model code of conduct before the Assembly polls. Do you see this as yet another instance of populism that has run riot?

Well, it is true that after L K Advani decided to go on yet another Bharat Yatra and that too before the assembly polls, the Congress needed a game plan to counter it. Hence, they decided to push for reservation. But there is nothing wrong, per se, in declaring a policy decision. The Constitution has already been amended for the purpose. Elections in the five states are a separate issue and should not be affected by a proposal that is yet to be implemented. The opposition to the proposal only exposes the casteist and racist mindset of those who are opposing it. Even the EC is not free from the malaise. Today or tomorrow, the government had to introduce reservation because that is what the Constitution says.

The IITs and IIMs are successful brands and have gained international recognition. If Mandal replaces merit, wouldn’t their brand equity suffer?

We should close down the IITs and the IIMs as they pander to the upper-caste economy of the country. Those who pass out from these institutes use their technical and managerial skills to earn dollars abroad. Are they using their skill sets to the benefit of the agro-based economy of the country? Tell me, with rising incomes of our B-school graduates are farmer suicide rates coming down? So what is the use of such education if it cannot be put to any use within the country or for the uplift of the majority of the population who live in villages?

But can this not lead to reverse discrimination? There is a lot of resentment for the quota candidates for what is often perceived as an unfair advantage that they have over others?

In the book, The Shape of the River, William (G) Bowen and Derek (Curtis) Bok argue for more racial diversity in the US’ student population. Today, because of affirmative action in the US, the entry of coloured people in the education, employment and political systems are being increasingly ensured and has benefited their society. There is no reverse discrimination there. In India, on the other hand, there is no democratic space for the SC/ST & OBCs. This move was long overdue.

But even the US policymakers are not in support of reservation. Can there not be any other form of affirmative action than caste-based reservations in jobs and educational institutions?

Reservation is absolutely essential. But there should also be other forms of affirmative action. Successive governments have failed to implement the constitutional promise of introducing free and compulsory education after independence. There should be mass English language primary schools for Dalits. There should also be reservation in the private sector. We will soon take to the streets to ensure that.

Finally, would the move benefit the OBC students themselves? There are examples galore of quota students dropping out of such schools of excellence as they cannot cope up with the pressure.

This is incorrect. When you say backward caste students are not good enough, you display a casteist bias. When I was the head of the political science department of Osmania University, a Dalit student had secured the highest marks.

Backward caste students are generally discriminated against in these premier institutes. Instead of providing them a leg-up, they are made to feel unwanted. Given a favourable condition and a fair chance, they can do as well as the others.

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Daipayan Halder
Sunday, April 9, 2006 23:26 IST
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_institutes-like-iits-and-iims-should-be-closed-down_1023204