Caste prejudice, SCs and OBCs
Untouchability, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes.
The essentials
Prejudice means pre-formed opinions or attitudes held by one group about another, usually negative and not based on evidence. Stereotypes fix whole groups into single, simplified images. Discrimination is actual behaviour that disadvantages a group, such as refusing a job or housing because of caste. Prejudice can exist without visible discrimination, and discrimination can occur through rules that look neutral.
Untouchability is the extreme form of caste inequality. It has three dimensions: exclusion (from shared water sources, temples, festivals), humiliation-subordination (forced gestures of deference, being made to remove footwear) and exploitation (unpaid or forced labour). Those once called "untouchables" now often call themselves Dalits, meaning the oppressed or downtrodden.
The state responded with laws and policies. The Caste Disabilities Removal Act of 1850 protected the rights of those who changed religion or caste. Article 17 of the Constitution abolishes untouchability and forbids its practice. The Untouchability (Offences) Act of 1955 was later renamed the Protection of Civil Rights Act, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act came in 1989. Reservations in legislatures, government jobs and education are the main positive measures.
Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are groups that are socially and educationally backward but not as severely excluded as SCs. The First Backward Classes Commission was headed by Kaka Kalelkar; the Second, the Mandal Commission, recommended reservations for OBCs in central government jobs, which were implemented in the early 1990s amid much controversy.
Key points
- Prejudice is an attitude; discrimination is an act.
- Untouchability: exclusion, humiliation-subordination, exploitation.
- Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are listed in schedules attached to the Constitution.
Common mistakes
Do not confuse OBCs with Scheduled Castes; the basis for OBC status is social and educational backwardness, not untouchability.