Social-Issues-in-Contemporary-India-English-munotes

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STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA
Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Status of Women in India
1.3 Women Achievers in India
1.4 Areas of concern for women in India
1.5 Measures to be taken
1.6 Summary
1.7 Questions
1.8 References
1.0 OBJECTIVES  To introduce students to Social Issues in Contemporary India.
 To shed light on Women’s Issues.
 To understand the Status of Women in India.
1.1 INTRODUCTION “You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of women
in it.”
This is a famous q uote by Jawaharlal Nehru on women. The status of
women depicts the social, economic and mental condition in a nation.
Women have been regarded as a symbol of spirituality in our scriptures.
Yet, women were denied rights and equality in ancient Indian civil ization.
They have been treated badly and unequally to men. Social evils such as
dowry, sati -system, child marriage, and female infanticide were widely
prevalent in the early ages. Spread of education and self -consciousness
among women has led to thei r progress over the period. Women of today
are empowered. Also, women are gaining advancements and success in
each and every field. True female liberty is only achievable when people
shift their restrictive attitudes and mindsets regarding women.
Tradition ally India has been a patriarchal society in which men have
enjoyed superior status and women have suffered from subordinate status.
Men have dominated all aspects of life. The family line continues through
the male child. The male child has been considere d as an asset and the girl
child has been considered as a liability.
 As per Census 2011, India’s population was 121.06 Cr and the
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Social Issues in Contemporary India
2  In 2011, the sex ratio (number of females per 1000 males) at all India
level was 943 and the same for rural and urban areas are 949 and 929
respectively. The sex ratio for 0 - 19 age group was 908 while that of
60+ age group was 1033. The sex ratio in the economically active age
group (15 - 59 As years) was 944.
 Sex ratio in the age group 0 - 6 years has increased in rural from 906
in 2001 to 923 in 2011. However, the ratio has a decline in urban area
in the same period.
 The women’s mean age at marriage in 2017 at all India level was 22.1
years and the same in rural and urban areas are 21.7 years a nd 23.1
years respectively.
 As per National Sample Survey (July 2011 - June 2012), 11.5%
households in rural areas and 12.4 % households in urban areas are
female headed households.
Check your progress:
1] Define India as a patriarchal society .
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2] Examine the statistics with regard to males and females in India.
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1.2 STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA History of the Status of Women in India :
Going back to our origins, we can see how vital women are to society, not
only biologically, but also culturally. Women have been mentioned in our
Vedas and ancient books since ancient times, and they have been assigned
important positions.
But during the past few centuries, the conditions of women worsen.
Previously, women were referred to as housekeepers. It was thought and
passed down to others that women are meant to marry, take care of the
house and their in -laws, and sacrifice all of their aspirations in order to
realise the dreams of the ir husbands and children. Furthermore, women
were kept out of school because families believed that only boys deserved
to be educated and follow their aspirations. Women were married off at a
young age, and occasionally without their consent. They have als o been
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Status of Women in India
3 designed to limit them, and they are frequently considered commodities
rather than human beings.
The form and extent of work, political participation, levels of education,
state of health, representation in decision making bodies, access to
property etc. are some relevant indicators of status of the individual
members in a society. However, not all members of a society, especially
women, have equal say to the factors whic h constitute these indicators of
status. Patriarchal norms restrict Indian women's e ducation and
employment choices . Let us understand where women, who constitu te
almost half of the country’s citizenry, stand today in the fight for freedom,
dignity, equality and representation.
The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
The Constitution not only guarantees equality to women, but als o provides
the State with the power to take measures of positive discrimination in
favor of women in order to mitigate their cumulative socio -economic and
political disadvantages. Women have fundamental rights to not be
discriminated on the grounds of sex (Article 15) and get equal protection
under the law (Article 14) It also imposes a fundamental duty on every
citizen to renounce the practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
In early times, the status of women in India was inferior to man in the
pract ical life. However, they had a higher status in scriptures. They are
considered as the perfect homemakers in the world. With their
incomparable quality of calmness of mind, they can easily handle the
toughest situation. Indian women are completely devoted to their families.
They are preached in the name of Saraswati, Durga, Parvati and Kali. As
per the last Census carried out by the Government of India, there are 933
females for every 1000 males in our country. We can find superiority of
men in every phase of our lives.
Traditionally, women were considered to be caretakers of home. They had
to look after the running of the family smoothly, they had to manage the
expenses in the most economical way possible, they had to look after aged
in-laws, nurture the ch ild, etc. They were expected to obey orders of their
husband, the elders of the family, but kept in isolation when it came to
major decisions related to the family. The women were deprived of
education . They would be married off one day to thei r in-laws place and
hence would not need too much knowledge was the previous thinking.
There were certain exception to it well educated women led paths of
success in many sphere of life, because of support from their families.
They paned paths of change and brought about a transformation in the way
people viewed women in the society.
The scenario of women is slowly changing in recent years. We can see a
slow and steady rise of women in all fields of importance. Women of
today are not just restricted to cooking and taking care of their households,
they have to step out their comfort zones to create their own images in the
outside world as well. This is in short, can be termed as women
empowerment. Society has now changed its stand and the way it looks at munotes.in

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Social Issues in Contemporary India
4 women, due to the progress achieved by women in all spheres of life. Men
today are more understanding towards the women in their lives, yet we
hear many cases of harassment against women.
Women have completely transformed in the mod ern day, the role of urban
women specially has changed from being a mere homemaker to the
modern day multitasking women, handling responsibility without fear.
Women of today handle their duties and chores at home, manage a career
outside their home, nurture their children and balance their family lives
with their professions. This is the scene in most of the urban households
today. Modern day women are independent, takes right decisions boldly,
stands up for their rights and walks the path of success. Kalpana Chawla,
Indra Nooyi, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and many more women achievers are
a prime example.
This is the scene in the developing economy today. Women are well
educated, they have crossed horizons, and their presence is visible in male
dominated areas. Women have been sent on many space missions. We see
women have exce lled as journalists, politicians, doctors, engineers,
lawyers, actors and in many other professional spheres. Women of today,
choose the right career paths that de termine their future and thus we see
them excelling in every walk of life.
The women in rural backgrounds have still to complete a lot in terms of
their urban counterparts. Not that the rural women are backward in any
aspects, but the change and transforma tion that the urban women see is
definitely a little slower to the rural women. In the modern period , there
was a steady development in women is status. There were many women
reformers in India, who worked for uplift and betterment of their fe male
counterparts. Women education was elevated and English was introduced
during this period. Various female writers emerged in the society. In the
modern time, women in India were given freedom and right such as
freedom of expression and equality as well as right to be educated.
Various prestigious positions at this period were held by women. They are
enjoying the 'Ladies first' facility in the different fields. However, some
problems such as dowry, domestic violence, sex detective abortion, female
infant icide are still prevalent in our society.
Now a days, women are educated about the social benefits including
awareness about the existing social problems in the society, good
recognition and image in the family and community, plan and promote
better education for their children, taking care of health of aged and
children. At present, most of the women are given a chance of finishing
their education to the degree level. They are discouraged from getting
married and raising a family when they are young. There are number of
women education grants from the government, that offer assistan ce to the
women from poor background in order to give them a chance to be
educated.
There are various scholarships, that benefit women in India to achieve
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Status of Women in India
5 they can further continue their education. Many NGO s in India also, offer
support to women in order to benefit them in education. The government
of India as well as state governments are setting aside funds that are use d
to empower women through various initiatives . Women who have desire
to improve their lives are allowed to take grants from the government and
NGO's to empower themselves with higher education.
The government of India set aside funds , for women entrepreneurs in
order to start their business. The women are encourage d to start / set up
small business in order to have their own source of income, thus they
became independent. Various NGOs also offer financial support to the
women in India and encourage and teach them in various business
activities.
Now a days, the status of women in India has greatly improved and there
are many women who are holding high and prestigious position in the
government offices and private companies. The activities of women are in
all sides of present day economy in India. This has proved that, women
can be even better than man if they are given an opportunity. Women
should be given equal opportunity li ke their male counterparts by the
central and state governments of India.
Women's day is celebrated, not to glorify the beauty and grace of women,
but to bring about awareness among the public regarding women's safety.
Women need to be strengthen themselve s by building up their inner
strengths. They should work on increasing their moral strength and face
the world without fear. Wome n are taught to be bold and out going in these
days of modernism. We should empower the women in our lives to lead
independent l ives. T hey should be taught to be self reliant and should not
depend on anyone to meet their goal.
Women in Free India:
Gender equality :
Women today are eager to take up professions and work. Thus, they enjoy
equal respect and dignity in the family. Women in free India also enjoy
equal pay for equal work . Also, there are provisions for maternity leave
for them. Furthermore, females are provided equality of opportunity under
Article 16 of the Constitution of India.
Educational Status :
Girls in urban areas are almost at par in education with the boys. But there
is a less educated female population in rural areas. This has also affected
the social and economic development of rural India. The poor (hygienic
facilities) facilities at scho ol and lack of female staff have affected
education. Kerala and Mizoram have a universal literacy rate.
Women and Politics :
The maximum number of female politicians in the world is from India.
Women have occupied significant positions i.e. of President, Pr ime munotes.in

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Social Issues in Contemporary India
6 Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and other high offices. Indira Gandhi
is the first lady who held the office of the Prime Minister for 15 years.
Mrs. Pratibha Patil was the first Indian women to be elected as President
of India. Recently Draupadi Murmu has been elected as th e President of
India.
Evils Against Women :
Violence against women in India includes kitchen fires for want of dowry,
sexual assaults, cases of rape, prostitution, throwing of acid. Also, the
evils of child marriages are also widespread even today. Fema le
infanticide, indecent behaviour, and honour killings add to the misery of
the women. Also, sex -selective abortion is a deep -rooted evil leading to
inequality in the sex ratio.
Current Status of Women in India :
Following the development of the freedom mo vement across the nation,
women emerge d and burst through their shells. A larger proportion of
women were given the opportunity to study and seek education. Currently,
India does not have a shortage of women in the medica l, technical,
teaching, legal, or any other profession. India has seen an increase in the
number of empowered women holding higher positions in various offices
and organisations.
Women are involved in a variety of occupations and compete alongside
males in a variety of disciplines such as technology, law, administration,
teaching, and so on. Apart from traditional occupations, we have women
who thrive in sports, such as P.T. Usha, Sania Mirza, P.V Sindhu, Mithali
Raj, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, Dipa Karmakar, and others, who have
represented and inspired many aspiring sportswomen in India.
We also have women who have had a significant impact on the art and
entertainment industries since their inception, as well as cultural icons in
many schools of art. Indira G andhi, Vijay Lakshmi Pandit, Annie Besant,
Mahadevi Verma, Nita Ambani, Sachet Kripalani, Amrita Pritam, Sushma
Swaraj, Padmaja Naidu, Kalpana Chawla, Mother Teresa, Subhadra
Kumari Chauhan, and others are some of the great Indian women leaders,
social ref ormers, social workers, administrators, and literary personalities
who have significantly changed the women’s status.
Check your progress:
1] Discuss the status of women in Ancient India.
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7 2] Examine the current status of women India.
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1.3 WOMEN ACHIEVERS IN INDIA For years, women have suffered the injustice and prejudice of society. But
today, with the changing times, they have made a name for themselves.
They have brok en the shackles of gender stereotypes and stood to achieve
their dreams and goals. For instance we have the example of Social
Activist Sindhutai Sapkal who won the Padma Shri in 2021. She has been
contributing to the society by raising orphaned Children. I n the field of
Environment we have the shining story of Environmentalist Tulsi Godwa
who won the Padma Shri in 2021. She is known as the Encyclopaedia of
Forest.
In the area of Defence the name of Avani Chaturvedi comes to mind. She
is the First Indian Wom an to fly a solo fighter aircraft (MiG -21 Bison). In
sports we know about Mary Kom. She is the first woman from the country
to win a medal in boxing at the Olympics. PV Sindhu was the First Indian
woman to claim two Olympic medals (Bronze - Tokyo 2020) and (Silver -
Rio 2016). In team sports, we have the Indian Women's Cricket Team
which was a Finalist, Commonwealth Games 2022
Indian women are not behind in the area of International Organisations as
well. Gita Gopinath has the distinction of being the First W oman Chief
Economist at the IMF (International Monetary Fund). In the field of Space
Technology Tessy Thomas is known as the Missile Woman of India for
her role in the Agni -V missile project. In the field of Education as well we
have super women achievers. Shakuntala Devi holds the Guinness World
Record for Fastest Human Computation.
Shanan Dhaka was first in AIR 1 National Defence Academy Entrance
Examination (1st Women's Batch of NDA). Top 3 All India Ranks were
achieved by female candidates in UPSC Civil Services Examination 2021.
Check your progress:
1] Name the women achievers in the field of defense in India.
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8 2] Enumerate the Indian women achievers in the International
Organisations.
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1.4 AREAS OF CONCERN FOR WOMEN IN INDIA There are many areas of concern for women in India. Empowerment of all
women is still a distant dream. Empowerment is the process that creates
power in individuals over their own lives, society , and in their
communities. People are empowered when they are able to access the
opportunities available to them without limitations and restrictions such as
in education, profession, and lifestyle.
Line ancient period in India, women had been deprived of the
opportunities which were supposed to be enjoyed by them. They had been
confined inside the four walls and were compelled to do household chores.
They were neglected whenever any family decision had to be taken and
only male members of the family had the right to make a decision. Child
marriage, enforced widowhood, sati, Devadasi, purdah, dowry, female
infanticide and the practice of polygamy made the Indian society static.
During the British period, some substantial progress was made in
eliminatin g inequalities between men and women in matters of education,
employment, social and political rights. Industrialization, urbanization,
and the spread of education were some of the important aspects of change
that affected the status of women in various wa ys. Education was
identified as the major instrument to raise the social status of women. A
girl school was established for the first time in Bombay in 1824. The
Hunter commission too emphasized on the need for female education in
1881. Some social reforme rs like Raja Ram Mohan Ray and Iswar
Chandra Vidyasagar also laid stress on women's education. Their zealous
endeavors helped to dispel social evils to some extent.
After indep endence of India many laws like :
1) Dowry Prohibition Act 1961
2) The Provisions of The Protection of Women fr om Domestic Violence
Act 2005
Have been enacted to protect the rights of the women. Sexual Harassment
of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act
(2013) provides protection to women from sexual harassment at all
workplaces both in public and private sectors, whether organized or
unorganized. The Constitution of India also emphasizes on gender equality
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9 favor of women under Article 15(3) . Article 16 provides equal
opportunities for both men and women with regard to employment.
Despite of having so many laws, women in India are still not safe and
secure. Var ious heinous crimes against women are still prevalent in Indian
society. As per the annual crime in India Report 2017 released by The
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) a total of 3, 59, 849 cases were
reported against women in India. Gruesome incidents like rape and sexual
assaults have made the girls and women so vulnerable. Although we are
witnessing a spurt in such heinous crimes, the conviction rate of the
perpetrators is abysmally low. Therefore, perpetrators can easily evade the
law that emboldens them to repeat those incidents.
Due to continuous increase of crimes like rape and such other incidents
women always feel insecure and resist them from taking jobs or business
or such other works. In Hyderabad where a veterinary doctor was raped
and murdered while returning from her work in November 2019 . Such
incidents make other women think twice before taking up a job o r a career.
It's also shameful for a country where a girl is raped and murdered brutally
in the capital city and her family members have to struggle for more than
seven years to get justice for their daughter. There's a saying that justice
delayed is justice denied. The sluggish judicial system has failed
drastically to repose the faith of the people in the judiciary. Due to the
poor functioning of the judiciary, the number of habitual offenders also
have increased in India. Due to such worse situations even the family
members also sometimes feel threatened to allow their daughters to leave
their home city or town to pursue their dreams and career that makes their
path of success more struggling and arduous.
Although some women have gathered th e courage to break the glass
ceiling despite the worse scenario, India has still a long way to go to
achieve women's empowerment in true sense.
Male Female Literacy Proportion:
Despite the government's effort to ensure equality of opportunity for
education for both men and women in our society, literacy rate of women
in India, especially in rural areas, still remains tour. Schools in rural India
are at considerable distances and in absence of strong local law and order,
women find it unsafe to trav el long distances for schooling.
Traditional practices like female infanticide, dowry, and early marriage
have also contributed to the problem as many families find it economically
unviable to educate the girl child.
Character Typecasting :
Still a large s ection of our Indian Society considered the roles of men as
taking all the financial responsibilities and work outside. Gender role
stereotyping attributed to women have generally led to prejudice and
discrimination against women. For example, women may be considered to
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10 Variation in the Socialization Procedure :
In many parts of India, especially in rural regions, there are still different
socialization norms for men and women. Women are e xpected to be soft -
spoken, calm, and quiet. They should walk, talk, sit and behave in a
certain manner. Whereas men ought to be confident, loud, and could
display any behaviour as per their wish.
Representation of Women in Parliament:
The representation o f women in different legislative bodies remains low
across India. According to the report of Inter -Parliamentary Union (IPU)
and UN Women, India ranks 148 out of 193 countries in the number of
elected female representatives in parliament.
Safety Concern:
In India, despite of continuous efforts in the field of Safety, women are
threatened by various acts via feticides, domestic violence, rape,
trafficking, forced prostitution, honour killings, sexual harassment at
workplace etc.
Glass Ceiling :
Women not onl y in India but across the globe face a social barrier
preventing women from being promoted to top jobs in management.
Check your progress:
1] Discuss the reason for the low female literacy rate in India.
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2] Discuss the situation in India with regard to Representation of Women
in Parliament.
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1.5 MEASURES TO BE TAKEN Better Education Opportunities:
Providing education to women means educating the whole family.
Education plays an important role in building self-confidence among
women. It also enables people to change their status in society. Education
enables and builds confidence to make decisions in a better way. The munotes.in

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11 Education policy needs to be more inclusive t o ensure girls ’ right to
education and their right to be free from discrimination within educational
institutions. Also, education policy should target young men and boys to
positively change their attitudes towards girls and women.
Skilling and Micro Finan cing:
Skilling and micro fin ancing can get women financial stabl ity and
therefore she will no longer be dependent upon others in the society.
Training women in non -traditional skills with market demand, creating
more public and private sector jobs for women is important for financial
empowerment.
Women’s Safety:
A multi -sectoral strategy to raise awareness among women about the
current government initiatives and mechanisms should be devised to
ensure the safety of women throughout the country. Panic Button,
Nirbhaya Police Squad are some good steps in the direction of women’s
safety. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 was enacted to ensure safe working
spaces for women and to build an enabling environme nt that respects
women’s right of equality of status and opportunity.
Specified Actions at the Lowest Level of Governance:
There is a need to devise, support and promote projects at the lowest level
of governance, to bring more inclusivity in governance a nd improve the
status of women in India. For instance: Swagatam Nandini (Katni,
Madhya Pradesh): This initiative was launched with an objective of
celebrating the birth of girls. With a small procession to celebrate the
arrival of the daughter, parents of new-born baby girls are felicitated with
baby kits under the Ladli Lakshmi Scheme.
Nanhe Chinh (Panchkula, Haryana) :
Encouraged by Anganwadi Workers (AWWs), baby girls are brought to
local AWCs by their families. Their footprints are outlined on a chart
paper and are put up on the wall of the AWC with the mother’s and baby
girls’ names.
Incentives in Education:
In order to curb higher dropout rate among girls, there is a need for
providing relatively higher financial incentives for higher education.
Rewar d should be given to villages/districts that achieved equal child sex
ratio through education, information and communication campaigns.
Emphasis should be laid on e -governance so that there is a timely check
on the expenditure released by the centre and various state governments
for scholarships for girl students.
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12 Improvement in Basic Amenities at Rural Level:
Improvement in basic infrastructure can reduce domestic work burdens.
For instance, domestic work for rural women often include s arduous tasks
such as fetching water and fuel wood. Piped drinkin g water and clean
natural gas will reduce this load .
From Women Development to Women Led Development:
Women should be recogni zed as architects of India’s progress and
development, rather than being passive recipients of the fruits of
development. The ripple effects of Women led Development are
undeniable as an educated and empowered woman will ensure education
and empowerment for future generations.
The government has adopted numerous reg ulations and laws in
favour of women :
The Indian government has launched a slew of initiatives aimed at
empowering women in the country. Each of these plans is created with a
focus on women and their needs in mind, so that Indian women, like
women all around the world, can achieve all of their goals and enjoy a life
of equal status. Among the most well -known schemes are:
 Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
 Women Helpline Scheme
 Nari Shakti Puraskar
 Nirbhaya
 Mahila Police Volunteers
 Mahila Shakti Kendras (MSK)
Check your p rogress:
1] Describe some measures to improve the status of women in India.
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2] Examine the government regulations and laws in favour of women.
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13 1.6 SUMMARY Women’s sta nding in India has evolved as a result of education and other
societal progress. They are also given the freedom to pursue their aims,
take an education, and make their job goals a reality. Even in marriage,
women are given the liberty to express t hemselves. Women in India today
are well aware of their rights and benefits, and they are no longer
politically, socially, economically, or educationally backward. They now
have the same opportunities and rights like others . They are capable of
achiev ing any position or status in life.
There has been a steady transformation in the status of women in
comparison to earlier periods. Women of today take part in politics,
military , economic s, service, and technology s ectors. Moreover, they have
contributed wholly to sports too. Thus, they have occupied a dignified
position in family and society.
However, ending crimes against women is still a challenge. Even after
significant advancements in women’s rights in India, th ey are still
exploited, harassed, and abused . We can prevent ills by ensuring women’s
autonomy, also increasing participation and decision -making power in the
family and public life.
1.7 QUES TIONS 1. Analyze the status of women in India.
2. Discuss the areas of concern for women in India.
3. Examine the measures to be taken to improve the status of women in
India.
1.8 REFERENCES  Barnali Barman, Women Empowerment: A Distant Dream in India,
https://www.sentinelassam.com/north -east-india -news/assam -
news/women -empowerment -a-distant -dream -in-india/
 Gunin Borah, Status of Women in Indian
societyhttps://www.sentinelassam.com/north -east-india -news/assam -
news/status -of-women -in-indian -society/
 https: //vikaspedia.in/social -welfare/women -and-child -
development/women -development -1/status -of-women -in-
india#:~:text=Related%20resources -
,Population,are%20949%20and%20929%20respectively.
 https://www.drishtiias.com/daily -updates/daily -news -editorials/status -
of-women -in-india
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14 2
FORMS OF EXPLOITATION
Unit Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Various forms of exploitatio n of women in India
2.3 The Me Too Movement
2.4 Safeguards for Women
2.5 Laws for Women in India
2.6 Summary
2.7 Questions
2.8 References
2.0 OBJECTI VES  To understand the various forms of exploitation of women in India.
 To shed light on Women’s Issues.
 To grasp safeguards for women in India.
2.1 INTRODUCTION The Paradoxical situation of women in India is alarming. On the one hand
they are worshipped as Goddess, while on the other hand burnt for dowry.
Boys are seen as a big support for parents in old age -are considered
necessary in order for the family lineage to continue. Girls on the contrary,
are unwanted yet embody the ‘honour ’ of the family. It is a double bind on
for the girls or women as they do not only have to preserve family
‘honour’ in society, but also be silent when various atrocities such as
abuse, violence, rape, early marriages happen. In the few cases in w hich
they break their silence, the repercussions are immense. Swami
Vivekanand rightly said, 'Just as a bird can not fly with one wing only, a
Nation cannot march forward if the women are left behind'. Men and
women are the two sides of a same coin. Their unity leads to strength and
their separation results in fragility. Each has what the other does not have.
Both of them completes eac h other. Etymologically, the word 'woman'
mean - half of man. The relation of the male and female is very well
illustrated in our Nyaya Darshan by the analogy of mind and matter,
which means that man and woman are closely associated with each other,
as the soul and body. Therefore the women ought to be respected.
Women in ancient times were honoured and were given respectable status .
They were considered the ‘source of power’, (shakti swaroopa). Women
like Gargi, Anusiya and Maitreyi were the epitome of Goddess Saraswati.
The status of women was evident from the shloka from munotes.in

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Forms of Exploitation
15 ‘Manusmriti’which says that where women are honored, divinity blossoms
there, and where women are dishonored, all actions no matter how noble
remain unfruitful. Women played a very encouraging role in spreading
education and in carrying various social obligations with perfection. But
this could not carry on for too long, with passage of time women’s social
condition started deteriorating. Instead of giving them education and
upbringing their status, they were subjected to sufferings under purdah
system, child marriage, dowry, female infanticide, female feticide etc.
They were mentally and physically exploited. This exploitation still
continues and in addition has intensified to the immeasurable.
Check your progress:
1] Examine the status of women in India
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2] Discuss the sta tus of women in ancient times.
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2.2 VARIOUS FORMS OF EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN IN INDIA Women are exploited at every sphere of life. From personal security to
professional one, from home to workplace, from physical t o emotional, at
every realm of her life she is made to suffer in every form and in every
role, whether she is a daughter, a sister, a wife, or as a mother, or as a
colleague. Women are exploited in the following ways:
1. Ex ploitation at Home: Domestic Violence :
The exploitation of women starts at home, whether physically or mentally.
They are beaten up by their husbands and family members after getting
drunk and getting involved in drugs. Various reasons and other bad habit s
among males lead them to abuse women at their home at sometimes beat
them up till death also. There are lots and lots of cases reported everyday
regarding the domestic violence, and yes, many of them remain unreported
as well.
2. Exploitation for Dowry :
Women are exploited for dowry from the very past. But now thi s dowry
has changed into a deal , a family and a business collaboration, now the
dowry has upgraded from a car to a luxury car, from fan to an air munotes.in

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Social Issues in Contemporary India
16 conditioner, lots of jewellery and cash. It is har d to believe, but a bitter
truth , that the qualification and profession of the groom decides the
amount of dowry. More the groom is qualified, heavy is the amount of
Dowry. Failing to which or the greed of the in laws make them torture the
women physically as well as emotionally, causing mental trauma. Many
young married girls are killed or forced to kill themselves for this menace
of dowry.
3. Sexual Exploitation :
Everyday we come across news about rape cares and sex ual moles tation .
She is not safe anywhere. They are touched without their consent and are
considered to be objects , just the mode of fulfilling sexual pleasure. If not
that, after raping they are killed brutally. The Delhi Nirbhaya case is an
example of such brutality. Kotkhai rape and murder case in Shimla is also
amongst the same. And day by day, this brutality and exploitation is
becoming unending.
4. Exploitation at workplace :
Women are also exploited at workplace, by not giving them their due
credit and by applic ation of gender biased policies in any workplace
concerned. In Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan, The Supreme Court said that
the equality and security of a worker is seriously challenged when they are
harassed at their work place. For this purpose, Vishak a guidelines have laid
down by the Supreme Court to improve the working conditions of the
women and to ensure them safe and comfortable environment. Vishak a, a
public interest class -action lawsuit, came before the Supreme Court to deal
with the gender based h arassment in some workplaces, which involved
individual social workers and non -governmental organizations (NGOs).
Their allegation was that though there are provisions available for the
protection of women but the implementation is not up to the mark, that is
why they approached to the Supreme Court for the enforcement of their
fundamental rights enshrined by the Constitution of India.
5. Cyber exploitation :
Women are exploited in virtual world as well. There also they women ar e
followed and stalked on social network and undue advantage is taken.
Their accounts are hacked and obscene things are published in their
names. By hacking their accounts their pictures are used in fake porn stuff.
And after that, women are black mailed a nd harassed, causing a lot of
mental harassment.
Check your progress:
1] Examine the issue of Domestic Violence.
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17 2] Examine the cyber exploitation of women.
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2.3 THE M E TOO MOVEMENT Indian Society intends to protect its culture, and they put it all on the
shoulders of women to not be just responsible for their own dignity, but
also to the dignity of the family as a whole, and this pressure for too long
had been making them stay silent and tolerate and in fact get adaptive with
this situation in Indi a.
Generally, in most of the cultures, women are demoralized and are held
back from speaking up against harassment. In India, things are even
worse. If she dares to come out, the tag of the victim continues to be with
her forever. This does not end here, s he also has to face victim shaming.
But with the advent of Me Too revolution, it became easier for them to tell
their stories. Now the women have realized that they are not the only one
who have faced such agony. Generally women are made to believe th at it
is they, who are responsible, or it is their fault that they had to go through
such sexual harassment. The thought they are inculcated with is that, it is
better to stay quiet and not report such cases and bear such a victim tag for
lifetime. But wit h me too revolution women after listening to each other’s
stories women have started gathering strength and have started coming out
and speak about the grievances. They have started realizing that getting
sexually assaulted is not a matter to be ashamed of . It is not their fault.
It signifies towards one thing, that is the failure of the judicial system in
our Country. It implies that what so ever provisions are incorporated in
law for sexual harassment in India they are not up to the mark. The
women who ha ve been silently suffering throughout their lives, they are
now angry and this anger is coming out in the form of outrage in the
Country, and have started speaking, expressing naming and shaming about
their harassers and letting other people know about the ir painful stories.
The Paramountcy of being a woman lies upon the invisible struggle which
the women face throughout. The victims or we can say the survivors have
to go through various mental and psychological pain. The trepidation of
being expelled out o f the society always remain in their mind, which leads
them to be labeled as a rabble rouser. All this discourages women from
naming their harassers. Going into the Court room, reliving the pain is no
where less than a torture to the victims.
The main conde mnation of Me Too Movement is that, here women instead
of going to the Courts or Legal System, prefers to state themselves on
Social Media Platform s which implies not trusting and believing our
formal Legal system, that guarantees fairness to the accused, o therwise it
would lead to the Public Trial only. A Journalist Seema Mustafa has
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18 put forth their agony and their bad experiences. This according to her is a
big deal for women of India. But on the other hand, there also lies a
drawback on the part of this revolution, that it lacks internal criticism,
which would have aided in making this revolution more strong. Tavleen
Singh of The Indian Express has also put forth her disagreement
critic izing this movement saying that the so called broad minded people
who are commanding this revolution do not accept any disagreement to
their point of view broad mindedly. Govind Krishnan V of First post
accorded with the view of Seema Mustafa and in additi on to it stated that
one of the negative point s of this movement is that it lacks the positive
disapproval or criticism. He said that for the movement like me too, more
of such open communication and richer debates need to be done, so as to
make the deep im pact of this movement.
Check your progress:
1] Discuss the reasons why women refuse to report exploitation.
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2] Examine the ways in which Me Too movement has emboldened
women.
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2.4 SAFEGUARDS FOR WOMEN In India every person has right to be protected against every kind of
atrocities. Women like any other person are equally protected and
safeguarded by Law of the Land. As far as the women are concerned,
there are rights p laced to protect women as a parent, wife, daughter,
employee and most importantly as a woman. There are various Acts
providing protection to women in India such as: Special Marriage Act,
1954, Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, Indian Divorce Act, 1969, Maternity
Benefit Act, 1861, Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, The
Prohibit ion of Child Marriage Act, 2006 . All these laws are there for
safeguarding rights of the women. Following are some of them to be taken
into consideration:
1. Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 :
This Act forbids any kind of obscene depiction of a woman by any kind of
advertisement or publ ic reporting, whether be it in the form of writing,
printing, figures or in any other way. This law ensures in the preserving
and upholding the honor and prestige of the women in the society. As the munotes.in

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Forms of Exploitation
19 technology is getting advanced day by day , with the advan cement in the
electronic media and Internet access to everyone, the need for such change
and revolution was needed.
2. National Commission f or Women Act, 1990:
The National Commission for Women or NCW, is a legal body of Indian
Government. It was established in January 1992 by the Government of
India. This act represents the women’s rights in India and provides them a
voice for their issues and concerns. It aims to improve the status of Indian
women and to work on their financial empowerment. This Act aimed to:
 To analyze the constitutional and Legal Safeguards for women
 To put forward corrective judicial actions
 To ease reparation of injustice and
 To guide the Government on all policy matters relating to women.
3. Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 (Vishak a Guidelines) :
In 1997 the Supreme Cou rt propagated certain set of recommendations,
which came to be known as the Vishak a Guidelines. This was a set of
rules which were prescribed for India for the cases of sexual harassment.
These guidelines were further amended in 2013, and they came to be
known as The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013. This Act intends to prevent women
from sexual assault and harassment at the Workplace. This Act also
provides protection against the false and malicious charges.
4. Other Human Rights for Women :
Following are the other human rights which are available for women in
India. All of these are incorporated in the Constitution of India, eith er in
the form of Directive Principles or in the form of Fundamental Rights.
1) Right to equal pay :
The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 ensures the equal wages for the
women in all sphere. That no discrimination shall be made on sexual basis
as far as the equal remuneration for equal job is concerned.
2) Right to dignity and decency :
Women should be treated decently that to with dignity. In case if any such
incident happens with the women, what so ever medical examination
need s to be done at her should be done with in the presence of another
woman.
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20 3) Right against domestic violence :
Women need to be protected against harassment. This harassment may be
a sexual harassment or a domestic violence. Section 498 of the Indian
Penal Code protects a woman, whether he is someone’s wife, mother sister
everyone needs to be protected from domestic violence. This violence can
be emotional, physical, sexual or of any other kind. The offence is non
bailable and accused shall be p unished with an imprisonment for a term
which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.
4) Female sexual assault victims have the right to keep their identity
anonymous :
Woman sexually assaulted has a right that her privacy be protected. The
sexually assaulted women while recording her statement before District
Magistrate has a right to do so in the presence of a female officer.
5) Right to get free legal aid :
The Legal S ervices Authorities Act provides for the arrangement of free
legal aid to the rape victim. They are provided with the lawyer by the
Authority if needed.
6) Right not to be arrested at night:
Section 46(4) of Cr.P.C. provides that a woman is not to be arrested after
sunset and before sunrise . If such thing happens it should take place if
some exceptional case is there. The Law also provides that a woman can
only be interrogated in the presence of a woman constable and family or
friends.
7) Right to register virtual complaints :
If due to any of the reason a woman is not able to be physically present at
the police station to file the complaint, they have the right to file a virtual
complaint. It may be in the form of e -mail, or they can also put in the form
of some letter which can be sent to the police station by post.
8) Right against being stalked :
If a woman is being stalked or is being followed or if someone follows her
for some kind of interaction and that woma n is not interested, then Section
354D of the Indian Penal Code provides for the legal action to be taken
against that stalker.
9) Right to Zero FIR :
Section 154 Cr.P.C provides that the First Information Report (FIR) that
can be filed at an y police station irrespective of the location where the
crime has taken place occurred or a Zero FIR can be instituted to the
Police Station in whose jurisdiction the case falls under.
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21 Organisations for women :
There are a number of organisations that work for the upliftment and
protection of women such as the National Commission for Women, One
Stop Crisis Centres (or) Nirbhaya Centres, National Association of Rural
Women India, etc. There are also a number of NGOs working for
women’s rights. After the enact ment of so many laws, the atrocities done
to the women have not stopped, rather they are increasing at an alarming
pace. Strict actions need to be taken. Justice delivery system needs to be
improved. It should be geared up so that justice is not delayed to the
peop le. Penal system needs to be worked upon At least, the serial
offenders and remorseless fellows must be severely punished, may be by
awarding death sentence or by other means.
Check your progress:
1] Discuss the laws for women in India.
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2] Discuss the provisions of theVishak a Guidelines.
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2.5 LAWS FOR WOMEN IN INDIA 1. Marriage and Family Matters :
 The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006: This Act prescribes a
specific age for boy and a girl for getting married. It therefore
provides for a fact that if a boy marries under the age of 21 and a girl
marries under the age of 18, then it will be considered as a Child
Marriage. This Act aims at uplifting a standard of a woman and not
letting her get stuck in the marital obligations at a very young age, and
rather encouraging the girls to study and make career bright.
 The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971: This Act
provides for the laws regarding abortion in I ndia. It prohibits aborting
a child, and there are various set of conditions on the fulfillment of
which such an act can be done, otherwise abortion has be en made
illegal in our country. Though it requires certain amendments, which
would help in easing the p roblems which a woman face during such a
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Social Issues in Contemporary India
22  S. 498 -A of the Indian Penal Code : Prohibits the domestic violence
and considers it to be a criminal offence.
 Certain provisions in the Indian Evidence Act and the Criminal
Procedure Code also deal with this issue : Finally, a legislation
devoted to this issue was enacted in 2005 – The Protection of Women
from Domestic Violence Act.
 Harassment that a woman faces at he r in-laws is a cause of concern .
the reason for such harassment are numerous, dowry is one of them.
Women are tortured and harassed for dowry, they are maltreated,
therefore, to overcome this social evil, the Dowry Prohibition Act,
1961 was enacted for this purpose which makes it an offence. Though
this practice still continues to e xist.
2. Sexual Abuse and Exploitation :
 “Various forms of sexual harassment such as singing lewd songs, eve -
teasing, making sexual advances in spite of refusal, watching,
capturing or sharing images and other media of a woman engaging in
a private act wit hout prior consent have all been criminalised by the
Indian Penal Code. There is an entire legislation dedicated to sexual
harassment in the workplace – Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace Act, 2013.
 It is important that parents are aware of their dau ghters’ activities on
the Internet. Today, many crimes against women are committed by
sexual predators through online portals. Online harassment of women
is prohibited under S. 67 of the Information Technology Act .
 Any indecent representation of women is banned by the Indecent
Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986. This law, as it
is considered to be too narrow for this day and age, has undergone
certain changes and an Amendment Bill was drafted in 2012 which
broadened its scope.
 Ss. 375 and 376 (2) of The Indian Penal Code criminalise rape.
These sections spell out 7 years and 10 years imprisonment,
respectively, as the punishment for rape. The key feature of these
sections is the requirement for consent by the woman in question for
the act not to be considered as rape. Intercourse with a woman of
unsound mind or a girl below 16 years of age is considered to be rape
irrespective of consent being given.
3. Property laws :
 While traditionally, the rights of women with regard to succession and
inheri tance of property in India were next to non -existent, as of now,
according to the amendments to the Hindu Succession Act in 2005 ,
daughters have been given the same rights as sons with regard to
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Forms of Exploitation
23  The Indian Succession Act does n ot differentiate between the heirs
of the deceased.
 Muslim women enjoy rights of inheritance though limited to some
extent by custom and practice
4. Women in the workplace:
Women in India have the right to earn as much as men and gender
discrimination is also prohibited at the time of recruitment. Ss. 4 and 5 of
Equal Remunerations Act, 1976 lay down the law regarding this.
 The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 has brought about
certain groundbreaking laws which concern working women
including t he increase of paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26
weeks (S.5(3)) and ‘work from home’ options for new mothers
(S.5(5)).
In 2013 after the Nirbhaya incident and the widespread protests that
followed, the criminal law dealing with sexual offences was amended and
the definition of rape was widened. Also many new offences were
included such as stalking, Voyeurism, etc. There are different …
Definitions of ‘sexual offence’ under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) ,
they are as follows:
 Outraging modesty S. 354 states that if a man assaults or uses
criminal force on any woman with the intention of outraging her
modesty or knowing that it is likely to outrage her modesty, then he
shall be punished under this section.
 Sexual Harassment S. 354A states that if a man ma kes physical
contact and advances, demands or requests for sexual favours, shows
pornography against the will of a woman or makes sexually coloured
remarks, then he shall be punished under this section.
 Disrobing S. 354B states that if a man assaults or us es criminal force
against a woman with the intention of disrobing her, he shall be
punished under this section.
 Voyeurism S. 354C states that if a man watches or captures the
image of a woman in a private act or disseminates such an image, he
shall be puni shed under this section. A private act includes an act
where the victim does not expect to be observed by the man or any
other person at his behest. If the victim consents to the capture of the
image but not to dissemination, then such dissemination shall be
punishable.
 Stalking S. 354D states that if a man follows or contacts (or attempts)
a woman despite a clear indication of disinterest by her, or monitors
the use of internet, email or other electronic communication by her,
then he shall be punished und er this section.
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Social Issues in Contemporary India
24 5. Protection under I.T. Act, 2000 :
Information Technology Act, 2000 provides for the protection of women
from cyber crime, such as: section 66 punishes the offence of identity
theft, punishable by the imprisonment upto 3 years and fine ex tending
upto rupees one lakh. Section 66E deals with the violation of the privacy
of a person, taking photos or making videos of a private area of the person
without the consent is punishable with imprisonment upto 3 years and /or
fine. Section 67A makes th e publishing or transferring of sexually obscene
material punishable with imprisonment of 5 years extending upto seven
years and fine upon second conviction.
Check your progress:
1] Describe the laws for women dealing with marriage and family matters.
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2.6 SUMMARY We Indians have been blessed with an enriched tradition of protecting our
culture. That culture, which provides an d emphasizes upon the patriarchal
domination and sidelining the significance of women, and were left out
from the power as well. Women are carrying the responsibility of
protecting the honor and dignity of not only of herself, but of the entire
family. She is held responsible for carrying the Honor of her family upon
her own shoulders. So that is why she was supposed to be quiet and was
expected not to complain about what so ever bad has happened with them .
It was thought to be a shame or dishonor to the fa mily if they speak out
their pain in the society. But in some cases what was heard and seen was
that the women complaining had to face attempts of assault, and
intimidation by the accused. Th ose women were not treated well at the
workplace, and moreover th ey were denied jobs even. They were made
subject to ill treatment and were boycotted by the society. Besides the
enactment of various laws in India, women are still exploited, implying
towards the failure of the current Justice System in India, because of the
failure of the implementation of the Laws protecting the women’s rights.

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25 2.7 QUESTIONS 1. Enumerate the various forms of exploitation of women in India.
2. Discuss the Laws and safeguards for women in India.
2.8 REFERENCES  “Women Exploitation In Indi a: An Invisible Struggle” Kanika Pandit,
Dr. Renu Mahajan, University Institute Of Legal Studies (UILS)
Chandigarh University, Chandigarh.
 https://vikaspedia.in/social -welfare/women -and-child -
development/women -development -1/status -of-women -in-
india#:~:text =Related%20resources -,
Population,are%20949%20and%20929%20respectively.
 https://www.drishtiias.com/daily -updates/daily -news -editorials/status -
of-women -in-india

*****

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26 3
ATROCITIES ON WOMEN
Unit Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Rising crimes against Indian women
3.3 Forms of atrocities against women
3.4 Legal Remedies for Violence against women
3.5 Measures taken by Government to prevent crime against wom en
3.6 Summary
3.7 Questions
3.8 References
3.0 OBJECTIVES  To introduce students to Social Issues in Contemporary India.
 To shed light on Women’s Issues.
 To understand the Various Atrocities on women in India.
3.1 INTRODUCTION According to Oxford dictiona ry, the term atrocities against women, refers
to "a cruel and wicked act against a woman which causes her emotional or
physical injury or both." "The issue of atrocities against women is a deep -
seated problem in society that had been accumulating all these days and
has found a sudden release", said Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (Former chief
minister of West Bengal). Women in India constitute near about half of its
population and it is very common to read news about violation or wrong s
committed on women everyday. Although we have entered into a new
millennium, women , with patriarchal setup in Indian society , continue to
be oppressed and ill -treated. They are prone to atrocity both inside and
outside their homes in contemporary India. Our o rthodox society is so
much prejudiced by age -old habits and customs that a violated woman,
whether she is forced or helpless, has no place in the society. To prevent
the violence and improve position condition of women in India, many
laws have bee n formulated, some of which are : 1. Hindu Marriage Act,
1955. 2. Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 3. Dowry Prohibition
Act, 1961 4. Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 5. Equal
Remuneration Act, 1976 6. Sati Prevention Act, 1987. 7. Indecent
Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1996 8. Protection of Women
against Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Even though so many laws are
there, the graph of violence against women is increasing day by day. munotes.in

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Atrocities on Women
27 Check your progress:
1] Define the term ‘atrocities against women’ .
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2] Examine some of the laws to improve the condition of women in India.
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3.2 RISING CRIMES AGAINST INDIAN WOMEN In his address to the nation on India's 75th Independ ence Day, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi called for a "change in the mentality" towards
women and asked citizens to fight misogyny. "A distortion has crept in our
conduct and we at times insult women. Can we take a pledge to get rid of
this in our behaviour, " he suggested, urging people to "take a pledge to get
rid of everything that humiliates women in everyday life". This was not
the first time Mr Modi had talked about gender equality and respect for
women. In his Independence Day speech in 2014, he had condemned
rapes in India saying "when we hear about these rapes, our heads hang in
shame". But the data indicates that crimes against women remain
persistent.
The numbers show a consistent year -on-year rise, except in 2020 - the
year when the Covid -19 pandemic swept India and a strict lockdown
forced the country to shut down for months. Experts say it also impacted
data collection. In the year 2021 - India recorded the highest number of
crimes ag ainst women ever. Activists say the rising graph is a matter of
serious concern, but authorities say it is because of is a better reporting
and more people are registering cases in police station .
The rising graph :
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Social Issues in Contemporary India
28 Of the six million crimes that pol ice have recorded between 1 January and
31 December 2021, 428,278 cases involved crimes against women. A rise
of 26.35% over six years was witnessed - from 338,954 cases in 2016. A
majority of the cases in 2021, the report said, were of kidnappings and
abductio n, rapes, domestic violence, dowry deaths and assaults. Also, 107
women faced acid at tacks, 1,580 women were trafficked, 15 girls were
sold and 2,668 women were victims of cybercrimes. With more than
56,000 cases, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, which is India's most
populous with 240 million people, once again topped the list. It was
followed by Rajasthan with 40,738 cases and Maharashtra with 39,526
cases.
The rape capital :

In 2021, police recorded 31,878 rape cases - the numbers show a steep rise
from the previous year (28,153), but compared to cases in 2016, (39,068)
they show a decline of 18%. With tens of thousands of rape cases reported
annually, India has earned the nickname "the rape capital of the world".
It's not because In dia is an exception - many countries report equal or
higher numbers of rapes. But critics say the world's largest democracy gets
a bad name because of the way the victims and survivors are treated - they
are stigmatised by the society, and often shamed by the police and
judiciary too.
Most recently, a Muslim woman who was gang -raped and saw 14
members of her family killed by Hindu neighbours during the 2002
Gujarat riots spoke of her "searing pain" after her rapists were freed from
jail. The story of the un fair treatment Bilkis Bano received became global
headlines, reinforcing the view that India is often unkind to its women.
Kidnappings :
The latest data records 76,263 kidnappings and abductions of women - up
14% from 66,544 in 2016.Some of the crime was link ed to murder,
ransom and many were trafficked for prostitution and domestic work. munotes.in

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Atrocities on Women
29

But a large majority of the kidnapped women - 28,222 - were taken away
to "compel her for marriage". Experts say many of these cases are false
and are filed by families who elope with their lovers despite parental
disapproval.
Domestic Violence :
Violence inside the home is mostly recorded under the legal term of
"cruelty by husband or his relatives" and it has consistently been the most
reported violent crime agains t women in India.
In 2021, police received complaints from 137,956 women - which breaks
down to about one every four minutes. There is an increase of 27% from
2016 when 110,434 women sought police help.

Such violence is not unique to India - the World Health Organization says
one in three women globally face gender -based violence and the numbers
are similar with that of India . But what sets it apart here is the silence that
surrounds to, even convent for violence at home. More than 40% women
and 38% men told a recent government survey that it was okay for a man
to beat his wife if she disrespect her in -laws, neglect her home or children,
roam without informing him, or d on't cook properly.
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30 Dowry deaths :
Even though India outlawed dowr in 1961, the centuries -old tradition of
the bride's family gifting cash, gold and other expensive items to the
groom's family remains apparent . According to a recent World Bank
study, dowry was paid in 95% of marriages in rural India. Campaigners
say new brides are often harassed for not bringing in sufficient dowry and
thousands are killed by their husbands and in -laws every year. Most are
burnt to death and the murders are passed off as "kitchen accidents".

In 1983, India introduced a tough new law - Section 498A - to curb dow ry
deaths, but thousand of brides continue to be murdered every year. Last
year, police recorded 6,795 dowry deaths - or on average, one every 77
minutes.
Check your progress:
1] Examine some of the crimes against women.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––
2] Examine the problem of dowry deaths.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
–––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
3.3 FORMS OF ATROCITIES AGAINST WOMEN The women of India face several types of atrocities, such as rape, murder,
kidnapping, dowry related atrocity, eve teasing p rostitution, female
infanticide, female foeticide and many others as discussed below: munotes.in

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Atrocities on Women
31 1. Female infanticide and female foeticide :
Female infanticide is a deliberate and intentional act of killing a female
child within one year of its birth either directly by using poisonous organic
and inorganic chemicals or indirectly either by one of the parent or others
family members. On the other hand female foeticide is the termination of a
foetus with in the womb on the ground that its sex is female and is also
know n as sex selective abortion.
These practices have badly affected Indian society. The biggest and most
easily measurable effect is the low -female -to male ratios. The Thomas
Reuters foundation expert poll in 2011, reported that India is the fourth
most dange rous country in the world after Afghanistan, Congo and
Pakistan. Female Foeticide , child marriage and high levels of trafficking
and domestic servitude make India the World's largest democracy, the
fourth most dangerous place for women.
2. Kidnapping and Abduction :
Kidnapping is taking away or enticing a minor female less than 18 years
and a male of less than 16 years of age without the consent of the lawful
guardian. Abduction is forcibly, fraudulently or deceitfully taking a
woman with the intent of her to illicit sex or compelling her to marry a
person against her will. The latter is committed only in a minor, while the
former in respect of any person. A large number of kidnapping and
abduction cases have been reported in last five years. Delhi has show n the
highest rate.
3. Rape and Gang Rape :
Rape is one of the most common atrocities against women in India. It is
really horrifying that in most of the rape cases, offenders are known to the
victims. In India, every 29 minutes a woman is raped.
Rape of a n individual by two or more perpetrators is called gang rape
which has become a common news in present India. The 2012 Delhi gang
rape of a 23 year old girl who died after 13 days has brought a lot of
international attention to the issue of gang rape in In dia.
4. Dowry Deaths :
Despite legislations and large scale spread of education, women of India
are facing a great atrocity called Dowry. Women are not always the only
primary victims of dowry deaths but the ugly part in some cases is that
children are al so killed along side their mothers. Sometimes women -
mother -in-law and sister -in-law are found involved in such crimes.
5. Women Trafficking :
It is the criminal practice involving trading of women for profit and
exploitation. Women and girls are trafficked within the country for the
purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced marriages. India is munotes.in

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Social Issues in Contemporary India
32 also a destination for women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh,
trafficked for the same purpose .
6. Domestic vio lence :
Domestic violence is also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse,
battering, family violence, dating abuse and intimate partner violence. It
can be physical, emotional, verbal, economic or sexual. It is a pity that
65% of India men believe that wome n should tolerate violence in order to
keep the family together and women sometimes deserve to be beaten.
Every 9 minutes, a case of cruelty is committed by either husband or
relative of husband in India.
7. Honour Killing :
Honour killing is the killing of a family member by other members due to
belief that the victim has brought dishonor or shame to the family or
community. Reasons for honour killing include refusal to enter an
arranged marriage, committing adultery, choosing a partner that the family
disapproves of and becoming a victim of rape. Many such killings are
happening with regularity in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh.
8. Acid Attack :
Acid attack or acid throwing is the deliberate use of acid to attack another
human being. It rarely kills but lead to permanent scarring, blindness as
well as social, psychological and economic difficulties. Around , 72% of
reported acid attack victims are women.
9. Witchcraft murders :
Despite much effort, superstitious beliefs continues to plague par ts of
India, resulting in witchcraft murders. The Indian government most recent
date shows that 119 people were killed due to witchcraft in 2012. National
Crime Records Bureau report revealed that more than 1,700 women are
murdered for witchcraft between 1991 to 2010. Poor women widows and
women from lower castes are most at risk of such killing s. The numbers
are undoubtedly higher, as many cases go unreported or authorities refuse
to register t he cases.
10. Eve Teasing :
Eve teasing is simply an expression of a male interest irrespective of how
the woman feel about it. Eve teasing is a huge issue in many metropolitan
cities of India. A large percentage of women are facing this menace.
Whether it is a public transport system or public place or shopping malls
or multiplexes, women find themselves vulnerable to the threat of eve
teasing everywhere.

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33 Check your progress:
1] Discuss the evils of female foeticide and female infanticide.
––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
2] Examine the problem of Domestic Violence.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
3.4 LEGAL REMEDIES FOR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Violence against women is a social, economic, developmental, legal,
educational, human r ights, and health (physical and mental) issue. It is a
preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in women. Despite the social
and religious sanctions against it in all cultures, it has continued.
Responses by communities, religious institutions, governm ent (various
commissions), international conventions, stringent legislations and penal
measures have failed miserably in containing the menace. Violence
against women is on the national agenda. Government is making frantic
efforts to find solutions. The Ju stice JS Varma Commission has been set
up.
The world has entered into a new millennium, but from the dawn of
civilization till date, the woman due to patriarchal society of India
continues to be oppressed and ill -treated. She is dependent, weak,
exploited and faces gender discrimination in every sphere of life. The
gender -based violence that threatens the well -being, dignity and rights of
women, extends across social, cultural, economic and regional boundaries.
1. Communities’ response to violence :
A few wo men-initiated community -level responses to domestic violence
are praise worthy. The Nari Adalat and Sahara Sangh initiatives have been
organized by the Department of Education's Mahila Samakya Program in
two districts of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. Action i s also being taken by
the N GO Shramajibee Mahila Samiti in West Bengal. The ICRW
conducted a television program in four channels entitled “Bol”. It created
awareness among women.

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34 2. Legislative response :
International:
There are a number of international Instruments to curb violence against
women. The United Nations General Assembly resolution endorsed the
urgent need for the universal application of women's rights of equality,
security, liberty integrity and dignity. Article 55 an d 56 of United Nations
charter cast a legal obligation on United Nations organization to promote
respect for equality and human rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5, states that no one
shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhu man or degrading treatment or
punishment. Three United Nations World Conferences on Women.
Mexico (1975 ), Copenhagen (1980 ), and Nairobi strategies framed to
promote gender equality and opportunities for women based on three
objectives: Equality, development and peace.
The Vienna Declaration, 1993 calls for an action to integrate the equal
status human rights of women. It stresses toward s elimination of violence
against women in p ublic and private life. The Beijing conference, 1995
provided a platform for concentration on some of the key issues identified
as fundamental obstacles to the advancement of majority of women in the
world. It focused on issues such as discrimination again st women,
violence against women, etc.
The Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW), 1981, to which 166 countries are signatories , is a
landmark document because it brought violence against women within the
framework of huma n rights. It identified female as the primary risk factor
for violence and broadened the definition of gender violence (to include
all aspects of women's life).
Domestic legal remedies in India :
The Constitution of India : Article 14 is on equality.
Differe nce in treatment between men and women by the state is totally
prohibited on grounds of religion race, caste, sex or place of birth. Article
21 is on ; right to li fe with human dignity.
The National Commission for Women :
It was set up as a sta tutory body in January 1992 under the National
Commission for Women Act, 1990 to review the constitutional and legal
safeguards for women; recommend remedial legislative measures,
facilitate redress of grievances and advise the Government on all policy
matters affecting women.
The Supreme Court guidelines on sexual harassment at work place:
For the first time, the Court drew upon an international human rights law
instrument, the CEDAW to pass a set of guidelines. The Court defined munotes.in

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Atrocities on Women
35 sexual harassment at wor k place as any unwelcome gesture, behavior,
words or advances that are sexual in nature. “It shall be the duty of the
employer or other responsible persons in work places or other institutions
to prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment and to
provide the procedures for the resolution, settlement or prosecution of
acts, of sexual harassment by taking all steps required.”
The legislation relating to violence against women comprises the Indian
Penal Code (IPC), civil law and special laws.
Dowry and dowry death:
The Dowry Prohibition Act (DPA), 1961 applies to all people, Hindus,
Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Jews. Giving, taking or abetting the
giving s or taking of dowry is an offence, which is punishable. Several
states (Bihar, West Beng al, Orissa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and
Punjab) amended the DPA to give it more teeth. The law was found to fail
to stall the evil.
Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or
occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances, w ithin 7 years of
marriage, and if shown that soon before her death, she was subjected to
cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband for or
in connection with any demand of dowry, such death shall be called
“dowry death” and such hu sband or relative shall be deemed to have
caused her death (IPC 304 -B). 113 -B Indian Evidence Act, 1872, was
inserted for the presumption as to dowry death.
Abetment of suicide of child or insane person:
If any person under 18 years of age, any insane pers on, any delirious
person, any idiot, or any person in a state of intoxication, commits suicide,
whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with
death or imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term not exceeding
10 years and shall also be liable for fine (305 IPC). However, the
difficulty is that if it is shown the victim has major mental illness, the
benefit of doubt is given to the accused and he is acquitted.
Abetment of suicide:
If any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such
suicide shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a
term which may extend upto 10 years and shall also be liable for fine (306
IPC). 113 -A of Indian Evidence Act, 1872, relates to the presumption as to
abetment of suici de. The offences of dowry and abetment of suicide are
cognizable, nonbailable and noncompoundable.
Of cruelty by husband and relatives of husband:
The willful conduct of the husband or his relative s that is likely to drive
the women to commit suicide or c ause physical or mental trauma or
harassment of a woman with a view to coercing her or any of her relative
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Social Issues in Contemporary India
36 imprisonment for 3 years and fine (498A IPC). This is the most widely
used pro vision against domestic violence.
Other offences mentioned in IPC are:
Causing miscarriage (312 IPC), causing miscarriage without woman's
consent (313 IPC), death caused by an act done with intent to cause
miscarriage; if act was done without woman's cons ent (314 IPC), act done
with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth
(315 IPC) and causing death of quick unborn child by act not amounting
to culpable homicide (316 IPC).
The Family Courts Act, 1984:
The Act was establi shed with a view to promote conciliation in, and
secure speedy settlement of disputes relating to marriage and family
affairs.
The Indecent Representation o f Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 :
This Act prohibits the indecent representation of women through
advertisements or in publications, writings, paintings, figures or in any
other manner is prohibited.
The Commission of Sati (prevention) Act, 1987:
This Act is for the prevention and glorification of sati.
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 200 5:
The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), 2005
was enacted to provide for more effective protection of the rights of
women guaranteed under the constitution who are victims of violence of
any kind occurring within the family and for m atters connected thereto. It
recognizes 4 types of domestic violence: Physical, verbal, and emotional
(including not having a child or a male child, marrying without consent),
and economic (including violence related to stridhan, dowry, property)
and sexua l (includes sexual abuse and marital rape).
The aggrieved person (AP) is a woman who has been in a domestic
relationship with the respondent. The respondent is any adult male person
who is, or has been in a domestic relationship with the AP and against
whom the AP has sought relief. The AP or any person can complain
directly (verbal), telephonically or via E -mail. There is provision for
various orders (protection, residence, maintenance (monetary relief),
custody orders and emergency help. There is also pro vision for assistance
(counselor, police, and assistance for initiating criminal proceedings,
shelter home, medical facilities, and legal aid).
The PWDVA is better in many ways. It provides voice even to poor and
illiterate women; it educates the woman regar ding the rights and available
assistance; provides many reliefs (which facilitate psychosocial
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Atrocities on Women
37 against respondent; it attempts to restore the family; and last, but not the
least, it empowers the woman. The main criticism against PWDVA is that
mental illness in AP or respondent is ignored. Apart from this, there are
mixed reactions toward few legislations, especially PWDVA, DPA and
IPC 498A, because they have been frequently abused and are considered
as “anti-men.”
Check your progress:
1] Discuss the international laws for protection of women.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
2] Discuss the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, 2005.
––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
3.5 MEASURES TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT TO PREVENT CRIME AGAINST WOMEN Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri G. Kishan Reddy, in a
written reply to a question regarding crime against women, in Lok Sabha,
said that women sa fety is a high priority for the Government and several
initiatives have been taken for safety of women across the country, which
are given below:
 The Criminal Law (Amendment), Act 2013 was enacted for effective
deterrence against sexual offences. Further, the Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act, 2018 was enacted to prescribe even more
stringent penal provisions including death penalty for rape of a girl
below the age of 12 years. The Act also inter -alia mandates
completion of investigation and trials within 2 mont hs each.
 Emergency Response Support System provides a pan -India, single,
internationally recognized number ( 112) based system for all
emergencies, with computer aided dispatch of field resources to the
location of distress.
 Using technology to aid smart po licing and safety management, Safe
City Projects have been sanctioned in first Phase in 8 cities
(Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata,
Lucknow and Mumbai). munotes.in

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Social Issues in Contemporary India
38  The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched a cyber -crime
portal on 20th September 2018 for citizens to report obscene content.
 MHA has launched the ‘National Database on Sexual Offenders’
(NDSO) on 20th September 2018 to facilitate investigation and
tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement
agencies.
 In order to facilitate States/UTs, MHA on 19th February 2019
launched an online analytic tool for police called ‘Investigation
Tracking System for Sexual Offences’ to monitor and track time -
bound investigation in sexual assault cases in accordance with the
Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018.
 One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme is being implemented across the
country since 1st April 2015 which is exclusively designed to provide
integrated services such as medical aid, police assistance, legal
counselling/ court case ma nagement, psycho -social counselling and
temporary shelter to women affected by violence under one roof. As
per available information, 728 OSCs have been approved by
Government of India, 595 OSCs are operational in the country.
 In addition to the above -ment ioned measures, MHA has
issued advisories from time to time with a view to help the
States/UTs to deal with crimes against women, which are available at
www.mha.gov.in.
Check your progress:
1] Describe the measures taken by government to prevent crime agai nst
women.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
2] Examine the One Stop Centre scheme.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
3.6 SUMMARY No one can deny the fact that women in India have made a considerable
progress in the last fifty ye ars but yet they have to struggle against social
evils in the male dominated society. The Hindu Code Bill has given the
daughter and the son equal share of the property. Marriage Act no longer
regards woman as the property of man. Ma rriage is now considered to be a munotes.in

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Atrocities on Women
39 personal affair and if a partner feels dissatisfied she or he has the right of
divorce. But passing of law is one thing and its absorption in the collective
thinking of society is quite a different matter. In order to prove themselves
equal to the dignity and status given to them by the Indian Constitution
they have to shake off the shackles of slavery and superstitions. They
should help the government and the society in eradicating the evils of
dowry, illiteracy and ignoran ce among the eves.
The dowry problem has assumed a dangerous form in this country. The
parents of the girls have to pay thousands and lacs to the bridegrooms and
their greedy fathers and mothers. If promised articles are not given by the
parents of brides , the cruel and greedy members of the bridegrooms'
family take recourse to afflicting tortures on the married women. Some
women are murdered in such cases. The dowry deaths are really heinous
and barbarous crimes committed by the cruel and inhumane persons . The
young girls should be bold enough in not marrying the boys who demand
dowry through their parents. Grooms should also refuse to marry if their
parents demand dowry. But unfortunately the number of such bold and
conscientious boys Re very few. Even the doctors, engineers, teachers and
the administrative officers do not hesitate in allowing themselves to be
sold to the wealthy fathers of shy and timid girls. Such persons have really
brought disgrace to their cadres in particular and society in general . The
government should enact stringent laws to afflict rigorous punishment on
dowry seekers, and women's murderers.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar measured the progress of a community by the degree
of progress which woman have achieved. Also, according to Swami
Viveka nanda, the best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its
treatment of its women. So, a systematic effort has to be made to listen to
the voices of women. Boys at the young age should be taught to respect
females. In a patriarchal set up, violence again st women sometimes
consider as quite 'Natural', so efforts should be made to change the
mindset of society through education and better law enforcement.
Government should encourage women friendly programmes to combat
atrocities against women. Above all, wo men themselves should take a
stand that they will not tolerate any sort of violence against themselves.
Last but not the least, it is important for men to stand up to not only stop
men's violence against women but, to teach young men a broader
definition o f masculinity that includes being empathetic, loving and non -
violent.
3.7 QUESTIONS 1. Examine the graph with regard to the rising crimes against women.
2. Discuss the various forms of atrocities against women in India.
3. Explain the legal remedies for violence against women in India.
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Social Issues in Contemporary India
40 3.8 REFERENCES  “Women Exploitatio n In India: An Invisible Struggle” Kanika Pandit,
Dr. Renu Mahajan, University Institute Of Legal Studies (UILS)
Chandigarh University, Chandigarh.
 https://vikaspedia.in/social -welfare/women -and-child -
development/women -development -1/status -of-women -in-
india#:~:text=Related%20resources -
,Population,are%20949%20and%20929%20respectively.
 https://www.drishtiias.com/daily -updates/daily -news -editorials/status -
of-women -in-india
 Geeta Pandey, Rising crimes against Indian women in five charts,
accessed from https://w ww.bbc.com/news/world -asia-india -62830634
 Indira Sharma, Violence against women: Where are the solutions?,
Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 2015 Apr -Jun; 57(2): 131 –139.doi:
10.4103/0019 -5545.158133, accessed on 3rd November 2022
 Press Information Bureau, Gov ernment of India, Ministry of Home
Affairs,https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=195670
 Dr. (Ms.) Rekha Singh, Status of Women in Indian Society,
https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Huma/HumaSing.htm

*****


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41 4
MINORITIES IN INDIA
Unit Structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Who are the Minorities?
4.3 Characteristics of Minority
4.4 The Dimensions of Minority issues
4.5 Approaches to minority issues
4.6 Assimilation
4.7 Discrimination and Annihila tion
4.8 Tolerance and Equality: The Indian way
4.9 Problems faced by Minorities in India
4.10 Constitutional provisions and Safeguards
4.11 Other constitutional safeguards
4.12 Summary
4.13 Questions
4.14 References
4.0 OBJECTIVES  To understand various interpretations of the term Minorities
 To understand the characteristics of Minority.
 To understand the Dimensions of Minority issues.
 To understand the Problems faced by Minorities in India.
 To understand the Constitutional provisions and Safeguards.
4.1 INTRODUCTION India is a multi -lingual and a multi -religious country and Indian society is
pluralistic in character from the religious and other point of view. Almost
all States have one or more minority groups within their national
territories, characteri zed by their own ethnic, cultural, linguistic or
religious identity which differs from that of the majority population. The
minorities, because, of their relatively less numerical strength feel that
their rights are persistently ignored. This unit discusse s how minorities
have emerged and the problems they face and also their rights. We will
also talk about the social composition and rights of minorities and the
constitutional provisions for them in India.
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42 4.2 WHO ARE THE MINORITIES? Muslims, Sikhs, Christ ians, Buddhists, Jain and Zorastrians (Parsis) have
been notified as minority communities under Section 2 (c) of the National
Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. As per the Census 2011, the
percentage of minorities in the country is about 19.3% of the tot al
population of the country. The population of Muslims are 14.2%;
Christians 2.3%; Sikhs 1.7%, Buddhists 0.7%, Jain 0.4% and Parsis
0.006%.
In a very general sense, we can say that when a group of people is divided
on any issue or approach or characterist ics the difference usually produces
a bigger sub -group and a smaller sub -group. The smaller sub -group is
called minority whereas the bigger sub -group is called the majority. It is
also possible that the two groups could be of equal strength or the smaller
group may have control over power and other resources. So, it is not
always the numerical strength or non -strength, which is the deciding factor
for a group to be called a minority. It is now widely felt that population
size is not the only feature of mino rity status. If a group is discriminated
against on the basis of religion, race or culture it can be considered a
minority group. The sub -commission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities set up under the Human Rights Commission
which drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, has defined
minorities as only those non -dominant groups in a population which
possess or wish to preserve stable, ethnic, religious or linguistic traditions
or characteristics marked different ly from tho se of the most of the
population.
In the International Encyclopedia of the Social Science, Arnold Rose has
defined minority without any quantitative connotations. He defines it as ‘a
group of people differentiated from others in the same society by race,
nationality, religion or language, who think of themselves as differentiated
group and are thought of by others as a differentiated group with negative
connotations. Further, they are relatively lacking in power and hence are
subjected to certain exclusions , discrimination and other differential
treatments.’ In any country religious groups may now be divided into
linguistic groups and vice -versa. This phenomenon is known as cross -
cutting cleavage. Accordingly, a person may be a member of a religious
minority and yet of a linguistic majority or vice -versa.
According to LOUIS WIRTH , who pioneered the study of Minority
problems and offered a definition and classification, defines a Minority is
defined as, “A group of people who, because of physical or cultural
characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they
live for differential and unequal treatment and who therefore regards
themselves as objects of collective discrimination. ”
According to CAPOTORTI'S , definition for the United Nat ion
"Minority " means a community: Compactly or dispersedly settled on the
territory of a state , which is smaller in number than the rest of the
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43 ethnic, linguistic or cultural featur es different from those of the rest of the
population , whose members are guided by the will to safeguard these
features.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1950 defined
minorities as “Only those communities other than the ruling national
comm unity can be termed as minorities, who want to have a language,
religion or race different from the language, religion and race of the
national community. It is essential for being recognized as minorities that
they should be sufficient in number and their constituents should be
faithful to the nation in which they live.”
4.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF MINORITY Membership is not voluntary (achieved status) but comes with birth
(ascribed status ) Physical or cultural traits are held in low steam by the
dominant group (prejudice ), Members are treated unequa lly by the
dominant group ( discrimination ) Minority members tend to within their
group ( endogamy ) There is feeling solidarity among minorities owing to
physical or cultural traits.
4.4 THE DIMENSIONS OF MINORITY ISSU ES In the past one hundred years or so the minority problems have occupied a
very important place in the politics of countries the world over. Many
issues have, however, remained un resolved. Even today minority
problems in different forms appear very frequ ently everywhere in the
world. Thus, race riots occur in England and the USA. Chechnya has been
an issue for Russia. In erstwhile Yugoslavia the Serbs and the Croats have
fought wars of secession. The position of the developing societies or the
Third World is the same. Ethnic and communal riots are chronic part of
their politics. The Indian case is one of the saddest ones. India has a record
of over hundred years of communal issues.
4.5 APPROACHES TO MINORITY ISSUES We can see that the problem of minoritie s has assumed importance all
over the world. We have already mentioned that a minority issue is not
just related to its numerical representation in a society. It is related to its
oppression. Besides, it is to be perceived on the basis of language, culture ,
religion, etc. in relation to that of a dominant group which is, very often, a
majority group in a society. A whole lot of theories have been advanced
about the nature, causes and implications of the problems of minorities.
Many scholars have tried to un derstand the problems of minorities in
various ways. Some consider, that ethnic identity among minority groups
is natural and primordial. The scholars who stress the cultural differences
say that primordialism and linguistic differences among minority grou ps
tend to generate conflict rather than cooperation among them. Other
scholars consider the utilitarian bent of minority groups and state that it is
representing a power struggle. They feel that cultural factors are incidental
to this process. These schol ars feel that the minority identity should be munotes.in

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44 seen in the context of development , where each group tries to forge an
identity in its struggle for scarce resources. Various approaches have been
adopted towards a solution of the minority while some suggested
assimilation, others suggested protection and for some the way out was to
get rid of the minority community itself, by persecution, deportation etc.
4.6 ASSIMILATION The issue of minority and majority has been going on for centuries. Earlier
the problem w as seen as one of conflict s of religio us and ethnic groups.
These days the problem is essentially related to national minorities. The
concept of nation assumes that political boundaries must coincide with the
characteristic of people living within it. A na tion state prefers , if possible a
homogenous religion, language, ethnic identity etc. In the words of Clude
“The rise of the problem of minorities was a logical consequence of the
ascendancy of nationalism. It is injected into politics ... the principle th at
the state should be nationally homogeneous and a nation should be
politically united.” (Clude, 1955. p. 81). This gave rise to unrestricted
control over given territory, uniformity of laws, languages, customs etc.,
irrespective of differences.
Homogenei ty is never a reality thus there are constant efforts by the
majority to assimilate the minority. The minorities are made to abandon
their ethnic, religious cultural and linguistic characteristics which
differentiate them from the dominant group. For insta nce, in the erstwhile
Soviet Union, this kind of homogeneity was imposed with the internment
of making the national state secure and its institutions stable. The welfare
and security of the state were primary consideration. As a result, the
minority consid erations were sidelined. It was not long before the various
minority ethnic groups realised this kind of subjugation and fought for
their rights.
The assimilation of heterogeneous groups through coercion is not so
bluntly adopted.
4.7 DISCRIMINATION AND AN NIHILATION While the minority groups are allowed to preserve their distinct
characteristics they are also subjected to a great deal of discrimination.
The discrimination may be in the form fewer government funds for
minority educational institutions etc. V ery often they are discriminated in
their social life. They are subjected to ridicule and segregation which
further compels them to stay away from the majority. That is why we find
that minority groups stay together in ghettos away from the majority. This
discrimination in fact leads to assimilation among some ambitious
members of the minority community. These people in order to advance
themselves seek to rid themselves of their identity by deliberately
surrendering their typical features. In case assimilat ion is found to be
really difficult, some states resort to the very direct method of
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45 or by massacre. Genocide of the Jews by the Germans is a best example of
this kind of problematic s tate backed policy mechanism.
4.8 TOLERANCE AND EQUALITY: THE INDIAN WAY The policy of tolerance and fair treatment is adopted by many states when
dealing with minority community. A great deal of leeway is given for the
preservation and persuance of the m inority social and cultural life. Though
the state may have in mind the assimilation of various minority groups as
the final goal. It will nevertheless adopt a tolerant attitude.
We find this policy of tolerance and fair treatment guiding the provisions
in our Indian Constitution. The Constitution establishes no state religion,
guarantees equal opportunity to all irrespective of caste, creed and
religion. The Constitution was not in favour of forced assimilation to
preserve the rich harmony in Indian cultur e within the framework of
national unity. The Constitution forbids discrimination against minorities.
Thus, we find that Constitution envisages fair treatment for all. However,
the question that has been asked many times is how are the minority
groups fari ng under the Constitution? It is true that there is equality on the
paper, but is it really practiced? It is a contention of the many minority
groups . Also studies have revealed that these groups suffer a great deal of
discrimination in social life.
They are often discriminated in all walks of life, when trying to securing a
job, acqui ring funds for establishing educational institutions, in their social
interaction and so on, in spite of the constitutional guarantees. In any case ,
a great deal seems to dep end on the bargaining power that a particular
disadvantaged group has. Some are at disadvantage in their effort to bring
to state’s notice that certain of their sociocultural rights need protection.
For example, the tribals of central India - Santhals, have been unable to get
state recognition for their tribal language, in spite of the fact that there are
large number of people speaking the language.
4.9 PROBLEMS FACED BY MINORITIES IN INDIA Being one of the world’s largest democracies, India glorifies the p rinciples
of secularism and pluralism and the Indian constitution promotes
prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or
place of birth but this type of cultural, religious, and social diversity leads
to varying forms of interse ctional discrimination for the minority
communities, for example, Dalit, Muslims, and Christians, or religious
minorities who are also linguistic minorities or belong to indigenous
communities (Adivasis) and such challenges are intensified when it comes
to the minority community.
A few specific problems faced by them are:
a) Problem Relating to Equity:
Minorities are deprived of various opportunities of development as a result
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46 in identity, the minority community develops a sense of inequality. They
are forced to miss out on many academic and employment opportunities.
b) Lack of representation:
The Constitution of our country provides for equality and equal
opportunities to all it s citizens including the religious minorities and
through various articles and provisions . But this concept sometimes fails
at the level of when it comes to application and the minorities end up
lacking proper representation in many spheres, for instance, in civil
services and politics.
c) Economic and social backwardness:
Minorities in India are understood to be especially affected by economic
and social backwardness because of historical and contemporary reasons.
d) Discrimination against minority’s: Th e Gender perspective :
The act of discrimination against the minority isn’t limited to India but is a
global problem and Women get the worst of it . Minority women often
experience discrimination from both within and outside their communities
and suffer disp roportionately from the economic, social and political
marginalization affecting their communities as a whole. Minority women
are often subjected to abuse, discrimination, and stereotypes for instance,
manual scavenging is often reserved for Dalit women, i n both urban and
rural areas and they are paid menial wages for this degrading and
unsanitary task. These women are forced into doing undignified and ill -
suited jobs and are intimidated if they try to adopt any alternative means
of livelihoods. Their daily lives are immersed with hate speeches, anti -
minority sentiments, violations, discrimination and they are not able to
take any action in spite of having various legal rights because of lack of
awareness, poverty, and fear add more gravity to this problem.
Large numbers of people of the minority community belong to the lower
strata of the society and results in backwardness for the whole community.
They fail to recognise the need for education and proper healthcare
facilities for women . Women are abused and are forced to earn by doing
odd jobs, in traditional houses, they are even forced to stay inside with
little communication with the real world. In rural areas, they fall severely
ill due to the absence of health care facilities and basic necessities like
proper hygiene, care during childbirth and menstruation.
Women and girls of these communities face several other problems that
are often overlooked or that are not considered as important as the above -
mentioned problem. They experience severe discriminati on in workplaces,
educational institutions or even public places because of the way they
dress or speak or just on the basis of their religion. They are assumed to be
socially, economically or culturally poor even when that’s not true. They
are often treat ed with racial slurs, verbal abuse and are often the victims of
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47 For a long time, women in India were in the clutches of patriarchal society
and were denied even the basic rights, all of this was intertwined with
gender inequality and abuse. W omen were subjected to many social evils
like child marriages, sati pratha, widow exploitation, devadasi system,
etc. But in recent years, the social situation of women has significantly
improved, the practice of these social evils have almost vanished and the
taint of gender inequality has reduced. These changes were possible
because of various social, economic and cultural developments in the
country, increase in awareness, educational opportunities and even
healthcare facilities but unfortunately these d evelopments and changes
didn’t seep to the minority communities and plenty of them remained
backward and illiterate thus, making the lives of women in their
community engrossed with various issues. Women of religious minority
face challenges from everywher e and they can’t even turn to their own
community for help. They are subjected to constant abuse, both physical
and mental, they even lack the basic facilities required for a dignified life
due to their poverty -ridden background. Belonging from a minority
community and being a woman in a male dominant society, puts them in a
more vulnerable position which is often taken advantage of by people
from both outside and within the community.
They encounter unjust and unfair treatment as compared to their male
counterparts in every aspect of life such as: education, job opportunities,
security, health care facilities, etc. Women of the minority community are
often seen as inferiors by the majority class and are associated to menial
jobs, unequal pay, forced labour , etc. it’s true that India’s religious
minorities face many problems related to violence and discrimination,
particularly Muslims are targeted, but women of the Muslim community
face even more problems. Christians and Sikhs face lesser degree of
social, e conomic, cultural and legal discrimination.
All of these problems take a toll on their physical as well as mental health
and they are left to suffer alone with no or very little support. It is
necessary for the development and growth of our nation to addre ss this
alarming issue of religion and gender -based discrimination against these
women, adequate representation should be given to them and their
concerns should be addressed accordingly. As this issue is very deep -
rooted in the society, greater effort is needed to ensure the same.
Problem of Identity:
A vast difference is seen in socio -cultural practices, history and
backgrounds of the minorities and majority communities and thus
minorities often struggle to maintain their identity and women experience
even more difficulty in doing so. This makes it harder for them to adjust
with the majority community. The identity of a female belonging to the
minority is often associated with a male in the family and in rural areas
they are even considered the property o f her father or husband thus failing
to create her own concrete identity.
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48 Problem of Security:
The problem of security is common to all women of the country and not
just the women belonging to the minority community but these women are
often left feeling more insecure, both physical and psychological and are
prone to abuse and threats from both their community and the majority
community. This feeling of insecurity gets even worse when the relations
between the majority and the minority communities in a soc iety are
strained or not much cordial, during the time of communal riots, minority
women are specifically targeted.
Violence against minority women :
Violence against women is a very old concept in Indian history. In ancient
times, women were affected the most during wars, they were taken slaves,
raped and killed. The situation is still substandard and violence against
women include dowry -related harassment, death, marital rape, wife
battering, sexual abuse, deprivation of healthy food, female genital
mutil ation, etc. A Thomson Reuters story ranked India as the world’s most
dangerous country for women due to the high risk of sexual violence,
human trafficking and slave labour. Women are more prone to violence,
both sexual and non -sexual, many researchers hav e declared India unsafe
for women, especially during riots. The crime rate against minority
women is as high as ever.
4.10 CONSTITUT IONAL PROVISIONS AND SAFEGUARDS Article 15 & 16:
Prohibit the State from making any discrimination on the grounds only of
religion, race, caste, sex, descent place of birth, residence or every kind of
State action in religion to citizens (Article 15) or in matters relating to
employment or appointing to any office under the State (Article 16).
Article 29 :
Deals with cultural and educational rights of minorities.
Article 30 :
A minority -specific provision that protects the right of minorities to
establish and administer educational institutions
4.11 OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS The other measures of protection and safeguard s provided by the
Constitution in Part III or elsewhere having a bearing on the status and
rights of minorities are:
 Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation
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49  Freedom to manage religious affairs (Article 26)
 Freedom from taxation for promotion of any particular religion
(Article 27)
 Freedom from alternating any instruction religious without consent or
religious worship in certain educational institutions (Article 28)
 Special provision relating to language spoken by a section of the
population of State (Article 347)
 Language to be used in representations for the redress of grievances
(Article 350)
 Facilities for instruction in mother -tongue at primary stage(Article
350A)
 Special Officer for linguistic minori ties (Article 350 B).
4.12 SUMMARY Minorities are integral part of our population know nation can growth or
survive without taking care of it minorities' population. Though the
minorities have a different sentiments and cultural belief as compare to
majori ty but the only way to overcome is to provide them constitutional,
social, economic, political and emotional safe guards.
4.13 QUESTIONS 1. Discuss the various interpretations of the term Minorities the
characteristics of Minority.
2. Bring out the Dimensions of Minority issues.
3. Explain the Problems faced by Minorities in India.
4. Comment on the Constitutional provisions and Safeguards associated
with Minorities.
4.14 REFERENCES  Bipan Chandra – India after independence and others, pengnin Dkia,
2000.
 Ramchandra Guh a – India after Gandhi : the History a the world’s
largest Democracy, Pan Macmillian India, 2017.
 Dharma Kumar (ed.), The Cambridge Economic History of India, col.
II C. 1757 – 2003, Orient Langton in associated with UP, New Delhi,
2015. munotes.in

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50  Bipan Chandra, Com munalism in Modem India, Har -Anand
Publication, New Delhi.
 D.D. Basm. An Introduction to the constitution of India .
 M.R. Pylee, Constitutional History of India, S. Chand & Co. Ltd, New
Delhi, 2011.
 M.R. Biju, Human Rights in a Develping Society, Mittal Publications,
New Delhi, 2015.

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51 5
RISE AND GROWTH OF COMMUNALISM
Unit Structure
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 What is communalism?
5.3 Myths regarding communalism
5.4 Emergence of communalism in the Indian context
5.5 Communalism in the 20th century
5.6 Towards mass communalism
5.7 The last phase and partition
5.8 Communal politics and communal violence in post Independent
India
5.9 Summary
5.10 Questions
5.11 References
5.0 OBJECTIVES  To understand how communalism emerged in the Indian society and
polity.
 To evaluate the role of t he various forces which enabled it to grow.
 To trace its development in the early 20th century.
 To understand the nature of communalism in the last decade of British
rule.
 To trace the political developments leading up to the partition of
India.
5.1 INTR ODUCTION One of the major priorities of any developing country is to maintain a
unity of its people. In the history of modern India, such a unity was put to
a severe test by growing communalism. Whereas the Indian National
Movement aimed at achieving the u nity of all Indian people,
communalism sought to divide them along religious lines, by creating and
spreading false barriers of religious communities, religious interests and
ultimately religious nations also. This unit will try to explain that how
communa lism in India was born and thrived because of a combination of
various forces and their development.
For instance, the peculiarity of the socio -economic development of India
in the 19th century, the impact of the colonial rule as well as the role of munotes.in

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52 certai n colonial policies, the weakness of the anti -communal nationalist
forces and finally the active role played by the communal organizations.
5.2 WHAT IS COMMUNALISM? Generally speaking, Communalism is a belief that all those who have a
common religion also have, as a result, common social, political, cultural
and economic interests and identities. In other words, it is the notion that
religion forms the base of the society and a basic unit of division in the
society: that it is religion that determines all t he other interests of man. To
understand it better, let us look at it differently. Human being is a multi -
faceted social being, who can, at the same time have a number of
identities. His / her identity can be based on his / her country, region,
gender, occupation, position within the family, caste or religion. A
communalist would choose only the religious identity from this wide
range and emphasize it out of proportions. As a result, social relationship,
political behaviour, and economic struggles might be defined on the basis
of the religious identity.
So, briefly put, it is the super -imposition of the religious category over all
others, which becomes the starting point of communalism. Briefly, the
communal propaganda and arguments had three levels:
i) That the interests of all the mem bers of a religious community were
the same; for example, it was argued that a Muslim Zamindar and a
peasant had common interests because both were Muslims, (or Hindus
or Sikhs as the case might be);
ii) That the interests of the members of one religious community were
different from the members of another religious community. In other
words, this meant that Hindus had different interests from that of
Muslims and vice -versa; and
iii) That not only were these interests differe nt, but also antagonistic and
conflicting. This, in other words meant that Hindus and Muslims
could not co -exist in peace because of their conflicting interests.
5.3 MYTHS REGARDING COMMUNALISM Communalism has been a widely misunderstood phenomenon and, a s a
result, there have been many myths about it. It is therefore very important
to know what communalism does not incorporate . And while trying to
understand communalism, it is important to keep the myths regarding
communalism in mind.
i) As against popul ar notions communalism is not merely religion’s
entry into politics, or politics defined in religious terms. In other
word, religion’s entry into politics did not necessarily produce
communalism. To take an example, two of the greatest secular leaders
of the 20th century – Mahatma Gandhi and Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad – were also deeply religious people and defined their politics in
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Rise and Growth of Communalism
53 ii) Communalism is not the result of religious differences. In other
words, religious differences in themselves do not constitute the
essence of communalism. For example, religious differences between
the Hindus and Muslims had continued for centuries but they assumed
the communal form only in the modern period. If fact, communalism
is not a religious problem at al l.
iii) Communalism was not inherent in the Indian society, as has often
been assumed. It was not a ‘hang -over’ of India’s past. It was a
product of certain peculiar circumstances and combination of forces.
Communalism is a modern phenomenon, as modern as the emergence
of colonial rule. It is to be explained by political and economic
developments in the modern period of Indian history.
5.4 EMERGENCE OF CO MMUNALISM IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT What was the starting point of this problem? The genesis of communalism
should be seen with the British conquest of India, which had a tremendous
impact on the society and economy of India.
i. Socio -Economic Factors:
The British conquest brought about a change in the power structure which
generally penetrated down to all the s ections of the Indian society. To
beginwith, the British conquest marked the decadence of the upper class
Muslims.It was particularly so in Bengal, where they lost their semi -
monopoly in employment in the upper posts of army, administration and
judiciary. They were also slowly evicted from their dominant position in
land-holding.
Moreover, Muslims adapted later than Hindus to such British novelties as
English education, the new professions, posts in the administration, and
culture. Consequently, an intellec tual awakening, resulting in a re -
assessment of the old beliefs, customs and values, was also late among the
Muslims, compared to the Hindus.
ii. Role of British Policy:
The British policy holds a very special responsibility for favoring the
growth of com munalism. If communalism could flourish in India and
reach monstrous proportions, which it did in 1947, it was possible largely
because of the support it received from the British government. But before
we discuss the British policy in detail certain clari fications might be made.
The British did not create communalism. We have seen that certain
socioeconomic and cultural differences already existed. They were not
created but only taken advantage of by the British, to serve their political
end. It is, theref ore, quite obvious that the British policy of ‘divide and
rule’, that we are going to talk about, could succeed only because
something in the internal social, economic, cultural and political
conditions of society favored its success. It is important to no te that
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54 communalism as well as for the policy of ‘divide and rule’. There were
two main objectives before the government in Post 1857 Revolt period.
a) To make some friends in the society, to offer patronage to some
sections mainly in order to exercise influence and extend control and
thereby strengthen its base in the society.
b) To prevent unity of the Indian people. If all the sections of the society
could unite under any ideological influe nce, they could threaten the
British Empire. Therefore, communal ideology had to be used and
spread to deny the oneness of the Indian people. This was done more
effectively in the 20th century when the communal demands and
organizations were encouraged to negate the legitimacy and
credibility of the nationalist demands, ideology and organization.
Thus on the one hand, all attempts were made to keep the Muslims
away from the Congress, and then the claims of the Congress were
run down on the grounds that it d id not represent the Muslims.
Communalism served the government in yet another way. Communal
deadlock and the worsening communal situation could also be used as a
justification for the continuation of the British rule. The argument they
gave that the India n people were divided amongst themselves, and were
therefore incapable of governing themselves, if the British rule ended.
iii. Weaknesses in the National Movement:
The growth of communalism in the 20th century could be checked by a
nationalist upsurge. Th e communal ideology could be defeated by the
nationalist forces and ideology. But the Indian National Congress, as a
representative of the nationalist forces and ideology, failed to prevent the
spread of communalism among the people. Although fully committ ed to
secularism and nationalism, and desirous to bring about a unity of the
Indian people, the Indian National Movement fought a battle against the
communal forces but lost ultimately due to a variety of reasons. To begin
with, the Congress could not comp rehensively understand the nature of
communalism. As a result of this, the Congress did not have a central
strategy to combat communalism. Besides, certain Hindu revivalist
tendencies entered into the national movement and successfully prevented
its attemp ts to reach out to Muslims and incorporate them into its fold.
Also the use of certain religious symbols acted as a barrier. However,
while pointing out the limitations, the complexity of the problems should
not be ignored. It became very difficult to sol ve the communal problem
particularly because of the attitude of the Government. The British
government did all it could to prevent a settlement between various
political groups. No matter what the Congress offered to the Muslim
leaders, the Government alwa ys offered more, thereby making the
arrangement redundant.
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55 5.5 COMMUNALISM IN THE 20TH CENTURY In this section, we shall see some of the major developments in the
20thcentury in relation to the communal problem. We shall discuss them
very briefly and see how they affected the communal problem. Some of
the points made in the earlier section regarding the British policy and the
Congress attitude will also be dealt with in this section.
i. Partition of Bengal and the Formation of the Muslim League:
The partit ion of Bengal (1905) may have started as an administrative
measure, but it was soon transformed into a major political advantage for
the government as it intended to convert Bengal into areas of Hindu
majority and Muslim majority. It was thus the result of the British desire
to weaken nationalism of Bengal and consolidate a Muslim block against
it. As the Viceroy Curzon said: “The partition would invest the Muslims
of East Bengal with a unity which they had not enjoyed since the days of
oldMussalman Viceroy s and Kings”. The partition and the subsequent
Swadeshi Movement were followed by the formation of the All India
Muslim League towards the end of 1906, with official patronage. It
consisted of a group of big Zamindars, ex -bureaucrats and other upper
class Muslims, like Aga Khan, the Nawab of Dacca and Nawab Mohsin -
ul-Mulk. Its motive was to thwart the young Muslims from going over to
the Congress, and thereby into the nationalist fold. The Muslim League
was formed as purely a loyalist body whose only job wa s to look up to the
government for favor and patronage. Another important feature of this
period was the growth of Muslim separatism, because of
 The surfacing of Hindu revivalist tendencies during the Swadeshi
movement.
 The British propaganda that the part ition of Bengal would benefit the
Muslims, and
 Spurts of communal violence: a number of communal riots broke out
in Eastern Bengal, in the period following the Swadeshi Movement.
ii. Separate Electorates:
The declaration of separate electorates in the legi slative bodies in 1909, as
a part of the Morley -Minto reforms is a major landmark in the history of
communalism. Separate electorates meant grouping of constituencies,
voters and elected candidates on the basis of religion. In practical terms it
meant intr oducing Muslims constituencies, Muslim voters, and Muslim
candidates. It also meant that non -Muslim voter could vote for a Muslim
candidate. The election campaign and politicisation was thus strictly
confined within the walls of each religion. All this was to have disastrous
consequences. The introduction of the separate electorates was based on
the notion that the Indian society was a mere collection of interests and
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56 Indian Muslims w ere on the other hand, regarded as “a separate, distinct
and monolithic community”. It was also based on the motive of entrusting
power in the hands of potential allies as well as preventing Hindu -Muslim
unity. According to these reforms, the Muslims were assured that they
would be granted representation in the councils, not merely according to
their ‘numerical strength’, but also according to their ‘political
importance’. The impact of the separate electorates was as follows: it
created the institutional s tructures containing separatism.
 It was to produce severe constraints on the Congress and to limit its
space for nationalist activities,
 It was to activate the communal groups and organizations, and
 It ensured the impossibility of a common agreement among Indian
political groups.
iii. Lucknow Pact :
Lucknow Pact (1916) was an attempt made by the Indian organizations,
namely the Congress and the Muslim League, to arrive at a settlement.
The Congress conceded separate electorates as a temporary arrangement,
in order to obtain Muslim League’s support. Two things need to be
remembered regarding the Lucknow Pact:
 It was an arrangement between the leaders, not between the people.
The Congress League settlement was wrongly equated with a Hindu -
Muslim settlement, th e assumption being that the Muslim League
truly represented the Muslims,
 Soon the Lucknow Pact became redundant because of the
Government of India Act, 1919, which granted much more to Muslim
leaders than the Lucknow Pact.
iv. Nehru report and the parting of the ways with Jinnah:
The arrival of the Simon Commission and its near unanimous boycott by
all sections of political opinion, once again provided an opportunity for
unity. A section of the Muslim League, under the leadership of Jinnah,
took the initiat ive and was willing to give up separate electorates in favour
of joint electorates, if certain conditions were met. These were:
 1/3rd representation for the Muslims in the central legislature,
 Separation of Sind from Bombay as a separate province,
 Reform i n the North -West Frontier provinces, and
 Muslims representation in the legislative council in proportion to their
population in Punjab and Bengal.
These demands were accepted by the Congress, which opened up
prospects for unity. But its rejection in uncomp romising terms by the
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Rise and Growth of Communalism
57 matters. The incompatibility between the League and Mahasabha
frustrated all attempts at unity.
On February 12, 1928, All Parties Conference called at Delhi attended by
the representatives of 29 organizations in response to the appointment of
Simon Commission. The All Parties Conference appointed a committee
with Motilal Nehru as its chairman. The purpose was to consider and
determine the principles of the Constitution fo r India. Some of the key
recommendations of Nehru Report were as follows:
 India should be given Dominion Status with the Parliamentary form
of Government with bi -cameral legislature that consists of senate and
House of Representatives.
 The senate will comp rise of two hundred members elected for seven
years, while the House of Representatives should consist of five
hundred members elected for five years. Governor -General will act on
the advice of executive council. It was to be collectively responsible
to the parliament.
 There should be Federal form of Government in India with Residuary
powers to be vested in Centre. There will be no separate electorate for
minorities because it awakens communal sentiments therefore it
should be scrapped and joint electorate should be introduced.
 There will be no reserved seats for communities in Punjab and
Bengal. However, reservation of Muslim seats could be possible in
the provinces where Muslim population should be at least ten percent.
 Judiciary should be independent from the Executive.
 There should be the Muslim Representation at Centre.
 Sind should be separated from Bombay provided it proves to be
financially self -sufficient. The impact of the Nehru Report was
significant. It led to the estrangement of Jinnah, who called it a
‘Parting of the Ways’ with the Congress, went back to the separate
electorates, and formulated his famous fourteen points (including
separate electorates, reservation of seats in the centreand provinces,
reservation of jobs for Muslims, creation of n ew Muslim majority
provinces, etc.) which became the text of the communal demands.
5.6 TOWARDS MASS COMMUNALISM Muslim League had, hitherto, been an elite organization, dominated by the
princes and the Zamindars and had absolutely no base among the masses.
In order to succeed in the electoral politics and be in a better bargaining
position vis -à-vis other dominant groups, it was important to have a mass
base and be a popular organization, much like the Congress. By 1937 all
the fourteen points of Jinnah had been granted by the government. And yet
he found himself nowhere. He was just not able to carry himself and the
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58 political respectability. Therefore, it was important to maximize the
league’s membership and also to place the demand at a much higher pitch,
since all the other demands (like separate electorates, reservation of seat,
etc.) had been conceded. In order to achieve these two -fold tasks, Jinnah
did the following:
 A massive cam paign for the popularisation of the League was
launched. The Muslim League actually broke out of its elite shell and
began to acquire a mass character (although among Muslim masses
only). Membership fee was reduced, provincial committees were
formed and th e party programme was also transformed so as to
acquire a socio -economic content. An equally strong campaign was
launched to denounce and condemn the Congress ministries. They
were shown to represent Hindu Raj and hostile to Muslim minorities.
This was the surest way of creating a Hindu -Muslim divide. The
Congress was asked to concentrate only on the Hindus, as it was seen
by Jinnah as a Hindu Body.
 In 1940, at the Lahore session, Jinnah came up with the two -nation
theory. It said that Muslims were not a mi nority, they were a nation.
Hindus and Muslims, consisted of two nations, as they were different
people economically, politically, socially, culturally, and historically.
Therefore, the Muslims of India should have a sovereign state for
themselves. Hence t he demand for Pakistan as a separate homeland
for Muslims was born. As a result of all that has been discussed
above, communalism began to emerge as a mass force. This lead to
emergence of Pakistan in 1947.
5.7 THE LAST PHASE AND PARTITION As mentioned ear lier the growth of Muslim communalism was
considerably aided by the whole -hearted official backing given to it by the
British Government. After the outbreak of the Second World War the
Muslim League was assiduously fostered by Viceroy Linlithgow. The
Pakis tan demand was used to counter the demand of the Congress that the
British should promise that Indians would be free after the War and as
proof of their sincerity, transfer actual control of the government to
Indians immediately. The British pointed out th e Hindus and Muslims
must come to an agreement on how power was to be transferred before the
process could begin. The League was officially recognized as the
representative voice of Muslims (even though its performance in the last
elections hardly substant iated this claim) and promised that no political
settlement would be made unless it was acceptable to the League. This
was a blanket power of veto; which Jinnah was to use to good effect after
the War had ended. Cripps’ proposals gave a fillip to the activ ities of the
Muslim League and provided legitimacy to the Pakistan demand by
accommodating it in their provision for provincial autonomy. At a time
when the demand had hardly been taken seriously by Indians, its
sympathetic consideration by officialdom was a great service to the cause
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59 The elections were duly held in the winter of 1945 -46. By the time the
elections took place, the League following the congenial aftermath of the
Shimla Conference, and dangling the carrot of Pakistan was in a favo rable
situation to deal with its separate Muslim electorate. Although the
Congress was at the crest of its popularity, especially with the people’s
anticipations of the coming of independence, it was nevertheless not in a
position in such religiously frenz ied atmosphere to carry the bulk of
Muslim voters with it. The outcome of the elections, particularly the
respective positions of the Congress and the League, clearly brought all
these out. The Congress won overwhelmingly in the General (non -
Muslim) consti tuencies, securing 91.3 per cent votes, winning 57 out of
102 seats in the Central Legislative Assembly and obtaining majorities in
all the provinces except Sind, Punjab and Bengal.
The spectacular Congress victories, however, could not diminish the
signi ficance that the Government had already thrust upon the Muslim
electorate. From the British point of view, and at the negotiation table to
be presided by them , what mattered even more in 1946 than the massive
national mandate for the Congress was the Leagu e’s ability to goad the
Muslim voters to its side – by hook or by crook. Apparently in this the
League attained remarkable successes by polling 86.6 per cent of the
Muslim votes, winning all the 30 Muslim seats in the Central Legislative
Assembly and grabb ing 442 out of 509 Muslim seats in the provinces. But
despite all its achievement, the League could not establish its dominance
on those Muslim -majority provinces which it was demanding for Pakistan.
It lost NWFP and Assam to the Congress and failed to dis lodge the
Unionists from Punjab. Even the League ministries that were set up in
Bengal and Sind hinged precariously on official and European support.
The fact was that the League’s claim for Muslim support had hardly ever
been tested in undivided India. Th e elections were held not only on the
basis of separate electorate, which had been devised to keep the Muslims
away from the national mainstream, but also on the strength of severely
restricted franchise – barely 10 per cent of the total population.
Once t he main parties emerged from the limited elections in their strength,
as anticipated more or less by the British, the Attlee Government lost no
time in commencing negotiations with them. A high -powered mission of
three British cabinet members (Pethick Lawr ence, Secretary of State for
India: Stafford Cripps, President of the Board of Trade; and A.V.
Alexander, First Lord of Admiralty) was sent to India to find out ways and
means of a negotiated, peaceful transfer of power in India. As it had
already been sen sed in the British circles, time was running out of the
British hands for all practical purposes, and India had reached the high
point of ferment by March, 1946 with popular unrest finding intermittent
expressions throughout the country. There was also the British fear that
the disquietude of the people might take shape of another countrywide
“mass movement or a revolution”, which it was in the power of the
Congress to start, and which, the Viceroy felt, “we are not certain that we
can control”. The Cabinet Mission, therefore, arrived in India to wrest the
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60 till June 1946 for setting the constitutional future of India, and for
deciding upon an interim Indian Government.
Following a s eries of long -drawn deliberations with the Indian leaders of
all kinds, which had often run into stalemates on account of Jinnah’s
brinkmanship over Pakistan and the Muslim right of self -determination,
the Mission eventually came up with a complicated, but somewhat
plausible plan for wriggling out of the Indian impasse. Although the
Viceroy and one of its members (Alexander) had been sympathetic
towards Jinnah, the Mission was unable to accept the League’s demand for
a full -fledged Pakistan (comprising the whole of all the Muslim majority
areas) on the ground that it would not be acceptable to the non -Muslims
who formed majorities in West Bengal and Eastern Punjab, as well as in
Assam proper. This would necessitate such a bifurcation of Bengal,
Punjab and As sam which would go against all regional and linguistic ties,
create insurmountable economic and administrative problems, and yet
might not satisfy the League. Having thus rejected both the concepts of a
larger and a smaller Pakistan, the Mission offered th e plan of a very loose
union of all the Indian territories under a centre that would control merely
the defence, the foreign affairs and the communications, leaving all other
subjects to the existing provincial legislatures. The provincial legislatures
would then elect a Constituent Assembly, with each province being
allotted a specified number of seatsproportionate to its population and
distributed strength -wise among itsvarious communities. The members so
elected “will divide up into three sections” – Section A for the non -
Muslim majority provinces (Bombay, the United Provinces, Bihar, the
Central Provinces, Orissa and Madras), Section B for the Muslim -majority
provinces in the north -west (Sind, NWFP and Punjab) and Section C for
the same in the north -east (Bengal and Assam). All these sections would
have the authority to draw up provincial constitutions and, if necessary,
group constitutions, and setting up thereby provincial and sectional
legislatures and executives. As the completion of all these long term
arrangements would take considerable time, the Mission proposed a short -
term measure the formation immediately of an Interim Government at the
Centre, enjoying the support of the major political parties, and with the
Indians holding all the portfolios.
The Mission’s plan was intended to be a compromise, by placating the
Congress through the rejection of the Pakistan scheme and by mollifying
the League through the creation of autonomous Muslim -majority areas is
some proximity. At the outset, therefore, bo th the Congress and the
League were inclined to accept the plan. But differences soon surfaced
over the provisions for forming sections or groups of provinces. The
League interpreted the groupings to be compulsory, for that might
brighten up the possibilit y of a future full -fledged Pakistan by bulldozing
the Congress -administered Muslim -majority provinces of NWFP (in
section B) and Assam (in section C) into it (in their respective sections the
Congress majorities from NWFP and Assam would be reduced to help less
minorities). It was precisely because of the opposition of NWFP and
Assam to their being dragged into Sections B and C that the Congress
wanted the grouping to be optional. The Congress was also critical of the munotes.in

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Rise and Growth of Communalism
61 absence of any provision for the elected members from the princely states
in the proposed Constituent Assembly, though it appeared to be willing to
swallow the limited and indirect nature of electing the Constituent
Assembly, blatantly contrary to its past demand for such an election on
adult fr anchise. By the end of July 1946, the Congress and the League
decided against trying out the Cabinet Mission plan any further, mainly on
account of their difference over the grouping system, but partly because of
the Mission’s inability to clarify its inte nsions.
i. The communal carnage and interim government:
The setback over the Cabinet Mission plan so exasperated the League that
it wanted forthwith to force the situation through “Direct Action”, or give
concrete expression to its postelection slogan, ‘La dke Lenge Pakistan’
(“we shall have Pakistan by force”). The outcome was the communal
carnage that began first on the Direct Action Day (16th August 1946) in
Calcutta, and then in a chain of reactions spread over other areas of the
country, notably in Bomb ay, eastern Bengal and Bihar, a certain part of
the U.P., NWFP and Punjab. In Calcutta, the League rowdies, encouraged
by the League Premier of Bengal, Suhrawardy, had a field day on 16th
August by suddenly resorting to large scale violent attacks on the n on-
Muslims. Once the element of surprise was over, the Hindus and Sikhs
also hit back. The army, stationed at the very heart of the city, took its own
time to react, and when it did sluggishly move to restore order 4,000 had
already been killed in three da ys, and 10,000 injured. Riots erupted in
Bombay in September 1946, but not so frenziedly as in Calcutta. Even
then, more than 300 persons lost their lives in stray incidents there.
In October 1946, communal riots broke out furiously in Noakhali and
Tipper a, leaving 400 dead and resulting in widespread violation of
women, loot and arson. Bihar communal riots towards the end of October
left more than 7,000 dead. U.P. was not lagging far behind. The riots in
Lahore, Amritsar, Multan, Attock and Rawalpindi, ha d killed about 5,000
by the middle of 1947. These were, however, the mere beginnings, for the
communal riots continued to blaze very high throughout 1947 and the
earlier part of 1948, resulting in deaths and injuries to several lakhs of
people, immense des truction of personal properties. Millions had to
become refugees, and whereas in some localities (like Punjab) a wholesale
exchange of population took place, in others (like Bengal) people
continued to leave their places in waves for a long time to come. I n the
sheer extent of human suffering and dehumanization, and in the total
upsetting of the country’s social and economic fabric, the fratricide in the
Indian sub -continent between 1946 and 1948 perhaps had only a few
parallels in the annals of civilizatio n.
It was coinciding practically with the outbreak of the communal carnage
that an Interim Government at the centre - the one which the Cabinet
Mission proposed as a short -term measure in its plan - came into existence
in September 1946. To begin with, the Viceroy’s attempts at its formation
met almost with the same difficulty they faced in the Shimla Conference,
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62 Congress and 5 Muslim nominees of the League in such a Government,
apart from 1 Sikh and one Scheduled Caste in it. As anticipated, the
Congress rejected such a proposal of “parity”, claimed the right to include
any number of Hindus, Muslims and others in its list of nominees and
demanded the new Government to function like a cabin et, and not like a
mere advisory body to the Viceroy. Wavell would have called off his
endeavors on the ground that nothing was likely to be achieved if the main
parties continued to differ, which he contentedly did in Shimla in June
1945. But the impendin g threat of mass -upsurge and worsening law and
order necessitated him to go ahead with the idea of an Interim
Government. Elated apparently by the gesture of giving them precedence
over their League counterparts, and expecting the formation of the Interim
Government to be to their advantage, as well as an advance towards the
peaceful transfer of power, the Congress leaders opted on 2nd September
for the making of a cabinet under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Despite all its concern, it was in effect helpless in the face of the
communal holocaust -to move the leisurely army, under a British
commander in Chief, into the riot -afflicted areas. Being presided over by
the Viceroy, the Interim Government was also not able sometimes to
withstand his vetoing p ower. And its position worsened when Wavell
persuaded the League leaders to join it on 26th October 1946, overlooking
their persistence with the “Direct Action”, and by agreeing to balance the
Congress -nominated Scheduled Caste member. Thereafter the Inter im
Government, obstructed by its League members, and divided sharply into
the Congress and the League camps, backed up by their warring
followings within the bureaucracy, was reduced for all practical purposes
to a figure head. The senior and venerable Con gress leaders were no
longer hopeful. Rather, they were too keen to come out of the labyrinth at
any cost, if necessary by buying freedom at the exorbitant price of
partitioning the nation.
The speed with which division was affected and the delay in announ cing
the awards of the Boundary Commission aggravated the tragedy of
partition. These were Mountbatten’s decisions. Mountbatten delayed the
announcement of the Boundary Commission Award (even though it was
ready by 12thAugust 1947) to disown responsibility for further
complications. This created confusion for ordinary citizens as well as the
officials. People living in the villages between Lahore and Amritsar stayed
on in their homes in the belief that they were on the right side of the
border. Migrations n ecessarily became a frenzied affair, often culminating
in massacres.
5.8 COMMUNAL POLITICS AND COMMUNAL VIOLENCE IN POST INDEPENDENT INDIA Over the years, as the economic hardships have grown, the politics of the
country has turned increasingly towards com munal issues for political
mobilisation. Most often this has resulted in communal violence. Violence
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63 society and results in a polarisation, which brings votes and political
power. Theref ore, communal riots are not sudden outbursts of religious
conflicts. As one moves from the 1960s to the first few years of the
present century (21st century), one witnesses that increasingly communal
riots have been carefully planned and systematically eng ineered. Material
reasons and electoral compulsions form the basis of this politics.
Communal politics openly resorts to communal mobilisation for political
ends. There is also a politics which opportunistically resorts to communal
mobilization for short t erm electoral gains. In the first category are various
Hindu and Muslim right wing political parties and pressure groups etc. In
the second are parties like the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the
Telegu Desam, the Samata Party, etc. The political progra mmes of the first
group are openly based upon mobilisation of religious communities. The
second group has opportunistically used communal themes or have not
taken a categorical stand against communal issues because that would
have meant a weakening or loss of power for them. For instance, the
Congress pandered to Hindu communalism when passed orders to open
Babri mosque to Hindu for prayers. The Congress also tried to please the
Muslim communal interests when around the same time (1986) it
overturned the Su preme Court Judgement on the Shah Bano case, which
had ordered maintenance to be paid to the divorced Shah Bano by her
husband. During the Gujarat communal violence in 2002, parties like the
Telugu Desam, Samata Party, Janata Dal and DMK confined themselve s
to verbal criticisms and did not use their parliamentary leverage to force
the Government’s hand on the issue as it may have led to their losing
power.
One community’s, rights take precedence over everything else. This is
clearly the two -nation theory a t work and this politics openly advocates
the formation of a nation -state beholden to one religion in India. It is
reported that between 1950 and 1960 the number of lives lost in
communal riots was 316. This number (over adecade) is very small
compared to the death toll in each incident of communal violence from the
late 1960s. In 1969 riots in Ranchi -Hatia the number of people killed was
184 and in the Ahmedabad riots the same year, the death toll was 512. In
the Bhiwandi -Jalgaon (1970) riots the number wa s 121 deaths. In the
Bhagalpur violence from October 22, 1989 to January 15, 1990 the
number of those killed was 960.
What also should be added here is that in communal violence in
independent India more minorities have been killed and displaced.
5.9 SUMM ARY The use of religion or religious identity for socio -economic benefits or
political power is called communal politics. This politics thrives in a
situation of religio -cultural plurality on the one hand and uneven and
retarded economic development on the other. Both these conditions are
present in India. While communal violence is sporadic and ends up as a
problem to be tackled on the spot, communal politics is a long term
phenomenon that is based on a monolithic understanding of a religious munotes.in

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64 community and exaggerates the differences between different religious
communities. These differences lead to communalisation of society, which
strengthens communal politics. Communal politics in colonial India was a
way of competing for government jobs and political po sitions.
It acquired a much more serious face as a bulwark against the Congress
led national movement. It was in colonial India that the two -nation theory
was propounded. Communal politics was also a part of the ‘divide and
rule’ policy of the British col onialists. Communal politics interprets the
past in a selective and distorted manner to be able to extend its area of
influence. It resorts to certain communal stereotypes also for its advantage.
Over the years, politics has been increasingly resorting to communal
mobilisations. Most often this has resulted in gruesome communal
violence. In Indian politics today, Hindutva has acquired a centrality.
Majoritarian politics has pushed minority politics to the margins. Minority
politics has gradually moved towar ds communitarian issues in
independent India.
5.10 QUESTIONS 1. Discuss the meaning of communalism and elaborate upon the Myths
regarding communalism.
2. Explain the emergence of communalism in the Indian context.
3. Elaborate upon the growth of communalism in the 20th century India
and the phase of mass communalism.
4. Write a note on the last phase and partition and partition of India.
5.11 REFERENCES  Bipan Chandra – India after independence and others, pengnin Dkia,
2000.
 Ramchandra Guha – India after Gandhi : the History a the world’s
largest Democracy, Pan Macmillian India, 2017.
 Dharma Kumar (ed.), The Cambridge Economic History of India, col.
II C. 1757 – 2003, Orient Langton in associated with UP, New Delhi,
2015.
 Bipan Chandra, Communalism in Modem India, Har -Anand
Publication, New Delhi.
 D.D. Basm. An Introduction to the constitution of India .
 M.R. Pylee, Constitutional History of India, S. Chand & Co. Ltd, New
Delhi, 2011.
 M.R. Biju, Human Rights in a Develping Society, Mittal Publications,
New Delhi, 2015.
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65 6
COMMUNAL VIOLENCE AND HUMAN
RIGHTS COMMISSION
Unit Structure
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Establishment of N ational Human Rights Commission
6.3 Constitution of the N ational Human Rights Commission
6.4 Functio ns and Powers of the Commission
6.5 Functional Approach of the Com mission
6.6 Steps a fter Inquiry
6.7 Role of NHRC with regards to handling cases of communal
violence: Illustrative Cases
6.8 Summary
6.9 Questions
6.10 References
6.0 OBJECTIVES  To understand the process of the estab lishment of NHRC and the
constitution of the National Human Rights Commission.
 To understand the functions and Powers of the Human Rights
Commission .
 To understand the functional Approach of the Commission.
 To understand the role of NHRC with regards to ha ndling cases of
communal violence.
6.1 INTRODUCTION Respect for the dignity of an individual and striving for peace and
harmony in society, has been an abiding factor in Indian culture. The
Indian culture has been the product of assimilation of diverse cu ltures and
religions that came into contact in the enormous Indian sub -continent over
time. The international community has recognised the growing importance
of strengthening national human rights institutions. In this context, in the
year 1991 a UN -sponso red meeting of representatives of national
institutions held in Paris, a detailed set of principles on the status of
national institutions was developed, these are commonly known as the
Paris Principles. These principles, subsequently endorsed by the UN
Commission on Human Rights and the UN General Assembly have
become the foundation and reference point for the establishment and
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66 6.2 ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION The Government of India did realise the need to establish an independent
body for promotion and protection of human rights. The establishment of
an autonomous National Human Rights Commission (Commission) by the
Government of India reflects its commitment for effective implementatio n
of human rights provisions under national and international instruments.
The Commission is the first of its kind among the South Asian countries
also few among the National Human Rights institutions, which were
established, in early 1990s. The Commission came into effect on 12
October 1993, by virtue of the Protection of Human Rights Act
1993.Fourteen Indian States have also set up their own human rights
commissions to deal with violations from within their states. The Act
contains broad provisions relate d with its function and powers,
composition and other related aspects.
Section 2 (d) of the Act defines human rights as rights relating to life,
equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by Constitution or
embodied in the international covenants an d enforceable by Courts in
India. The Indian Constitution provides certain rights for individuals in
Part III of the Constitution, which are known as the fundamental rights.
Part IV sets out the Directive Principles of State Policy. While the former
guaran tees certain rights to the individual, the latter gives direction to the
State to provide economic and social rights to its people in specified
manner. The word fundamental means that these rights are inherent in all
the human beings and basic and essentia l for the individual. However, the
rights guaranteed in the Constitution are required to be in conformity with
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in view of the fact t hat
India has become a party to these Covenants by ratifying them. The
justifiability of fundamental rights is itself guaranteed under the Indian
Constitution. The responsibility for the enforcement of the fundamental
rights lies with the Supreme Court by virtue of Article 32 and by Article
226 to the High Courts.
6.3 CONSTITUTION OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION i. The Constitution of the Commission dealt with in Chapter II of the
Act. Section 3 of the Act says, “the Central government shall
consti tute a body to be known to the National Human Rights
Commission to exercise the powers conferred upon, and to perform
the functions assigned to it, under this Act.
ii. The Commission shall consist of:
(a) A Chairperson who has been a Chief Justice of th e Supreme Court.
(b) One Member who is, or has been a judge of the Supreme Court. munotes.in

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Communal Violence and Human Rights Commission
67 (c) One Member who is, or has been the Chief Justice of the High Court.
(d) Two members to be appointed from amongst persons having
knowledge of, or practical experience in , matters relating to human
rights.
iii. The Chairpersons of the National Commission for Minorities, the
National Commission for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
and the National Commission for Women shall be deemed to be
Members of the Commissi on for the discharge of functions specified
in clauses (b) to (j) of section 12.
iv. There shall be a Secretary -General who shall be the Chief Executive
Officer of the Commission and shall exercise such powers and
discharge such functions of the Commissi on as it may delegate to
him.
v. The headquarters of the Commission shall be Delhi and the
Commission may, with the previous approval of the Central
Government, establish offices at other places in India.
The appointment of the Chairperson and other Mem bers are elaborately
discussed under Section 4 of the Act. The other provisions relate to the
removal of a member of the Commission, the term of office of Members, a
member to act as a Chairperson or to discharge his functions in certain
circumstances, the terms and conditions of service of members, vacancies,
etc., not to invalidate the proceedings of the Commission, the procedure to
be regulated by the Commission, the officers and the other staff of the
Commission.
6.4 FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF THE COMMISSI ON Wide powers and functions have been given to the Commission under
section12 of the Act. The paragraph (a) of section 12 provides, that the
Commission can enquire suomotuaction against any public servant against
whom a complaint has been registered for v iolation of human rights.
Section 12(b) provides that the Commission can intervene in any
proceeding involving any allegation of a violation of human rights
pending before a Court with the approval of such Court.
Section 12(c) empowers the Commission to vi sit any jail or other
institution prior intimation to the State Government, for the purpose of
mainly monitoring prison or custodial jurisprudence. The Commission can
make recommendations to State Governments on the basis of such visits.
The Commission fou nd after visiting many jails that pathetic conditions
prevailed in jails in which prisoners are forced to live. In its view this is
not due to a lack of ideas but due to apathy and lack of priority accorded to
prison conditions and the rights of prisoners and under trials. The
Commission has already initiated action to improve prison conditions in
India, and started studying all prevailing reports related with prisons. The
Commission has recommended the preparation of a new All India Jail
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Social Issues in Contemporary India
68 1894. The Commission sought help from all who believe that human
dignity must not be left when a person enters the gates of a prison.
Section 12(d) empowers the Commission to review the safeguards
provid ed under the Constitution or any law for the time being in force for
the protection of human rights and also to recommend measures for their
effective implementation. Under Section 12(e) there is a separate
provision to review the causes of terrorism, whic h inhibits the enjoyment
of human rights, and to recommend appropriate remedial measures.
Section 12(f) provides for the study of all treaties related with
international human rights instruments and the making of
recommendations for their effective impleme ntation. Section 12 (g)
provides for promotion of research in the field of human rights. Section
12(h) empowers the Commission to spread human rights literacy among
various sections of society and promote awareness of the safeguards
available for the prote ction of these rights through publication, the media,
seminars and other available means. Section 12(i) empowers the
Commission to encourage the efforts of Non - governmental organisations
(NGOs) working in the field of human rights. Lastly, Section 12(j)
provides, such other functions as it may consider necessary for the
promotion of human rights.
6.5 FUNCTIONAL APPROACH OF THE COMMISSION The responsibility entrusted to the Commission under the Act of 1993
cannot be adequately fulfilled without the develop ment of close ties
between the Commission and NGOs. For the Commission, it is not just a
matter of Statutory obligation under Section 12(i) of the Act. The
Commission recognised that the cause of human rights has much to gain
both from the practical help a nd from the constructive criticism that NGOs
and the Commission can bring to bear in their mutual interaction and
growing relationship. The Commission from very beginning associated
NGOs with the inquiry of complaints. In several places, during visits by
the Commission, NGOs have boldly come forward with evidence of
wrong -doing in relation to specific complaints addressed to the
Commission.
The Commission acknowledged that the promotion and protection of
human rights requires the courage and commitment that NGOs bring to
bear in their endeavors and that it is for this reason that the country has
much to gain by encouraging their efforts, whether the NGOs are national
or international.
i. Investigation Division:
There is a well organised investigation divisi on within the Commission.
The primary duty of this investigation division is to look into complaints
received by the Commission. For this purpose, the investigation team
makes on the spot investigations. The Act outlines the investigative role of
the Commi ssion. Subsection 1(b) of Section 11 provides, “Such police and
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69 General of Police and such other officers and staff as may be necessary for
the efficient performance of the functions of the Commission.”
ii. Inquiry into Complaints:
A considerable increase in public awareness of the work of the
Commission has been observed. This is reflected in the vast increase in the
number of the complaints of human rights violations received by the
Commission over the years. Many of the cases received by the
Commission were of great poignancy, but they could not be entertained by
the Commission because of the Regulation 8 of the Commission. The
Commission broadly divides the cases in these following c ategories: (1)
Custodial deaths; (2) Police excesses (Torture, Illegal detention \ unlawful
arrest, false implication etc.; (3) Fake encounters; (4) Cases related to
Women and Children; (5) Atrocities on Dalits \Members of Minority
community \ Disabled (6) Bo nded labour (7) Armed forces \ para military
forces and (8) other important cases.
Once the Commission accepts a complaint, it seeks comments from the
concerned government or authority regarding complaint. After receiving
the comments of the concerned auth ority a detailed note on the merits of
the case is prepared for the consideration of the Commission. After this,
directions and recommendations of the Commission are communicated to
the concerned government under Sections 18 and 19 of the Act.
Since its e stablishment in October 1993, the Commission has directed
compensation in the amount of Rs. 9,76, 68,634 \ be paid in 559 cases. In
year 2002 -2003 the Commission recommended that compensation
amounting to Rs. 31,40,000 \- be paid in 39 cases. The Commission during
the period beginning from 1st April 2002 to 31 March 2003 registered
68,779 cases and in the same period for 2001 to 2002 the Commission
registered 69,083 cases in year 2001 -2002.Out 68,779 cases registered in
the year 2002 to 2003, 67, 354 complain ts were of human rights
violations, 1340 related to custodial deaths, 2 concerned custodial rapes
and 83 related to police encounters were found. As on 31March 2003, the
total number of cases before the Commission was 43,010, which included
9763 cases awai ting preliminary consideration and 33,247 cases in respect
of which reports were either awaited from the authorities concerned or the
reports had been received and are pending further consideration within the
Commission.
In some of the cases the Commission may opt for a personal hearing with
the petitioner or any other person on behalf of petitioner for appropriate
disposal of this matter. This personal hearing will provide an opportunity
for examining any witnesses, if any, in support of the complaint and
hearing evidence in support of the petitioner’s stand. Once the
Commission or any other person under its authority undertakes an
investigation, the report of the investigation should be submitted within a
week of its completion. In some cases, the Commissi on may allow further
time for the submission of reports. If the Commission is not satisfied with
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70 enabling it to properly dispose of the matter. On receipt of the report, the
Commiss ion on its own motion, or if moved in the matter, may direct
inquiry to be carried out by it and receive evidence in the course of such
inquiry.
Lastly under Section 8(12), the Commission or any of its members when
requested by the Chairperson may undertak e visits for on -the-spot study
and where such a study is undertaken by one or members, a report thereon
shall be furnished to the Commission as early as possible.
6.6 STEPS AFTER INQUIRY On the completion of inquiry, the Commission may take any of the
following steps under Section 18 of this Act, namely:
(1) Where the inquiry discloses, the commission of violation of human
rights or negligence in the prevention of violation of human rights by
a public servant, it may recommend to the concerned Government or
authority the initiation of proceedings for prosecution or such other
action as the Commission may deem fit against the concerned person
or persons.
(2) Approach the Supreme Court or the High Court concerned for such
directions, orders or units as tha t Court may deem necessary.
(3) Recommend to the concerned government or authority for the grant of
such immediate interim relief to the victim or the members of his
family as the Commission may consider necessary;
(4) Subject to the provisions of clau se (5) provide a copy of the inquiry
report to the petitioner or his representative.
(5) The Commission shall send a copy of its inquiry report together with
its recommendations to the concerned government or authority who
shall, within a period of one mo nth, or such further time as the
Commission may allow, forward its comments on the report,
including the action taken or proposed to be taken thereon, to the
Commission.
(6) The Commission shall publish its inquiry report together with the
comments of th e concerned government or authority, if any, and the
action taken or proposed to be taken by the concerned government or
authority on the recommendations of the Commission
The Commission in several cases recommended prosecution of the public
servant respo nsible for violation of human rights, under section 18(1) of
the Act. In the case of violation of human rights, the Commission may
recommend under Section 18 (3) of the Act that the concerned State to
grant immediate interim relief to the victim or members of the family.
The Commission incorporated elaborate provisions under Section 18(5) of
procedural regulations, to make its inquiry more transparent and impartial.
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71 along with recomm endations to the concerned government to report and
comment within a period of one month, or such further time as the
Commission may allow. This recommendation also includes what action
should be taken in a particular case. Lastly, Section 18(6) stipulates that
the Commission should publish its report in detail. In must include the
comments of the Government or authority. The report should also include
what action the concerned government or authority is going to take in a
particular case.
However, the Com mission has been deprived of the similar power while
dealing with armed forces. Section 19 restricts the power of NHRC to
initiate investigation on its own in the case of violation of human rights by
armed forces. According to Section 19 (a) (1) of the Act the Commission
has to seek a report from the Central Government and after receiving of
the report from Central Government, it may, either not proceed with the
complaint or, as the case may be, make its recommendations to that
Government. The power to make recommendations, when necessary, in
section 19 must be read along with subsections (1) and (3) of section 18
which deal with the nature of recommendations on conclusion of the
inquiry, when closure of the complaint is not considered appropriate.
There is nothing restrictive in section 19 to curtail this power of the
Commission and the express power to make recommendations leads
necessarily to this conclusion. Jurisdiction of the NHRC to deal with the
complaints against armed forces is subject only to a res trictive procedure.
It seems from the above provisions that the Commission is fully equipped
to handle any situation, but in practice the Commission is powerless, when
a State government refuse to comply with its recommendation. The
Commission is endowed with only recommendatory power, and
recommendations of the Commission are not legally binding. However, in
most of the cases recommendations of the Commission have been
complied with by the concerned government or authority, as is apparent
from the prosecu tions of several police officials, and the compensation
awarded to victims in various cases.
6.7 ROLE OF NHRC WITH REGARDS TO HANDLING CASES OF COMMUNAL VIOLENCE: ILLUSTRATIVE
CASES i. National Human Rights Commission v. State of Arunachal Pradesh :
The Co mmission under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution has filed a
writ petition as a public interest petition before the Supreme Court of
India. The Commission filed this petition mainly for the enforcement of
fundamental rights of about 65,000 Chakma \ Hajongtribals under Article
21 of the Constitution. In this case a large number of refugees from
erstwhile East Pakistanwere displaced in 1964 due to Kaptain Hydel
Project. These displaced Chakmas had taken shelter in North -Eastern
States of India, namely, in Assam and Tripura. There were two main
issues involved in this case; (1) conferring of citizenship; (2) fear of
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72 citizens of Arunachal Pradesh. Largely to these two issues NHRC was
approached by two different NGOs. In this case the Commission
contended before the Court that the Commission found serving of quit
notices by All Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU) to Chakmas
and their attempted enforcement appeared to be supported by th e officers
of Arunachal Pradesh. The State government deliberately delayed the
disposal of the matter by not furnishing the required response to NHRC
and infect assisted in the enforcement of eviction of the Chakmas from the
State through its agencies.
The Court after hearing the argument directed the government of
Arunachal Pradesh to ensure the life and personal liberty of each and
every Chakma residing within the State. The significance of this
judgement also lies in clearing the doubts regarding the app licability of
fundamental rights to refugees. This decision rules that foreigners are
entitled to enjoy the protection of right to life and liberty under Article 21
of the Indian Constitution. Timely intervention by the Commission has
saved the life of tho usands of innocent Chakma refugees from AAPSU.
ii. Punjab Mass Cremation Order:
Two writ petitions were filed before the Supreme Court of India
containing serious allegations about large -scale cremations resorted to by
the Punjab Police of persons alleged ly killed in what were termed as
“encounters”. The main thrust of the Writ Petitions was that there were
extra -judicial executions and hasty and secret cremations rendering the
State liable for action. These petitions were largely relied on a press note
of 16th January 1995 by the Human Rights Wing of the Shiromani Akali
Dal under the caption “Disappeared” “cremation ground”.
The note alleged that the Punjab Police had cremated a large number of
human bodies after labelling them as unidentified. The Suprem e Court
after examining the report submitted to the Court by Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI), relating to cremation of dead bodies observed that
report indicates 585 dead bodies were fully identified, 274 partially
identified and 1238 unidentified. The report discloses flagrant violation of
human rights on a large scale. On 12 December 1996 the Court requested
the Commission to have the matter examined in accordance with law and
determine all the issues related with the case. Though matter is still
pending before the Commission for final consideration, however, the
Commission granted in some cases compensation amounting of Rupees
Two Lakh Fifty thousand (Rs. 2,50,000/ -) to the next of kin of the 89
deceased persons. While granting the compensation the Commission
relied on the laws developed by the Courts in India in the field of evolving
legal standards for remedial, reparatory, punitive and exemplary damages
for violation of Human Rights. The Commission observed, it is now a
well-accepted proposition i n most of the jurisdictions, that monetary or
pecuniary compensation is an appropriate and indeed an effective and
sometimes perhaps the only suitable remedy for redressal of the
established infringement of the fundamental right of life of a citizen by the
public servants and the State. The claim of the citizen is based on the munotes.in

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Communal Violence and Human Rights Commission
73 principle of strict liability to which the defense of sovereign immunity is
not available and the citizen must receive the amount of compensation.
iii. Gujarat Communal Riots:
The com mission took suomotuaction on communal riot which took place
in Gujarat in early 2002, the decision to take action was based of media
reports, both print and electronic. The Commission also received an e -mail
communication requesting the Commission to inte rvene. A team of the
Commission had visited Gujarat between19 to 22 March 2002 and
prepared a confidential report, which was latter made to the public. The
release of the confidential report was initially withheld to provide an
opportunity to the Gujarat g overnment to comment on its contents, given
the sensitivity of the allegations contained in it. Unfortunately, the State
government did not bother much about this report. The Commission
observed that the State has failed to discharge its primary and inesca pable
responsibility to protect the rights to life, liberty, equality and dignity of
all of those who constitute it. The principle of res ipsa loquitur (the affair
speaking for itself) applies in this case in assessing the degree of State
responsibility in the failure to protect the Constitutional rights of the
people of Gujarat. The responsibility of the State extended not only to the
acts of its own agents, but also to those of non -State players within its
jurisdiction and to any action that may cause or facilitate the violation of
human rights.
iv. Muzaffarnagar Riots 2013:
The National Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned over the
riots in district Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas of Uttar Pradesh. It
appeals to all sections of society to maintain calm and harmony to
overcome this unfortunate situation . The common man is the worst
sufferer of the riots as people face various hardships including in getting
basic amenities like food, water, health etc. The Commission is keeping a
watch on the develop ments even as the Government agencies are making
their efforts to control the situation and restore normalcy.
It would urge the Government agencies to ensure that human rights of the
people are not violated in this process. The Commission's heart goes out to
the bereaved families who have lost their near and dear ones in the violent
clashes. It hopes that the State Government would take appropriate
measures to duly compensate the victims and their families and bring the
guilty to justice. The State Governme nt should also take strict measures so
that no further damage occurs to life and property by controlling the
situation and restoring communal harmony and peace in society."
6.8 SUMMARY From its inception the Commission attracted much suspicion because of i ts
status as a government institution. However, in twelve years’ period it was
able to establish its integrity and commitment. The Commission was able
to demonstrate its ability to work independently and impartially, which is munotes.in

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Social Issues in Contemporary India
74 borne out by its recommendatio ns. Even if the Commission is a very small
step in the daunting task of the implementation of human rights at the
national level, it remains a very significant step. Considering India’s
extensive territorial domain, the vastness of its population and the
complexity of social structure, cases of violation of rights, whether
attributable to the agencies of the State or to the private individuals or
groups, may occur despite its best efforts.
6.9 QUESTIONS 1. Discuss the establishment of National Human Rights Com mission and
the c onstitution of the National Human Rights Commission.
2. Elaborate upon the functions and Powers of the Human Rights
Commission .
3. Describe the functional Approach of the Commission.
4. Write a note on the role of NHRC with regards to c ases of communal
violence.
6.10 REFERENCES  Bipan Chandra – India after independence and others, pengnin Dkia,
2000.
 Ramchandra Guh a – India after Gandhi : the History a the world’s
largest Democracy, Pan Macmillian India, 2017.
 Dharma Kumar (ed.), The Cambridge Economic History of India, col.
II C. 1757 – 2003, Orient Langton in associated with UP, New Delhi,
2015.
 Bipan Chandra, Com munalism in Modem India, Har -Anand
Publication, New Delhi.
 D.D. Basm. An Introduction to the constitution of India .
 M.R. Pylee, Constitutional History of India, S. Chand & Co. Ltd, New
Delhi, 2011.
 M.R. Biju, Human Rights in a Develping Society, Mittal Publications,
New Delhi, 2015.


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75 7
FEATURES OF CASTE SYSTEM
Unit Structure
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Conceptualizing Caste
7.3 The Origin and Antiquity of Caste System
7.4 Features of Caste System
7.5 Summary
7.6 Questions
7.7 References
7.0 OBJECTIVE  To study concept of caste.
 To understand the origin and antiquity of caste system.
 To know the various features of caste system
7.1 INTRODUCTION Caste is the real life of Indian society without which society cannot
function. The Indian society has been divided into thousan ds of castes and
the sub -castes alike. These castes and sub -castes are looking at each other
in a manner where they are sometimes following the commensal rule
together but when the question of religion or inter -caste marriage arise the
relations of commens ality are forgotten and they rise to riots and honour
killings. These days many caste groups wanted reservations and for that
they have conducted many times kinds of agitations to the government.
Even these groups have given ultimatums and t hreatened to take law and
order situation into their own hands.
Recently, the castes groups asking for reservation in employment in
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana etc. but don’t want to leave
their castes or do not want to get themselves looked down upon being the
reserved category and so the backwards castes. Some recent trends are
leaning towards reservations on the basis of economic backwardness as
they interpret reservations as the programme of poverty amelioration. But
they don’t think that in Indian corrupt system anybody can get the
certificate of the economically backwardness. One can be economically
backward by his bankrupt habits and will get certificate of the same.
Anybody can be backward and forward many numbers of times in their
gene rations. But social backwardness is perpetual in Indian society though
the socially backward, now have become economically forward but in
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Social Issues in Contemporary India
76 to argue what is the system of caste unders tood by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar
which keeps this perpetuity? What is the mechanism of caste? How did it
originate? How did it transform into the fighting for Dalit rights? We as
Indians, can we annihilate this caste system from India? In this unit, we
will discuss all there questions.
7.2 CONCEPTUALIZING CASTE According to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, “Caste is mainly the custom of
endogamy that has preserved the castes and prevented one caste from
fusing into another.” The well -known historian Suvira Jaiswal says that
caste endogam y was not a borrowing or survival of aboriginal practice. It
evolved and consolidated in the process of regulating hierarchical
subordination of groups and reproduction of patriarchy. Hierarchy defined
as separation and superiority of the pure over the imp ure.
The caste system may be defined as a form of differentiation in which the
constituent units justify endogamy, on the basis of putative biological
difference which are semaphored by the realization of multiple social
practices. The Indian society has always been an unchanging society,
based on caste structure, which in turn made it oppressive and averse to
any change, or alternatively, that it was an idyllic society characterized by
harmony and an absence of social tension ---a utopian society ---these
beliefs are still with us. History has often been used in the search for an
identity. Each contemporary group seeks its own identity in the past. In the
process of abolishing caste; the war of nerves needs to be fought at two
levels ---one at the level of on e’s own mind, one’s family and one’s caste,
and the other at the level of spiritual democracy versus spiritual fascism.
7.3 THE ORIGI N AND ANTIQUITY OF CASTE SYSTEM Dr. R. C. Majumdar compares the origin of caste system with Iranians and
says, “The earlies t Iranian society was divided into four classes (pishtras)
corresponding to those described in the Purusha Sukta. Thus, the Athravas
(Priests) would correspond to the Brahmans, the Rathaesthas (warriors) to
the Kshatriyas, the Vastriyas -Fshouyants (chief o f family) to the Vaisyas
and the Huitis (labourers) to the Sudras. There is some force in Ludwig’s
argument that as the religious ideas contained in the Rig -Veda reach back
to the time when the Iranians and the ARYANS lived together, we have a
right to tak e the social ideas also as representative of the same period; that
if we admit the absence of similar class distinctions in the age of Rig -
Veda, we are bound to presume that the Aryans originally had the
distinctions in their society, subsequently lost the m and had built them up
again at some future period.
Mahatma J otirao Phule says, “The Aryan Brahmans invented the
pernicious fiction of the caste system, compiled (learned) treatises to serve
their own self -interest and indoctrinated the pliable minds o f the ignorant
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Features of Caste System
77 Dr. Ambedkar says, “Brahmans were the originators of this ‘unnatural
institution’ founded and maintained through these unnatural means.” At
some time in the history of the Hindus, the priestly class (Brahmans)
socially detached itself from the rest of the body of people and through a
closed -door policy became a caste by itself . Brahman class first raised the
structure of caste. While making themselves into a caste, the Brahmans by
virtue of this, created non -Brahman caste. Dr. Ambedkar clarifies that
before the Brahmans invented caste system, what we had in India was a
tribal society similar to today’s African continent where thousands of
tribal units co -exists with their respective customs, manners, languages,
rituals and relig ions. What existed in India then, was a perfect democratic
system based on the principle of ‘equal but separate’ i.e. Horizontal social
system. The Brahmans twisted this horizontal society into a vertical one,
placing one caste above the other and placing themselves at the apex of
this caste pyramid. Eminent Sociologist G.S. Ghurye reviews, “It may be
taken to be an historical fact that the people calling themselves ‘Arya’
poured into India through the North -West somewhere about 2000 B.C.”
Ghurye also admit s that Brahmans were the moral guides and legislators
of the immigrant Aryans. Caste is very often mentioned in their Sanskrit
books. He also says, “The Vedic Indians and Iranians lived together as one
community, designating themselves by the term Arya.” G hurye says,
“Caste in India is a Brahmanic child and that ‘endogamy’, the outstanding
feature of caste, was first developed by the Brahmans…”
Dr. Ambedkar says, “By the Hindu social system the communities are
placed in an ascending scale of reverence and a descending scale of
contempt.” The system of caste, with its alleged basis in religion and
ritual, was regarded as traditional, and was seen as functioning in
conjunction with the integrated, ‘self -sufficient’ village community.
7.4 FEATURES OF CASTE SYS TEM The caste as an endogamous system had and even today it has its features
by which the society should know that it is following the precepts of the
Dharma Shastras. Because Dharmashastras have compelled the society to
follow these social systems such as casteism and it also provide for the
punishments that may be during and post life the human being. Following
is some of the significant features of caste system in India. These may be
different from some scholars.
1. Stratification of the Society
As ther e have been hundreds of castes and thousands of subcastes in
Indian society, the features of these caste groups are different from each
other and to extent varied from region to region. The members are
supposed to follow the traditions and local customs on the basis of their
birth in that particular caste and accordingly, they are treated in the society
and supposed to follow certain provisions assigned to them. This feature is
also termed by some scholars as Segmental Division of society so far as
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78 One can observe in our society that the people are behaving and treating
their caste brethren as per the stratification. To mention, whenever there is
any spiritual festival or any kind of ritual from birth, initiation ceremony,
marr iage, or a death of a person in the society, only a member from a
Brahman caste or a Brahman Pandit is invited to perform the rituals and
religious rites. So, far festivals like Satyanarayana Pooja, Ganpati festival,
Kali Pooja or any kind of Pooja, only a Brahman Pandit is required to be
available at the host of the Pooja or sacrifice. Even today, people believe
that by doing certain sacrifice, will get them prosperity, children, success,
love affairs, marriages and even ward off the evil spirits and all t his in
consultation of the said Pandits. It is very much then make it clear the
position of the Brahman in the society is well stratified and they are
regarded as pre -eminent caste in the society.
So, far other group of castes like Kshatriyas, the texts l ike great epic
Mahabharata and the Puranas, mentions that Parashuram, a tenth
incarnations of Vishnu was a son of great Seer Jamdagni (called as short
tempered) who was a Brahman and Parshurama’s mother Renuka was a
Kshatriya Princess. Sometime, Jamdagni s uspected Renuka of her Chastity
and ordered his son Parshuram to get Renuka’s head cut off. The obedient
son, without any thought, obeyed the orders of his father, Jamdagni and
cut off the head of his own mother. Later on, when Jamdagni was
murdered by the Kshatriyas, he vengefully, killed all the male Kshatriyas
from the earth successively twenty -one times and there left No Kshatriya
on the earth. What this mythological story resulted into? It resulted that
the Indian society started believing that there i s no group of Kshatriyas
caste and if anyone boast about the same is to be regarded as from Shudra
caste. This can be well suited with the example of the Vedokta Episode of
the Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur Princely State
elaborated in the content.
The third group of caste i.e. Vaishyas, we can come to know that a
particular castes are engaged into the trade and merchandise. There can
have the exception in some cases due to the changes in the economics of
the modern world. We can cite the e xamples of certain Gujarati castes
which, Marwari castes etc. which have been engaged into these activities
generation together.
So far as the last group of castes like Shudras is concerned, the British
government and the independent government of India af ter Constitution
enforcement have made provisions to alleviate the social conditions of
these castes by reservations in the education, services and in the
legislatures. But even today, we find that the due to indirect imitation of
the stratification in soc iety certain lower status services are rendered by
these castes only. Nonetheless, it is by default taken for granted that the
Shudra castes in general and the Valmiki castes in particular are supposed
to engage into the Housekeeping and scavenging. We can have a well -
defined survey of the MCGM/BMC sanitary staff, popularly known as
Safai Kamgar, definitely the result would be found that the majority in this
profession belongs to lower castes. So, called upper castes never accept to munotes.in

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Features of Caste System
79 engage into this profess ion. It encourages the castes system and perpetuity
of it.
2. The concept of Purity and Impurity:
This feature says that certain castes have been categorized based on their
birth in their castes as Pure and Impure castes as well and accordingly, the
kind of restrictions have been imposed on them by the local traditions of
the society in that particular region or state. As these members of the caste
have been assigned certain occupations and based on that the occupations
themselves are categorized into pur e and impure and to mention, the
Housekeeping or Valmiki castes are traditionally forced scavenging
activities exclusively. So, they are treated lowest among the other castes.
The purity is also acknowledged from the ritual Initiation Ceremony
performed b y the members of certain castes and that is why they are
regarded as twice -born or ‘Dwij’. They are supposed to wear the sacred
thread but certain castes are not allowed to do so and hence are considered
as impure than that of these castes. Some texts of r eligion and
Grihyasutras also say that there had been eight forms of marriages in
Vedic society and when last four forms were not approved by the society
and so the progeny born to such married couple regarded as impure. One
can refer in details the Vedic society and institution of marriage to get
more information. e.g., Asura, Gandharva, Rakshasa and Paishach
Vivahas were not approved by the Vedic society as we can find its
relevance with the present -day Inter -caste marriages and the behavior of
the societ y with that couple and their parents. There comes also some
forms of purity and impurity due to caste system. Many readers may
misunderstand about the Varna system and caste system. But one can
observe that it is Varna System has been followed by the socie ty as a caste
system in a little modified and mild form.
3. Religious Taboos:
One of the significant features of the caste system is that there have been
religious taboos imposed on the members of the caste system although all
these caste members are born in Hinduism. Various castes have their own
religious taboos like Vedic Mantras or Puranic Mantras or No Mantras at
all. These provisions have been made so that the members should know
that they would be entitled to have the Moksha only if they follow thes e
taboos. e.g., not to enter the house of the upper caste, not have meals at the
house of upper and lower castes, not to touch, not to participate, no access
to public wells and places, not to argue with the upper castes, not to wear
upper part of clothes or only torn clothes and so on. The example of
Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur Princely State(Vedokta
Episode in history of Modern Maharashtra) has been very much relevant
when he was not allowed to be performed Vedic Mantras but was treated
as Shudra by his own Purohit an d was chanted only Puranic Mantras.
Because Shudras will have to perform religious rites but with Puranic
Mantras and not by Vedic Mantras as it was regarded that only Brahmans
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80 were restricted to enter the temples of gods and goddesses and treated as
untouchables based on the concept of purity and impurity. Even all other
Vedic rituals were categorized as per the caste system and Dharmashastras
were regarded as a basis for the same.
This Vedokta Controversy needs to be elaborated in detail to make the
students understand how religious taboos that plays its role in the caste
system. Very first time this controversy started in 1837 at Satara Princely
State when Chhatrapati Pratap Sing was ruler there. He invited the
prominent Purohits and some of the experts from Kshatriya communities
in a meeting to discuss whether these communities be allowed or not to
perform the Vedic rituals and rites. The Brahmans argued that they are the
only to be allowed to perform their rites and rituals by Vedic Mantras and
none others. Even those who were such an orthodox, further argued that
the Kshatriyas have not been existed on the earth at all in this Kaliyuga as
only two Varnas i.e. the Brahman and the Shudra. Accordingly, the
Kshatriya status of the Marathas was denied by the Brahmans. Instead,
they assigned Mantras from the Puranas to the Marathas and regarded
them the Shudras as like all other Shudras. The meeting called by
Chhatrapati Pratap Singh of Satara, resulted that the Maratha dynasties
like Bhonsles, Ghatges, Mahadiks etc. won over the Brahman purohits and
the Marathas took themselves as the Kshatriyas and so the right to perform
the rituals by Vedic Mantras only.
Another episode of this contr oversy again came to a debate at Baroda
Princely State of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaikwad in 1896 when the rituals
were performed previously with ‘Puranokta Mantras’. Mahatma J otirao
Phule had already written about the Brahmanas and their looking down
upon towa rds the others as castes as inferior to them through his
Satyashodhak Samaj and his book ‘Brahmananche Kasab’. Maharaja
Sayajirao was under influence of Mahatma Phule’s writings and hence
resolved to perform all his rituals with Vedic Mantras only like his
neighboring states of Rajputana. Accordingly, he issued the order with
effect from 15th October 1896 which was strongly opposed by the
orthodox Brahmans. The then popular paper ‘Kesari’ published by Bal
Gangadhar Tilak also criticized the decision of Maha raja Sayajirao
Gaikwad.
The third episode of this Vedokta controversy came to be happened at
Kolhapur Princely State of Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj i n 1899.
This controversy was mu ch serious than previous two. One of the Purohit
refused to perform V edokta Mantras at the Kartik -Snan of Shahu Maharaj
and justified it as Maharaj belongs to Shudra and this can be performed
with Puranic Mantras. It is said this was brought to the notice of Maharaj
by another Brahman Rajaram Shastri Bhagwat and later on th at Purohit
was removed from the service. A well -known historian Y.D.Phadke has
also supported this view in his book that the principal purohit of Maharaj,
Appasaheb Rajyopadhye was not in favour of Vedokta Mantras to be
performed for the Maharaja’s rituals . Consequently, the Inam lands of the
Purohita were confiscated. When Shankaracharya advocated the argument
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81 also confiscated. Some scholars have also been giving other views on this
episode that the Vedokta rituals which were discontinued were to be
restarted again and accordingly, Shahu Maharaj had issued an order in
1901.
Thus, it is very much clear that caste has its feature in religious taboos on
certain castes and elasticity of the Vedokta Mantras to certain castes.
4. The Practice of Endogamy over Exogamy:
In the above nar rative of conceptualizing caste we have referred , Dr.
B.R.Ambedkar and other scholars define the caste system based on the
concept of Endogamy. T his system of compartmentalized marriages was
strictly imposed by the upper varnas within their own, just to prevent their
own women from being married to lower castes. They propounded that
this system will not spoil or corrupt their community and will rem ain pure
as well. Therefore, the custom of Sati and Child marriages came to an
existence. Dr. Ambedkar has well coined this custom of sati as resolution
for the problem of Surplus Woman in the community. Then other
immediate lower castes started following the Brahman community of their
system and they also maintained the custom of endogamy and vice versa.
So, thousands of years and even in the modern Indian society we find that
Inter -caste marriages are not happily accepted, instead they are taken a
damage to honour and hence the cases of Honour Killings are taken place
in certain states and certain castes of India.
If we want to elaborate more on this feature, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s
deliberations and his inference and scientific answer that what was the
social implications this system of endogamy resulted in the ancient Indian
society. It resulted three evil practices such as custom of Sati, forced
widowhood and Child marriages.
Origin of Sati:
The custom of sati has been in Indian society since thousands of years that
was one of the worst and inhuman practices. Why there existed the custom
of Sati? Who needs that the woman now having no partner must be killed?
Was there have been no other alternatives? If we try to find the answers to
this, we must read t he paper of Dr. B.R.A mbedkar titled ‘ Castes in India .
Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development’ before the Anthropology
seminar of Dr. A.A. Goldenweiser at Columbia University, on 9th May,
1916.
The origin of sati found in the ideology and structural arran gements of
endogamy over exogamy. Generally, there should be one woman for one
man so as to maintain parity and endogamy. Even today, we calculate the
sex ratio in the Census and if it is not at par, then various schemes for the
survival of girl child are launched and to inculcate among the people,
slogans like ‘Beti Bachao -Beti Padhao’ are popularized and prohibition of
sex determination tests are passed into the Acts. But what about the period
when sati, forced widowhood and child marriages existed? Is it possible
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82 rare contingency. When any of the partners dies early, then the natural
impulse cannot be controlled and so the sexuality. Now, either of the
partner can be surplus man or surplus wife. Then how this question of
surplus is resolved? Dr. Ambedkar has answered this question that surplus
partner must be disposed off in whatever the ways. The patriarchal society
conceptualized by the Manu, found solution to dispose of the femal e
partner by introducing the custom of Sati.
When husband dies before wife, creates a surplus woman who must be
disposed off; else through intermarriage she will violate the endogamy of
the group. In like manner the husband may survive his wife and be a
surplus man, whom the group, while it may sympathize with him for the
sad bereavement, has to dispose off; else he will marry outside the caste
and will break the endogamy. Thus the surplus man and surplus woman
constitute a menace to the caste if not taken care of, for not finding
suitable partners inside their prescribed circle.
The problem of Surplus Woman:
The solution to this problem was two way. One way was that the provision
of Sati and second was imposition of forced widowhood. But second
option was t he double danger as the widow may marry outside the caste
and violate endogamy or she may marry within the caste and through
competition encroach upon the chances of marriage that must be reserved
for the potential brides in the caste. She was therefore me nace in any case
and something must be done to her if she cannot be burned along with her
husband.
Forced Widowhood for Life:
The problem of maintaining endogamy is to be resolved by the means of
idealizing the practices which the followers adopt it as na tural
phenomenon. Such kind of provisions to be made that the one whom the
restrictions are imposed will not question by reasoning and follow it as a
duty prescribed by infallible Dharmashastras. The imposers tried to work
out the resolutions and future re sults. So far as the objective results are
concerned, burning was a better solution than enforcing widowhood. As it
eliminates all the three evils that a surplus woman is fraught with. The
violation of endogamy does not then exist. But forced widowhood is more
practicable and comparatively humane to burning. Then further to avoid
the immoral conduct, the widow was degraded to such a condition that she
is no longer a source of allurement.
The problem of Surplus Man :
The question of surplus woman and the Sati and forced widowhood cannot
be addressed without discussing the question of surplus man. The
violation of endogamy is possible by both the surplus male and surplus
female. It is much more difficult for the surplus man to remain in the
endogamy than the su rplus woman. In the patriarchal society, man has
been the founder of all social laws. Hence, the man has been biased
towards the surplus woman and for the surplus man. Therefore, the munotes.in

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Features of Caste System
83 treatment to surplus man was different than of the surplus woman. If he
was supposed to be undergone burning on the funeral pyre of his wife, it
might generate two problems: i.e. i) it cannot be done as he is a man. ii) If
done, a sturdy soul lost to the caste. The group conveniently considers the
surplus man as an asset to th e group. Therefore, it provided two solutions
to dispose off the surplus man.
The surplus man could be the danger to the morals of the group.
Therefore, he can be controlled by two ways. One that was self -imposed
celibacy for remaining life and second tha t was renunciation and go to
forest as an ascetic. Thus, remaining celibate and lead ascetic life honestly,
it was considered as equal to the burning of widow.
Child (Girl) Marriages:
It is in the interest of the caste to keep that surplus man as grihasth a. But
the problem is to provide him with a wife from within the caste. At the
outset this is not possible, for the ruling ratio in a case has to be one man
to one woman and none can have two chances of marriage, for in a caste
thoroughly self -enclosed t here are always just enough marriageable
women to go round for the marriageable men. Under these circumstances
the surplus man can be provided with a wife only by recruiting a bride
from the ranks of those not yet marriageable in order to tie him down to
the group. This is certainly the best possible solutions in the case of the
surplus man. By this, he is kept within the caste. By this means, numerical
depletion through constant outflow is guarded against, and by this,
endogamy and morals are preserved. Th ey create and perpetuate
endogamy, while caste and endogamy are one and same thing. Thus, the
existence of these means is identical with caste and caste involves these
means.
Is there any justification or scientific explanation of these practice s in the
Hindu Dharmashastras? No, there is no scientific explanation of the origin
of these customs in Hindu society. A.K. Coomar aswamy states that Sati
has been honoured because it is a ‘proof of the perfect unity of body and
soul’ between husband and wife and of ‘devotion beyond the grave’. Dr.
Shridhar Vyankatesh Ketkar who wrote his book titled ‘History of Castes
in India’ in 1909, seems that he eulogizes of the girl marriage saying “A
really faithful man or woman ought not to feel affection for a woman or a
man other than the one with whom he or she is united…….as she does not
know to whom she is going to be married, she must not feel affection for
any man at all before marriage. If she does so, it is a sin. So, it is better for
a girl to know whom she h as to love before any sexual consciousness has
been awakened in her. Thus, even today, the people in Indian society are
restricting marriages among their own castes although the purity of the
race cannot be maintained for which this system was conceptualiz ed by
the upper Varnas.
5. Practice of Untouchability:
One of the feature of the caste system in India was called as Ostracism of
the lower castes by the upper castes. The upper castes as per the Dharma munotes.in

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84 Shastras were given every right of preeminence and p articularly the
Brahmans which even today enjoy by each and every house and religious
ritual is to be performed by them only. Unlikely, the lower castes were
looke d down upon and were called as Untouchables. We must have known
that four Varnas had been pre valent in Vedic society of which fourth
Varna was the Shudras but even some communities were regarded as out
varnas or Untouchables. It has been found today and to the modern
generation how a person can become impure only by touching another
person. But it has been even today prevalent and practiced by certain
communities and states in India. Some, 20 years back one survey was
conducted by the scholar in all over Indian religious holy places and the
states. He had made a film on that which clearly exhibited that still in the
end of 20th century and the quarter of 21st century certain co called seers
and rishis are emphasizing the creation of untouchability to the God and
we cannot change. Some so -called scholars also say that it was the proper
division of la bour that the person who is able to do certain profession and
hence he was categorized in the particular caste. How ridiculous that the
caste of scavengers will remain to be in the same profession generation to
generation and no members of other caste will opt for this profession even
the unemployed is given employment. Many of the Municipal corporation
and its particularly the sector of Sweepers and housekeeper will show that
majority of the castes that have been engaged into this profession by
generation to generation. So called upper caste will remain unemployed
yet and cry of the same but will not opt for such professions. In India, due
to the practice of untouchability, the social, economic, mental exploitation
of this communities had been reached to su ch an extent that all the while
human rights were denied to them. The practice of untouchability led to
the concept of pollution of the upper castes.
6. Manual Scavenging:
The caste system led the human being to bear the treatment even lesser
than the anim als. Therefore, some of the castes in India have been
forcefully imposed to engage into the profession of manual scavenging.
One can imagine how the untreated human excreta can be carried away
manually by the other human beings. Even these communities have been
forced to carry it on their heads to be thrown away outside the city or the
places designated for the purpose. In western countries these professional
communities have been received quite a good status as those countries
have been understanding enoug h to look at the profession with dignity of
labour and not as the lower what in Indian society the professions are
looked down upon. One can also think of the upside down that the people
who are in this profession cleaning those who are the generators of t he dirt
and the we should look down with dignity at the people who are cleaning
our dirt. Although the Honorable Supreme Court of India has banned the
Manual Scavenging and made punishable offence still these communities
are forced to follow it.

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85 7. Atrocities on the Lower Castes:
This feature of caste system in Indian society is all pervading that the
lower castes communities are treated inhumanly a nd if they by mistake
found little guilty, they are beaten, nakedly paraded, women and girls
publicly raped, mob lynchings, boycott etc. atrocities are held against
them. Many states and the rural areas, the lower castes people are not
equally treated at p ar with the so -called upper caste. Each and every caste
as per their hierarchy looks down upon their immediate lower caste.
Recently, a Film titled ‘Jai Bhim’ from South India had depicted a story of
the tribal families and how they were exploited by their so-called upper
caste men. Finally, the constitutional provisions and the Indian Penal Code
provisions got them justice with the help of a Advocate Chandru (Cast by
Surya Sivakumar) who was picturized as an hero of the film. In
Maharashtra, the atrocities and the number of violent incidents is to be
taken for instances. The inhuman massacre was executed by the so -called
upper caste people against one of the Dalit families named Bhotmange in
Bhandara district, Mohadi taluka and village Khairlanji on 29th September,
2006. The brutality was such an heinous that the villagers told the brother
of a girl of Bhotmange family who had been meritorious at SSC to rape in
front and when refused, both were beaten to death. Even their private parts
were also pierced with the sharp objects. The four of the family members
like were brutally murdered by the villagers as the mother of the children
Surekha gave testimony against the villagers who had attacked Sidharth
Gajbhiye who fled for his life. Only head of the family Bhai yyalal
Bhotmange was saved as he was out for work on the day of massacre.
Here we come to know, the people look down upon and they are of the
opinion that they can do any kind of atrocities against the Dalit s as being
from lower castes. Even, there are ca ses where we find that if a Dalit boy
marries an upper caste girl, he has been beaten to death. Nonetheless, the
boy who had set a ringtone on his mobile phone that played the eulogical
song of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, was beaten to death. So, these kinds o f
atrocities are all pervasive in Indian states. Another example one can refer
of the Hathras rape case.
There can have a scope to add more features of the caste but for this unit it
is eno ugh to understand the features.
7.5 SUMMARY There can be many more features of caste system apart from which are
discussed above. The discrimination has been banned by the law and
constitutional safeguards have been provided to protect the human rights
of the weaker sections. So, the forms of atrocities and discrimination have
been changed and they are in a modified forms with silent tactics. Many
examples of medical, engineering, IIT and IIM like institutions have been
evident that the professors are giving very less marks to the Dalit students
in the internal evaluations. Even many times in the open lectures they are
taunted of their reservation and so on. The people talking in the p ublic
speeches of equality are marrying their children only within their caste and
if they want in have inter -caste marriage, they specify of the caste of munotes.in

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86 higher category only with the remarks ‘No SC/ST Please’. The forms of
discrimination are discussed in next unit.
7.6 QUESTIONS 1. Explain the origin of growth of c aste system in India.
2. Examine the features of caste system.
7.6 REFERENCES  Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writing and Speeches (Hereinafter
DBAWS), Vol.9, Maharashtra Govt, 1990.
 Jaiswal Suvira, Caste, Gender and Ideology in the making of India,
General Presidential Address, 68th Session of Ind ian History
Congress, Delhi University, 2007.
 Gupta Dipankar, Continuous Hierarchies and Discrete Castes,
Economic and Political Weekly, ,No.46, 17 November ,1984.
 Thapar Romila, The Past and Prejudice, National Book Trust, New
Delhi,1972.
 IlaiahKancha, Po st-Hindu India, A Discourse on Dalit -Bahujan,
Socio -spiritual and Scientific Revolution, Sage Publications, New
Delhi,2009.
 Rajshekhar V.T, Caste a Nation within the Nation, recipe for
bloodless revolution, Books for Change, Bangalore, 2004.
 Ghurye G.S., C aste and Race in India, Popular Prakashan, 1996.
 Ishita Banergee -Dubey,(ed.), Oxford in India, Themes in Indian
History, Caste in History OUP, New Delhi, 2008, p. xxvi .
 Nadkarni V. ‘Broad basing Process in India and Dalits’, Economic
and Political Weekly, A ug.16, 1997.
 Chakravarti Uma, Gendering Caste: Through a Feminist Lens, Stree,
Kolkata, 2013.
 Rege Sharmila, Against the Madness of Manu : B.R.Ambedkar’s
Writings on Brahmanical Patriarchy -Navayana, 2016.
 Ketkar S.V., History of Castes in India, Low Price Pu blication, Delhi,
2015
 Gore M.S., The Social Context of an Ideology, Sage Publication, New
Delhi, 1994.

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87 8
NATURE AND FORMS OF CASTE
DISCRIMINATION
Unit Structure
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Nature of Caste
8.2.1 Caste is a result of an Endogamy
8.2.2 The Caste System led to rise th e Sati Custom, Restrictions on
the Widow Remarriages and practice o f Child Marriages
8.2.3 Caste has been a Hereditary Transmission of the Customs
8.2.4 The Caste has divided the People about their Food Habits
8.2.5 Untouchability
8.2.6 Restricted Vertical Mobility
8.2.7 Reinforcement by Religious Beliefs
8.2.8 Occupation s and the Caste System
8.2.9 Food habit taboos as a Symbol of Caste System
8.2.10 Caste and Right to Religious Rituals
8.3 Forms of Discrimination
8.3.1 Multiple forms of Discrimination
8.3.2 Violence against Dalits and Reports with Legal Provisions
8.3.3 Statistics of Injustice and Atrocities against the Dalits
8.3.4 Brutalities against the Lower Castes in India
8.3.5 Testimonies of the Atrocities
8.3.6 Dalit Women and Multiple Discrimination
8.3.7 Forced and Bonded Labour
8.3.8 Dalit Child Labour
8.3.9 Discrimination in Education
8.3.10 Untouchability and access to Basic Services
8.3.11 Caste Discrimination in the delivery of Humanitarian Aid
8.3.12 Social and Economic Rights including Land Rights
8.4 Summary
8.5 Questions
8.6 References
8.0 OBJECTIV ES  To study the nature of caste.
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88  To understand the attributes of caste system.
 To analyze various forms of the caste discrimination.
8.1 INTRODUCTION The caste has its various forms but its nature is that certain common things
has been very much popular about it. To cite an example, the marriages
are held and restricted to have within the caste. It’s the modern period and
development of science and technology that have led the people to
embrace to some extent the other caste people. Therefore, we come to
know certain inter -caste marriages. Nonetheless, the couple has been only
happy with this situation and that the patriarchal nature of the male of the
bridegroom does not allow him to continue the relationship with the
beginning that he had started. Otherwise, the members of the family are
wholeheartedly happy with the inter -caste marriages of their kith and kin.
The society in India has been of such a nature that their Dharmashastras
do not allow them to follow the new changes in the society. Therefore, the
restricted marria ges are nothing but the Endogamy which has been termed
by many scholars and held the principal reason for the caste system and
the restricted marriage system.
8.2 NATURE OF CASTE SYSTEM 8.2.1 Caste is a result of an Endogamy:
The modern generation always r aises question that why this caste system
has been followed. They are most probably told that it their religion that
follows. Truly, but it is the religion in general and the concept of
endogamy in particular that allows the people in the Indian society to
follow the caste system. It is the practice of the society to about
compartmentalized marriages. Again, the question is who does follow or
impose the same in the society? It is the upper varnas that wanted to
maintain their purity of race and hence they w ere only responsible to
introduce such practices by which they prevent their own women to marry
the so -called lower caste men.
8.2.2 The Caste System led to rise the Sati Custom, Restrictions on the
Widow Remarriages and practice of Child Marriages :
The ca ste system was followed due to the endogamy by the upper castes.
So, there had been no strict natural phenomenon that it can never happen
that the woman can not marry outside her own caste. The upper caste men
also thought each and every way by which they can prevent their women
to marry outside their own castes. But nature is not under the control of
human beings even though sometimes it can do. The husband of the
woman may die prematurely and in such situations the widow of the
deceased had to commit hers elf as a Sati and go on a funeral pyre of her
deceased husband. Although, it was not all the times voluntarily, but
sometimes she was thrown forcefully on the pyre in a created conditions
suitable for the practice. How these cruel customs continued for cen turies munotes.in

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89 together? When the Britishers came in India, they tried their level best to
remove this custom by enacting the rules and providing the punishments
to the culprits.
The sati custom was sometimes not followed may be due to the conditions
prevailed th ose days and at the time of the death of the deceased husband.
The protectorates of the religion and the race with endogamy, again
provided that the widow should not be allowed to be remarried. Instead,
she had to remain in the four walls of the house with only white clothes,
tonsured hair and never to be in the sight of the public view. She was
restricted to talk with other male members from within and outside family.
The caste system also led to the rise of child marriages. The nature all the
times did no t allow only the husband to die early or prematurely. Many
times, the wife also died prematurely or early and the husband became a
widower. Here, we find the discrimination that widow was provided with
the options of Sati custom and remaining widow forever her life. But
husband was not asked to remain widower for remaining life. So, he
wanted another woman and not the woman but the girl only, for his
remarriage. But how can he get the woman? So, he was provided with the
prospective bride that was a girl chi ld and thus, the child marriages were
also came to rise in the Indian society.
8.2.3 Caste has been a Hereditary Transmission of the Customs :
The caste system led the human being of the Indian society to transmit the
caste from parents to their offspring. Even, the occupation the father
followed was inherited by the sons. The living style, customs, practices,
usages were also inherited by their children from time to time. Even, the
concepts of purity and pollution were also inherited as we see, some caste
men are superior by birth and some caste men are inferior by birth
irrespective of their dint of merits or traits within them. We may find even
today, in our Indian society that certain castes have got the preeminence
by birth and the right to perform the relig ious rites of all the others caste
men. We can say the hundred percent reservation to this caste so far
ecclesiastical matters are concerned. Many other castes who call
themselves as Kshatriyas or Thakurs also by birth behaves like influential
in the villa ges of their residence and treat the so -called lower castes as
inferior to them for generation together and the time immemorial. The
mindset of these so -called upper castes is made up by birth as superior to
other ca stes.
8.2.4 The Caste has divided the Pe ople about their Food Habits :
Due to caste system certain castes are following a particular diet and
certain are restricted to a particular food habit. Since ancient times, certain
castes were engaged into eating of Ca rrion which has been now they have
given up, but certain castes do not consume non veg food although, the
geographical condition leads the people to modify their diet. Here, we see
due to caste system also the food habits or the diet has been regulated
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90 8.2.5 Untouchability :
The cas te system in India had led to follow the people of untouchability.
The Varna system in the Vedic period had led strict restrictions on women
and the Shudras. The Rigvedic Purushsukta hymns have described the
generation of the four Varnas in the Indian soci ety. The Varna system
gradually converted into caste system and then out of these four Varnas
thousands of castes and subcastes were created. Accordingly, there had
been certain castes which had been looked down upon as Atishudras and
the untouchables. Thi s concept of untouchability meant that the members
of certain castes should not be touched upon by the upper castes and they
were also supposed not to touch upon the upper caste members in a way
like bodily or even from little distance. The restrictions we re such strict
that they were not allowed to enter the house of their masters on which
field they had been employed as tenants. The untouchable caste people
were not allowed to enter the temples of gods and goddesses although the
Indian philosophy especial ly the spiritualism says that all the human being
are the children of these gods and goddesses. They were not allowed
because the concept of pollution and impurity was propounded amongst
the common masses by the shastras. The modern Indian society is not
discriminatory as per the Constitution of India, but we have multiple
examples to cite wherein all over the states in India the untouchability is
followed in some cases.
8.2.6 Restricted Vertical Mobility :
The ancient Rigvedic references are found somewhere else that there had
been upward and even downward mobility in the Varna System. Later
Vedic period completely discontinued the same and when this Varna
system was got converted into rigid caste system, then the upward
mobility was prohibited. The members of a particular caste will have to
remain in his caste only and it was attached to as by birth the caste was
stuck to that member of his future generations together. So, the members
were getting the status of their caste by birth and even today is the same
thing in our Indian society.
8.2.7 Reinforcement by Religious Beliefs :
The Vedic literature has been regarded as a sacred literature of religion in
India. The origin of the Varna system and accordingly the caste hierarchy
has been set up in Indian societ y. The origin of Varna system has been
found in the Rigveda and it continued to be followed by the society like
Brahman Varna being the supreme and the Shudras were at the last of all
four Varnas. There had been certain communities even not included in the
four Varnas and many a times were termed as Atishudras or Antyajas.
When the Varnas were got converted into caste system, the religious
literature in regard to it also were compiled by the members who wanted
to keep their position on the upper space forev er. To mention, Manusmriti,
Mitakshara, Puranas, Epics and other religious literature always advocated
the caste system in the society. Manusmriti restricts Shudras and women
equally and it is also followed by the people as a Vedic religious text. In munotes.in

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91 epic like Ramayana, we found that the Shambuka was beheaded by Rama
as being Shudra, he should not have been tried for education and attain
religious heights by self -mortification, Tapascharya and cannot try to
attain Moksha. There can be much more examples to cite for the same.
There one can find many social media content which mentions that at the
Kashi like sacred temple, the lower caste people are not allowed. Our
Indian society has been the basically religion -based society and hence, the
caste system which st ill prevailed and also will be prevailed for centuries
together because of the reinforcement by the religious provisions.
8.2.8 Occupations and the Caste System:
The caste system has led the fixed occupations to the castes by birth. In
the modern day and d ue to the Constitution of India, each and every one
has right to choose his occupation. But if we go to history, we find the
fixed occupations to the castes by birth only. They were not allowed to
change their hereditary occupation as well such as potter’s occupation will
be inherited by his son/s and that would be their survival occupation. What
we notice today, the performance of religious rites and rituals has still
been the monopoly of the Brahman caste which leads to 100% reservation
in that particular profession. About this reservation nobody talks of in any
form. Some occupations like scavenging are still continued to be followed
by the Valmiki and other low caste people. In the Municipal Corporations
and other local self -governments these services are compulsorily rendered
by the members of these low castes only as so -called upper caste people
look down upon them as inferior to their status and honour.
8.2.9 Food habit taboos as a Symbol of Caste System :
In Indian society we have found that certain caste eats certain food and
consuming such food has been taken negative from the religious point of
view. The Brahman community have discontinued eating non -vegetarian
food and taken themselves as very pure caste than that of the others. The
people which were eating Carrion due to their poverty were looked down
upon as the impure and untouchable castes. Even today this concept has
been more inculcated amongst the Indian society that eating only
vegetarian food are the people of pure race and religion. Certain religious
community people like Jain communities are not allowing the non -
vegetarian people to occupy the residences near them and the buildings to
buildings are dedicated to a vegetarian community. So, castes which eats
flesh and non -vegetarian food are not much taken as sankritised people
than that of those who do not.
8.2.10 Caste and Right to Religious Rituals :
According to Varna system the religious rites and rituals were also allotted
to particular castes. The Vedic rituals were only performed for the
Brahman caste and sometime for the Kshatriya people. Other caste people
will have to follow Puranic rituals. This was come to light in modern India
when Maharaja Sayajirao Gaikwad and Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shah u
Maharaja of Kolhapur were not allowed to perform their rituals with
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92 to mention in the princely state of Karveer (Kolhapur) of Shahu Maharaja.
At the places of some of the castes when t hey want to perform the ritual
rites, the Brahman purohit hesitate to attend or even do not go at such
places.
8.3 FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION 8.3.1 Multiple forms of Discrimination :
Caste discrimination is a highly politicized and sensitive issue in India.
Despite constitutional safeguards and special legislation for the protection
of the country's 20 0 million ‘scheduled castes ’ (the official term for
Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist Dalits), violations of their fundamental human
rights continue on a massive scale. Ke y issues include access to justice
and rising violence against Dalits, multiple discrimination against Dalit
women, slavery and child labour, discrimination in education,
untouchability and access to basic services including humanitarian aid,
social and ec onomic rights and shrinking space for Dalit human rights
defenders.
8.3.2 Violence against Dalits and Reports with Legal Provisions :
The enduring failure of justice when it comes to protecting the rights of
India's 200 million Dalits is a key obstacle to e nding caste discrimination
and the structural hierarchies underpinning an entrenched discriminatory
mind -set. A number of reports have been issued on the failure of the
administration of justice to protect Dalits in India. Most recently the 2015
Equity Wat ch report "Access to Justice for Dalits in India". The report,
released by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR),
supported by Christian Aid and the European Union, finds that violence
and atrocities against Dalits are rising in India and the re is an urgent need
to step up efforts to ensure justice for victims.
8.3.3 Statistics of Injustice and Atrocities against the Dalits :
According to National Crimes Statistics presented in the report there has
been a 19 .4% increase in crimes against Dalits from the previous year. The
number of cases registered under the Scheduled Caste (Dalits) and
Scheduled Tribes (Adivasis) Prevention of Atrocities act has also risen
every year since 2011, taking a leap in 2014 to 47,064 cases against
13,975 cases in 2013 . The report concludes that dominant castes in India
are using violence against Dalits to reinforce the hierarchical caste related
power structures and suppress Dalit rights assertions and claims. Two
other key reports "Justice under Trial" and "Claiming J ustice", from 2014,
also find serious obstacles to Dalits obtaining justice in crimes against
them. One example is the dismal conviction rate found in a sub -study cited
in the reports of 2% in cases where rape victims are Dalits - in comparison
to a nation al conviction rate for rape of 25%.
The amendment in terms of legislation, following years of advocacy by
Dalit groups, a landmark amendment to India's key caste legislation - the
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93 passed by the Indian Parliament in January 2016. It is hoped that the
amendment will increase the scope for justice for India's Dalits.
8.3.4 Brutalities against the Lower Castes in India :
The atrocities and violence against Dalits have been rising is true but t he
brutality of the crimes is also getting worse. For example, in October
2015, the burning to death of two small Dalit children, asleep in their
house in Faridabad, grabbed international headlines. The children were
reportedly victims of a dispute between Dalits and members of the
dominant caste. This horrific incident is unfortunately by no means
unique. The violence and atrocities are often directly related to Dalit
assertion of basic rights including land rights, freedom of expression,
access to justice, access to education, water, food, decent work and other
services and equal participation in cultural and religious activities, to name
a few.
8.3.5 Testimonies of the Atrocities :
Many a times the Dalits try to resist the injustice and seemingly minor
signs of their resistance have resulted in brutal retaliation by the dominant
castes such as a Dalit boy's wrist being chopped off because he was
wearing a watch; another was killed as he had a song on (social reformer)
B.R. Ambedkar as his ringtone. Human rig hts defenders working on these
types of cases report that it is very difficult to get the police to cooperate
with them and that they often have to resort to protests to even get a
chargesheet filed.
Also in October 2015, a young Dalit boy died while in po lice custody,
police torture is blamed. His crime, allegedly stealing two pigeons from
dominant castes. A Dalit family including three small children were also
stripped and put in jail for allegedly encroaching on the land of dominant
castes. These are aga in not above incidents of police negligence in India
but everyday tales of the utter disregard for justice when it comes to Dalits
in India. Very often Dalit women are seen to bear the brunt of violence as
they are used as a way to punish Dalit communities. At the same time,
they are very vulnerable due to multiple discrimination on the basis of
caste and gender.
8.3.6 Dalit Women and Multiple Discrimination :
The Indian society have been male dominated society since years together.
The Dalit women in India liv e in both a highly patriarchal society and a
society divided along caste lines. The severe discrimination they face from
being both a Dalit and a woman, makes them a key target of violence and
systematically denies them choices and freedoms in all spheres of life.
This endemic intersection of gender and caste discrimination is the
outcome of severely imbalanced social, economic and political power
equations.
Due to the severe limitations in access to justice for Dalits and also
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94 member of a dominant caste, Dalit women are considered easy targets for
sexual violence and other crimes, because the perpetrators are likely to get
away with it. Statistics cited in the 2015 Equity Watch report al so show
that according to official national crime statistics, rape cases registered
against Dalit women have increased with over 47% since the previous
decade. Dalit women are also very vulnerable to caste -based slavery and
forced prostitution, discriminat e gainst on multiple grounds in education
and face serious obstacles in access to basic services.
8.3.7 Forced and Bonded Labour:
Multiple studies have found that Dalits in India have a significantly
increased risk of ending in modern slavery including in forced and bonded
labour and child labour. In India there are specific forms of forced labour
that certain castes (Dalits) are expected to perform including for example
the practice of manual scavenging and the Devadasi practice of forced
prostitution. Bey ond this the exploitation of Dalits in bonded labour in
agriculture, mining, textile and other industries, as well as in the informal
sector, is widespread.
Latest documentation includes the report from the IDSN UN side -event on
caste and gender based for ced and bonded labour, the IDSN overview of
recommendations from UN institutions on caste and forced and bonded
labour, ILO Resource Handbook for ending manual scavenging (2014),
the 2014 Human Rights Watch report Cleaning Human Waste: Manual
Scavenging, Cas te, and Discrimination in India and the ICN 2014 report
Flawed Fabrics. The abuse of girls and women workers in the South
Indian textile industry.
8.3.8 Dalit Child Labour :
Dalit children are also particularly at risk for child labour and child slavery
as they are born into marginalization and often discriminated against at
school. Key reports from Harvard and many others, and statements by
Nobel prize winner and child rights activists Kailash Satyarthi, find that
most child labourers in India are either lo wer caste or minorities and that
discrimination play a key part in sustaining slavery and child labour in the
country. For more documentation links specif ic to caste and child labour
please see links in the IDSN documentation database.
8.3.9 Discrimination in Education :
Discrimination against Dalits in the educational system is a widespread
problem in caste -affected countries. Alienation, social exclusion, and
physical abuse transcend all levels of education, from primary education
to university. Illiteracy and drop -out rates among Dalits are very high due
to a number of social and physical factors. Legislation and measures that
have been taken to combat thi s are often inadequately implemented. The
forms of structural discrimination and abuse that Dalit children face in
schools are often so stigmatizing that they are forced to drop out of school.
One of the main issues is the discriminatory practices conducte d by
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95 school water supplies, segregation in class rooms and Dalits being made to
eat separately, and forcing Dalit children to perform manual scavenging
on and around school.
In addition, Dalit children face discriminatory attitudes from fellow
students and the community as a whole, in particular from dominant caste
members who perceive education for Dalits as a threat to village
hierarchies and power relations. Intolerance, prejudice and harassment
towards Dalits are equally prevalent in institutions of higher education
where discrimination is practiced by dominant caste students, teachers,
faculties, and administrations. The caste bias manifests itself in the way
teachers ignore Dalit stu dents and unjustly fail them in exams, in social
exclusion and physical abuse, and in the unwillingness of the university
administration to assist Dalits and support them.
As a grave consequence of this harassment, a disproportionate number of
Dalit and Ad ivasi students have committed suicide in India. A tragic
recent example of this was the suicide of Dalit student Rohith Vemula,
following his exclusion from the hostel and dining hall as well as cut off
of finances, by Hyderabad University. Key recent repo rts on caste
discrimination in education in India include the Human Rights Watch
Report "They say we're dirty" - Denying an Education to India's
Marginalized" and documentation in the Global Initiative on Out -of-
School Children -South Asia Regional Study, p ublished by UNICEF and
UNESCO in 2014 finding Dalit girls most excluded from primary
education in India.
8.3.10 Untouchability and Access to Basic Services :
The basis of discrimination in education and in most other spheres of life
is often the notion of u ntouchability and stigmatization, where Dalits are
perceived as being 'polluting' to castes above them in the caste system,
which continue to be practiced. Widespread discrimination and
untouchability in India is also as severe obstacle for Dalits in acces s to
basic services including water and sanitation, housing, health care and
food. For more information on caste discrimination and access to services
please see IDSN's documentation link s on caste discrimination in access to
services.
Report findings releas ed in 2014 in the India Human Development Survey
and the India Exclusion Report document that caste discrimination is very
far from being history. In almost all aspects of every -day life statistics
indicate that caste discrimination is deep -rooted and wide spread and caste
discrimination across sectors in health, housing and equal access to goods
is addressed.
According to the Human Development survey merely five percent of
Indians said they had married a person from a different caste, and 27
percent of hous eholds self -reported engaging in untouchability practices.
When Brahmins (dominant caste) were asked, 52% self -reported to not
allow a Dalit to use their kitchen utensils, a common practice of
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96 stark in some states where untouchability across castes was found to be
almost 50%.
8.3.11 Caste Discrimination in the Delivery of Humanitarian Aid :
Even in the face of disasters such as floodings, droughts or earthquakes
Dalits continue to face exclusion and discrimination in access to services.
This includes relief materials, shelter and rehabilitation following
disasters. This has been documented in numerous reports including in the
IDSN EU funded "Equality in Aid" report and most recently the
discrimination has been documented following serious flooding in the
state of Tamil Nadu in December 2015.
8.3.12 Social and Economic Rights including Land Rights :
Access to social and economic rights, including land rights, continues to
be restricted by de eply ingrained discrimination. Generally, land rights are
an area of conflict and dispute between Dalits and dominant castes as
dominant castes may try to seize Dalit land using force, threats and
violence. The fact that Dalits often do not own land also m akes them
vulnerable to exploitation by those who do.
In India there are special budgets in place (Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes sub -plans SCSP & TSP) meant to support the welfare of
these marginalized groups. However, it is repeatedly documented t hat the
money budgeted for Dalits and Adivasi (SC and ST) is diverted to other
unrelated posts with as much as 60% being diverted in 2014. In addition to
this the Indian Government in 2015, cut the Dalit and Adivasi budgets by
60%. Dalit rights groups in India have be en campaigning for giving the
Dalits and Adivasis their fair share of the budget and are trying to put
pressure on the Government to stop cutting these already misappropriated
allocations. Shrinking space for civil society IDSN members and
associates repor t that space for civil society in India is shrinking with tight
regulations of foreign contributions for organizations working on Dalit
rights and the harassment of Dalit human rights activists and leaders,
including them facing false charges from police a nd facing torture and
custodial murder. Some Dalit organizations have faced having their
funding frozen, without just cause, severely hampering their work.
Censorship of films dealing with the issue of caste discrimination and
blocking of Dalit events have also been witnessed.
While the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has made several
national level statements against caste discrimination, these statements
appear to be contradictory to the stance taken by India at the International
level. This became ever more evident when the UN Special Rapporteur on
Freedom of Assembly and Association called out India at the UN General
Assembly in 2014, for unjustly blocking the UN ECOSOC accreditation
of IDSN. A block which unfortunately continues into 2015.

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97 8.4 SUM MARY The nature of the caste has many types of meanings and accordingly, we
have understood how caste can be looked at in the Indian society since
ancient times. Many people try to struggle to know how caste system
came to rise. But they will have to know the meaning of endogamy and
then resultant the customs of sati, child marriages and restrictions on
widow remarriages. The caste system has let to stop the vertical mobility
and the religious beliefs are also varied for caste to caste. The person born
in a particular caste was assigned to follow the occupation of his ancestors
hereditary. The nature of castes also led the society to follow the religious
rituals as per their caste.
The caste has been recalled in may forms like violence on minor issues,
discrimination in schools and colleges, boycotting the low caste,
brutalities against them etc. are faced on a day -to-day basis.
8.5 QUESTIONS 1. Explain the nature of caste system in Contemporary India.
2. Critical examine the various forms of caste discrimination in
contemporary times.
8.6 REFERENCES  International Dalit Solidarity Network, https://idsn.org/
 Dr. Bab asaheb Ambedkar Writing and Speeches , Vol. of, Education
Dept., Govt. of Maharashtra, 1990.
 Jaiswal Suvira, Caste, Gender and Ideology in the making of India,
General Presidential Address, 68th Session of Indian History
Congress, Delhi University, 2007.
 Gupta Dipankar, Continuous Hierarchies and Discrete Castes,
Economic and Political Weekly,No.46, 17 November ,1984.
 Thapar Romila, The Past and Prejudice, National Book Trust, New
Delhi,1972.
 Ilaiah Kancha, Post -Hindu India, A Discourse on Dalit -Bahujan,
Socio -spiritual and Scientific Revolution, Sage Publications, New
Delhi,2009.
 Rajshekhar V.T, Caste a Nation within the Nation, recipe for
bloodless revolution, Books for Change, Bangalore, 2004.
 Ghurye G.S., Caste and Race in India, Popular Prakashan, 1996.
 Ishita Banergee -Dubey, (ed.), Themes in Indian History, Caste in
History OUP, New Delhi, 2008, p. xxvi . munotes.in

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98  Nadkarni V. ‘Broad basing Process in India and Dalits’, Economic
and Political Weekly, Aug.16, 1997.
 Chakravarti Uma, Gendering Caste: Thro ugh a Feminist Lens, Stree,
Kolkata, 2013.
 Rege Sharmila, Against the Madness of Manu : B.R.Ambedkar’s
Writings on Brahmanical Patriarchy - Navayana, 2016.
 Ketkar S.V., History of Castes in India, Low Price Publication, Delhi,
2015
 Gore M.S., The Social Conte xt of an Ideology, Sage Publication, New
Delhi, 1994.


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99 9
CASE STUDIES OF ATROCITIES
Unit Structure
9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Karamchedu Massacre, Andhra Pradesh , 1985
9.3 Pankhan Village Brutalities in Gujarat, 1999
9.4 Khairlanji Heinous Massacre, Maharashtra, 2006
9.5 Murder of a Dalit Youth, Ch hattarpur, Madhya Pradesh,
8thDecember 2020
9.6 Forceful Restrictions on Groom not to Ride a Horse, Shivpur,
Rajasthan, 2020
9.7 A Thrashing to Death of a Dalit Man, Shrikot,Tehri - Uttarakhand,
2019
9.8 Dalit Minor Beaten for Entry into Temple, Rajasthan
9.9 A Beating to Death of a Dalit Boy by a Teacher for Drinking Water,
Suran, Rajasthan, 2022
9.10 The Harassment and Atrocities i n Takwiki Village, Maharashtra
9.11 Other Cases of Atrocities
9.12 Summary
9.13 Questions
9.14 References
9.0 OBJECTIVES  To make the students understand the caste atrocities.
 To analyse various situations in which the atrocities have been taken
place.
 To discuss about the caste atrocities all over India
9.1 INTRODUCTION We have discussed in previous units on this module how the features of
caste system in Indian society have been prevailed for centuries together
and based on that there have been people are very much content with
whatever the caste enables them to follow. The very much name that they
call it as a following religion and so as spiritualism. Along with features
the caste has its nature and accordingly, the various forms of
discriminations have been continuously followed that every caste wants to
defend their superiority by asserting that they are p roud to be born and son
or daughter of that particular caste. Many of the persons carry their caste
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100 about the so -called lower castes who are looked down upon by the so -
called upper ca stes and hence have to face atrocities at the hands of these
proud castes?
The atrocities have been in many kinds from abusing to beating and from
beating to brutal murder and burning. They are also of social boycott and
persecution at the hands of upper castes. Many a times the lower caste
women are gangraped, nakedly paraded and killed. Brutalities are such at
high point that mere modifying the lifestyle that dishonours the upper
castes and they compel the member of the lower caste to give up that
lifest yle and ask to behave at the direction of the upper caste member.
Some of the disputes are being of land disputes as caste system had
imposed the restrictions on the untouchable caste not earn money and take
education but when they are doing so, they are t hen harassed by the
members of the upper caste. The atrocities depend from village to village
and area to area.
This feature of caste system in Indian society is all pervading that the
lower castes communities are treated inhumanly and if they by mistake
found little guilty, they are beaten, nakedly paraded, women and girls
publicly raped, mob lynchings, boycott etc. atrocities are held against
them. Many states and the rural areas, the lower castes people are not
equally treated at par with the so -called u pper caste. Each and every caste
as per their hierarchy looks down upon their immediate lower caste.
Recently, a Film titled ‘Jai Bhim’ from South India had depicted a story of
the tribal families and how they were exploited by their so -called upper
caste men. Finally, the constitutional provisions and the Indian Penal Code
provisions got them justice with the help of a Advocate Chandru (Cast by
Surya Sivakumar) who was picturized as an hero of the film.
In this chapter we will look into some of the import ant case studies of
atrocities in to Low caste members in India.
9.2 KARAMCHEDU MASSACRE, ANDHRA PRADESH , 1985 The village Karamchedu, in Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh had
Kamma, the landlord and dominant community. They had economic
power and political influence as against the Dalit villagers were working
as agricultural labourers for meagre wages, were oppressed socially and
economically. Due to the fertile soil and good irrigation facilities
developed since the British rule in the previous century (th rough Krishna
River canals) and also during the post -independence era (through
Nagarjuna Sagar canals), the Kamma peasantry in the village was quite
prosperous. Dalits, on the other hand, comprised much of the agricultural
labour. The annual income of a paleru (agricultural labourer) was just
2000. The daily wages paid to male and female agricultural workers
(who worked for 16 hours a day) was 10-12 and 6-8 respectively,
which was quite lower than the minimum wage rates that were legally
prescribed for that region. The Kamma landlords also used force to ensure
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101 some re ason, it was reported that the landlords of the village would
personally to go to their houses to beat them up and sometimes the
landlords would further punish the workers by suspending them from
work for up to nine months. Dalits of the village supported the traditional
congress party. Kammas saw this resistance of Dalits, particularly
Madigas, to vote for the TDP as a sign of revolt, since their "economic
bondage" did not translate into "political loyalty". Scholar K. Srinivasulu
writes that it caused "su fficient injury" to the collective pride of the
dominant Kamma caste, "which only waited for a pretext for retaliation".
On 16 July 1985, a Kamma boy was washing his buffalo near a water tank
where Dalits drew their drinking water, letting out the soiled w ater into the
tank. A Madiga boy objected to this, angering the Kamma boy who
reacted violently by beating the former with his cattle whip. A Madiga girl
who came to fetch water was also whipped and kicked for protesting
against the beating. She then retal iated with her vessel, and an elderly
Dalit intervened and tried to calm the situation. The Kamma boy left the
scene after issuing a warning.
This episode provoked the Kammas to plan an organized attack against the
Madigas of the village to 'teach them a l esson'. To catch the Madigas by
surprise, they sent a team for compromise which was accepted by a
section of Madigas. And on the morning of 17 July, hundreds of Kammas
armed with axes, spears and clubs, launched an unanticipated attack on the
residents of Madiga wada (settlement), damaging the entire colony, not
even sparing pregnant women and mothers with small children. They
tortured and chased the Dalits and burnt their houses.
Srinivasulu notes:‘What followed was an attack, well planned and
executed, t hat went on for hours in which the Madigas regardless of age
and sex were chased from their hovels, the Kammas used all likely forms
of transport, scooters, tractors, etc., and the Madigas ran helter -skelter for
their lives in all directions. The more like ly place to hide was the gaddi
vamulu (fodder heaps) in the fields. Even there they were not spared. The
gory details of this are amply recorded by the various fact -finding
committees and in the sympathetic accounts reported in the press. But
what is impor tant to note is the fact that finally this left six Dalits
murdered, three Dalit women raped and many more wounded, some of
them very seriously and the huts burnt, whatever little was with them
looted.’
The police in Karamchedu did not protect the victims and Dalits fled the
village in large numbers and arrived in the neighboring town of
Chirala which was about 8 kilometers away, where many of them were
hospitalized, following which some of them died of injuries. The local
police of Chirala initially hit and arrested some Dalits who reached the
town in panic, instead of helping them. Late r the local Dalit activists and
leaders accompanied the victims who sought shelter in a church in the
town, and organized a refugee camp to help them. The camp consisted of
about 500 Dalits, who never returned to Karamchedu, preferring to settle
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102 Karamchedu massacre was seen as a significant incident which broke the
myth that caste -discrimination was a "thing of the past". Dag -Erik Berg
writes that it depicted the intensification of caste in the modern agrarian
economy, emphasizing the role of "s tatus" and "honor" in the system of
stratification, the significance of economic and political power, and the
deep -rooted notions of untouchability that could lead to brutality in the
Indian society.
Berg refers to M.N. Srinivas 's conception of 'dominant caste' for
explaining the caste hierarchies in the modern society. After a significant
shift in landownership in the post -colonial era fromBrahmin to non -
Brahmin castes (like Reddys, Kammas and Kapus), Kammas, who already
constituted an affluent and politi cally powerful group before the twentieth
century and were classified as Shudras in the traditional Varna System,
gained increased social dominance through their economic and political
power. Berg says that their claim to caste superiority was dependent on
relation to Dalits who were 'excluded' in the traditional ritual classification
in which they are treated as "untouchables". M. N. Srinivas says that "any
caste that achieved political power at the local level could advance a claim
to be Kshatriyas ". Acc ordingly, in this case, the local Kamma historians
engaged in providing 'evidence' to claim their Kshatriya status, which
coincided with the early 1900s colonial census that categorized
people. However, since this ritual superiority of Kammas was not entir ely
self-evident and was open to dispute, Berg says, they had to enforce it
through violence. "Their everyday dominance involved material
exploitation and the use of force." The essential difference between
"touchables" and "untouchables" supposedly justif ies this violence since
the 'untouchables' are seen as "nobodies". Berg notes that Dalit
expressions of self -assertion and egalitarianism further intensify this
conflict.
So, the massacre in Karamchedu is seen as the result of Dalits trying to
'correct' th e unfair behavior of Kammas. Both Berg and K Srinivasulu
state that Kammas wanted to 'teach a lesson' to the Dalits since their
superiority was challenged.
Karamchedu incident also posed an intellectual challenge to the classic
Marxist perspective which sa w caste -oppression as a mere consequence of
class struggle between the capitalist farmers and agricultural workers.
Although the class dimension is closely related to the caste -oppression, the
Dalit movement in the state post -Karamchedu emphasized the need to
address the issue of caste in its specificity since it plays a predominant role
in the underlying social conflict. The Dalit movement also made Dr.
Ambedkar a powerful symbol for emancipation. Following his ideas of
Annihilation , Dalit leaders and act ivists fought against untouchability and
exclusion, and strove for self -assertion, dignity and legal protection from
the state.
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103 9.3 PANKHAN VILLAGE BRUTALITIES IN GUJARAT, 1999 The Hati Darbars, that is, the upper c aste Rajputs of Pankhan village of
Junagadh district of Gujarat carried out a ghastly attack on the Dalits of
the village on 27th November 1999. On this day over 500 Hati Darbars
surrounded and attacked the 100 Dalits who were clearing the thorny
bushes to make the land cultivable. Even after seven months about 10 of
them needed assistance to move around. Many of the young men and
women managed to escape to nearby villages and thus were saved from
being beaten up and raped. But all of them were not lucky en ough to
escape the wrath of the upper caste Darbars. Jayaben Sondarva was gang
raped by thirteen men and she was thoroughly bashed up. The impact of
the atrocity was so serious that even for days she continued to scream with
pain and agony. The marks of th e wound inflicted with a crow bar and an
axe are still fresh on her body. The Darbars were armed to their teeth.
They not only carried conventional weapons like spears, woodcutters,
swords, choppers, and axes but also modern firearms with them. The
Dalits of Pankhan suffered not only humiliation and physical torture due
to this organized vandalism but now they are forced to undergo economic
deprivation. Muljibhai Govindbhai was the only breadwinner of a family
of 8 members. But for the last seven months, he was bedridden and he
needed extensive medical care. His minor son who was studying, had to
abandon his studies to earn a living for the family. Three of the victims
had to be admitted in Jamnagar hospital for treatment and one was
hospitalized there for t hree months. For daily wage earners to take care of
someone in a faraway place is beyond their means. Hence, they were
forced to borrow money for a high interest rate and thus putting
themselves in greater hardships. Amrabhai Sondarva was brutally battered .
He clearly remembers that Kara Sisodia pelted a stone at his eye and thus
he lost his left eye. Even after seven months of agony he can vividly
remember that Vasur Lakha fired at him with his gun. When his wife tried
to prevent the attackers from assault ing him, they let loose a reign of terror
on her and fractured her hands and legs.
Pankhan village had about 325 acres of pasture land. Out of this the
Darbars had grabbed 200 acres of land and are cultivating it for ages.
Significantly, it is not the landl ess Darbars who have seized the land, but
the landlords among them who also have captured the land. For the last 5
years, the Dalits were trying to occupy the land and cultivate it. Last year
they had sown millet in the land but the rain gods failed them. This year
they attempted to clear the thorny bushes so that it can be made cultivable.
They had even demarcated the plots for the 40 landless Dalit families. The
Darbars could not tolerate this feeble attempt by the Dalits. Ramabai
submitted that, “For gen erations we have been toiling as the bonded
labourers of the Darbars. Since we were economically dependent upon
them, they ill -treated us in numerous ways. To escape from this bondage,
we were clearing the pasture land so that we can become somewhat
indepe ndent. But even this attempt is thwarted by the Darbars”. A former
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104 Goucher zamin legally rests with the panchayat, the Dalits had represented
the matter in the panchayat to allot the land to them so that they too can
cultivate the land and provide for their families. But this request was
constantly turned down by the panchayat which was dominated by the
upper caste Darbars.
Since the Dalits were denied justice in the panchayat, they had peti tioned
to the district administration to look into the matter. But no one paid any
attention to the supplication of the Dalits. But when the Dalits began to
occupy the land, the Darbars filed a case in the court and the court in its
usual style decreed sec tion 144 without going into the root of the problem.
Interestingly, a highly placed official in the district administration boasted,
“We have taken serious note of the incident that took place in Pankhan.
Hence, we have prepared a detailed report about the entire issue and have
recommended to the state government to allot the pasture land to the
Dalits”.
The village with about 3,000 population had not witnessed any serious
clashes in the past. The Dalits who were also the landless agricultural
labourers of the village worked for the upper caste Hati Darbars and thus
eked out of their living. Govindbhai recollected, “For more than five
generations we have lived in harmony here. We never disobeyed the
dictates of the Darbars. Even if the Darbars humiliated us we suffered in
silence. But when we began to work on the pastureland, the Darbars got
threatened. They have carried out this horrendous crime to terrorize us”.
Not many children used to go to school, since they had to help their
parents in the agricultur al and other household chores. After the incident
even the few children who used to go to school had stopped going. Two
months after the incident the State Reserve Policy used to accompany the
children going to school so that they are not harassed by the D arbars. The
November 27th incidentwas still dreadful to them and they do not dare to
step into the area where the Darbars reside. In a situation surrounded by
total darkness, the support and strength provided by some of the Dalit
organizations lifted the d rooping morale of the victims. The Dalit Yuva
Vikas Sanghathan founded in 1991 to expose the atrocities heaped upon
the Dalits in the district played a major role in bringing the wounded to the
hospital and getting prompt medical help. They are mobilizing the Dalits
in more than 300 villages to resist these types of oppression and
humiliation suffered under the upper castes. The BAMCEF, another Dalit
organization of the government employees garnered all strength to move
the ill -equipped hospital staff to at tend to the victims screaming with
excruciating pain. K.N. Rathore declared, “We had to literally force the
civil surgeon to make adequate arrangements to attend to the sufferings of
the wounded. Since the Junagadh hospital did not have an orthopaedician,
we requested the hospital authorities to shift the injured to Jamnagar. But
the civil surgeon expressed his inability since the hospital did not have an
ambulance in condition. Hence, we got the help of some good Samaritans
to take the seriously injured vi ctims to Jamnagar hospital”. If not for their
timely help some of the victims would have died. Like the men, the
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105 solace and comfort to the suffering people. The leaders of Pankhan too
moved all the forces to come to the service of the victims.
Various Dalit organizations presented the following demands to the
Governor of Gujarat on the 13th of December, 1999.
1. They demanded land allotment policy to be changed, especially with
regard t o the "Gouchar zamin". There should be new policy drafted by
the state and land should be redistributed to the landless Dalits of
Gujarat so that they can have source of income and can live with self -
respect and dignity. The argument behind this demand was that even
the cattle is allotted land by the state, while the landless Dalits are not.
This seems to mean that the Dalits are inferior to cattle. If the Dalits
are inferior to cattle in the eyes of the state, then consider the Dalits as
equal to the lives tock and allot 2 -3 acres of land to them.
2. Since the Sarpanch Rawat Sisodia himself was the main accused in
the attack, the power of Pankhan Gram Panchayat should be
superseded by an implementing agency of Government and within
one month every Dalit sh ould be allotted 2 -3 acres of land.
3. The Government should at least now accept that there was “social
boycott" in Pankhan village and should penalize the Hati Darbars for
imposing social boycott. The Government should also release cash
dole immediately from the Social Welfare Department to every Dalits
of Pankhan village.
4. The main accused in this heinous crime should be arrested under
TADA Act. The accused in gang rape should be taken before the
public so that in future such people would think twic e before
committing such atrocious acts. Looking at the socio -economic
structure of Gujarat, it becomes imperative that the legal provisions
about Goucher zamin and other common property land resources be
regulated and made available to the Dalits and the downtrodden.
Sudarshan Iyengar who made a comprehensive study in the year 1989
also had recommended this as the primary task.
The Dalits of Pankhan still live under the shadow of the crime committed
against them. Since they are determined to carry on the struggle in the
legal arena, they are threatened by the Darbars. Hence, they are
contemplating of the need to protect themselves in self -defense. An
official in the district headquarters confirmed to the fact that six of the
Dalits have applied for possess ing firearms. This once again indicates the
socio -political crisis that has taken deep roots in rural Gujarat. The Gujarat
State has made great stride in the field of economic reforms but its socio -
political edifice remains untouched. It is this social rea lity that will
determine even the economic wellbeing of the state in the future. The
atrocities heaped on the Dalits in Pankhan is only a sign of the much
severe socio -political crisis that is haunting the very social fabric of
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106 but will assert their legitimate rights constitutionally and extra -
constitutionally.
9.4 KHA IRLANJI HEINOUS MASSACRE, MAHARASHTRA, 2006 In Maharashtra, the atrocities and the number of violent incidents is to be
taken for instances. The inhuman massacre was executed by the so -called
upper caste people against one of the Dalit families named Bhotmange in
Bhandara district, Mohadi taluka and village Khairlanji on 29th September,
2006. The brutality was such a he inous that the villagers told the brother
of a girl of Bhotmange family who had been meritorious at SSC to rape in
front and when refused, both were beaten to death. Even their private parts
were also pierced with the sharp objects. The four of the family members
were brutally murdered by the villagers as the mother of the children
Surekha gave testimony against the villagers who had attacked Sidharth
Gajbhiye who fled for his life. Only head of the family Bhaiyyalal
Bhotmange was survived as he was out for work on the day of massacre.
Here we come to know, the people look down upon and they are of the
opinion that they can do any kind of atrocities against the Dalits as being
from lower castes. Even, there are cases where we find that if a Dalit boy
marries an upper caste girl, he has been beaten to death.
One of the reports mentions how the “dominant castes dragged her, her
daughter, and two sons out of their home, paraded them naked, raped the
woman and her daughter, and lynched all of them in public.” But the
media took more than a week to report this. Eventually, “a rape charge
was never brought by the government claiming lack of evidence”.
A special court tried the case and held 8 persons guilty of murder in 2008;
however, it noted that the murder was ba sed on revenge and not motivated
by caste. The lone survivor of the attack was provided the job of a peon
as “compensation”.
This case, the report notes, is an apt example of “the institutional failure to
recognize the rape of the victims, the invisibilisa tion of caste by courts and
government authorities raises the question of whether justice was in fact
achieved.”
Thus, the atrocities on the Dalits due to caste system and caste privileges
have resulted in the heinous crimes as such and they are still go ing on in
the Indian society.
9.5 MURDER OF A DALIT YOUTH, CHHATTARPUR, MADHYA PRADESH, 8TH DECEMBER 2020 A day earlier, a 25 -year-old Dalit youth was thrashed to death by upper -
caste men in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur because he touched the food
served at a feast. The deceased, Devraj Anuragi was called to clean up
after the party held by the accused. The accused Bhura Soni and Santosh
Pal had called the youth to clean up after the party was over at village munotes.in

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107 Kishanganj. On seeing Anuragi serve food for him self, the accused flew
into rage and beat him to death with sticks.
9.6 FORCEFUL RESTRICTIONS ON GROOM NOT TO RIDE A HORSE, SHIVPUR, RAJASTHAN, 2020 The caste system has led the suppressive and oppressive acts against the
lower castes people. Even economic ally, they are affording to ride a
horse in the marriage with their own money, they are not allowed to
enjoy their rights.
Incident of caste atrocity was reported from Bhilwara district in
Rajasthan on 9th December, 2020 where a groom belonging to a Dalit
community was forced to get down from the horse at Shivpur village in
Karera. The police registered a case in the matter but the groom and the
Dalits have been to remain in pressure and grave tension that how they
are so educated and economically sound, t he caste is not getting them
rid of the upper caste people and their own pride and hatred against the
Dalits and that is in 21st century. So, here one thing to be noted that by
reservation in education and services, the Dalits are becoming
economically sou nd which does not mean their caste taboos are over.
Not only the youth was forcefully asked to get down from the horse but
the people participating in marriage procession were thrashed. Case was
registered and Karera police station in -charge, said that ma ny incidents
of attacks on Dalits have been reported in various parts of the country in
the past few years for defying the social norms imposed by the upper
castes by riding the horse at their weddings.
So far as Gujarat state is concerned, the wedding pro cession of a Dalit
riding a horse has allegedly led to social boycott of the community at
Lhor village of Mehsana district in Gujarat in May 2019.In February,
2020, the wedding procession of a Dalit man had to be taken out under
police protection in Gujara t’s Banaskantha district.
9.7 A THRASHING TO DEATH OF A DALIT MAN, SHRIKOT, TEHRI - UTTARAKHAND, 2019 The caste ridden people also takes it dishonored if a Dalit man eats before
them in a function. Jeetendra, a Dalit, 23, was thrashed up by the upper
caste men who lost their temper as they found him seated and eating in
front of them at a wedding function "despite being from a lower caste" on
26th April, 2019 at Shrikot village of Tehri District in Uttarakhand. The
man was critically injured and died at a h ospital in Dehradun after nine
days of treatment.
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108 9.8 DALIT MINOR BEATEN FOR ENTRY INTO TEMPLE, RAJASTHAN When the country is celebrating 75th year of independence, such an
incident forces us to think where we are standing. A society is made up of
unity and harmony, and for us society is paramount.
A Dalit minor was tied up and thrashed by the members of upper caste for
entering a temple in Rajasthan’s Pali village. The minor was tied up with a
rope and thrashed by the perpetrators. As per the report, th e incident took
place on June 1, 2019.
The casteism has been instilled among the school going children since
their childhood that they also do not look equally to their school friends
from the Dalit castes.
In an earlier incident, a group of five children allegedly beat a 12 -year-old
Dalit boy to death for touching the balloons that were used as decorations
on the occasion of Janmashtami at Chamanda temple in Nadroi village,
Aligarh. The victim’s friend, Suraj was present at the spot when his friend
was al legedly beaten by the suspects. The violent thrashing happened
when the victim touched the balloon at the temple.
Suraj added that the five boys began to thrash his friend when the balloon
burst. All five suspects involved in the crime belong to the same a ge
group.One of them held his arms and two of them tightly held his legs and
the other two started punching him in his stomach. Suraj immediately ran
to his house and informed his mother. Suraj who escaped from the place
out of fear.
9.9 A BEATING TO DEATH OF A DALIT BOY BY A TEACHER FOR DRINKING WATER, SURAN,
RAJASTHAN, 2022 Indra Meghwal, a student of nine years of the private school, Saraswati
Vidhya Mandir, in Surana village, Rajasthan’s Jalore district, was beaten
up badly by his teacher on Saturday Ju ly 20, 2022 and that for the reason
— touching a drinking water pot. The boy suffered injuries in his face and
ear and was almost unconscious due to the beating from the teacher.
Protests were broken out in on Sunday, a day after a boy died allegedly
after h e was beaten up by a teacher for touching a drinking water pot in a
private school. The teacher, Chail Singh, 40, was arrested and booked for
murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and under sections of
the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (P revention of Atrocities) Act.
On Sunday, police used mild force to disburse protesters, who pelted
stones at officials and refused to cremate the body till their demands of a
government job and compensation to the deceased boy’s family are not
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109 psychology and equality, they are making distinction among their own
students based on the casteism.
In June the same year, a horrific incident was reported, where a Dalit
minor was tied with a r ope and beaten up allegedly by a group of upper -
caste men after he tried to enter a temple in Rajasthan's Pali district.
9.10 THE HARASSMENT AND ATROCITIES IN TAKWIKI VILLAGE, MAHARASHTRA The right to own property is systematically denied to Dalits. Landlessness
– encompassing a lack of access to land, inability to own land, and forced
evictions – constitutes a crucial element in the subordination of Dalits.
When Dalits do acquire land, elements of the right to own property –
including the rig ht to access and enjoy it – are routinely infringed.
In 1996, a nongovernmental organization undertook a door -to-door survey
of 250 villages in the state of Gujarat and found that, in almost all villages,
those who had title to land had no possession, and those who had
possession had not had their land measured or faced illegal encroachments
from upper castes.
Caste discrimination has also acquired the status of an ideology. The
conception and practice of caste as an ideology implies that a person is
primar ily perceived by another not on the basis of his or her capabilities,
but on the basis of the caste that he or she is born into. In this context, it is
no surprise that the efforts of upper caste groups to sustain “cultural
differentiations” transgress int o the non -cultural spheres, including the
economic sphere.
The Takwiki village in Usmanabad District of Maharashtra has been an
atrocity a case study undertaken by Prof. R. Ramakumar of TISS and
Tushar Kamble. This whole episode has been made available onl ine by the
authors and so with courtesy we humbly produce here as and what had
happened. The authors have visited the village frequently and collected
authentic information from the persons who suffered the atrocities.
Takwiki is a village in the Osmanaba d taluka of the Osmanabad district of
Maharashtra. The district belongs to the larger Marathwada region, which
is a drought -prone region and relatively backward in social and economic
indicators.
This is a case study of a household headed by Dhondiba Raut . The authors
learned of the predicament of this household when a household member
approached one of the authors (Ramakumar) of this article for help.
The Raut household, belonging to the Chambhar caste, has been living in
Takwiki village for more than a century. Until recently, Takwiki and the
surrounding villages were dominated by Muslim landlords. The
Marathwada drought of 1971 -72, and the acute squeeze on incomes that it
inflicted on peasants at large, forced some Muslim landlords in the region
to sell a part of their land. In consequence, Tulsiram Raut (Dhondiba’s munotes.in

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110 father) purchased 7.5 acres of land in 1972 from Taher Khan Lal Khan
Pathan, who owned a large area of land in Takwiki. Tulsiram was a
cobbler; he used keep his savings and a loan to purchase the plot at the
relatively low cost of Rs 250 -500 per acre. While the transfer of land had
taken place in 1972 itself, the official transfer of land in the village land
records (fer far nondani) took place only in 1979. The 7.5 acres of land
were part of Block Number (gut kramank) 133 in the land records. In
Block Number 133 in the village map, Tulsiram’s plot formed three pieces
of about 4 acres each.
Tulsiram had three sons when he purchased the land: Kondiba Tulsiram
Raut, Dhondiba Tulsiram Raut, and Vi thoba Tulsiram Raut. The land that
he purchased was equally divided among the three sons, with one
rectangular piece of land going to each. In 2012, all these plots were
irrigated by a well dug at the western side of Block Number 133. The
Rauts grew sugar cane in these plots.
In 1988, Dhondiba and his brother Vithoba pooled savings and purchased
some more land in Takwiki. The plots of land newly purchased were
geographically fragmented, and a one -acre plot was located just across the
eastern bund of Block N umber 133. At the time of purchase, this one -acre
plot, belonging to Block Number 132, was registered in the name of
Vithoba. In 2007, Vithoba transferred the ownership of this one -acre plot
to Dhondiba, in exchange (no extra cash was paid) for another one -acre
plot owned by Dhondiba located elsewhere. Thus, Dhondiba came to own
the one -acre plot in Block Number 132 from 2007. This plot was valued at
between Rs 6 and 8 lakhs in 2012, and was registered in the name of
Dhondiba’s wife, Hirabai Raut.
Much of t he land in Block Number 132 belonged to the Kedar household,
a large landowning upper caste (Maratha) household from Patoda, the
village adjacent to Takwiki. According to the residents of Takwiki, the
Kedar household owned more than 120 acres of land in 20 12. They also
leased in large areas of land from others on a long -term basis, about which
no estimate was available. Before the 1970s, according to the village
people we interviewed, the Kedar household owned only about 10 -15
acres of land. In those days, the household mainly ran a tempo -transport
business. Being the only tempo -owning household in the region allowed
the Kedars to accumulate substantial savings, which were channeled into
purchasing land after the 1972 drought. According to some accounts, sin ce
the Kedar household members were also the local moneylenders in the
1970s, the widespread default on loans during and after the 1972 drought
enabled them to attach additional areas of land. However, it was not
possible independently to verify these acco unts.
In 2011 -12, the Kedar household enjoyed considerable economic clout.
They were the largest landowners in Takwiki and Patoda. They owned two
tractors, which were partly rented out, a dairy farm, a jaggery -making unit,
a timber agency, and an electrica l rewinding shop in Patoda and Takwiki.
They continued to own tempo vans, which plied on rent, and involve
themselves in moneylending. Many Takwiki villagers assert that with all munotes.in

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111 this clout, the Kedar household effectively had the right of first refusal in
any land transaction that took place in the region. They cited a number of
cases where the Kedar household bid up the land price to such high levels
that no one else stood a chance of buying the land going on sale.
Politically, the Kedar household attache d itself to the Nationalist Congress
Party (NCP) in the region and generally enjoyed a close relationship with
the party’s district leadership. Members of the Kedar household were also
regularly chosen as members on the gram panchayat as well as the boards
of the local credit societies in Patoda.
The one -acre plot that Dhondiba had swapped with Vithoba in 2007 was
located within a series of land plots owned by the Kedar household
beyond the eastern bund of Block Number 133. If the Kedar household
were to an nex the one -acre plot owned by Dhondiba, the advantages
would be many. First, they would get to own a large piece of contiguous
land area totally under their possession on the eastern side of the bund. In
fact, the Kedar household had made an offer to Dhon diba in 2011 to buy
out all his land, including the one -acre plot, but Dhondiba had refused; the
convenience of owning all his land at one place was paramount for him
too. Secondly, the newly established dairy farm and the jaggery -making
unit of Kedar hous ehold were situated close to Dhondiba’s plot. If the
Kedars possessed this plot, they could build a direct approach road to
these units; in the absence of it, they were obliged to reach these units over
a longer route from the Patoda village.
While the eco nomic advantages of taking Dhondiba’s land were
substantial for the Kedars, another dimension was too evident to be
missed. Dhondiba was a Chambhar, who owned an irrigated plot
cultivated with sugar cane right under the nose of the powerful Maratha
househo ld. Apparently, the Kedars believed that their social prestige was
lowered by the Dalit ownership of the plot in their midst. Getting rid of the
Dalit from the plot would thus raise the social prestige of the Kedar
household.
When efforts to persuade Dhond iba to sell the plot failed, encroachment
began. From the beginning of 2011, the Kedars began to drive tractors and
tempos through Dhondiba’s plot to travel to their dairy farm and jaggery -
making unit. The objective, according to the Raut household, was
constantly to harass them to the point of forcing them to sell the land to
the Kedars and move out.
After tolerating the encroachment for a few days, Dhondiba’s son, Bharat
Raut, confronted some of the Kedars and asked them to stop driving
through their plot . However, Bharat was greeted with a flurry of abuse,
including the use of caste names.The caste dimension of the encroachment
now came out into the open. According to Bharat, some of the abusive
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112 “हे चाÌभारड्या, तुÌहाला शेताची काय गरज आहे? खेटर िशवून खाणारी जात तुमची”
(You Chambhar, what business do you have in farming? Your caste is to
work with animal skin).
“हे चाÌभारड्या, मÖती चढली आहे का तुला? तुÌही चांभार हे शेत कसे कसता आÌही
पाहóन घेऊ” (You Chambhars appear to be enjoying [cultivation]. We will
see how you Chambhars cultivate this land).
Bharat says he was afraid to approach the police at this stage. The
encroachment continued on a regular basis after this incident. A few days
later, whi le the Kedars were driving through the plot, they ran the tractor
over the irrigation pipeline on the eastern side of Kondiba Raut’s plot. The
pipeline was destroyed. Kondiba confronted the Kedars over this action.
The reaction from members of the dominant household, according to a
police complaint filed by Kondiba, was to hurl abuse at him with caste
names and severely assault him with wooden sticks.
Deciding that enough was enough, Kondiba and Bharat approached the
Bembili police station to file a complai nt under The Scheduled Castes and
The Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (henceforth,
Atrocities Act). In the beginning, the Head Constable at the police station
(the exact date is not available) refused even to accept the complaint from
Kondiba and Bharat. However, forced by Bharat’s insistence, the police
accepted their complaint on a piece of paper. Kondiba’s statement was
recorded and he was asked to leave. Bharat insisted on filing the case
under the Atrocities Act. But the Head Cons table at the police station
refused and told him: “All that cannot be done. You do not know what the
Atrocities Act is. This incident does not fall under its purview.”
The next day, Bharat went to the police station and demanded to be shown
the statements recorded the previous day. The demand was first refused,
but eventually he was given a duplicate copy of the FIR. To his surprise,
Bharat found that Kondiba’s statement was recorded incompletely: only
the instance of physical attack was recorded, and there was no mention of
the verbal abuse using caste names. Evidently, the statement was recorded
in such a way that no complaint could be filed under the Atrocities Act.
Kondiba’s complaint was being considered a non -cognizable offence.
For more than two weeks after the attack, no action was taken on the
complaint filed by Bharat. No arrests were made, and there was no
questioning of the Kedars. On the 29th of January 2011, Dhondiba’s
younger son, Karan Raut, approached the police station to press for
lodging t he complaint under the Atrocities Act. Karan was also told that
no case under the Atrocities Act could be registered against the Kedars for
several reasons. First, he was told, land encroachment issues did not fall
under the purview of the Atrocities Act: “this is a civil case, we cannot
register the case as a criminal offence.” Secondly, special permission was
required from the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the district to file such
a case. Thirdly, a person from the caste of the accused persons (that i s, a
person from the Maratha caste) was to present himself as a witness for
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113 The absence of police actions further encouraged the Kedar household to
proceed with aggressive encroachment. On the 18th of Janua ry 2011,
according to a complaint filed by Bharat Raut at the Bembili police
station, four brothers of the Kedar household reached Dhondiba’s plot
with a bulldozer, they first leveled the bund on the eastern side of Block
Number 133. After leveling the bun d, they encroached about 10 feet into
Dhondiba’s plot and cleared the land for a road on its western side. The
levelling ended once the encroached pathway reached Kedar household’s
jaggery -making unit. During the encroachment, the Kedars broke
Dhondiba’s i rrigation pipeline and threw it away to one side. A tree that
stood on the bund was also felled.
That very night, Bharat went to the Kedars to question their latest act of
violent and lawless encroachment. However, according to Bharat, he was
again abused with caste names and threatened with dire consequences if
he resisted further.
Faced with encroachment and regular threats to life, Dhondiba and Bharat
approached the court of the Taluk Judicial Magistrate (First Class) for
justice. The court, on March 10, 2011, stayed the encroachment and
restrained the Kedar household from using the newly built pathway.
Dhondiba Raut was to collect the official stay order after two days.
Confident of their rights over the plot, Hirabai and Bharat went to work on
the land on the morning of March 11, 2011. What greeted them was a
shower of abuse and a violent physical attack. Angry over Dhondiba’s
victory in the court of the Taluk Judicial Magistrate (First Class), members
of the Kedar household came in with wooden poles and began to hit
Hirabai and Bharat. Hirabai was hit on the back of her head, leaving her
bleeding. Bharat was beaten up by more than one person for over 10
minutes, and suffered a fracture of his left arm and bruises all over his
body.
Throughout the physica l attack, the Kedars also abused Hirabai and Bharat
severely, using caste names. For instance, Bharat was told through the
attack: “हे चाÌभारड्या, असले Öटे मी बांधून िहंडतो” (“You Chambhar, we wear
such stay orders like a garland and roam around”).
Bleeding profusely, Hirabai and Bharat rushed to the Bembili police
station to file a complaint. However, the Assistant Police Inspector refused
to accept a formal complaint against the Kedar household. Instead, they
asked Hirabai and Bharat to go to the hospital and get treated. Bharat had
no choice but to agree, as his mother was bleeding. They went to the
Primary Health Centre at Bembili village, from where they were referred
to the Civil Hospital, Osmanabad. At the Civil Hospital, they were
admitted the same day.
The next day Bharat got himself discharged, went to the court of the Taluk
Judicial Magistrate (First Class), and obtained an official copy of the order
staying the encroachment. Armed with a copy of the court order, Bharat
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114 refused to consider Bharat’s complaint under the Atrocities Act. Just as
Kondiba was told in January 2011, Bharat was informed that the attack on
him did not come under the purview of the Atrocities Act. His complaint
too was being treated as a normal case of alleged assault.
The attack on Hirabai and Bharat was not without witnesses. Raza k
Pathan, a middle peasant who owned a plot of land close to Dhondiba’s,
was a witness to the attack on Hirabai and Bharat on March 11th. Razak
Pathan’s name was specifically cited in Bharat’s police complaint at a
witness, and he personally appeared at th e police station to give a
statement against the Kedars. Razak Pathan’s son, Imran Pathan, was the
police patil of Takwiki village. Yet the Pathan family faced a severe
backlash from the Kedar household. According to Imran, his father was
first asked by th e Kedars to withdraw the statement given to the police:
“Why are you interfering in favour of the Chambhars?” Razak Pathan was
asked. Imran told us in an interview that his family decided to stick to
their statement because “If it is the Rauts today, tomor row it may be us. So
we have to unitedly move against this big landlord. Otherwise, he will eat
us all one day.”
When Razak Pathan refused to withdraw his statement, it was his family’s
turn to face harassment. First, according to Imran, the Kedars arrange d to
send a complaint to the District Collector demanding the removal of Imran
as the police patil. When Imran came to know of the complaint, he
approached every village person whose signature appeared in the
complaint. All of them denied having ever signe d such a complaint; it
turned out that the complaint contained forged signatures. But that was not
all. The approach to Razak Pathan’s plot of land passed through the bunds
of a few plots owned by the Kedar household. Razak Pathan used to take a
tractor an d other implements to his field through this rather wide bund.
Soon after the incident, the Kedars closed down this path by fencing it off.
The Pathans had to travel to their field by taking another road, which
meant a detour of about one km. “What to do?” Imran said dejectedly
when we spoke to him.
With the matter reaching a dead end, Karan Raut decided to take external
help. He brought the matter to the notice of a few leaders of the All -India
Kisan Sabha in Solapur and a leading journalist based in Mumba i. The
journalist spoke personally to the District Collector, who promised swift
action on the case. Karan sent a direct complaint to the Collector by email,
of which we have a copy. Based on the email, the Collector, a Dalit
himself, instructed the Superi ntendent of Police of the district to file a case
under the Atrocities Act. On the Superintendent’s orders, a case was
finally filed under the Atrocities Act at the Bembili police station. A
Deputy Superintendent of Police visited the village and the encro ached
land, as per the requirements, and took the statements of all concerned.
Further, two officials from the State Social Welfare department visited
Dhondiba’s house and recorded their statements.
Just as it appeared that some positive action was forthco ming, the
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115 station began to intervene again in favour of the Kedars. According to a
complaint letter written by Karan to the District Collector, The day after
the visit of the Deputy Supe rintendent to the village,…my brother and
mother were called to the Police Station. At the Police Station, a
constable, in the absence of an officer, tried to record a statement of my
mother that suggested that we would appeal in the court, though in the
meantime would allow the Kedar family to use the road illegally
constructed across our field. We refused to sign the statement.”
Even after the visit of the Deputy Superintendent and the government
officials to the village, no arrests were made. Dhondiba Ra ut’s family sent
another complaint to the Collector, and managed to get the supporting
journalist to speak to the Collector once again. Finally, on repeated orders
from the Collector and the Superintendent of Police, an arrest warrant was
issued in the nam es of the four accused members of the Kedar household.
Now facing heat, the four accused members of the Kedar household
absconded. After about 20 days in hiding, they appeared in the court of the
Taluk Judicial Magistrate (First Class) to surrender, but th e police
recorded their arrest before they could surrender. The accused remained in
custody for about 18 days. After 18 days in custody, the court granted
them bail. At the time of writing this note, the arrested members of the
Kedar family were in Takwiki village itself. No further action was taken
from the side of the police, and it appeared that the case would drag on.
There has been no further hearing in the case.
But if anyone thought that the arrests would restrain the Kedars from
harassing the Raut f amily any further, they were mistaken. According to
Bharat, there was no end to the harassment even after the arrests. In fact,
the acts of distressing oppression extended from farm to home, and were
continuing at the time of writing this note.
First, acco rding to Bharat, there were continuing efforts to harass him on
the farm by trying to divert surplus water into his field. Topographically,
the fields of the Kedar household were at an elevation from where excess
water drained down through a canal by the s ide of Dhondiba’s fields.
After the arrests, the Kedars had reduced the height of the bund that
separated the plots of the Kedars and the Rauts. As a result, excess water,
instead of flowing into the canal by the side, spilled over the bund and
flowed into the plots owned by the Rauts. According to Bharat, this
presented a constant threat to their standing crop of sugar cane.
Secondly, going by informally laid -out village rules, all plots of land lying
within the boundaries of one village should be reachabl e by a pathway that
originates from the same village. According to Bharat, there was constant
tension in the field after this act by the Kedars.
The Rauts were also subjected to new forms of harassment inside the
village residential area. Bharat alleged th at a tough, with criminal
antecedents, had been contracted to harass his family inside the
village. Widely known and feared for his thuggish acts, including his
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116 household, this man, who had no locus standi in the matter, had begun to
threaten Dhondiba and Bharat and ask them to vacate the concerned plot
to the Kedars.
The threats aside, according to Bharat, the tough was harassing the Raut
family in less direct ways. First, there was a co mmon village plot that the
Raut family has used for many years as a dumping ground for garbage.
However, according to Bharat, the tough had recently fenced off that land
for himself, and prevented the Rauts from dropping garbage there.
Secondly, there was a well in a vacant and commonly held plot that the
Rauts used to draw water. More recently, according to Bharat, the tough
had fenced off that plot of land too, claiming he had leased it in from the
government.
The nature and pattern of these acts led the Raut household to conclude
that the tough was unleashed on them by some members of the Kedar
household. According to Bharat, a member of the Kedar household had
told him, in a recent threatening conversation, that “10 ए³कर जमीन गेली
तरी हरकत नाही, पण तुला जीवंत सोडणार नाही” (“even if we lose 10 acres of
land, it does not matter; we will not leave you till you die”). Bharat and
other villagers have reasonably interpreted this threat as implying an
instruction to the tou gh not to worry about the consequences of physically
harming Dhondiba or Bharat, and that they were ready to spend an
equivalent of the value of 10 acres of land (about Rs 30 -40 lakhs) on the
cases that might follow.
9.11 OTHER CASES OF ATROCITIES In July 2020, a Dalit man was allegedly stripped and beaten up in
Karnataka's Vijayapura district – located near capital Bengaluru -for
touching an upper -caste man's motorbike.
In October, 2020 a 22 -year-old Dalit woman was gang -raped on gunpoint
by two men, inclu ding a former village head in Uttar Pradesh. According
to the report, the two barged into her house and raped her, taking turns at
it, at gunpoint.
In November, two Dalit brothers were beaten up, and their house was set
on fire by a group of 15 men in Madh ya Pradesh's Datia district, for
objecting to withdraw a two -year old case against an upper -caste man. We
will not get sufficient space to discuss the cases hereinafter.
9.12 SUMMARY The number cases cited above are the representative in nature that in al l
over India the Dalits are facing the harassment by the so -called upper
castes. They know that these Dalits are Hindus a nd Buddhists and are our
own Br etherens as an Indians. Even though, they are constantly had to
face such injustice at the hands of the people of their own. How can one
expect that the foreigner will look after them? We have selected cases
from Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya munotes.in

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117 Pradesh, Maharashtra and so on as they are not all the times reported to
police stations. How can India will work towards Egalitarian society?
Why not the solution to the Annihilation of Caste proposed by Dr. B. R.
Ambedkar be followed by the government of India and the Indian society
at large? It’s the chain that has to be broken somewhere and start from
new by sacrificing the emotional religious feelings. Are we going to look
into within that who are there in Indian society that wanted to perpetuate
the caste system by which they can be benefitted forever? Therefore, it is
the duty of every Indian citizen t o work towards the egalitarian society.
9.13 QUESTIONS 1. Examin e the caste a trocities in Maharashtra with special reference to
Khairlanji Massacre.
2. Explain in detail the caste atrocities in Rajasthan.
3. Discuss the cas e studies of c aste atrocities in Gujarat.
9.14 REFERENCES  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karamchedu_massacre
 INDIAUpdateCollective
 Times of India, December, 9, 2020
 The New Indian Express, 10th December, 2020
 May, 07,2019, NDTV
 India.com, 5th June, 2019
 Dr. Wagh Sandesh, A study of Atrocities against Scheduled Caste and
Scheduled Tribes in Maharashtra, Indian Council of Social Science
Research.
 Ghurye G.S., Caste and Race in India, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai,
1996.

*****
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118 10
LABOUR IN ORGANIZED AND
UNORGANIZED SECTOR
Unit Structure
10.0 Objective
10.1 Introduction
10.2 What is labour?
10.3 Organized sectors Vs. Unorganized sectors in Market/Employment
10.4 Labours in Organized Sectors
10.5 Some Organized Sectors of India
10.6 Labours in Unorganized Sectors
10.7 Some Unorganized Sectors of India
10.8 Summary
10.9 Questions
10.10 References
10.0 OBJECTIVE S  To overview the labour market
 To know the condition of labour in organized sectors
 To understand socio economic condit ion of the labour of unorganized
sectors
 To understand the condition of labours in major organized and
unorganized sectors
10.1 INTRODUCTION In the world of industrialization, globalization, and commercialization the
term ‘resources’ has been applied to de note to all the powers that, run the
economy. We have been come across with natural resources, capital
resources, energy resources and so on. In this series of resources, a unique
resource perpetuates and remain omnipresent with all the resources. In
fact, all the resources may become meaningless without it. The economy
of any country is dependent on it. This is what we called – Human
resource or labour of any kind.
The labour is the most indispensable resource in any sector and at the
same time it is th e most complicated resources to manage. Because it is
influential, emotional, heterogeneous, perishable than any other resources,
and rational in nature. Due to too many complicacies in labour resource,
this area has been widely researched for seeking the substitute and
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119 The use of machines, human intelligence, robotic engineering, training
program, capacity building courses are some of the good examples of
making the labour resources more error proof and efficient. In recen t years
due to globalization, the labour resources are under immense pressure
because a gap between the supply of desired labour and demand.
However, there are certain very specific features of labour resources that
lead to a hopeful situation. Like, the p roductivity of labour can increase,
mobility of labour and, multifarious work nature etc.
A labour can be understood in terms of an intangible aspect of human
being that come to be known as physical effort, skill, intellectual power,
expertise, metal, and physical capacity. All together these intangible
features are important in the production system. In subject discipline the
concept of labour can be understood in two ways: first is its applied form,
which is deeply studied in Economics and second is the social form that
talks about rights, welfare, goodness of labour, and behaviour pattern. In
the broad categorization of labour i.e., organized sector and unorganized
sector the study mainly focuses on the social aspect of labour resources. It
is to be note d that organized and unorganized sectors of labour are the two
opposite faces of labour resource. Therefore, it is desirable to understand,
both the components of labour from socio -economic and political angles.
10.2 WHAT IS LABOUR? In the introduction i t is mentioned that labour is the intangible aspect of
human being. It is any type of mental and physical exertion, performed,
for the sake of various kind of production and services. In economics the
labour is define in terms of money that it says it is t he human capacity that
can be performed either physically or mentally and sometimes both ways,
for the purpose of providing services or for producing goods for earning.
Thus, in economics, there comes three components: physical or mental
efforts, for the sole purpose of wealth production through services or
goods and for the labour itself that helps in the process of wealth
production.
In precise way a labour contains two main characteristics:
1. labour implies an effort performed for the reward of som ething. And
if there is no earning out of physical or mental performance then in
economics it cannot be treated as labour. For example, a nurse takes
care of patient in hospital, her service is a labour but if she looks after
her sick child at home that is not count as a labour. Therefore, for
making any physical and mental effort in the status of labour
compulsorily needed the involvement of earning.
2. Labour solely aims to generate wealth that’s something having a
monetary exchange value. Here it shoul d be noted that, the reward of
labour is the objective aspect of labour that should be equal to the
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120 For understanding the term ‘labour’, it is desirable to go through the
salient characteristics of labour:
1. It cannot be st ored:
The labour is the result of human effort that in intangible in nature that’s
why once it is not used it simply waste. It can’t be stored and easily
moveable.
2. It is inseparable from the labourer:
Human is the source of labour, but he does not sell himself but his labour.
However, he must be present at the workplace for selling his labour. As a
human the labour force within him, is influential by many factors like,
education, health condition, economic condition, climate, culture (moral,
ethics, bel ieve system etc.). all these factors are called conditional
efficiency of the labour that can be improve.
3. It is a unique innate of human being:
Since labour is the possession of labourer and we cannot treat labour the
way we treat other resources of pr oduction. Because labour and labourer
are inseparable. Thus, ultimately the whole treatment falls on labourer. For
better work outcome, it is very necessary to provide good working
condition, wadge, fair behaviour with the labourer.
4. It is diverse in na ture:
The nature or feature of labour is depended on the labourer. Since
labourers are belong to different geographical area, culture and society.
Further the education, health, mentalities, skills, also varies from person to
person so are the labour.
5. It is available at most insecure condition:
This is one of the most relevant features of labour so far, the social aspect
of the labourer is concerned. Since, the demerit in labour is its non -
storability, at the same time labour is a means of earning livel ihood. So
labour is the means of production and the end goal of production, as a
consumer. At this backdrop, a very vital question comes that is related
with the bargaining power of labour. It is seen that, in most of the cases,
the labour supply is done at unreasonable wage. This feature of labour
indicates towards the insecure condition of labour. Whereas the trade
union/labour union are the unit of collective bargain that tries to impose
the demand on the employer.
6. Supply of labour cannot grow insta ntly:
The strength of labour is dependent of the population that cannot increase
at once. Therefore, the supply of the labour is conditioned at the increase
in population.
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121 7. It is the most indispensable resource for production:
The two most compulsory resources of production are nature and labour.
For any production, labour is the compulsory resource without which
production is not possible.
10.3 ORGANIZED SECTORS VS. UNORGANIZED SECTORS IN LABOUR MARKET/EMPLOYMENT The labour market run by two main sec tors i.e., organized sector and
unorganized sector. Labour market is something that pertains to the
demand and supply of the work force. It is a huge and most complex area
in economics. Further it is closely related with the social issues. Before
going to discuss the social aspects of labour in the organized and
unorganized sectors it is desirable to understand how a labour market
functions, and difference between organized sector and unorganized
sector.
In today’s world when globalization and development of capitalism have
put an ever -increasing portion of the world population in the role of job
seekers at some point in their lifetime. Therefore, in social prospective, the
labour issues are quite imminent and has proximity with the labour
economy. The dema nd and supply are the two determining force that,
regulates labour power in the market. The demand for labour like the
demand for any other factors of production (capital, row materials, fuel
etc.), cannot be treated in same manner. Because labour is the d erived
demand that the producer get in the form of labourer’s physical and mental
effort. Whereas the supply of labour is comprising of the individual or
households of different age group, sex, skills, motivation who offer their
labour at some price.
In between the two regulating factors i.e., demand and supply of the
labour, one vital concern arises that is related with the social issues of
labour power. In fact, the social issue is related with the purchase power of
the producer, for labour supply, which depends on two aspects
1. The contribution of the physical output (labour)
2. Out of physical output, how much revenue it generates in the
production. Thus, the wage, working culture, safety issues, are fixed
by the amount of revenue generated through the physical output.
It is seen that the labour due to poor bargaining power don’t demand much
for their efforts.
In social ground the labour is the subject of welfare because it is related
with the labourer. It is the prime duty of the government to en sure the
right, welfare and safety of the labourer. Therefore, Government makes
laws, policies and schemes to protect the right of the labourer. However, it
is not possible to bring each labourer under the Government’s protection
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122 i.e., organized sector and unorganized sector. Let’s see what unorganized
and organized sectors in labour market are.
The organized sectors are those sectors which are regulated by the
Government’s labour norms, laws and who are provided with guaranteed,
secure and regular employment. The organized sectors comprised of those
institutions, establishments and enterprises that are govern by certain rule
and regulation. These rules and regulations are certainl y formulated by
Government bodies. Broadly the organized sectors are divided into :
1. Public sector - that encompasses occupation and service sectors run
under central Government, State government and local government.
2. Private sectors which are abide by the Government rules and
regulation of CSWI 1974.
Whereas the unorganized sectors comprise small groups, which are
scattered and less noticeable. They are not regulated under the government
control in relation to their employees. The jobs are insecure , and low paid.
The main differences between the organized and unorganized sectors are
given below
Organized Sectors:
1. It comprises enterprises, companies, government undertaking, where
the employments are secured and regular.
2. The sector runs under the go vernment rules and regulations. These
rules and regulations are subject to secure the right of the employees.
3. The employees in organized sectors are having fixed working hours
and they get extra money, incentives, bonus for their overtime work
and good pe rformance.
4. The employees also get social security's like pension, medical
facilities, paid leave, compassionate jobs etc.
5. There is the provision for fixed salary for different kinds of jobs.
Unorganized Sectors:
1. It comprises small units of production, w here the employments are
not secured and regular.
2. They are regulated outside the government control.
3. The employees work in unfixed working hours and do not get extra
salary for overtime.
4. The employees are not entitled for social security benefits.
5. There is no fixed salary for the job. There is no provision for the
promotion.
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123 Check your progress:
1. How does the labour issues are related with the social affairs?
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2. What are the differences between organized and unorganized sectors in
labour market?
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10.4 LABOUR IN ORGANIZED SECTORS In recent years the labour market operates in different condition. Take the
example of covid situation in which the whole work force has s hown
radical change. So are the ways in which markets are organized and
regulated by the Government. For example, the pension schemes, nature
of work that is shifting to contractual jobs rather than regular jobs. In
Indian context, increase in population , surge in unproductive liabilities due
to facilitating social security like pension etc. has influenced the
Government to take drastic action towards labour market in order to
ensure labour rights. We can also see that how the globalization, and
industria lization have precluded immense opportunities in the private
sectors.
At this background, the government labour policies and laws for
controlling the private sector in the matter of its employees is quite
challenging. In present context, the labour in or ganized sectors can be
understood in two ways:
1. Government’s planning for formal economy:
Government rules and regulations works at the base in organized sector.
As it is already mentioned that Government controls the organized sectors.
However, a basic change has been noticed, in the execution of
Government’s planning for organized sectors, Like, increase in contractual
services, decline in patron - client labour relation, pension reforms,
privatization of Government undertakings etc. These are some of t he
examples of Government’s crucial decisions, which has been taken up, to
strengthen the formal economy. The increased competition between the
government sectors and private sectors for better performance has created
immense pressure on Government. It si mply means that, there is a radical
shift in Government planning to ensure better productivity with less
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124 government social liabilities like education, health, are also influencing
the rec ent change in the planning of informal economy.
2. Government’s role in informal economy:
The predominance of the informal economy that awfully restructuring due
to growing commercialization in urban and rural economy, increasing pity
businesses, establi shment of small -scale industries, globalization, increase
in E-commerce have opened unlimited areas for the informal economy. At
the same time, it has put tough challenge before Government to ensure the
benefits of the labourers. In response to that, gover nment has changed its
policies to that of inclusive and sustainable development strategies. But
that is not enough, and government must take fundamentally major
decisions to build a strong, forceful controlling base to establish a firm
formal economy count ry wide.
In recent years the government’s responsibility has increased a lot to
establish formal economic environment in both the se5ctors. The
challenges are going to be furthermore in coming years because
predominance of informal economy will grow in ra pid rate. So, we must
prepare and ready to accept drastic changes, going to happen in the
Government’s planning.
10.5 SOME ORGANIZED SECTORS OF INDIA The organized sector of India can be divided into two categories
1. The public sector and
2. Private sector.
However, in comparison to the unorganized sector the organized sector of
India is not that much diverse and complex. In recent year, Government’s
policies in organized sectors have changes. Government has not only
winded up the area of organized sectors, but also introduce new policies
like more strict recruitment rules, pension schemes, expansion of the
benefit of the reservation, etc. In view of the changing steps taken by the
Government it is essential to look at some of the important organize d
sectors of India, for better understanding of the work culture and
government’s role in the organized sectors.
1. Women’s contribution in organized sectors:
It is desirable to discuss women’s part in organized sector. Before detail
discussion it is wort hy to mention that how the organized sector is giving
extra care to the women employee. Although, male and female employees
in any organized sectors are not discriminated at the ground of sex so they
are treated equally in recruitment, promotion, salary et c. But there are
some provisions for the female employees that have been executed due to
their special placemat workplace. The Maternity leave for six months,
provision for childcare leave, creches etc. Laws are enacted like the
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125 Redressal), Act 2013 for ensuring a healthy and secured working
environment for women staffs.
As of now, Women’s participation in all the organized sectors have been
growing continuously over a decade. In some of t he sectors they are the
most preferred employees like education, nursing, banking, hospitality,
manufacturing, community, personal and social services etc.
Although, Government has taken exclusive steps for providing
comfortable working environment for th e women, yet it failed in some
areas like:
1. Unequal salary
2. Lack of training, skill development program for the women
3. Lack of facilities for the women, like creches, common room.
4. Sexual harassment
5. Lack of awareness about the laws and regulation related to women.
6. Job insecurity.
2. Employment in Organized Sectors:
For some years the employment in organized sectors is gradually
declining. It is seen that the employment in public sectors is lesser in
number than in the private sectors. The public sectors comp rise of all
sectors that is controlled either by the state government or central
government. Thus, the public sectors comprise of four different parts i.e.,
the state government, the central government, quasi government and local
bodies. Whereas the priva te sectors encompass all the legally entitled
industries, firms and companies which are duly follow the rules and
regulation, enacted by the Government. Further, they take responsibility of
welfare, safety and benefits of their workers under the strong hol d of
labour union. The labour union play vital role in collective bargain and
building up a cordial environment and confidence among the workers. In
fact, the employment in organized sectors goes parallelly with the private
sectors and public sectors. And the public sector is more preferred than
the private sector, yet the private sectors are more promising to the job
seekers than the public sectors.
In nutshell the overall employment generation in organised sectors is very
poor. The poor performance of t he organized sectors can be understood by
looking at the contribution of this sectors in GDP, social change, job trend
among youth.
Regretfully, the organized sectors could not meet the aspirations of the
unemployed people of the country. Even the develop ment policies of the
Government never took the organized sectors very seriously. Instead of
making effective policies for the organized sector, the government is
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126 commercialization. Cons equently, within the organized sectors, some
elements of unorganized sectors are slowing penetrating.
10.6 LABOUR IN UNORGANIZED SECTORS In recent years we have been seeing that how decline in the government
patronaged labour market (privatization of th e government sectors),
increase in the commercialization in rural economy, increase in the small -
scale industries, private companies, increase in monetization, and negative
employment elasticity in organized sector, altogether, led to a progressive
casuali zation of labour force. Even in the private sector there is too much
competition, along with increase in market opportunities, but at the same
time limited resources have resulted into informal economy.
Thus, the ground reasons for the expansion of the un organized area have
incorporated a long list of sectors like, home -based workers,
unincorporated private enterprises, self -employed workers, waged
workers, it also includes the labourers, working on organized sectors but
are not coming under the effects of labour laws like payment of Gratuity
Act, 1972, Maternity Benefit Act 1961,Employees Compensation Act,
1923, Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provision Act,
1952.
Even though it has a wide coverage area in the labour market yet, it is
treated as the most trivial resource in the economy. That’s why it does not
get proper attention from the public authorities. Ultimately such ignorance
becomes the reason of socio -economic problems of the mass. It should
always be taken into consideration that the unorganized sector generates a
large size of employment and take part in a big proportion of the total Net
Domestic product (NDP) in Indian economy.
The unorganized sector really needs proper concern because:
1. The socio -economic condition of the workers of unorganized sector is
not good. They are deprived of social security benefits, basic
employment benefits (medical leave, fixed working hours, promotion
etc.), with uncertain and low wage.
2. The unorganized sectors are witnessing the casualization of work force
and it is increasing in rapid rate. The term casualization means the
workers are hired in a casual way in which their working hours,
wages, leave are uncertain.
3. Women’s contributions are more than the male in the unorganized
sectors. The children a re also engaged in unorganized sector.
4. The greater share of workers in India are working in unorganized
sectors. And they play important role in the Indian economy.
5. For better social and economic condition of the country it is necessary
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127 6. It is also seen that over a period the condition of the workers gets
deteriorated due to, long working hours, unhealthy working
environment, poverty and indebtedness.
7. Majority of the scheduled tribes, sche duled caste, and backward class
workers are engaged in the unorganized sector. The workers of these
classes also face social discrimination.
10.7 SOME UNORGANIZED SECTORS OF INDIA Based on number of worker’s engagement in various industries, the
importan t unorganized sectors are - agriculture, mining, manufacturing,
construction, wholesale and retail trade. Some of the sectors like
household workers, hotel and restaurant, construction and agriculture are
important from the social point of view because in t hese sectors female
contribution are more than the male. Not only that the children are also
engaged in these sectors. The unorganized sectors are too much growing
due to demand of the work force in the small industries, firms, enterprises
etc. due to comm ercialization and globalization. Government is also
concern about the protection of unorganized workers. Since this sector
cover a huge area that’s why on 26th August 2021 ‘eSharam’ has been
lunched, for the registration of the unorganized workers across the country
for developing the National Database of the country. This Database will be
helpful for delivering welfare program to the workers of unorganized
sectors. The Aam Admi BeemaYojna is implemented by the Government
of India to provide social securit y to the unorganized workers. The senior
citizens of the unorganized sectors are entitled for Pradhan Mantri Shram
Yogi MaanDhaanYojna, MGNREGA, Swarn Jayanti Shahri Rozgar
Yojna, Atal pension Yojna. However, the helping amount is miniscule, but
will give long reaching result. Here are some of the sectors under
unorganized sector that, are important to discuss for deeper understanding
of the condition of work force.
1. Women and child workers in unorganized sector:
There are many noticeable areas like mi ning, agriculture, construction,
pity business houses where bulk of workforce are required and that too at
least wages. In these areas the employers try to hire women and children
because they are negotiable at low wage, easily controllable and these
areas do not require skilled workers. Profit making is another interest of
the employers where they give less wage to the women and children than
to the mentor the same work. Even the urbanization pushes the women
and children into unorganized sectors. The wom en and girls work as
domestic helper in township, the boys work in hotels, garage, small firms
and industries, brick kilning etc.
2. Unorganized Manufacturing Industries:
The wave of industrialization has hit to India long back. With few
industries reserv ed for the public sector, a long list of industries has
opened in unorganized sector. In India the regional manufacturing munotes.in

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128 industries are concentrated in few states like, Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat,
Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Secondly, these manufacturing industries
require enough work force. Thus, imbalanced regional growth of
manufacturing industries and bulk need of work force create a viscous
network of unorganized sector that pull the mass labour force at certain
geographical area. Due to globalizatio n and commercialization the
manufacturing industries are showing variation in quantity and types.
Therefore, there are more than two manufacturing units are established for
one item and that too at same state. As a result, labour migration is the
major con cern in manufacturing sector. Secondly people migrate from
rural areas and live at the mercy of the employers. Their vulnerability
further exposed because they belong to poor economic states and show
poor bargaining status both. Child labour in these manu facturing units is
not exceptional.
3. Agriculture:
India is an agriculturist country. More than half of the population of the
country is living in the villages where the chief livelihood is agriculture.
The area of agriculture needs enough labour. Some o f the states like
Panjab, Hariyana, Uttar Pradesh hire labourers from states like Jharkhand,
Bihar, Orissa, etc. because the requirements of worker do not fulfil locally.
This is the most unchecked informal sectors of India because the migrant
labourers go with their family and the whole family including children
work as a labour. They work day and night and get the final payment
when the work finishes. So, they work on contract.
Check your progress:
1. Why do social and economic protection in needed in u norganized
sectors?
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10.8 SUMMARY The organized and unorganized sectors are the two main poles of labour
market. On one hand the organized sector gives security, safety, good
salary and ensures labour rights of t heir employees. Whereas the
unorganized sectors earn the profits at the coast of exploitation of their
labour. They are treated as a commodity. Due to globalization,
privatization, commercialization the areas of organized sectors are
reducing and at double speed the areas of unorganized sectors are
expanding. This unequal growth of both the sectors are disturbing the
economic growth of the country as well as disturbing the social harmony.
We cannot stop the wave of globalization and privatization but throu gh
strict regulations and welfare planning's the government can mitigate the
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Labour in Organized and Unorganized Sector
129 10.9 QUESTIONS 1. What steps a Government can take to check the freewill activities of
informal sectors?
2. Describe the factors of the preva lence of informal sectors despite
having uncertainties, and unprotected working conditions?
3. Why do the organized sectors are preferred in labour market?
4. Why the agriculture sector could not be overcome from the periphery
of unorganized labour market cond ition?
10.10 REFERENCES  K. Pushpangadan, V.N. Balasubramanyam, Growth, Development
and Diversity: India’s Record Since Liberalization, OUP, New Delhi,
2012
 Mark Holmstrom, Industry and Inequality: Social Anthropology of
India Labour,Oriental Longman, New D elhi, 1985
 Arjun K Sengupta, Report on Conditions of Work and promotion of
Livelihoods in the Unorganized Sectors, Academic Foundation, New
Delhi,2008
 Dipak Majumdar and Sandip Sarkar, Globalization, Labour Market
and Inequality in India, Routledge Publica tion, 2000
 ShujitUchikawa, Labour Market and Institution in India: 1990s and
Beyond, Manohar Press, New Delhi, 2003.


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130 11
ISSUES OF WOMAN AND CHILD LABOUR
Unit Structure
11.0 Objectives
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Women at Work in Twentieth and Twenty First Century
11.3 Women in Urban Labour Market
11.4 Women in Rural Labour Market
11.5 Women Labour Issues and Remedial Meas ures
11.6 Child Labour and Informal Sector
11.7 Child Labour, Some Issues and Remedies
11.8 Summary
11.9 Questions
11.10 References
11.0 OBJECTIVE S  To Overview of the working condition of vulnerable and minor
section of the society .
 To know the contrib ution of women in the labour market .
 To understand child labour .
 To understanding the working condition of women and child in labour
market .
11.1 INTRODUCTION The women and child are the two very vulnerable section of the society.
On one hand the women are the social and cultural base of domestic
affairs, on the other hand a child has a minority position in the family.
Both the sections of the society hold sensitive place in any social structure.
That’s why they are more exposed to outer world and needed ex tra care
and protection. Due to male dominant society the women around the
world, easily get exploited. In very worse situation women don’t feel safe
even at their homes. The same is in the case with children because they are
physically and mentally too yo ung to understand the dark realities of outer
world and an easy prey in the hands of exploitative people. Owning to
minor position at their abode, they face psychological issues, physical
violence etc. For maintaining the positive environment of the socie ty, the
position of the women and children must ensure in safe and respectful
manner. It is also necessary for the development of a country to make a
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131 At this background, the data reveal by the UNICEF regarding t he position
of children in India is quite alarming. The data says, over half the children
in India are victim of abuse. Leave the puzzling figures of data for a
minute and look at the surrounding that is horrendous so far the children
are concern because o ne must have noticed exploited and unsafe children
(in respect of their health, education, nutrition, shelter, and emotional
development)at home, school, park, railway station, hotels, garage,
footpath, slum areas, road signals etc. The most concerned issu e of
children today is related with their treatment as a labour. Due to
urbanization and commercialization, they are forced by their family
member as a labour where they live at greater risk of human right
violation.
The women also face similar problems. Even after so many efforts for
women empowerment, the women are still in the devalued position in the
society. This bitter reality is easily noticeable through newspaper
headlines, domestic violence, sexual and physical harassment, sexual
harassment at wor kplace, identity -based gender violence etc. Similarly,
there is a general perception about a women that the condition of the
unemployed women is awful because they are dependent on their male
relatives for protection and support. Whereas the position of th e working
women is better. But it is half -truth because employment is not the only
cure for the problem of the women because the condition of the working
women is worse because they face many gender relation problems at
workplace and at home too.
11.2 WOM EN IN THE ROLE OF LABOUR IN TWEINTTH CENTURY AND THWEINTY FIRST
CENTURY After the independence, India had undergone fundamental structural
alternations, which targeted at being liberated from decades of colonial
despotism. The need to speed up country econ omic growth at the level of
developed world, emphasisedon appropriate macroeconomic policies, and
institutions for the promotion of eminent sectors, that would enable overall
growth of the economy. At the background of decolonization, India had
come up wit h twofold economic structure - first, a backword and
traditional agriculture -based subsistence economy and second, industrial
based economy.
In comparison to economic growth the women contribution was trifling
and remain below the actual strength. it was t he time when India had to
resolve problem of many important things that a country require for its
development like economy, education, living standard, defence etc. in
such situation woman's role was limited to household affairs only.
Woman’s role was see n as a mother and wife who should perform
domestic duties. And if situation permits then she could play the role of
unskilled and low paid labour. During twentieth century the woman was
prevented from fundamental rights like education, equality, etc. Apart
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132 discrimination, sati system, gender -based violence. The country has
experienced woman’s role in the economy especially in the mid -seventies
that too in the selective sectors like hea lth care industries, education,
agriculture, manufacturing industries, construction, government jobs.
Entry of the woman in the labour market has initiated without any
renegotiation with the domestic role. So, they were fully responsible for
most of the ho usehold works. The dual role of the women has constrained
the time and energy and discouraged them to be the part of active labour
market. However, they could perform the new role very successfully. This
has also become the reason of their backwardness and vulnerability in near
future.
The Indian Government lunched various programs to encourage women to
participate in labour economy. In this regard the education in women play
significant role. Despite government efforts, women’s contribution in
labour mark et could not give satisfactory result. Society’s gender -based
culture and perception are far more influential factors that supersedes the
external factors such as government promotional programs in the case of
women’s engagement in labour market. In fact, during twentieth century
women’s contribution in labour market was more related to the social
issue than the gender issue.
The main features of the women labour in twentieth century are as
follows:
1. Participation in the selective sectors only.
2. Very low participation
3. The slow rate of industrialization and absence of globalization,
resulted into less participation
4. Women’s participation in traditional economy is more than in non -
traditional economy, like in agriculture, there was a customary
acceptance by the society.
5. Unequal wages in the informal labour market
With the advent of twenty first century, the attitude towards woman’s
earning and their employment prospective have changed. It was due to two
main reasons: - first, globalization, industrialization , commercialization,
and structural economic reforms. Second overall changed perception of
society towards women, education and need of women’s contribution in
family economy. The women’s own choice for their future has
tremendously changed. They go to hig her education and professional
courses with expectation of earning at the same time preference for
marriage and family has become secondary. These changes in attitude and
expectation are supported by other factors like, positive social
environment, workpla ce protection, major government laws for working
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133 In comparison to the twentieth century the gap in labour force between the
women and the men have reduced. No doubt that women get jobs nearly
equal to men, but it is also true that very few of them reached to higher
position. Secondly, they are mostly engaged in unorganized sector because
most of them are unskilled and untrained. Due to male dominant society,
parents give preference to boys than to girls for jobs. It is seen that the
enrolment number of the girls in schools and colleges have excessively
increased but so far, the participation in work force in concerned it is very
less. Because of two main reasons: -first, those sectors that could provide
women centric jobs are less in number. Se cond, social norms that
determines the role of a woman continues to affect the desirable outcome.
In private organized sector, there is a clear -cut gap of employment
between man and woman, no matter both show same experience, and
background. Although, a go od sign of progress appears, in the quality of
works, that is increase in number from casual worker to salaried worker.
This progress is because of education (basic and professional both) that
shows self -confidence and self -reliance.
Here are some strikin g points of the women workforce in the twenty
first century:
1. The number of women participations has increased.
2. The women participation rate is slow in comparison to increase in job
opportunities
3. The family responsibility is important factor of slow rate of
participation
4. Very few women succeed to get the top rank in the job.
5. The women labour force is mostly untrained and unskilled.
6. High -rate growth in literacy and professional knowledge increase the
women participation in salaried employment, making them
economically free.
11.3 WOMEN IN URBAN LABOUR MARKET The gender gap in labour market is universal. The status of women
participation in labour market in urban areas is quite diversified because
different types of jobs are available in urban area. Based on nature of
work, the women workforce in urban area can be divided into organized
sector (public and private sectors), and unorganized sector, Full time, and
part time, regular and irregular.
In urban areas, it is seen that women participation are more i n the informal
sector that too in a low income, and low productivity. This is because they
are comparatively physically weak, less educated, and low skilled than the
male. The social biasness against women and family and cultural
restrictions are some reas ons behind that. The second thing about the
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134 manufacturing companies as a subcontractor. Working in lower position
denies the minimum wages, job security etc. the large firms purposely
recruit women to avoid the extra burden, that for minimising additional
cost. Surprisingly most of the women obliged towards the employers
because they have the responsibility to supplement the family earning and
because they have no better option since they a re unskilled. Quite often,
women are the only earning member of their family.
Two trends are crucial to highlight in present context first,
industrialization is the backbone of urban economy. second, urbanization
emerged around huge migrant population tha t create viscus network of
services, jobs, predominantly of informal economy. The women in this
economic structure engaged in two distinguished strata first, casual worker
in domestic services, retailing and manufacturing sectors, second,
professional and skilled, employed and self employed like doctors,
engineers, lawyers, teachers, IT experts, government servants.
11.4 WOMEN IN RURAL LABOUR MARKET The rural economy of India has come under various changes, due to
shifting from traditional sectors (agricu lture) to the modern sectors
(industrial). There are several factors that have brought changes in rural
economy. For the past five six decades, the industrial and commercial
based economy are engulfing the rural areas. No doubt, the
commercialization of ru ral regions, globalization and industrialization play
big role in shaping the rural economy. Keeping the major factors at the
back of the analysis for deciphering the responsible reasons for changing
paradigm of the rural economy, two things are important to note down.
1. Outer factors: The globalization, industrialization and
commercialization that influence the rural economy. The surge in
migration, urbanization is the result of outer factors.
2. Inner factors: increasing pressure in agriculture, expansion of market
in rural area, rise in literacy, is some of the examples of inner factor.
Both these factors collectively cause structural changes in rural economy.
For the past one decade it is noticed that the male member of the family
does not want to stay at home and do their traditional work i.e.,
agriculture. The rate of migration of the males to urban areas, has created
a women centric agriculture sector. Apparently, the women in rural labour
market can be understood through agriculture because farming sect or is
the base of all the economic activities of rural economy. The women are
mostly engaged in agriculture, and it has further increased because men
are less keen towards agriculture. According to National Survey Sample
Office (NSSO), there has been an in crease of women in agriculture sector
in 15 major states of India. The women in this sector engaged in all the
works related to agriculture like unpaid family worker, casual worker,
farmer. The impact of women’s engagement in agriculture sector is
affectin g to their wellbeing. Agriculture is the poor and least productive
sector of India. Not only that, the increase in wage in agriculture is very munotes.in

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135 low in compared to any other non -agriculture sector. Altogether, these
factors give deep negative impact on the e conomic condition of rural
women.
The change in economic activities also suggests that less women are
engaged in the employment sector. The factors that are affecting the
women’s evolvement in labour market are: education and feminization of
agriculture. Most of the women in rural areas are illiterate and unskilled
therefore they don’t get job in service sector. The flip side of the women’s
condition in the market is that, educated women are less employed than
the uneducated women since they don’t want to work on low wage and
agriculture sector. So, more poor who are less educated too, are more
inclined towards labour market than the women from good income earner
family. Because they could bargain for better salary due to their sound
economic position. Ho wever, in rural areas, after the agriculture sector,
the illiterate, less educated, poor and unskilled women give preference to
construction sector due to higher wage than the agriculture sector.
whereas, the literate and skilled women go to service sector s. One more
tendency have been seen in the unskilled rural women that, in the off -peak
months they tend to engage as a wage labourer to nearby towns and within
village.
Overall, the women of rural labour market are more vulnerable towards
low wage, and va rious kinds of exploitation. In this regard, MGNREGA
program works like a life saver to the rural people specially to the rural
women.
11.5 WOMEN LABOUR ISSUES AND REMEDIAL MEASURES In current time the women employment challenges are tougher because of
huge growth in industrialization and globalization, the unable the
government body to control over labour market. The serious concern over
the women labour is laying on the fact that, gender disparities both in
nature of work and reward of work is continue. As it is already discussed
that how women in labour market are discriminately taken. According to
the report of Initiative for What Works Advance Women and Girls in the
Economy (IWWAGE) gives an disturbing data which says that
approximately 71% women in u rban area and 58% women in rural area
are casually involved in economy which simply means that they are
engaged in work without written contract. Further, the case of salaried
women is devastating because half of them do not get paid leave and any
social s ecurity.
With all the above discussion, women labour issues can broadly be
categories into twofold:
1. It is related with social issues
2. It is pertaining to economic issues. munotes.in

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136 For last few decades, India has overcome from the major women centric
social proble ms. So far, the woman labour is concerned, risein women
literacy rate has brought multiple changes, like people’s non -conventional
perception towards women, increased women’s opportunities in labour
market, late marriage is acceptable. However, the problem s from the
economic sector like inequal salary, uncomfortable working place for
women, lack of gender sensitization, lack of social security are persistently
present in labour market. Thus, even though the society’s attitude has
changed a lot but the view of labour market towards women has remained
the same. Therefore, although society is very positive on gender equality,
but the economic atmosphere is not reciprocating at same wavelength. As
a result, we see low rate of women participation in labour market , despite
high rate of growth in industrialization and commercialization.
Let us, discuss on the economic and social loss caused owing to low rate
of women participation in labour market. The role of a women in
economic growth cannot be ignored because th eir presence in urban and
rural economy is irreplaceable. Women participation in labour market
iscrucial because it gives economic freedom that is essential for women
empowerment. Further, inclusive gender participation in labour market
will fill the gap o f unequal economic growth of man and woman. The
policy maker must design a policy that would solve gender -based issue of
labour market. Secondly, it is very necessary to give relaxation and
flexibility in working hours or working days along with facilities at
workplace. Such measures are helpful in raising the participation rate of
women in labour market. Thirdly, Government shall strictly implement
minimum wage policy in informal sector. Apart from that, Government
shall also ensure minimum social security for their employee.
In recent years the Government of India has taken some initiative in view
of providing social safety for the informal labourers. First, the mention of
e-SHRAM, a government portal is important to note. It has initiated in the
year 201 9-2020, with an aim to know the number of workers working in
informal sector. This portal will enable government machinery to
understand the quantitative condition of informal sector of the labour
market. ‘Working women’ centric policies are limited to so cial problems
only. like prevention of sexual harassment at workplace, restriction on
night duty to women worker, etc. In this regard the reference of
MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act, 2005) program is mentioned worthy. This program is launched to
give a guaranteed employment for 100 days in a year to the very poor or
dire needy rural population. This Act, backups the framework of right to
work. This program is important for the unskilled manual labourer,
mandating that work i s provided locally. It reserves at least one third of
the workdays to women workers, also give childcare provision to women
who having kids under 6 years of age. Thus, MGNREGA reduces gender
disparity in labour market, and empower rural women.

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137 Check you r progress:
1. Why the women’s participation in the rural labour market is reducing
despite increase in the economic growth rates of India?
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2. Describe the deference between women in labour market in 21st century
and 20th century.
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11.6 CHILD LABOUR AND INFORMAL SECTOR Child labour is the inhuman act against civilized world, and a most
pathetic example of the violation of human rights. As the term suggest
child labour mea ns child is hired for work. Child labour means children
who are hired for work at the age of 15 years or below 15 years, deprived
them from education and opportunity to mental physical development is
called child labour. Thus, the minimum age at which a c hild can start
work is decided at 15 so that the compulsory schooling age would be
maintained. According to ILO (1983), “Child labour includes children
prematurely leading adulteries, working long hours for low wages under
condition damaging to their healt h and to their physical and mental
development, sometimes separated from their families frequently deprived
of meaningful education and training opportunities that would open for
them a better future.” Hence, child labour in any work within or outside
the purview of the family that threatens the physical and mental
development of the child by denying him or her fundamental and non -
fundamental rights. It is important to mention here that though the
nomenclature of ‘child labour’ and ‘child worker’ used inter changeably
but there is a slight difference in the meaning of both. The term child
labour purely applied in the case of earning whereas child work denotes to
work that child perform without any earning purpose.
Child labour is an absolute criminal act tow ards a child because, he is
working beyond his physical capacity, and at a developmental period of
his life, which preventing him from education, creativity, recreation, and
affection. In India child labour exists due to poverty, illiteracy, large
family, death of bread earner, unemployment, globalization, expansion of
informal sector, ignorance, lack of social protection, low income of the
family, child as a cheap labour, bad habits of a family’s beard earner,
inequality, cultural expectation etc. In Indi a there are some specific munotes.in

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138 characteristics that determines the structure of child labour like the caste,
religion, sex, ethnicity etc.
In economic sphere child labour is the product of informal sector. Since
the formal sector is abide by government rule an d regulations. Child
labour is not a new problem and is a universal phenomenon but in recent
years, the problem has severely worsened because of globalization,
commercialization of rural areas, privatization, and industrialization. Since
this economic revo lution has caused huge demand for workforce that
could not fulfil by the adult labourers only. The employers also find child
labour as a profitable business. Above all, the government surveillance
over the unregistered and unorganized sectors is poor. Most of the time the
employers hide the actual age of children. In this way the child labour is
flourishing and accepted popular in labour market.
This is true that child labour is accommodated in the agriculture and
informal sector, but not all the sectors o f informal economy recruit child
as a labour. There are certain basic conditions that favour child labour like
industries that require less physical work, unskilled labour and completely
manual works like brick kiln, fireworks, garment industries, agricult ure,
unorganized sectors like tea shop, dhabas, small shops, carpet industries,
construction, stone quarries, personal servants etc. The structural
configuration of the child labour in rural and urban areas are different. In
rural areas the children are mo stly engaged in the agriculture sector as a
labour, and cultivator. Whereas in urban area the children are contributing
to various household industries. According to census 2011, the child
labour in rural area has decrease but increased in urban areas. Thi s simply
indicates that, demand of labour in informal sectors have increased.
Further, it uncovers the very fact of proximity between the informal sector
and child labour.
11.7 CHILD LABOUR, SOME ISSUES AND REMEDIES Child labour is a deep -rooted economic problem of India. The ‘deep
rooted problem’ simply means, it is socially and culturally accepted in the
society due to poverty. As per census report 2011, Uttar Pradesh has the
largest number of child labour which is followed by Bihar, Rajasthan, and
Mahar ashtra.
This is vital issue for a healthy social environment because child labour
damages the mental and physical growth of one generation who will create
a dark side of a society if they live. Here are some important issues that
are the consequences of the child labour:
1. Child labour and adult unemployment:
Children contribution in labour market is always at the cost of adult
unemployment. This drives the labour market into unstable status and
unequal growth. unemployed youth is a big socio -economic p roblem of
any country. In such case improper and illegal recruitment of children for munotes.in

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139 vested interest of the employee disturbed the economic and social
condition of a country.
2. The health hazardous condition:
Child labour adversely affect the physical growth of a child. Sometime too
much physical labour led to physically disabled growth. This also reduce
their life span. It is also noticed that the health problems persist in
psychological level too.
3. Female working child:
This is another issue of ch ild labour. No doubt child labour equally affects
the mental and physical growth of the girl and boy. But female working
child are more exploited than the boys. In the Indian social background,
where the boys are preferred more than the girls, invariably l ed gender
biasness.
4. Illiterate society:
Education is compulsory for children upbringing. It develops cognation
power, logic, common sense, and mental ability of a child. Child labour
strongly prevent them from right to education. It is also a violatio n of
human right.
5. Juvenile crime:
The child labour provides favourable condition for the criminal activities.
During working hours, they don’t get love and care rather they are treated
inhumanly. This kind of atmosphere induce them towards criminal
activities. Sometimes they are provoked by their adult co -worker to
commit crime.
6. Human trafficking:
This is one of the most severe consequences of child labour. Children are
trafficked for human organ, prostitution, child solider, drugs trafficking,
beggaring, bounded labour etc.
7. Encourage social issues like drug abuse, violence:
The children are working in socially and economically unprotected
atmosphere. They learn many things which is self -destructive for them.
For vested interest adult ea sily make them their prey and indulge them into
violence, and addiction of drugs.
8. Psychological problem:
Children sometimes work in violence atmosphere. They also suffer from
physically and mentally harassment which develop mental illness like
nyctoph obia, lack of confidence, trauma, depression, guilt, anxiety,
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140 The stable economic growth, universal education, social security, welfare
state, standard labour laws, public sensitiveness, are some of the important
measures that would help in the curtailment of child labour. In this regard
the Government show serious concern on the child labour through Acts
and convergence and programs
1. Child Labour Amendment (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986,
2. the Right to Education Act 2009
3. National Child Labour Scheme that provides educational
rehabilitation for the rescued child labour,
4. Convergence of scheme of different Ministries so that child labour
and their family get the benefits from the ministries, like Women and
Child Develo pment, Urban Housing and Poverty Alleviation, Rural
Development, Human Resource Development etc.
Check your progress:
1. What is child labour? Why do the informal sector suffer from child
labour?
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11.8 SUMMARY Woman and child are the two important and most sensitive part of a
society. They form a vulnerable part in labour market. On one hand the
child labour is illegal and most devastating crime against a humanity. On
the other hand, the women play vital role in e conomy. But both these
human resources are highly prone to exploitation. It is not only the
Government concern but for the society it is matter of high attention. A
true economic growth can only be achieved when a fair means of earning
prevail in the natio n in which profit should be gain at the price of human
values and human welfare.
11.9 QUESTIONS 1. What are the economic and social issues drive from the child labour?
2. What is the condition of women in urban labour market?
3. Why is agriculture sector of India becoming women centric?
4. What are the consequences of unequal gender participation in labour
market?
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Issues of Woman and Child Labour
141 11.10 REFERENCES  Deepita Chakravarty and Isita Chakravarty, Women, Labour and the
Economy in India,Routledge, New Delhi, 2016
 Asha Bajpai, Child Rights i n India: Law, Policy and Practice, OUP,
New Delhi, 2006
 S. Sundari, Migrant Women and Urban Labour Market: Concepts and
Case Studies, Problems, Gains and Losses, Deep & Deep Publication,
2007
 Balwant Singh Mehta & Ishwar Chandra Awasthi, Women and
Labour M arket Dynamics: New Insights and Evidence, Springer, New
Delhi, 2019
 Usha Sharma, Child Labour in India, Mittal Publication, 2006


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142 12
IMPACT OF LIBRALIZATION,
PRIVATIZATION AND GLOBALIZATION
Unit Structure
12.0 Objective s
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Concept of Liberalization and its Salient Features
12.3 Impact of Liberalization
12.4 Concept of Privatization and its Important Character istics
12.5 Impact of Privatization
12.6 Concept of Globalization and its Important Features
12.7 Impact of Globalization
12.8 Impact of LPG on India
12.9 Summary
12.10 Questions
12.11 References
12.0 OBJECTIVE S  To Overview the liberalization, privatization, and globalization
 To understand the impact of liberalization, privatization, and
globalization
 To understand the salient features of liberalization, privatization, and
globalization
12.1 INTRODUCTION The term liberalization, privatization and globalization are telling the
different phases of economic ideological growth of a country. The
economy is the exchange of money, through the transactions of goods and
services between various sectors, abide by Government policies and
programs. In fact, the liberalization, privatization, and globalization
inform about Government’s stand on economy. It simply means how does
the Government want its economy should run. While making any decision
on which an economy pursue its activities need great care. Since before
taking any such policy decision, Government studies the strength and
weakness of its resources, capabilities and so on. Thus, liberalization,
privatization and globalization are various conceptual policy designs tha t
exclusively guide and direct the economic structure of a country. On that
basis, Government run the economy of a country.
The economic policies could be understood through the economic history
of the world that can be divided into two major periods viz. colonial munotes.in

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143 period and post -colonial period. The colonial period denotes to the era of
new world, that had witnessed, industrialization, long maritime trade,
renaissance, and establishment of colonies by the European countries.
After the colonial period the third world has entered post -colonial period
that brought political, social, and economic changes in these countries.
Several transformations have taken place in the post -colonial period that
too at the pace of pre -colonial economic structure.
We could al so notice the transformative waves in independent India. Just
after the independence the country’s leaders have given more stress on the
establishment of self -reliant economy. However, the growth of industries
was not compromised at the cost of traditional and sustainable agriculture
sector. The post -colonial economy emerged as a modern global economy
that advocated establishment of huge industries, mining, and
manufacturing. The agriculture, small scale industries, and cottage
industries are some of the tr aditional economic sectors, that equally
promoted paralleled to the modern economic sectors. The equal weightage
was purposely given in the beginning of the economic planning of
independent India since more than half of the Indian population are living
in the rural areas and are depended on agriculture. It was also a bitter fact
about the economy of independent India that, the British economic
policies were created a headwind atmosphere for India. Thus, it has
become next to impossible for the newly elected Government to take
hawkish policy decision.
Although, major investments were done in the field of industries, but it
could not give desirable result. On the other hand, the slow response of the
agriculture sector, altogether brought low GDP, and per capi ta income.
Consequently, in the 80s and 90s various policies were precluded for the
sake of modernization, diversification of the industries (capital goods
industries and consumer goods industries), attractive atmosphere for
public investment domestic and foreign both, reduction of extra load on
agriculture sector, self -reliance, etc. It has opened doors to private sectors,
gave flexibility to foreign investment etc. This reforming step has
reckoned the era of liberalization. In the history of India this b asic
reforming policies has divided the post -colonial economy into pre -
liberalization (1947 to 1990) and liberalization period (1991 onwards).
Through the lens of major reform policy, we can see basic changes in
Indian economy like:
1. Increased foreign inves tment
2. Increased job opportunities
3. Created competitive atmosphere among domestic and international
production houses
The process of liberalization implemented with the three reformation
policies viz. Liberalization, privatization, and globalization (LPG). I t
enabled Indian economy to get easy access to world economy and vice -
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144 Before detail discussion on the LPG, it is pertinent to look at the
characteristics of Indian economy which is as follows:
1. Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy :
Most of the Indian population live in village and agriculture is their staple
livelihood. Even after passing of more than 75years of independence the
main source of livelihood of Indians are agriculture. Counting few of the
states of India as a rich agricultur al producers and technically advanced
cultivators, rest of the states have poor production record. After the green
revolution in India in the year 1980 registered good result but it was slow
in progression rate. However still Indian economy is an agricultu rist
economy.
2. The huge human resource and land :
India is the second most populated country in the world that give
favourable condition to the Indian economy. However, lack of trained and
skill labours are the problem of Indian human resource. Same is the case
with land which are either unused or improperly used.
3. Urbanization:
In recent years two trends are very clearly visible in the urbanization
process of India. First -new areas are coming in the periphery of
urbanization and second - already urba nized areas are overly getting
population and creating too much human pressure on the settlement patter
and expansion of the area of urbanized locality. It is also seen that
urbanization are very much area centric, so some areas are more desirable
than the other which make unequal urbanization process.
4. Insecure and huge informal sector:
From the beginning of the independent India there had hardly any change
occurred in Indian economy. The bulk population had indulged in the
agriculture sector which for ms the huge informal sector. Due to large
population the government of India technically unable to give the
employment in formal sector. Thus, the major share in the labour market is
of informal sector.
5. Low per capita income:
The unemployment, hidden unemployment, education, low health, etc. are
responsible for the low per capita income of India.
6. The public and private sectors as well as the features of capitalist
and socialist economy co -exist:
This a unique feature of Indian economy. on one hand Government
policies due to liberalization works under the pressure of international
organizations like International Monetary Fund, World Bank etc. as a
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145 organizations as a result eco nomy favours capitalist mode of economy.
However, since Indian government as a socialist country tries to way out
place for mass welfare at the cost of profit making. Thus, Indian economy
make balance between the two extreme economic dogmas.
7. Unequal di stribution of wealth:
The Indian economy can broadly be divided into two main compartments
one is the rural economy and other is the urban economy. In these
economy there is a huge gap that inevitably shows unequal distribution of
wealth.
12.2 CONCEPT OF LIBERALIZATION AND ITS SALIENT FEATURES Independent India came up with various socio -economic challenges like,
low agriculture production, slow economic growth, low literacy rate, high
mortality rate, absence of huge industries, poverty etc. Therefore, the then
Government executed the major economic activities on its own behalf. We
can see how the government invested in industries, public sectors,
railways, to push the country on development track without calculating the
problem in deeper sense. As a result , India faced acute economic
recession. In simple words, imbalance growth, mismanagement of foreign
exchange reserve, lack of sound economic infrastructure which have
collectively created infallible gap between expenditure and revenue.
Added to that, Gover nment’s over protection, and unnecessary control
over the public sectors made the it handicapped and low performer.
Therefore, the fiscal, and payment problems, current account deficit,
depreciation of money value forced the Government to take financial he lp
from World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
By this time India has also realized about the shortcomings of restricted
economic policies. After the international financial support from the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund, India was expec ted by
them to follow the path of liberalization. The step towards liberalization
termed as “New Economic Policy” because it was the first time India
introduce comprehensive liberal measures by reducing the barriers on
foreign trade and investment and remo ving restrictions on private sector
participation in the economy. Liberalization means to create an, flexible
economic environment through removing tariff, heavy excise duty, on the
flow of goods and services between two countries and removing
restrictions on private sectors.
Thus, liberalization is a reformative economic policy that brought radical
changes in the economic activities. Country like India, which was
suffering from acute economic crisis got immediate help from the
liberalization in two ways: first was a short -term reform which tried to
stable the balance of payment of foreign depts, and inflation rate. Such
reforms under liberalization gave quick boost to the deteriorated economy
by controlling the price, and market, and improving purchasing p ower, as
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Social Issues in Contemporary India
146 strengthen infrastructural economic setups. It brings positive change
through removing restrictions on trade, service, and investment. This kind
of reform generates healthy c ompetitive environment among the
stakeholders of private sectors from within India and out of India.
12.3 IMPACT OF LIBERALIZATION Liberalization is not new to India. In the 80s some of the economic
policies related with foreign investment, foreign tra ding, fiscal transaction,
and modern technologies were given relaxation at minimal rate. However,
it was not liberalization in true sense. The economic reforms initiated in
the year 1991, abruptly, brought comprehensive flexibility in various
sectors. To u nderstand the impact of liberalization it is necessary to
discuss it through different sectors.
1. Agriculture sector:
Before 1991 agriculture sector suffered from low productivity, poor
technology, primitive farming methods, excessive population pressur e.
The very first influence of the liberalization appeared in technology,
scientific and modern methods. Improvement in Irrigation facility, use of
fertilizer, increasing in the farming of cash crops, are some other outcomes
of liberalization in agricultur e sector.
2. Industrial sectors:
Since the independence, industrial sector has been kept in priority list. But
it was done with controlled hands. Not only that it has given extra
protection to improve even the most hopeless condition. As a result,
mone y and energy has been invested with zero return. Industrialization
was initiated under Government strict control through - strict licensing
rules, earmark to some of the industries to public sector only, fixation of
price, fixation of distribution of the p roduct, restriction on import and
export. These restrictions have been removed except in the energy
industry, railways etc. Many of the product’s price in now determined by
market like petroleum.
3. Finance sector:
It is a most prominent sector in econom y which provides financial help
and service on interest. Many foreign finance companies, commercial
banks, foreign investment companies, and private banks now entered in
finance area. It increased flow of money in the market, that further
accelerated comme rcialization rate and job opportunities.
4. Taxation reforms:
Government levied various taxes on individuals, services, trade, and
commerce. After liberalization, direct taxes which comprise of income tax
impose on individuals, institutions, business etc. are reduced. It is also
realized to attract foreign investment therefore, it became important to
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147 indirect taxes which are related with the commodities are also minimised.
On essential commodities indirect taxes are excepted. In recent years the
taxes on commodities and services are brought under VAT. Which means
uniform tax percentage is applied to wider population. This way tax
become easier.
5. Foreign investment and trade:
liberal ization open the door to foreign investors and traders. So not only
commodities but technologies, industries could freely move in India. The
import as well as the export has become quite easy and cheap. Thus, the
consumer got cheap, and quality products at the same time, it created
competition in market and in production sector too.
12.4 CONCEPT OF PRIVATIZATION AND ITS IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS Privatization is very close to liberalization and sometimes taken
interchangeably. Privatization widened the sc ope of liberalization. We can
say it is a part of liberalization because it gives favourable condition and
sometimes force privatization to grow. Thus, both go hand in hand. When
most of the economic sectors are run by different forms of private
institutio ns then it is called privatization. Privatization also mean when the
government has least control over the regulative machinery of production.
Further when the Government shifts the managerial and ownership of
economic activities to private sectors. Govern ment follows two ways of
privatization processes either by selling out the government undertaking to
the private companies or shifting the government’s controlling (financial,
administrative) power to the private sectors.
There are various factors that fo rce a country to shift in the system of
privatization. As it is already mentioned that the liberalization pushes
economy towards privatization. Thus, when a country due to the influence
of liberalization opens door for free trade, investment then it automa tically
enters into privatization economy. Because a country cannot accommodate
foreign investors, traders without giving some freedom. So, privatization
is a prerequisite of liberalization. In Indian context, dissatisfactory
performance of public sector, increasing liabilities of public sector, and
demand for more production have become the genuine ground for
choosing privatization. We can also see that Government overloaded by
many other responsibilities related to social issues, political issues etc. th at
directly influences its performance in economic area. As a result,
government undertakings were privatized.
Instead of complete selling out of the whole equity, bond capital,
securitization of loan capital of the public sector enterprise, Government
sometimes sells part of it (more than 51%) to the private sector, it is called
disinvestment. Under disinvestment, Government take back capital
investment or reduce capital expenditure. It is one of the most preferred
options of privatization because the G overnment not only enjoys
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148 performance in production, employment, marketing, profit etc. However,
the disinvestment based on the degree of equity sell, categories into (1)
minor disinvestment (2) major disinvestment. And when the whole equity
sells out then it is termed as privatization.
The selection of PSEs for disinvestments also depending on the condition
of the PSEs. The sick PSEs are either opt for closedown or restructuring.
Based on p erformance Government has divided the PSEs into Navatrants,
Maharatnas, Miniratnas. These divisions have enabled the Government to
check and help to decide the methods on which public sectors could
undergo for privatization. Like these ratnashave given mor e freedom on
decision making, foreign investment, and autonomy to enter in joint
venture, alteration of administrational structure etc. This kind of
categorization indicates that, Government is serious about its role in
economic development and retain its sharing with those PSEs which are
withstood in the challenging wave of globalization and privatization.
There are certain government sectors that kept aside from privatization.
These areas needed full control of Government because they are related
with co untry’s defence, securities, and ground -based economy, like atomic
energy, space industry, minerals related to atomic energy, railways, major
Banking sectors etc. By doing this, Government secures its entity and
power over those economic activities which a re important for nation’s
sovereignty and interest.
12.5 IMPACT OF PRIVATIZATION The major reason of privatization is non -performance or poor performance
of public sectors. Therefore, the impact of privatization rotates around the
circle of performance building of the public sectors. The impact of the
privatization also triggered at those aspects that held responsible for the
non- performance of the public sectors. It simply means to understand the
impact of privatization it is important to look it thro ugh the reasons of
non-performance of the public sectors. However, privatization has always
been criticized on social and public ground. Here are some major impacts,
covering the demerit and merit of privatization:
1. Private sector is more profit orientated and competitive. So, the sick
public sector after privatization improves due to well management,
responsible work culture, exposure in global production and market,
best business practises and technology.
2. The Government get profit after selling out the n onperforming
sectors. Instead of closing the poor performer sectors, the government
through privatization make scope for the betterment of such units.
3. The private sector controlled by the market condition. Thus, it
prevents political and bureaucratical in terference.
4. Opens job opportunities, maximise profit and ultimately contributes to
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149 5. Privatization creates informal labour market in which social security
is less favoured.
6. The selling price offered by the public sectors are always lesser than
its value. Sometimes the public sector doesn’t show interest in
purchasing the poor performer public sector.
7. Private sectors are profit oriented, so it ignores employee’s benefits,
and sometimes customer’s interest too.
Check your progress:
1. Why li beralization is important for the fast growth of economy?
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2. Describe the deference between liberalization and privatization.
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12.6 CONCEPT OF GLOBALIZATION AND ITS IMPO RTANT FEATURES Globalization is something that usually comes in all the socio -political and
economic discussions. Globalization has no precise definition or meaning
but it is a state in which a country makes a network around the world for
economic gain. Gl obalization is a world -based phenomena that works
globally in which countries join for common aims and objectives that is
not limited to economy only. Well this is an interesting fact of
globalization which engulphed other important spheres of interactions like
political, cultural, social and educational too. Countries are coming
together to help each other for better outcomes. Due to advance
technology, cheap, easy, and speedy transportation facilities, liberalized
economy, relaxed foreign policies and abo ve all globalized dependency
propensity accelerate the rate of globalization.
In simple term the globalization is an integration and cooperation with
countries for common goals. According to International Monetary Fund
globalization means, “the growing ec onomic interdependence of countries
worldwide through increasing volume and verity of cross border
transaction of goods and services and of international capital flows and
also through the more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology.”
Globalization m ade possible the following things:
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150 1. International organizations, associations:
There are many global forums and organization that work together based
on socio -cultural and economic cooperation's. In such forums the
respective member countries make pol icies, conventions, and agreements
for better sharing of their resources. it is the most important aspect of
globalization that integrate the countries for common goals.
2. Outsourcing:
Every country face scarcity of human resources and technologies. Thr ough
globalization a country easily fulfils those shortage like expert advice,
ideas, knowledge, technologies. Due to advancement of information
technology, outsourcing has unexpectedly become convenient and
expanded. Country outsources services of various nature like education,
learning, editing, software, hardware, animation, etc.
3. United Nations, World Trade Organization, International Labour
Organization:
there are some prominent organizations where member countries work
unitedly for economic growth . These organizations are not only helping
the member countries to grow but also became vital agents in the process
of globalization. Some of the major policies of the world have been guided
by these organizations. Thus, these organization also helps in ma king
uniform policies for its member countries at the same time a country
cannot ignore the minimum requirement of the membership. It simply
means that, the country cannot run its economy at freewill. The world
trade organization (WTO), looking after the i ssues related to international
trading (bilateral and multilateral). It provides greater market
opportunities, help to manage tariff charges, and try to maintain fair
trading between the member countries through rules and regulations.
Similarly internation al labour organization has drafted conventions in
relation to human resources issues. It gives pressure to its member
countries to follow the rules to safeguard the rights of labour. Equal pay,
gender equality in labour market, social security's, preventio n of child
labour are some of the crucial issues that ILO specially intervene.
However United Nations is political in nature, but its working area is very
broad, and it profoundly raise issues pertaining to deforestation, global
warming, unequal economic g rowth, poverty, child labour, safeguards the
interest of the third world etc.
4. International Monetary Fund and World Bank:
It is an amazing effect of the globalization that ensure foreign aid and
monetary support. The international funding agencies tha t grant loan to
countries with some conditions that promotes globalization. For example,
in the year 1991 when India seeks monetary help from these agencies than
loan had been granted to India on the condition of providing liberal
economy. As a result, Ind ia has followed liberalization. These funding
agencies work on global interest. They promote international trading,
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151 12.7 IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION The globalization has wider impact because it does not confine to
economy only but influence other areas too. In today’s world, due to
globalization countries are coming closer. We can also see that many of
the issues which have turned as a global concern like global warming,
unemployment, poverty, deforestation etc., are effectively so lved through
the means of globalization. At this background globalization has become
universal phenomena for certain areas. Let’s check the impact of
globalization through the points mentioned below:
Advantage of globalization:
1. Tremendous employment optio ns: It has increased the employment
opportunities. A deserving candidates get recruited according to their
efficiencies around the world. The globalization creates special
economic zones, open new market, eventually open new job
opportunities. The barriers of job opportunity has ended owing to
globalization.
2. International goods and services: The consumers get bulk of
choices in market. Not only that the market provided services and
plenty of consumer items as per the purchase capacity. The
international b rands are easily available to them. The commercial
items are reachable to rural market. Many international companies are
investing in service sectors. The international companies are giving
their services in medical, education, technological fields.
3. It de limits the economic activities: Demand and supply are the two
main components of economy. increase in demand and supply directly
affect the condition of production, trade, business, employment, and
commerce. globalization gives a boom atmosphere to the eco nomy
through, increase in demand and supply.
4. Healthy Competition: Globalization makes competitive environment
between the countries. The competition gives quality production,
large choices, advance technology, price range etc. The domestic
industries impr ove its production quality and maintains cost price in
the presence of international brands.
5. Improves standard of living and infrastructure: The globalization
extend market, opens job opportunities, increase production, attracts
investment. All these thin gs ultimately increase per capita income.
Foreign investment needs commercial areas, good transportation,
uninterrupted electricity, etc. that eventually improve infrastructure.
6. Acculturation, Non -conventional Social Setups: Globalization is
not limited t o monetary, and goods movement. It also channelizes
people’s movement and settlement that cause mixed cultural
environment and society. At social ground, people’s behaviours are
influenced by global issues. The people give apt concern for global
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Social Issues in Contemporary India
152 Disadvantage of globalization:
The globalization also has dark side that, are visible in following points:
1. Threat to the nature: due to huge demand of natural resources, land
etc. irreversibly and a. The quick economic growth doesn’t give
enough time t o make suitable planning for save development. Global
warming, change in weather, are some of the issues of unplanned
development.
2. Unequal economic development: Globalization led to accumulation
of money to some hands. Consequently, creates a big monetary gap in
a society. Globalization gives a rural and urban society that indicates
unequal distribution of wealth.
3. Urbanization: Multi -manufacturing units, industrialization
encourages urbanization. People from rural areas come to the town in
search of jobs. The informal sector however offers tremendous job
opportunities but that too at the risk of social insecurities and
monetary loss. Population exodus at certain place not only led to
unequal economic growth but it also prone to misbalanced ecosystem,
unhea lthy and improper human settlement etc., which further
maximize the changes of pollution (air, water, soil and noise), and
diseases.
4. Global economic insecurities: Since globalization is also an
economic dependency in which countries get support and cooper ation
from each other. In times of war, natural calamities, pandemic
situation, countries get unfavourable economic condition ultimately
affect other country’s economy.
5. Imbalance trade and commerce: A developed countries take greater
share of the trade an d commerce. They possess money and political
powers both that they use for their own growth. Sometimes, high
demand items are stored by few advance countries and make the
developing counties in shortage of those items consequently lead to
imbalance trade a nd commerce.
6. Hampered the traditional, and Cottage industries: the traditional
and cottage industries production cost is usually higher than the
modern industries. High -cost traditional production get severe setback
at the face of cheap multinational item s. It destroys the traditional
livelihood of the communities as well as the knowledge system.
Check your progress:
1. What is globalization? What are the impacts of globalization?
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12.8 IMPACT OF LPG ON INDIA The overall joint impact of LPG on India is very much relevant topic to
understand the influence of libe ralization, privatization and globalization.
In early discussions we have discussed the impact of all the three
components separately i.e., liberalization, privatization, and globalization.
However, these three revolutionary economic reforms have given ra dical
changes in the Indian economy which have deep impacts on society,
agriculture, industries and labour too. Thus the triple economic reforms
has brought catastrophic change in the Indian economy. Here it is also
worthy to understand that these three re forms are interdepended on each
other. Not only that, the greater result could only be possible by the
application of the three. Therefore, it is very much important to discuss
that how LPG jointly brought impact on the following areas of Indian
economy in general and in particular areas.
1. Agriculture:
India is predominantly an agriculture -based economy. Hence, the impact
of LPG in agriculture is quite obvious. The impact of LPG can be
understood in two ways - (1) investment by the private sectors in th e
fertilizer industries, production of seeds, and other agriculture equipment,
and technology. (2) international market for the agriculture products. In
both the ways one can see that how the area of agriculture has been booted
because due to availability of international technology, global investors in
fertilizers and seeds resulted into high increase in production. Whereas
easy access to global market due to globalization and liberalization.
However, one could also feel some sort of adverse effect in the agriculture
sector due to unhealthy and imbalanced strategies of the multinational
companies. These companies target to achieve more profit by encouraging
certain sectors only. most of the times these companies’ policies do not
match with the nations requ irements. As a result, imbalance growth is
registered in agriculture.
India is second largest populated nation of the world which means
agriculture play vital role in the matter of livelihood, and employment. In
such special case the components of LPG are giving better results in
fertilizer, seed, and technology matters. But so far, the market is
concerning the farmers do not get sufficient global market share. The
Indian agriculture sector is still lacking sufficient contribution in global
market. In dom estic market too the farmers do not get proper price of their
harvestings. Consequently, a huge disparity could be seen in the munotes.in

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154 agriculture sector. The alarming data of occupation shifting from
agriculture to other sectors give noticeable indication towards this reality.
2. Economy:
The history of Indian economy can be divided into two broad phases -one
that cover the period before the early 1991 and second a long period after
1991. Basically, the implementation of LPG has brought tremendous
impact in India n economy. it has not only opened a gateway for direct
foreign investment, but it allowed freedom from Government’s
restrictions. Therefore, the New Economic Policy (NEP) in the form of
liberalization, globalization and privatization made structural change in
the Indian economy. To greater extent through NEP India got easy access
to foreign investment in all respect. But the actual challenge appears in the
grass root reality of India’s capacity to handle the foreign investment for
its own benefit. The NEP h as been implemented at the time when Indian
economy was struggling with basing economic problems like poor
agriculture sector, poor industrial sector, unemployment, illiteracy,
underperforming rural economy etc. Therefore, the Indian economy was
not ready for getting into the cut throat competition of international
economic sphere. It was sheer immature and unprepared move towards
economic change. Because we were not ready for it.
However, the LPG has brought certain positive gifts for us like direct
forei gn investment in industrial sector, science, and technology at the
same time the unreadiness, undeserving labour market (due to illiteracy,
unskilled population) could not give appropriate result. Therefore, it took
lots of time to get the fruit of LPG. Th e imbalance economic growth,
unsustainable economic growth is the noticeable outcome of LPG. It
seems that the foreign investment through LPG has looked at Indian
economy as a best marketplace. The unrestricted foreign investment at the
immature economic s tage also caused ecological problems. whereas
imbalanced economic growth has created huge gap in rural and urban
economy. The domestic investors specially the small industries are facing
tremendous challenge in the presence of foreign investors.
3. Societ y:
The economic consequences always come up with social impact. The LPG
has created great opportunities in market, industries, agriculture, health,
and education. To certain extent LPG has brought positive social impact
yet with some negative outcomes. Th ere is no doubt that the LPG has
created good amount of employment opportunities. But it hampered the
traditional employment sectors specially the in the agriculture sector.
Unorganized labour market is another crucial impact of LPG. One can see
the graph of unorganized labour market increasing day by day. Such bad
impact of LPG give deep impact to the society. The larger population
settlement if India is living in rural areas. The imbalanced economic
growth, has increased the rate of migration of the rural population to urban
areas. Overpopulation in the urban area is a big social problem. Large
number of population in urban areas are deprive from basic amenities. munotes.in

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Impact of Libralization, Privatization and Globalization
155 Although per capita income of India has increased but that too at the cost
of uncertainty of j ob. Grater part of Indian society is forced to live in
stressful condition.
12.9 SUMMARY The three basic policy ideologies of economy, i.e., liberalization,
privatization and globalization are the key components of the growth of a
nation. They have certain advantages and disadvantages that India suffers
like any other countries of the world. But looking at the present scenario
where globalization has become the essential part of requirement for the
development of the country. One cannot imagine a country wi thout the
elements of globalization. Through the liberalization and privatization,
the process of globalization touching other areas too along with its core
area i.e., economy. Therefore, globalization along with liberalization and
privatization are expan ding in other fields like social, cultural and
political. However, these additional areas are grounded at economic give
and take policies.
Some scholars favour the LPG for the reason because it gives greater
opportunities for economic growth. whereas some criticize it because it
increases dependency syndrome, handicapped government bodies, limits
the power of the government. Some blatantly disfavours LPG because it
provides easy opportunity to the developed countries to economically rule
over the underdeve loped countries. With this critical analysis, it is also
true that, one cannot out rightly able to ignore the necessity of LPG
because it has expanded its effective role in the field of other areas like
education and learning, cultural cooperation, health , charitable services.
12.10 QUESTIONS 1. Describe the liberalization policy of India that has implemented in the
year 1991.
2. Why globalization is not good for cottage industries?
3. How does privatization is responsible for the cause of informal labour
market ?
4. What are the impacts of liberalization?
12.11 REFERENCES  Ramesh Chandra (editor), Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization
and Indian Polity, Isha publication, New Delhi, 2004
 B. N. P Singh, (editor), Economic Liberalization in India, Ashish
publish ing house, New Delhi, 1995
 K R Gupta, (editor),Liberalization and Globalization of India
Economy, Atlantic Publication, New Delhi 2005 munotes.in

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156  Joseph Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents, Penguin
publication, Delhi, 2001
 James H. Mittelman, The Globalizatio n Syndrome: Transformation
and Resistance, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2000.


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