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The practice of untouchability in the seating arrangement of the students
in village schools was negligible in 1971; it had disappeared in 1996. SC
and non-SC students intermingle in the school freely. However their
friendship in many villages does not extend after the school hours. Non-SC
teachers do not discriminate against SC students but they are not easily
accessible to SC students outside the school boundary. Not all the schools
have the facility of drinking water for students. Where it exists, all
students take water from the common vessel.
Nearly 10 per cent of the village schools have teachers belonging to SCs.
None of them complained that their colleagues discriminate against them in
school. However, except in south Gujarat, these teachers do not get
accommodation in the high-caste locality of the village. They either
commute from their village or from the nearby town or they rent a house
from the SC locality.
Almost all villages are covered by State Transport. Except in seven per
cent of the villages, untouchability is not observed while boarding and
sitting in the bus. Crude discrimination against SC is observed in one per
cent of the villages, where untouchables are almost denied the right to
sit with an upper-caste person. In the remaining 6 per cent of the
villages, untouchability is practiced in nebulous form. That is, a member
of the SC is expected to stand up and offer the seat to a high caste
passenger; or the latter is allowed to board the bus first.
The 1971 study found that there were certain restrictions on the free
movement of the SCs on some roads in as many as 60 per cent of the
villages. Their number has declined considerably. Yet the SCs encounter
some restrictions on their movement in 23 per cent of the villages. As
such, there is no ban on the SCs using certain village roads. But they do
become victims of wrath varying from abuse to even physical assault if
they enter the streets of the upper castes. They have to stop and give way
to members of the upper castes, particularly Brahmins and Rajputs in
general and elderly persons of the dominant upper castes in particular.
Even in villages where the untouchables do not face restriction in their
day-to-day movements, members of the upper castes subject them to
mortifying comments.
Most of the village post-offices and postmen do not practice
untouchability while giving stamps and taking money as well as delivering
mail. The postmen go to the SC localities and hand over the mail to the
addressee. But postal employees observe untouchability in 8 to 9 per cent
villages. They do not give postal stationery and mail in the hand of the
SC addressee. There has been a slight decline in the practice of
untouchability during the last twenty years in delivering mail, but in the
selling of stamps the proportion of villages practicing untouchability has
increased. The postal employees observe untouchability in 8 per cent of
the villages.
Open or subtle untouchability is practiced in panchayat meetings in 30 per
cent of the villages, as against 47 per cent in 1971. The sitting
arrangement in panchayat offices is common for all the members, but there
is a tacit convention whereby certain seats are marked for SC members.
Though tea and snacks are served to everyone, separate plates and cups are
reserved for SC members, and stored separately. In the past SC members had
to wash their used utensils, but no longer.
In most village temples, 75 per cent SCs are not allowed to enter beyond
the threshold, though they may worship from a distance. One temple may be
open for the SCs and another temple restricted from their entry. The SCs
in many villages where their numbers are large have constructed temples in
their localities to avoid confrontation.
In 1971, 44 villages had separate water facility for the SCs near their
localities. Two villages had been added to this list in twenty-five years.
Untouchability is not experienced in normal times, but when water is
scarce, the SCs experience difficulty and discrimination in taking water
from high-caste localities. In the remaining 23 villages in which the
untouchables take water from the common source, untouchability is
practiced in 61 per cent of the villages. In most such villages SC women
take water after the upper-caste women, or their tap or position on the
well is separately marked. In seven villages (11 per cent of the sample
villages) the SC women are not allowed to fetch water from the well. They
have to wait till the upper caste women pour water into their pots. The
upper-caste women who shout at them constantly humiliate the SC women:
"Keep your distance, do not pollute us!"
The practice of untouchability has strikingly declined in occupational
activities, i.e. in buying and selling commodities. In 1971, in as many as
85 per cent of the villages SC members were barred from entering shops;
now in 1996 shops in only 30 per cent villages are so restricted.
Similarly the practice of untouchability in giving things and receiving
money has been reduced from 67 per cent to 28 per cent.
The status of being formerly untouchable comes in the way of potential SC
entrepreneurs. They fear that upper-caste members would not buy from their
shop or would harass them. In a village in Ahmedabad a SC autorickshaw
driver who asked for the fare from a sarpanch belonging to a middle caste
was severely beaten. This is not a rare case, and such upper-caste
attitude inhibits SC enterprise.
Most tailors do not practice untouchability. They touch the SC client to
take measurement. However, in most cases they do not repair used clothes
of the SCs. Nearly one-third of the potters observe untouchability while
selling pots to SC clients. Most of the barbers (nearly 70 per cent)
refuse their service to SC males. Muslim barbers do not practice
untouchability. The traditional patron-client relationship still
continues, though the client pays in cash for the service. A few barbers
in large villages have set up shops. Many do not mind serving a SC client,
but some do.
The extent of untouchability has remained almost intact in the sphere of
house entry. Except a few villages, SC members of village society do not
get entry beyond the outer room of the high caste. Even in villages where
the young folk do not believe in physical untouchability, and who serve
tea to SC guests in their houses, entry in the dining room is not
encouraged.
The practice of untouchability has been considerably reduced in some of
the public spheres which are directly managed by the state laws and which
have a relatively non-traditional character like school, postal services
and elected panchayats. The number of villages observing untouchability on
public roads, restricting free movement of the SCs has considerably
declined from 60 per cent in 1971 to 23 per cent in 1996, but it is too
early to say that the untouchable is not discriminated against in the
public sphere. As many as 30 per cent of the village panchayats still
observe open or subtle discrimination with their elected members belonging
to SCs.
Sukhadev Thorat
Sukhadev Thorat is Professor,
Center for the Study of Regional Development, School of
Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
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Gujarat case study
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This study was conducted in 1971 and based on a survey of 69 villages. A
repeat survey of these villages was done in 1996 to see changes in
practice of untouchability (Shah 1998). To what extent and in which
spheres has untouchability been abolished and in which spheres is it
observed? The first study looks into the practice of untouchability in
seventeen spheres of village life, which include the private and public
domain.
October - November 2002
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