Vinaya Samarasya Yojana
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Context: Karnataka Government has announced Vinaya Samarasya Yojana to eradicate untouchability.
About Vinaya Samarasya Yojana
- The Karnataka government has announced Vinaya Samarasya Yojana, an awareness programme meant to eradicate untouchability in Gram Panchayats across the state.
- The scheme has been named after a three-year-old Dalit Vinay, whose family was slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 by the village leaders, after Vinay strayed into the village temple, while it was raining.
- Karnataka social welfare minister will launch Vinaya Samarasya Yojana on April 14 on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti.
Untouchability and Caste System in India
- Caste is an institution uniquely associated with the Indian Subcontinent. While Social arrangements Producing Similar effects have existed in other Parts of the world, the exact form has not been found elsewhere.
- Although the caste system is an institution Characteristic of Hindu Society, Caste has spread to the major non-Hindu Communities of the Indian Sub-Continent.
- Varna based division of the Society into brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and Shudra, though this excludes a Section of the Population Composed of ‘Outcastes’, foreigners, Slaves, Conquered Peoples and others.
- In its earliest Phase, the Caste System was not very elaborate or very rigid, and they were not determined by birth. Movement across the Categories seems to have been Common. It is only in the Post-Vedic Period that Caste became the rigid institution.
- Features of Caste
- Caste is determined by birth, Caste is never a matter of Choice. One Can never Change one’s Caste, leave it, or Choose not to join it.
- Membership in a Caste involves strict rules about marriage. Caste groups are “endogamous”, i.e. marriage is restricted to members of the group.
- Caste membership also involves rules about food and food-Sharing. What kinds of food may or may not be eaten is prescribed.
- Castes are arranged in a hierarchy of rank and Status.
- Castes also involve Subdivisions within themselves, Castes almost always have Sub-Castes and Sometimes Sub-Castes may also have Sub Sub-Castes.
- Castes were traditionally linked to occupations. A Person born into a Caste Could only Practice the occupation associated with that Caste.
- Colonialism and Caste
- Present form of Caste as a Social institution has been Shaped very strongly by both the Colonial Period as well as the rapid Changes that have come about in independent India.
- Scholars feel that direct attempt to Count Caste and to officially record Caste Status Changed the institution itself. Before this kind of intervention, Caste identities had been much more fluid and less rigid; once they began to be Counted and recorded, Caste began to take on a new life.
- Towards the end of the Colonial Period, the Administration also took an interest in the welfare of marginalised Castes, referred to as ‘Depressed Classes’ at that time.
- Caste System iIn the Present
- Development of the Country and the growth of Private industry also affected Caste indirectly through Inter-dependence. Modern industry created all kinds of new jobs without considering Caste rules.
- Urbanisation and Conditions of Collective living in the Cities made it difficult for the Caste-Segregated Patterns of Social interaction.
- Modern educated Indians are attracted to the liberal.
- Prejudice against the untouchables remained quite Strong and not absent from the City, though not as extreme as it could be in the village.
- Endogamy, or the Practice of marrying within the Caste, remained largely unaffected by modernisation and Change. Even today, most marriages take place within Caste boundaries, although there are more intercaste marriages.
- Democratic Politics has been deeply affected by Caste. Caste remains Central to electoral Politics.
- Since the 1980s we have seen the emergence of Caste-based Political Parties. During the initial Stage, Caste Support was decisive in winning elections. But the Situation got very complicated as Parties Competed with each other for Caste Support.
- Land reforms and Fragmentation of land took away Economic rights from the upper Castes which affected their social status.
- Landowners depended on the lower Castes for tilling and tending the land.
- Constitutional values and rights promoted equal opportunities to all, and also affirmative actions were taken to ensure the development of marginalised sections.
Steps taken to eradicate untouchability
- The Constitution provided Reservations for members of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes in different spheres of public life.
- These include reservation of seats in the State and Central legislatures (i.e., state assemblies, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha); reservation of jobs in government service across all departments and public sector companies; and reservation of seats in educational institutions.
- Article 15 of the Constitution notes that no citizen of India shall be discriminated against on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
- The Constitution abolished untouchability (Article 17) which means that no one can prevent Dalits from educating themselves, entering temples, using public facilities etc. It also means that it is wrong to practise untouchability and that this practice will not be tolerated by a democratic government. In fact, untouchability is a punishable crime now.
- The 1989 Prevention of Atrocities Act revised and strengthened the legal provisions punishing acts of violence or humiliation against Dalits and Adivasis.
- National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) were set up to investigate and monitor all matters related to safeguarding the provisions for SC/ST under the Constitution and evaluating the working of those safeguards.
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