In India, castes are being brought back. Why did the court allow them again? (5 photos)

Recently, the Supreme Court of India stated that people should be classified by castes and subcastes. All in the best of intentions! To help those from the lower castes get access to education.





Modi wants to modernize India

But in fact, the Court stated that people should start classifying castes again. So what to do? Moreover, all subcastes were equalized back in 2004 by a ruling of the same Supreme Court, which said that there can be no branches within the same untouchables.

A caste census has been long overdue

A centralized census by caste has not yet been conducted. And at the same time they say that preferences should be given to socially disadvantaged castes. And who should be helped? Confused.

The Indian Constitution requires that government jobs and public educational institutions reserve up to half of their seats for scheduled castes, whose development has long suffered because of the elite castes.



This is a flag with a leader who wants to conduct a caste census

Everything is clear here, the untouchables should receive more quotas than the Vaishras, for example. But now it turns out that some sub-podcasts within the untouchables should get even more preference because they are even more oppressed. Let's measure the level of oppression.

India last conducted a general census in 2011. The next one was planned for 2021, but it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now is the time to decide what exactly will be recorded in it.





These are women from the untouchable caste, but they have pretty nice saris

Historically, lower castes have been deprived of equal opportunities in employment and education, as they were considered socially inferior.

The latest court order says that the four scheduled castes are not a homogeneous entity. And within each caste, there are always dozens of subcastes - cleaners, artisans, scavengers, cow dung collectors - this is also a caste. You yourself know that in India, even among the untouchables, there are dozens of subcastes, and some are more disadvantaged than others.



Well, the slogan is just like from the USA, only the problems are more real

Even the state governments themselves do not know how many such sub-castes live in their region. And starting a census is dangerous, because it will turn out that within the framework of assistance, one sub-caste will receive more powers and subsidies than another. It turns out that the government will also start playing the caste system to the fullest again.

How the "humiliated and insulted" are now being helped

Currently, 22.5 percent of jobs and admissions to educational institutions in India are reserved for untouchables. They make up the lowest socio-economic level of Indian society. Another 27.5 percent is reserved for other historically marginalized communities, which the government classifies as "other backward classes." Who these other backward classes are is a big Indian mystery.



Children of Dalits from the garbage caste. And how will they get into college?

I would like to say that it would be better to introduce quotas for the rural poor based on income level. But, most likely, this will not solve the problem of caste humiliation, regardless of income level.

Should the next census of India include everyone by caste and subcaste in order to conduct a more flexible social policy? Or not, "if she died, so she died"?