Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: Difference between revisions

[[File:2011 Census Scheduled Tribes distribution map India by state and union territory.svg|thumb|360px|Scheduled Tribes distribution map in India by state and union territory according to 2011 Census.<ref name="2011Census"/> [[Mizoram]] and [[Lakshadweep]] had the highest percentage of its population as ST (~95%), while Punjab and [[Haryana]] had 0%.<ref name=2011Census/>]]

The '''Scheduled Caste'''<ref name="List of SC">{{cite web |title=Scheduled Caste Welfare – List of Scheduled Castes |url=http://socialjustice.nic.in/sclist.php |publisher=Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment |access-date=16 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913050030/http://socialjustice.nic.in/sclist.php |archive-date=13 September 2012  }}</ref> ('''SCs''') and '''Scheduled Tribes''' ('''STs''') are officially designated groups of people in India. The terms are recognised in the [[Constitution of India]] and the groups are designated in one or other of the categories. For much of the period of [[British Raj|British rule in the Indian subcontinent]], they were known as the Depressed Classes.

In modern literature, the ''Scheduled Castes'' are sometimes referred to as [[Dalit]], meaning "broken/scattered" in [[Sanskrit]], having been popularised by [[B. R. Ambedkar]] (1891–1956), the economist, reformer, chairman of the Constitution assembly of India, and Dalit leader during the independence struggle, himself a Dalit. Ambedkar preferred the term Dalit to [[Mahatma Gandhi|Gandhi]]'s term, [[Harijan]], meaning "person of [[Hari]]/[[Vishnu]]" (or Man of God). In September 2018, the government "issued an advisory to all private satellite channels asking them to 'refrain' from using the nomenclature 'Dalit'", though "rights groups and intellectuals have come out against any shift from 'Dalit' in popular usage".<ref>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/union-minister-stick-to-sc-avoid-the-term-dalit/articleshow/65678197.cms Union minister: Stick to SC, avoid the term 'Dalit']  "Union social justice minister Thawarchand Gehlot said media should stick to the constitutional term "Scheduled Castes" while referring to Dalits as there are objections to the term to the term "Dalit" – backing the government order which has significant sections of scheduled caste civil society up in arms."  Times of India 5 September 2018.</ref>

Since the independence of India, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were given [[reservation in India|Reservation status]], guaranteeing political representation. The Constitution lays down the general principles of [[positive discrimination]] for SCs and STs.

The evolution of low castes to modern-day Scheduled Castes is complex. The [[Caste system in India|caste system]] as a stratification of classes in India originated about 2,000 years ago, and has been influenced by dynasties and ruling elites including the Mughal Empire and the British Raj.<ref name="What is India's caste system">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616|title=What is India's caste system?|date=20 July 2017|access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/caste-society-and-politics-in-india-from-the-eighteenth-century-to-the-modern-age/097D56E007498073B691A17EC3441FEB|title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age by Susan Bayly|last=Bayly|first=Susan|date=July 1999|website=Cambridge Core|access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref> The Hindu concept of [[Varna (Hinduism)|Varna]] [[History of Hinduism|historically]] incorporated occupation-based communities.<ref name="What is India's caste system"/> Some low-caste groups, such as those formerly called "[https://www.britannica.com/topic/untouchable untouchables]" who constitute modern-day Scheduled Castes, were considered outside the Varna system.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/civil-rights|title=Civil rights {{!}} society|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://asiasociety.org/education/jati-caste-system-india|title=Jati: The Caste System in India|website=Asia Society|access-date=6 April 2019}}</ref> It has also been argued that, under the Mughal Empire, persecution by Muslims reduced settled agriculturists and feudal lords to the conditions of nomads and forest-dwellers, and they formed the origins of people who would become categorized as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the modern period.<ref>{{cite book| title=The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India |chapter=Chapter 7 Lower Classes and Unmitigated Exploitation |last=Lal  |first=Kishori Saran}}</ref>

Since the 1850s these communities were loosely referred to as Depressed Classes, with the Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribes. The early 20th century saw a flurry of activity in the [[British Raj|British authorities]] assessing the feasibility of responsible self-government for India. The [[Indian Councils Act 1909|Morley–Minto Reforms Report]], [[Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms]] Report and the [[Simon Commission]] were several initiatives in this context. A highly contested issue in the proposed reforms was the reservation of seats for representation of the Depressed Classes in provincial and central legislatures.

In 1935, [[United Kingdom Parliament|Parliament]] passed the [[Government of India Act 1935]], designed to give Indian provinces greater self-rule and set up a national federal structure. The reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes was incorporated into the act, which came into force in 1937. The Act introduced the term "Scheduled Castes", defining the group as "such castes, parts of groups within castes, which appear to His Majesty in Council to correspond to the classes of persons formerly known as the 'Depressed Classes', as His Majesty in Council may prefer".<ref>{{cite web|title=Scheduled Communities: A social Development profile of SC/ST's (Bihar, Jharkhand & W.B)|url=http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/sereport/ser/stdy_scmnty.pdf|website=Planningcommission.nic.in|access-date=1 October 2017}}</ref> This discretionary definition was clarified in ''The Government of India (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1936'', which contained a list (or Schedule) of castes throughout the British-administered provinces.

*''Development:'' Provide resources and benefits to bridge the socioeconomic gap between the SCs and STs and other communities. Major part played by the Hidayatullah National Law University. Legislation to improve the socioeconomic situation of SCs and STs because twenty-seven percent of SC and thirty-seven percent of ST households lived below the poverty line, compared to the mere eleven percent among other households. Additionally, the backward castes were poorer than other groups in Indian society, and they suffered from higher morbidity and mortality rates.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Democracy, Development and Decentralization in India: Continuing Debates|last=Sengupta|first=Chandan|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=9781136198489|pages=23}}</ref>

The Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) of 1979 mandated a planning process for the social, economic and educational development of Scheduled Castes and improvement in their working and living conditions. It was an umbrella strategy, ensuring the flow of targeted financial and physical benefits from the general sector of development to the Scheduled Castes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/scp%26tsp/noteguidelinesFor.doc|date=26 February 2009|access-date=1 October 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226071402/http://www.planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/scp%26tsp/noteguidelinesFor.doc|archive-date=26 February 2009}}</ref> It entailed a targeted flow of funds and associated benefits from the annual plan of states and Union Territories (UTs) in at least a proportion to the national SC population. Twenty-seven states and UTs with sizable SC populations are implementing the plan. Although the Scheduled Castes population according to the [[2001 Census of India|2001 Census]] was 16.66 [[crores]] (16.23% of the total population), the allocations made through SCSP have been lower than the proportional population.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Mannewar: A Tribal Community in India|last=Bone|first=Omprakash S.|publisher=Notion Press|year=2015|isbn=978-9352063444}}</ref> A strange factor has emerged of extremely lowered fertility of scheduled castes in [[Kerala]], due to land reform, migrating ([[Kerala Gulf diaspora]]) and democratization of education.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/7495/|title=A paradox within a paradox: Scheduled caste fertility in Kerala|first1=Pallikadavath|last1=S.|first2=Wilson|last2=C.|date=1 July 2005|website=Pure.iiasa.ac.at|access-date=1 October 2017}}</ref>

===Schedules Caste Population by State===

| style="background:silver" | '''{{flagu|India}}''' || style="background:silver" | '''1,210,854,977''' || style="background:silver" | '''16.63''' || style="background:silver" | '''201,378,086'''

| 71,88,463

| style="background:silver" | '''{{flagu|India}}''' || style="background:silver" | '''1,210,854,977''' || style="background:silver" | '''8.61''' || style="background:silver" | '''104,254,613'''