“There
is no caste in blood”.
Hi friends, today i would like to share about caste system in our country, how some vulnerable groups suffering with disequalities in our society.
caste system is an evil in our country. A caste system is a class structure, that is determined social status by birth. Economic conditions, life style, occupation and education levels are some of the factors used in the society in to castes. India's dalits still fighting untouchability because of down rooted caste system. This dalits are bottom of hindu caste system. Now in some places they are discriminating by higher castes and we heard recently many attacks on dalits. Let us discuss some more points in our essay. prepare well friends, thank you.
Topic: Caste system in India:
Caste system in India is the most prevalent and pervasive of all the classification of social stratification. The division of society on the basis of birth in a particular caste had led to the growth a hierarchical social system driven by the principle of purity and pollution and growth of social inequality which subsequently infested to the political and economic system. The higher caste consisting of Brahmin, Kshatriya and Vaishyas oppressed the lowercastes that were also called as dalits. This subjugation is both historic and contemporary which led dalits to go for menial and polluting jobs leading perpetuation of their outcaste characteristic and pauperization of dalits.
However,
the advent of British rule and
consequent development of rational
thought and scientific temper due to modern education questioned these social
prejudices and advocated for elimination of these social ills and biases from
the society mainly through reform movements based on educational empowerment
that changed the scenario of Indian society to a great extent.
Education
is the mainstay of the development of a
logical, rational and intellectual mind and it helps in increasing the
consciousness of a person and his productivity, labour. Many scholars and
advocate of dalit movements argue that social mobility is nothing but the
product of education. M.N. Srinivas advocates that process of sanskritization
through education leads to change in the ritual position of a person in the
caste ladder. He consider that education help in the mobility of a person in
the secular hierarchy which subsequently lead to change in the ritual sphere
thereby creating a platform for social change.
Other
protagonist of dalit empowerment like B.R. Ambedkar and the likes of Gail
Omvedt argue that education is a quintessential for the growth of assertive,
innovative and empowered dalits. Mahatama Gandhi also advocated for the
education of dalits in his program of constructive works for the growth of a
rational and all inclusive society. Looking into the merits of education
various social reformers opened schools and colleges for dalits in the 19th
century. This led to great mobilization of dalits especially in south India and
many dalits gained prominent position in different political and social sphere
of the society.
After
independence India adopted a pragmatic approach of free and compulsory education
to all as a directive principle of state policy. It seeks to provide primary
education to all irrespective of caste or any other discrimination in order to
empower the most oppressed and marginalized sections of the society. At the
higher levels of education structure, government encourages the enrolments of
dalits through its scholarship programs and other intervention schemes. The
reservation of seats for dalits in educational institutions through
constitutional amendments and as a fundamental right also provided a framework
for the breakdown of caste system and thereby the empowerment of a more
rational and productive dalit youth.
The advent
of globalization has really impacted the empowerment of dalits. Educational
empowerment defines the status of a person in the globalised village. As
globalization and global leading companies recruit employees on the basis of
merit, more and more educationally empowered youth are getting a fair job
leading to change in the political and economic sphere of the society. The
caste is fast converging into class. This social change is nothing but the product
of more informed and educated dalit
youths. Thus education has been able to bring in the change of social status of
the dalits who are joining these institutions on the basis of their educational
capabilities.
Education
is also necessary for the empowerment of dalits about their political and
constitutional rights. Only if they are properly educated and have knowledge
about their rights, they can challenge the atrocities committed against them.
Many laws have been passed by the government but as most of the dalits are
oblivious about these laws or are not able to read them due to educational
backwardness, this is creating a fissure between the present and future. It
provides sufficient knowledge about the government policies and their
implications. It also helps in the understanding of cultural heritage and
constitutional ideals. The education of dalits helped in wider participation in
the grass root level organization like panchayat raj institutions which also
increased their decision making power.
Education
also helped in the emancipation of dalit women to a large degree. It led to the
breakdown of social roles of dalit women about the daily chores and as a service
woman of the family. It has provided them with opportunities for better access
to wages and more financial inclusion through various self help groups. It also
provided them with the awareness and information regarding their rights and
brought about a sense of security in their mind. Education helped in breakdown
of child marriages in lower castes. In addition it also helped in better access
to medical and pregnancy health of dalit women thereby decreasing their
mortality rates. Thus education helped in mitigating the gender gap in the
society though in a slow and phased manner.
However in
certain pockets of the country, cultural segregation of the dalit children is
still visible. The children coming out from dalit community are not allowed to
sit and eat with children of higher caste thereby impacting their productive
capacity. Various other Marxist scholars point out that education is nothing
but the false consciousness injected into the minds of dalits by the dominant
groups in order to mitigate the prospect of any caste based mobilization or
revolution thereby endangering their interest. These arguments are tenuous and
do not reflect the present contemporary reality.
Thus, in order to encapsulate it can be said that
education is a vehicle of modernity and is the fountain head of social change.
It promotes equality among different sections of the society offering them
identical position in different spheres of life. Birth makes people different
but modern education brings equality among them. It is the education that
eliminates primordial distinctions among people and brings in the criticality
in man’s mind and accelerate mobility in every structure of the society.
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