Being a Dalit in India: Facts and Figures
Posted by samathain on August 26, 2008
Source: RupeeNews
Dalits live inhumanely, face torture, arbitrary arrest and extra-judicial execution every day in India. Below are some of the reports on their plight.
Human Rights Watch Report:
http://reddit.com/goto?id=1ngkj
US Congress resolution:
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/may/03touch.htm
Saxena report on Dalit Situation:
http://www.nhrc.nic.in/Publications/reportKBSaxena.pdf
Every 18 minutes:
A crime is committed against a Dalit
Every day:
- 3 Dalit women are raped
- 2 Dalits are murdered & 2 Dalits Houses are burnt in India
- 11 Dalits are beaten
Every week:
- 13 Dalits are murdered
- 5 Dalits home or possessions are burnt
- 6 Dalits are kidnapped or abducted
Social and Economic condition of Dalits:
- 37 percent of Dalits living below poverty in India
- More than half (54%) of their children are undernourished in India
- 83 per 1000 live birth children born in Dalit community are probability of dying before the first birthday
- 45 percent of Dalits do not know read and write in India
- Dalits women burden double discrimination (gender and caste) in India
- Only 27 percent of Dalits women give institutional deliveries in India
- About one third of Dalit households do not have basic facilities
- Public health workers refused to visit Dalit homes in 33% of villages
- Dalits were prevented from entering police station in 27.6% of villages
- Dalit children had to sit separately while eating in 37.8% of Govt. schools
- Dalits didn’t get mail delivered to their homes in 23.5% of villages
- Dalits were denied access to water sources in 48.4% of villages because of segregation & untouchabilty practices
- Half of India’s Dalit children are undernourished, 21% are severely underweight & 12% DIE before their 5th birthday
- Literacy rates for Dalit women are as low as 37.8% In Rural India
Status of Prevention of Atrocities Act:
- The conviction rate under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act is 15.71% and pendency is as high as 85.37%. This when the Act has strict provisions aimed as a deterrent. By contrast, conviction rate under IPC is over 40%
On actual crime committed against Dalits
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“Even the reports prepared by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and placed before Parliament contain merely factual information received from States about registration and disposal of cases; various administrative arrangements made for the function of the Act and funds spent, without any meaningful analysis of the performance of the States which could form the basis for making corrective interventions.” ”Under-reporting of Atrocities Act cases is a very common phenomenon and therefore the decline in the number of registered cases does not provide a true picture of the incidence of atrocities.”
“A large number of cases which deserve to be registered under Protection of Civil Rights Act or the SCs & STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are not actually registered under these Acts, either due to ignorance of law or under pressure from the interested parties. Investigations in even those limited number of cases is often earned out in a slipshod manner and with considerable delay.”
Source: National Human Rights Commission Report on the Prevention and Atrocities against Scheduled Castes
fhttp://www.nhrc.nic.in/Publications/reportKBSaxena.pd
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Pradeep singh Pundhir said
Now they become a part of community so why should not worry about them
PRADEEP said
DO YOU THINK SO RAMESH,
PLEASE COME OUT AND JUST OBSERVE THE OUTSIDE WORLD AROUND YOU.
BYE
Krishna Rao said
i think u donot have any idea of untouchability, if endure all the burdens, u could know the pain of untouchability. simply providing the provisions is not end of anihilation of caste or upliftment of dalits. come into the real world
————————
Not sure what is your point, mr.rao. Caste is a social disease. It can be annihilated only when the society changes its mindset and respects individuals from every background and occupation.
Ramesh said
So much statistics on crimes against ‘dalits’ is given. But the crucial question is how many such crimes are committed against the rest of the population. Giving one-dimensional data is simply not appropriate. Crimes are committed by people all the time. If the victim incidentally happens to be a dalit (for example if a dacoity takes place and it is subsequently found out that one of the victims is a ‘dalit’, that could hardly qualify as an anti-dalit ‘atrocity’). Only those crimes in which a person is made a victim because he is a ‘dalit’ would qualify as an anti-dalit crime. And not all crimes can qualify as ‘atrocities’. An ‘atrocity’ is an act that is horrific and not all acts of crimes could be ‘horrific’. If that is so, all crimes against other castes should also qualify as ‘atrocities’. In any case, the rate of crimes against other sections is necessary to compare the rate of crime against dalits.
[Samatha]
How many dalits would dare to tell the police their caste if the crime is not caste-based ? Revealing the caste identity only increases harassment. These figures are crimes that are caste-based and directed towards dalits mainly because they are vulnerable. Any hate-based violence qualifies to be atrocity. Crimes against dalits are , because of their nature, hate crimes.
PRADEEP said
Dear Ramesh
sorry for my words, DO NOT ARGUE FOR THE SAKE OF DOING SO. it si obvious dalits are vulnerable and lot of crimes directed towards them. there is no second question about it. PLEASE BE TALK AS A MATURED AND EDUCATED PERSON.
DONT BE A MENTALLY SICK PERSON.
GOOD LUCK FOR YOUR GROWTH
THEEP
balvinder said
i come to know how many cases of autrosity,explotasation,harrasments,untouchbility,murdered,rapes of my society in my india(bharat)
from this day i do my best to uproot this evils.and work for upliftment of my society,
i have a shame on this bloody people who are exploiting us in our country.
thanks for information and i will try to remain contact with u
thank very much
balvinder jakhu
sujeetkumar said
many cases of atrocity are not registered in police stations,because upper caste area officers are there and they want to compromise the cases out of police station for many reasons ..
1.they are partial their caste,because casteism exists evennow.
2.Supriority complex is highly prevalent..
3.There is lack of awareness of legal protection, legal process and safeguards among dalits.
kiki said
this is very sccaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy]
Ramesh said
There is little point in contending that “cases are not reported/ registered” and that the figures reported constitute only a fraction of the real ‘crimes’. IF crimes are not registered, they are not registered. It happens with all. One cannot presume that the number of cases registered are only a fraction of the ‘real’ crimes. IF that is so, then the rest of the society can make similar claims. IF every crime against non-dalits were to be registered from ‘caste’ point of view, the actual crimes against ‘dalits’ would be very small.
samathain said
It would b interesting to see similar statistics for other discriminated minorities like muslims, christians .
pam said
I don’t think that we will realize the depravity and inhumane treatment of these people unless and until we go see it for ourselves. They are not just treated like a minority, but they are treated worse than dogs in the most impoverished areas of the world. I am a Christian and I know of other Christians who have been tortured and beaten (one died for his faith). I know it is horrible, but I still do not think it compares to the treatment of the Dalits. I also go to Jamaica on mission trips and have seen children who have been horribly abused, physically, emotionally, etc., but not to the extent of the Dalit. I have heard of a little girl who was a dalit. She was abandoned on the street and ate human waste because she was so hungry. She went into a coma and died. This story broke my heart. Please pray for these people and thank God for everything that we in America are so blessed with. Get involved and make a difference!!!
sasikumar said
The dalits should be financially and educationally empowered to eradicate caste discrimination. when the people come to know that somebody belongs to dalit, mentally they start to dislike them. Hence dalits should fight and get the benefits they deserve. I am working in a prominent PSU which is making profit since its inception. Most of the dalit employees officers working better than their counterparts still they are not given due share in their promotion and placement. So all should involve to bring up the dalit people who earn lowest.
( Samatha )
PLEASE SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES IN THE PSU. Also, any suggestions would be welcome.