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Scheduled Castes in Punjab

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Scheduled castes in Punjab, or Dalits in Punjab are the officially designated groups in Punjab state in India which are most disadvantaged due to the caste system. They were placed in the lowest ranks of the caste system, because of which they suffered and are still suffering from social, political, economic and personal discrimination.

History

In June 1926, Ad-dharam movement was launched by Babu Mangu Ram Mugowalia for the upliftment of the Dalits of Punjab.[1] On 21 September 2021, Charanjit Singh Channi became the first person from Dalit community to become the Chief Minister of Punjab. He was appointed as a chief minister by Congress Party after the resignation of Captain Amarinder Singh. He ruled for about 6 months before expiry of his term. [2]

Demographics

As of September 2020, the caste population data foreach Forward caste citizen in Punjab collected in Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 has not been released to public by Government of India.[3][4] Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes form 63.2% of the total population of Punjab.[5]

Castes of Punjab (2011)

  Scheduled Castes (Dalits) (31.9%)
  Upper castes (UC) (33%)
  Other Backward Classes (OBC or BC) (31.3%)
  religious minorities (3.8%)
Caste Population data of Punjab
Constitutional categories Population (%) Castes
Other Backward Classes (OBC) 31.3%[6][7] includes Sainis,[8],Kamboj, Labana, Tarkhan/Ramgarhia, Kumhar/Prajapati, Arain, Gujjar, Teli, Banjara, Lohar, Bhat,[9] Others
Scheduled Castes (Dalits not including Rai Sikh statistics[10]) 31.9%[11] includes Mazhabi Sikh - 10%, Ramdasia Sikh/Ravidassia (Chamar)/Ad-Dharmi - 13.1%, Balmiki/Bhanghi - 3.5%, Bazigar - 1.05%, Others - 4%[12]
Others 33% includes Jat Sikh and Hindu Jat - 21%,[13] Brahmin, Khatri, Arora, Rajput (includes Sikh Rajputs), Sood, Bania, Bhatia (remaining 12%)
religious minorities 3.8%[14] includes Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jains

Below is the list of districts according to the percentage of their SC population, according to 2011 census.[15][16][17][18]

Scheduled Caste population by district (2011)[16]
Sr. No. District Percentage
1 Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar 42.51%
2 Muktsar 42.31%
3 Fazilka 42.27%
4 Firozpur 42.07%
5 Jalandhar 38.95%
6 Faridkot 38.92%
7 Moga 36.50%
8 Hoshiarpur 35.14%
9 Kapurthala 33.94%
10 Tarn Taran 33.71%
11 Mansa 33.63%
12 Bathinda 32.44%
13 Barnala 32.24%
14 Fatehgarh Sahib 32.07%
15 Amritsar 30.95%
16 Pathankot 30.60%
17 Sangrur 27.89%
18 Ludhiana 26.39%
19 Rupnagar 25.42%
20 Patiala 24.55%
21 Gurdaspur 23.03%
22 SAS Nagar 21.74%

Scheduled caste (SC) population among different religions in Punjab - Census 2011[19]

Religion Total Population Scheduled Caste Population Scheduled Caste Population %
Sikh 16,004,754 5,390,484 33.68%
Hindu 10,678,138 3,442,305 32.23%
Buddhist 33,237 27,390 82.40%

Health

As per National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4, 2015–16), the infant mortality rate was 40 per 1000 live births before the age of one year for scheduled castes, compared to 29 per 1000 births for the state as a whole. The infant mortality rate for other backward castes (OBC) was 21 per 1000 live births and 22 per 1000 for those who are not from SC and OBC classes.[20]

Although the prevalence of anaemia (low levels of haemoglobin in the blood) has been found quite high among all population groups in Punjab, it was still higher among the SC population than other groups. For the women between the ages of 15 and 49 years, the prevalence of anaemia among SC women was 56.9%, compared to 53.5% for the state as a whole. Among the children between the ages of 6 and 59 months, the rate of anaemia for SC children was 60%, compared to 56.9% for the state as a whole.[21]

The table below compares the health status of Scheduled Caste population of Punjab, according to NFHS-3.

Health status of Scheduled Caste (SC) population of Punjab (NFHS-3)[22]
Indicators SC Total
Infant Mortality Rate 46 44
Child Mortality Rate 16 7
Anaemic (child) 73.80% 66.40%
Anaemic (women) 42.60% 38.00%

Education

According to the 2011 census, the literacy rate among Scheduled Castes in Punjab was 64.81%, compared to 75.84% for the whole state. The SC literacy rate of females was 58.39% and 70.66% for male SCs.[23]

The table below gives the literacy rate of Scheduled castes by district, according to the 2011 census.[16][24][25][26]

Scheduled caste (SC) literacy rate by districts - Census 2011[27]
Sr. No. District SC Percentage District total
1 Hoshiarpur 82.49% 84.59%
2 Rupnagar 78.4% 82.19%
3 Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar 77.72 % 79.78%
4 SAS Nagar 76.1% 83.80%
5 Jalandhar 76.68% 82.48%
6 Gurdaspur 72.89% 79.95%
7 Ludhiana 72.65% 82.20%
8 Fatehgarh Sahib 72.19% 79.35%
9 Kapurthala 71.29% 79.07%
10 Patiala 62.28% 75.28%
11 Amritsar 59.16% 76.27%
12 Sangrur 57.60% 67.99%
13 Moga 55.23% 70.68%
14 Firozpur 55.38% 68.92%
15 Faridkot 54.91% 69.55%
16 Barnala 54.91% 67.82%
17 Bathinda 53.09% 68.28%
18 Tarn Taran 51.37% 67.81%
19 Muktsar 50.46% 65.81%
20 Mansa 48.72% 61.83%
Punjab 64.81% 75.84%.

Politics

As of 2023, out of the 117 [[List of constituencies of the Punjab Legislative Assembly |legislative assembly constituencies in Punjab]], 34 are reserved for Scheduled Castes.[28]

Economy

Despite comprising 31.94% of the Punjab's population, Dalits own only 3.5% of its total land. About 73.33% of the Dalit population lives in villages and is largely landless and faces housing shortages.[29] According to the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1964, 33% of the village commons land (shamlat) is reserved for the Dalits. But in many cases, they have been denied these rights by big landlords with fraudlent means.[30]

Atrocities

The table below shows the number of recorded crimes against scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people from 2010 to 2018.[31]

Crimes against scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people in Punjab[31]
Year Murder Rape POA Act Hurt Kidnapping Miscellaneous
2018 13 30 32 6 4 82
2017 7 17 31 3 2 58
2016 7 16 41 1 3 64
2015 8 14 23 5 3 94
2014 4 19 16 2 3 79
2013 7 22 13 37 8 39
2012 4 12 8 21 2 24
2011 5 9 24 27 2 22
2010 4 18 50 13 0 30

References

  1. ^ 'Punjab’s Ad Dharm movement – which turned Untouchables into proud Mulnivasis'-Forward Press, by Ronki Ram, June 12, 2021, https://www.forwardpress.in/2021/06/punjabs-ad-dharm-movement-which-turned-untouchables-into-proud-mulnivasis/
  2. ^ 'Charanjit Singh Channi to be next Punjab Chief Minister'- National Herald, by Bipin Bhardwaj, Updated:19 Sep 2021, https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/charanjit-singh-channi-to-be-next-punjab-chief-minister
  3. ^ "Raw caste data collected in 2011 given to social justice ministry, govt tells Rajya Sabha". ThePrint. 2020-09-16. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  4. ^ "'Caste Census-2011 not yet released'". The Hindu. 2018-06-27. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
  5. ^ Ganesan, Rajeshwari (2021-09-20). "Eye on AAP? Congress bets big on Dalit Sikhs, bid to please Jats too". Times Now. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  6. ^ Jagga, Raakhi (2021-09-20). "31.3 per cent are other backward classes (OBCs)". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  7. ^ "Quota will have little impact in Punjab". The Tribune. 2019-01-11. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  8. ^ "Castes Under BC". welfarepunjab.gov.in. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  9. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OBCs FOR THE STATE OF PUNJAB" (PDF). ncbc.nic.in.
  10. ^ "Punjab's many Dalit Sikhs – Ramdasia, Ravidasia, Mazhabis, Ranghretas, Rai, Sansi". ThePrint. 2021-09-21. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  11. ^ "SCs, STs form 25% of population, says Census 2011 data". The Indian Express. 1 May 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2018. The highest SC population, 31.9 per cent of the state's total number, is in Punjab
  12. ^ "Punjab Data Highlights: The Scheduled Castes" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General, India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-06-13. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  13. ^ "The Jats in Punjab comprise 21 per cent population - India Today". Indiatoday.intoday.in. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  14. ^ "Census Reference Tables, C-Series Population by religious communities". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference auto1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ a b c "Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India". data.gov.in. 21 January 2022.
  17. ^ https://punjab.data.gov.in/resource/district-wise-no-scheduled-castes-total-population-1971-2011
  18. ^ https://punjab.data.gov.in/resource/district-wise-no-scheduled-castes-female-population-1971-2011
  19. ^ "SC-14: Scheduled caste population by religious community, Punjab - 2011". Office of the Registrar General India. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  20. ^ https://finance.punjab.gov.in/uploads/05Jul2022/52e95928-fcf0-4ac0-b1d3-f24c151c371f_20220705153029.pdf, 1.11
  21. ^ https://finance.punjab.gov.in/uploads/05Jul2022/52e95928-fcf0-4ac0-b1d3-f24c151c371f_20220705153029.pdf, 1.11
  22. ^ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327552239_Health_Expenditure_Pattern_Among_Scheduled_Castes_In_Rural_Punjab, Page Number 55, Table 2
  23. ^ 'Scheduled Caste Population in Punjab'-Department of Social Justice & Empowerment and Minorities, Government of Punjab, http://103.118.160.46/enwiki/static/SCPopulation.html#:~:text=The%20female%20literacy%20rate%20of,of%2080.44%25%20in%20the%20State.
  24. ^ "District-wise percentage Literacy of Scheduled Castes (Male) from 1971 to 2011 | Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India". punjab.data.gov.in. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  25. ^ "District-wise percentage Literacy of Scheduled Castes (Female) from 1971 to 2011 | Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India". punjab.data.gov.in. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  26. ^ "District-wise no. of Literate Scheduled Castes (Total) Population from 1971 to 2011 | Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India". punjab.data.gov.in. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  27. ^ "District-wise percentage Literacy of Scheduled Castes (Total) from 1971 to 2011 | Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India". punjab.data.gov.in. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  28. ^ Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, Elections, Lok Sabha Bye Election 2023, Vidhan Sabha, https://www.ceopunjab.gov.in/election#:~:text=In%20the%20State%20of%20Punjab%2C%20there%20are%20117%20Assembly%20Constituencies,Constituencies%20are%20reserved%20for%20SC.
  29. ^ 'DTE Exclusive: ‘Shamlat’ lands hold key to Dalit empowerment; alleviation of rural poverty in Punjab'- Down To Earth, By Dilraj Singh and Bhagirath, Published: Wednesday 11 January 2023, https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/governance/dte-exclusive-shamlat-lands-hold-key-to-dalit-empowerment-alleviation-of-rural-poverty-in-punjab-87081
  30. ^ 'Punjab Assembly Elections 2022: Dalit votes matter, but what about their issues'- Down To Earth, By Pampa Mukherjee, Published: Monday 31 January 2022, Dalit issues, https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/governance/punjab-assembly-elections-2022-dalit-votes-matter-but-what-about-their-issues-81326
  31. ^ a b https://punjab.data.gov.in/resource/incidence-crimes-punjab-against-scst-2010-2018
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