Sant Kabir Das defined the goals of an egalitarian society succinctly in the following couplet: Jaati Naa Puucho Sadhu Ki. Puuch Liijie Jnyaan/Mol Karo Talwar Ka, Pada Rahan Do Myan.
(Ask not a saint of his caste, rather ask of his knowledge/Focus on the sharpness of the sword, leave the scabbard alone.)
A hierarchical social order where people have been judged more based on caste than their innate talent or skill has been one of India’s bitter realities. It is ubiquitous across all major religions practised in the country.
In the order that emerged out of the Varna system of social stratification, caste was first ascribed based on a person’s profession. As the stratification became entrenched, people born in a family practising one profession could not change their caste by changing professions. Interestingly, the work segregation increased efficiency. It also increased society’s functionality and allowed many traditional crafts and arts to flourish over generations. We had traditional painters, sculptors, singers weavers et al. But over time, it chained the human spirit and brought about stagnation as cross-sectional interaction ceased. The stagnation became an evil as stigmas got attached to certain kinds of work and consequently, towards communities engaged in such work.
Caste-based discrimination dehumanised people and created a feeling of inferiority among sections at its receiving end. Therefore, they did not rebel. They endured. The discrimination was challenged by social and political reformers, which led to scattered sparks of social churning.
Unfortunately, the Congress and many regional caste-based parties, which emerged on the promise of fighting the caste order, instead of working towards eradicating caste, worked towards fanning fears and widening rifts for electoral success. Their focus was not the creation of an egalitarian society, but only electorally sound caste arithmetic. Their interest lay in entrenching the caste order rather than uprooting it.
In 2014, the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a great disruptor to the politics of caste as the year marked the beginning of social justice and social inclusion through the governance of saturation. Many political experts have not been able to understand how the BJP won in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh with comfortable majorities, and bettered its performance in Telangana and Mizoram in the recent assembly elections because they deliberately or erroneously failed to see the politics of inclusivity on the ground, which ensures Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas with poverty and marginalisation as its sole determinants.
Over the last nine years, there has been an unprecedented attempt to not just make governance focused on saturation to undo centuries of discrimination, but also restore dignity for those who were stripped of it by changing the language of governance. PM Modi’s naming of schemes shows both the ambition to reach those whose existence no one cared for and the sensitivity to ensure the marginalised are enabled to reclaim their rightful place in society. PM Modi believes when language ignores issues of power and equity, it leads to further exclusion of those on the margins. The Rs 24,000-crore PM Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan is the most recent example of restoring pride with development. The name makes it clear that Bharat’s Adivasis, long ignored by Congress, are being finally given justice and not a dole. The naming of PM Vishwakarma Yojana, launched on September 17 to provide support to artisans and craftspeople is not just about keeping traditional arts alive, but also restoring dignity for its practitioners by naming it after the craftsman deity and the divine architect of the devas. The Ujjawala Yojana again isn’t only about switching to LPG from traditional chulhas but, as the name suggests, lighting up the lives of women by showing care for their health and well-being. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao isn’t only about ending female foeticide but allowing our girl children a life where they can dream and lead. When it came to areas that had been off the developmental map of India for decades, PM Modi called them aspirational districts, not backward regions. This positive nomenclature responds to the hopes and aspirations of people to lead better lives rather than be branded as people hailing from deprived regions of the country.
The benefits of these schemes and measures are reaching all sections, irrespective of caste, religion, or gender. PM Modi has said there are only four major castes he deeply cares about — the poor, the youth, the women, and the farmers. Over 13.5 crore people have been pulled out of multi-dimensional poverty in the last five years. India has registered a significant decline of 9.89 per cent points in the multi-dimensionally poor from 24.85 per cent in 2015-16 to 14.96 per cent in 2019-2021.
It didn’t matter which caste these people would have belonged to; their misfortune lay in their poverty. The Modi government’s focus on improving access to sanitation, nutrition, cooking fuel, financial inclusion, drinking water, and electricity has led to pulling people out of poverty.
The government’s schemes respond to the development and aspirational needs of all of India’s people irrespective of their position in the caste structure. If assistance is needed, it is extended. The schemes also ensure that as India marches towards being the world’s third-largest economy, it doesn’t sever its connections with its traditional knowledge. On the contrary, PM Modi is ushering in a revolution where more people can proudly and profitably return to their traditional work, without being forced into a hierarchical social order.
This is the strongest, and the only, way to dismantle caste — making caste irrelevant. PM Modi is doing it by assigning a new identity to the 140 crore people of India — growth leaders of the world.
The writer is Union Cabinet Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change; and Labour & Employment
Government’s policies are focused on addressing the needs of the poor, youth, women and farmers
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15.12.2023
Sant Kabir Das defined the goals of an egalitarian society succinctly in the following couplet: Jaati Naa Puucho Sadhu Ki. Puuch Liijie Jnyaan/Mol Karo Talwar Ka, Pada Rahan Do Myan.
(Ask not a saint of his caste, rather ask of his knowledge/Focus on the sharpness of the sword, leave the scabbard alone.)
A hierarchical social order where people have been judged more based on caste than their innate talent or skill has been one of India’s bitter realities. It is ubiquitous across all major religions practised in the country.
In the order that emerged out of the Varna system of social stratification, caste was first ascribed based on a person’s profession. As the stratification became entrenched, people born in a family practising one profession could not change their caste by changing professions. Interestingly, the work segregation increased efficiency. It also increased society’s functionality and allowed many traditional crafts and arts to flourish over generations. We had traditional painters, sculptors, singers weavers et al. But over time, it chained the human spirit and brought about stagnation as cross-sectional interaction ceased. The stagnation became an evil as stigmas got attached to certain kinds of work and consequently, towards communities engaged in such work.
Caste-based discrimination dehumanised people and created a feeling of inferiority among sections at its receiving end. Therefore, they did not rebel. They endured. The discrimination was challenged by social and........
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