Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Background

The US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011 explains that, although the caste system was prohibited in 1949, the registration of castes in India continues "for the purpose of affirmative action programs" (US 24 May 2012, 51). Country Reports 2011 indicates that the president has the authority to identify "historically disadvantaged castes" as "Scheduled Castes" (ibid.). According to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the criteria for communities to be recognized as Scheduled Castes are: "[e]xtreme social, education and economic backwardness arising out of the traditional practice of untouchability" (India n.d.a.). The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment states that "only persons professing either Hindu or Sikh or Buddhist religion are deemed to be members of Scheduled Caste," noting that people from Scheduled Castes who convert to Christianity or Islam will no longer be considered as part of a Scheduled Caste (ibid.). India's last census, in 2001, illustrates that Scheduled Castes constitute 16.2 percent of India's population (India Mar. 2010, para. 1.1).

Sources indicate that Scheduled Castes are also called Dalits (US 24 May 2012, 51; MRG n.d.). According to Minority Rights Group International (MRG), the term Dalit means "‘oppressed', ‘broken' or ‘crushed' to the extent of losing original identity" (MRG n.d.).

2. General Function of the Scheduled Caste System

According to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, central ministries and state governments are primarily in charge of promoting the interests of Scheduled Castes, while the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is in charge of overseeing the interests of Scheduled Castes and monitoring the efforts of central ministries and state governments (India n.d.b). The Kerala state government website indicates that "[t]he Central/State Governments have implemented many programmes for the upliftment of these sections that are economically, socially, educationally backward. The Scheduled Castes Development Department works for the upliftment of the Scheduled Castes" (n.d.).

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has "schemes" for Scheduled Castes in economic development, educational development and social empowerment (India Mar. 2010, para. 1.5.3), including:

• the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP), which is

an umbrella strategy to ensure [the] flow of targeted financial and physical benefits from all the general sectors of development for the benefit of Scheduled Castes. Under the strategy, States/UTs [union territories] are required to formulate and implement Special Component Plan (SCP) for Scheduled Castes as part of their Annual Plans by earmarking resources. At present 27 States/UTs having sizeable SC population are implementing Schedule[d] Caste Sub-Plan." (India n.d.b);

• the “Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana” program, which was piloted in 2009 - 2010 to provide funding to 1,000 of the 44,000 villages in which the population of scheduled castes exceeds 50 percent for physical and socio-economic infrastructure, reducing the disparities between scheduled castes and the rest of the population, and eliminating "discrimination, segregation and atrocities" against scheduled castes (India Mar. 2010, para. 1.7, 3). On 14 March 2012, The Hindu, a Chennai-based newspaper that is printed in thirteen Indian cities (n.d.), indicated that the pilot project has been implemented in 1,000 villages in Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu with increased annual funding per village.
• the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC) "provides credit facilities to persons belonging to Scheduled castes living below double the poverty line" to be used for income-generating activities (India n.d.b);
• scholarship or fellowship programs for eligible "pre-matric" (India July 2012), "post-matric", national overseas (India Mar. 2010, Annexure V), as well as "Masters of Philosophy and PhD Scheduled Caste students (India n.d.c);
• grants to some voluntary organizations that provide assistance to Scheduled Castes in an attempt to develop skills for income-generating activities (India n.d.d).

3. Implementation

Country Reports 2011 indicates that many federal and state government programs for scheduled caste members reportedly "suffered from poor implementation and corruption" (US 24 May 2012, 53). According to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the government has undertaken a number of initiatives for Scheduled Castes "which have yielded positive outcomes, and have also resulted in narrowing the gap between the Scheduled Castes and rest of the population. However, the objective of bringing [Scheduled Castes] at par with the general population is still far from being achieved" (India Mar. 2010, para. 1.4.3). The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment indicates that, "[e]xcept for the SCSP to a certain extent, most of the schemes/programmes for [Scheduled Castes] have centered on individual beneficiaries" (India Mar. 2010, para. 1.6).

Sources indicate that, according to the Chamar Mahan [or Maha] Sabha, a non-political organization for scheduled castes’ rights (Hindustan Times 8 Feb. 2013; The Times of India with TNN 7 Feb. 2013), the Punjab government has not utilized the promised budget for the welfare of Scheduled Castes (ibid.; The Tribune 3 Feb. 2013a). The Tribune, a newspaper based in Chandigarh, indicates that the Punjab government only spent a "negligible part of the budget" on the welfare of Scheduled Castes, even though they announced that funding would be allocated to the Scheduled Castes Special Component Plan for 2013, and indicated that "'nothing significant has been done under the plan'" (3 Feb. 2013a).

The Tribune reports that the Association of Volunteers for Students' Rights filed public interest litigation in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in an attempt to get the post-matric scholarship scheme for Scheduled Castes implemented (3 Feb. 2013b). The Tribune indicates that, according to the convener of the Association of Volunteers for Students' Rights, eligible Scheduled Caste students are still being charged for education in "most of the institutions" that are under the scholarship scheme (3 Feb. 2013b). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Country Reports 2011 indicates that, according to NGOs, students were asked to provide "caste certification" as part of the admission process in certain schools, and some of them were denied admission "because of their castes" (US 24 May 2012, 52). According to The Indian Express, an online newspaper based in New Delhi (n.d.), the National Commission for Scheduled Castes says that "even top educational institutions are not free from discrimination against [Scheduled Caste] students" (6 Sept. 2012). Country Reports 2011 states there have been

reports that school officials barred Dalit children from morning prayers, asked Dalit children to sit at the back of the class, or forced Dalit children to clean school toilets while denying them access to the same facilities. There were also reports that teachers refused to correct the homework of Dalit children, refused to provide midday meals to Dalit children, and asked Dalit children to sit separately from children of upper caste families. (US 24 May 2012, 52)

The Indian Express indicates that, according to a professor who is leading a committee investigating caste-based discrimination at Vardhaman Mahavir medical college, "[s]everal students belonging to [the Scheduled Caste] community were repeatedly failed in their subjects. During the course of our investigation, we have come to a conclusion that there was a feeling of deep routed anguish and hatred towards the [Scheduled Caste] students" (6 Sept. 2012).

Country Reports 2011 indicates that Scheduled Caste members "lived and worked under traditional arrangements of servitude in many areas of the country," and adds that those who were members of Scheduled Castes often worked as "rag pickers, recycling trash under hazardous and generally substandard conditions" (US 24 May 2012, 61, 65).

Country Reports 2011 states that Scheduled Castes "faced violence and significant discrimination in access to services such as health care and education…" (US 24 May 2012, 51). For more information on the treatment of Scheduled Castes, please refer to Response to Information Request IND104063.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

The Hindu [Chennai]. 14 March 2012. "Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana to be Transferred to MoRD." [Accessed 11 Feb. 2013]

_____. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 12 Feb. 2013]

Hindustan Times [New Delhi]. 8 February 2013. "Moga Bypolls: CMS Launches Pamphlet War." [Accessed 12 Feb. 2013]

India. July 2012. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Centrally-sponsored Scheme of Pre Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Caste Students. [Accessed 11 Feb. 2013]

_____. March 2010. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Centrally-sponsored Pilot Scheme of Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY). [Accessed 11 Feb. 2013]

_____. N.d.a. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. "Scheduled Caste Welfare - Frequently Asked Questions." [Accessed 12 Feb. 2013]

_____. N.d.b. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. "Scheduled Caste Welfare - About the Division." [Accessed 11 Feb. 2013]

_____. N.d.c. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. "Central Sector Sheme of 'Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship' for Providing Scholarships to Scheduled Caste Students to Pursue Programmes in Higher Education such as M.Phil. and Ph.D. (Effective from 01-04-2010)." [Accessed 11 Feb. 2013]

_____. N.d.d. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. "Scheme of Grant-in-aid to Voluntary and Other Organizations Working for Scheduled Castes." [Accessed 11 Feb. 2013]

The Indian Express [New Delhi]. 6 September 2012. "Scheduled Caste Students Discriminated Against in IITs, IIMs, AIIMS: NCSC." [Accessed 12 Feb. 2013]

_____. N.d. "Contact Us." [Accessed 12 Feb. 2013]

Kerala. N.d. "Scheduled Caste Development Department." [Accessed 13 Feb. 2013]

Minority Rights Group International (MRG). N.d. "Dalits." [Accessed 12 Feb. 2013]

The Times of India [Gurgaon] with Times News Network (TNN). 7 February 2013. Neel Kamal. "Chamar Maha Sabha Distributes Pamphlets Against SAD in Moga for Unfulfilled Promises." [Accessed 12 Feb. 2013]

The Tribune [Chandigarh]. 3 February 2013a. "Govt Misleading People on Welfare Schemes, Says Sabha." [Accessed 12 Feb. 2013]

_____. 3 February 2013b. "Govt to Rope in Top Institutions." [Accessed 12 Feb. 2013]

United States (US). 24 May 2012. Department of State. "India." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011. [Accessed 12 Feb. 2013]

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; Asian Human Rights Commission; ecoi.net; Freedom House; Human Rights Watch; International Crisis Group; International Federation for Human Rights; National Commission for Scheduled Caste; The Press Trust of India; United Nations — Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Refworld, UN Women, UN Development Program.