Chapter 3 Solutions — Gender, Religion and Caste

Caste inequalities have not disappeared from contemporary India; some of the older aspects of caste have persisted:

Most people still marry within their own caste or tribe, and untouchability has not ended completely despite constitutional prohibition.

The effects of centuries of advantages and disadvantages continue to be felt. Caste groups that had access to education under the old system have done well in acquiring modern education, while those that were denied education have lagged behind. This is why there is a disproportionately large presence of 'upper caste' among the urban middle classes.

Caste continues to be closely linked to economic status. The average economic status of caste groups still follows the old hierarchy - the 'upper' castes are best off, the Dalits and Adivasis are worst off, and the backward classes are in between. The proportion living in extreme poverty is much higher for the lowest castes, and the upper castes are heavily over-represented among the rich.

Two reasons that caste alone cannot determine election results:

1. No parliamentary constituency in the country has a clear majority of one single caste. So every candidate and party needs to win the confidence of more than one caste and community to win elections.

2. No party wins the votes of all the voters of a caste or community. People within the same caste or community have different interests depending on their economic condition - rich and poor, or men and women, from the same caste often vote very differently. Voters' assessment of the government's performance and the popularity of leaders also matter and are often decisive.

The proportion of women in India's legislature has been very low. The percentage of elected women members in the Lok Sabha touched 14.36 per cent of its total strength for the first time in 2019. Their share in the state assemblies is less than 5 per cent. In this respect India is among the bottom group of nations in the world and is behind the averages for several developing countries of Africa and Latin America.

Representation is better at the local level. One-third of seats in local government bodies - panchayats and municipalities - are now reserved for women, and there are more than 10 lakh elected women representatives in rural and urban local bodies. In 2023, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women's Reservation Act, 2023) was passed, which will give 33 per cent reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and the Delhi Assembly.