Neglected Corners: Dalit Bastis and the Fight for Basic Human Rights

Introduction:
One of the varied attributes of caste discrimination in India include the practice of residential segregation. When the term Scheduled castes was used for the first time in relation to the Government of India Act of 1935, they were defined as people living in “social and physical isolation from the rest of the community”. This turned out to be one of their defining characteristics and they gained the nomenclature of Dalit Bastis. These bastis are usually located within the village perimeter, but at a significant distance from the main village. As a result these bastis lack access to basic facilities like water supply, electricity supply, sanitation etc. In fact, these instances of caste based residential segregation have managed to gain prominence in urban settlements as well. As a result, there is a considerable rise in demand for caste based residential societies.

These state of affairs reflect the actual state of development and progress made by the nation as it celebrates its 76th Republic Day. India also recently celebrated its 75th anniversary of the Indian Constitution's adoption, which serves as a reminder of India's unwavering commitment to democratic principles of justice and equality. However, these persistent forms of discrimination, wherein basic rights like access to clean water continue to be a dream of a considerable size of population, portray the reality of their implementation.

Access to Basic Amenities:
As mentioned earlier, Dalit bastis are generally found on the outskirts of the village, imbued with poverty and sometimes with no access to basic amenities like electricity or drainage facilities. In a report by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) it was found that only 10% of Dalit households have access to sanitation facilities compared to 27% access for non-dalit households. Lack of sanitation facilities are bound to affect the health of those involved, thereby increasing the possibility of getting diseases due to open defecations. As a result, it has been found that on average the life span of Dalit women is fifteen years less than the upper caste Hindu women. Even though this shorter life span cannot be directly attributed to sanitation facilities, they definitely serve as a reminder of the reality persisting in the nation. This is a direct impact of the explicit discrimination faced by them in accessing healthcare facilities.

These instances are a resultant effect of the structural discrimination that the Dalit population has been facing throughout their lives. They are a reflection of the deeply embedded social and economic injustice, thus vitiating the constitutional principles of equality, liberty, and justice. They serve as a reminder of how we assess the concept of development as the nation is clearly failing in implementing its “developmental projects” in the context of this specific population.
 

Water Rights: A Persistent Struggle:
The historical struggle of Dalits to access water gained its momentum from the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s Mahad Satyagraha. On March 20 th , 1927, Dr. Ambedkar started the “Mahad Satyagraha” in the Raigad district of Maharashtra to allow Dalits to use water from a public tank (Chavdar Tale). However, even after 90 years of Mahad Satyagraha, Dalits in Mahad taluka continue to face the same issue just because of their caste, which reflects the continuation of discriminatory practices against Dalits.

As per a United Nations report, more than 20% of Dalits in India do not have access to safe drinking water and 48.4% of Dalit villages have been deprived of public water facilities. In cases where they are allowed to draw water from the public wells, they are often forced to wait for the goodwill of upper castes so that they can draw water. This is also accompanied by separate lines and hours for Dalit women to draw water. This depicts the continued prevalence of the caste system in India and how it manages to prevent certain communities from accessing the basic resources needed to survive a dignified life. This is inspite of the fact that the Indian Constitution has established the right to access clean drinking water as a fundamental right under Article 21.

These practices are further enforced by use of coercion strategies which include verbal and physical attacks. In fact physical assaults in such cases are quite common and a simple google search will reflect the reality of the situation. However, in such cases conviction rates continue to remain low at the rate of 28 percent as there is significant caste prejudice in the judicial system as well.

Path Forward: Towards Inclusive Development:
There have been considerable efforts by different government agencies. The 'Dalit Vasti Sudhar Yojana' (Dalit Slum Improvement Scheme) is one such initiative by the Government of Maharashtra. In 2013, the scheme was rechristened to “Developing a Slum of Scheduled Castes and Neo-Buddhist Elements”. However, even after 50 years the scheme is yet to attain its objectives. Even the Union government identified 26,968 Dalit majority villages in 2019 which would be focused in terms of implementation of government based schemes for the next five years. But the Dalit slums continue to be plagued with issues like access to clean drinking water, water scarcity, electricity supply and open defecation.

It is essential for the government agencies to adopt significant changes and the rights of the Dalit communities should be prioritized. The first step towards this path is to shift from passing a horde of legislations to actually enacting them. Dedicated budget allocations for specific developmental projects focusing on Dalit majority villages with effective utilization should be focused on. This would ensure their basic and substantive welfare.

The existent schemes often fail to focus on the vulnerable population, which leads to their exclusion from availing their benefits. For e.g., A lot of children from the Scheduled Caste are unable to access education since the schools are in locations dominated by the upper caste inhabitants. This means that they are often excluded from availing the benefits of educationschemes along with the Mid day meal programme owing to the inherent prejudices. This can be addressed only through dedicated legislation focusing on these aspects.

There is a need to shift focus from secondary sectors such as roads and prioritize developmental projects of importance such as water supply and sanitation for all. Additionally, the development of policies in the form of training and capacity-building programs fit for local government bodies and prominent figures in the community is also necessary. This in turn would further help in ensuring competent control over project enforcement and supervision.

Conclusion:
While India is celebrating the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is imperative to face the bitter truth that caste discrimination continues to be a significant issue in rural areas. In a 2011-2012 nationally representative survey it was found that nearly 27 percent of the 42,000 households continued to practice untouchability in practice space. This was inpite of the fact that the practice of untouchability was explicitly abolished by the Constitution of India in 1950. This proves that mere declaration of a constitutional right will not bring in the desired changes.

Understanding the new policies of the government and encouraging the participation of the true stakeholders through programs like ‘Dalit Vasti Sudhar Yojana’ have the potential to bring a positive change in the life of the Dalit people of India. But they need to be followed by effective implementation strategies as well, which can only be achieved once the government in itself addresses the inherent biases persistent in its own structure.