After 75 years of the Constitution, incidents like the attack on CJI B.R. Gavai, IPS officer Y. Puran Kumar’s suicide, and Dalit atrocities such as the Hariom Valmiki lynching reveal that caste prejudice still permeates institutions and society, undermining constitutional morality.

About Caste

• Historical Roots of Caste: Caste represents one of India’s oldest social hierarchies, assigning individuals fixed status, occupation, and privilege by birth.
• Cultural and Moral Dimensions: It is not merely a social classification, but a moral and cultural ideology that structures inequality, exclusion, and notions of purity and pollution.
• Persistence in Modern India: Despite modernization and democracy, caste continues to determine access to opportunity, power, and dignity across social and professional spheres.

Historical Context of Caste in India

• Ancient Roots: The varna system evolved into rigid jati-based hierarchies, linking spiritual purity with occupation and social worth.
• Colonial Codification: British censuses and administrative categories institutionalised caste identities, reinforcing structural divisions.
• Post-Independence Reform: The Indian Constitution (1950) sought to dismantle caste through:
  • Article 17 – Abolition of untouchability.
  • Articles 15(4) & 16(4) – Affirmative action for backward classes.
  • Protection of Civil Rights Act (1955) and SC/ST (PoA) Act (1989) – Penalising caste-based discrimination.
    • Yet, as Dr. B.R. Ambedkar warned, “Political democracy cannot last unless it rests on social democracy.”

Contemporary Manifestations of Caste Discrimination in India

• Social Discrimination: Persistent segregation in housing, temples, and social gatherings, especially in rural India, where caste-based violence remains common.
  • A report by “Question of Cities” shows that urban neighbourhoods remain highly segregated by caste, affecting access to public services, social networks, and mobility. Even in rural settings, Dalits are often forced to live on the outskirts of villages, away from mainstream social spaces. 
• Institutional Discrimination: From Dalit student suicides in IITs to harassment of Dalit officers, caste bias adapts to modern spaces through exclusion, ridicule, and denial of respect.
  • Example: The Supreme Court intervened in 2022 after two Dalit student suicides at IIT Delhi, calling for a task force to investigate caste bias in IITs.
• Economic Inequality: Dalits are overrepresented in low-paying and stigmatized occupations, facing systemic exclusion from land, credit, and capital networks.
  • Example: According to Oxfam India’s Discrimination Report 2022, Dalit workers receive significantly lower wages than non-Dalit counterparts, even in regular employment, reflecting a structural bias in the job market. 
• Digital and Urban Casteism: Online hate speech, matrimonial filters, and “merit-based” exclusion reflect new-age expressions of old hierarchies.
  • Example: Matrimonial sites continue to offer caste-based filters, where users explicitly select caste preferences, formalizing caste divisions in the digital social fabric.
• Political Marginalisation: Despite reservations, Dalit leaders often face tokenism or coercion in local institutions.
  • Example: Despite constitutional reservations, Dalit political figures are often reduced to symbolic representation, with real power remaining with dominant caste groups.

Caste Prejudice in Modern Institutions

• Bureaucracy: The case of IPS Puran Kumar showed how caste operates through ostracisation, humiliation, and denial of dignity, even among senior officers.
• Academia: Institutional apathy in cases like Rohith Vemula’s suicide reflects systemic neglect of marginalized voices.
• Corporate and Digital Spaces: In corporate and digital spaces, terms like “cultural fit” and “merit” often mask caste-based exclusion. These terms perpetuate biases in hiring and promotions, subtly reinforcing caste hierarchies and limiting opportunities for marginalized groups.
  • Example: The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)‘s “State of Inclusion” report (2021) highlights implicit caste-based exclusion in India’s private sector, with caste filters influencing both digital and physical recruitment processes.

Constitutional Morality: The Ethical Mandate Against Caste

• The Constitution enshrines equality through Articles 14–18, abolishing untouchability and prohibiting discrimination. Yet, the ethical foundation of these provisions lies in how institutions uphold moral responsibility, not merely legal formality.
• Constitutional Foundations:
• • Article 14: Ensures fairness and equality before law, rejecting social hierarchy.
  • Article 15: Prohibits discrimination, upholding substantive equality and equity.
  • Article 16: Guarantees equality of opportunity in public employment.
  • Article 17: Abolishes untouchability, rejecting caste-based impurity.
  • Article 21: Protects life and dignity, making humiliation a constitutional wrong.
  • Article 46: Directs the State to promote the welfare of SC/STs and protect them from exploitation.

Ethical Dimensions of Institutional Casteism

• Violation of Impartiality: Caste bias compromises neutrality and undermines institutional fairness.
• Failure of Empathy: Ignoring discrimination violates compassion and human dignity.
• Dereliction of Constitutional Duty: Public officials who tolerate casteism breach their oath to uphold equality and justice.
• Cultural Moral Blindness: Discrimination masked as “tradition” or “meritocracy” reflects ethical blindness.
• Erosion of Human Dignity: Institutional casteism reduces individuals to their social identity, violating Article 21.
• Moral Hazard in Public Service: Failure to act against caste violations creates a moral hazard, signaling that officials can violate constitutional ethics without consequence, thereby normalizing bias.
• The Principle of Accountability: Accountability is the missing ethical link. The core moral failure lies in the impunity of superiors who ignore caste complaints or delay the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act’s implementation.
  • “Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment; it has to be cultivated.” – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Philosophical Anchors

• Ambedkar’s Vision: Social democracy must rest on liberty, equality, and fraternity, without which political freedom becomes hollow.
• Gandhian Ethics: True Swaraj demands removal of untouchability and cultivation of compassion as a civic virtue.
• Rawlsian Justice: Fairness requires dismantling inherited privilege and ensuring equal opportunity for all.
• Kantian Dignity: Every human being must be treated as an end in themselves, never as a means defined by social rank.
• Tagorean Humanism: Ethical progress lies in recognising the divine in every individual, transcending caste and creed.

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Significance of Addressing Institutional Casteism

• Democratic Integrity: Equality within institutions upholds citizen trust and the moral legitimacy of governance.
• Social Cohesion: Eliminating caste bias strengthens fraternity, the soul of Indian democracy.
• Administrative Ethics: Practicing neutrality with empathy reinforces integrity and accountability in public service.
• Moral Nationhood: True patriotism lies in ensuring that constitutional morality triumphs over social hierarchy.
• Public Trust in Governance: Institutions seen as caste-neutral enhance citizen cooperation, vital for policy success.
• Inclusive Growth: Empowering marginalized groups creates a broader base for innovation and social stability.

Challenges in Eradicating Caste Discrimination

• Deep-Rooted Beliefs: Centuries of hierarchical conditioning resist change despite education and law.
• Economic Dependence: Marginalized groups remain economically dependent on dominant castes, limiting assertiveness.
• Institutional Apathy: Lack of sensitivity training and weak grievance systems perpetuate silence.
• Political Complicity: Vote-bank politics sustains divisions and hinders reform.
• Digital Normalisation: Online spaces glorify “merit” rhetoric and caste stereotypes, amplifying bias.
• Weak Accountability: Absence of disciplinary action against complicit superiors creates impunity.
• Implementation Gaps: Delays and low conviction rates under the SC/ST (PoA) Act dilute its deterrent effect.

Way Forward

• Societal and Attitudinal Change: Integrate caste-sensitivity and social justice modules in training academies such as Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) and judicial institutions.
  • Revise school and college curricula to include reformers like Jyotirao Phule, Periyar, Narayana Guru, and B.R. Ambedkar, fostering awareness from an early age.
  • Conduct nationwide civic campaigns promoting fraternity, equality, and constitutional morality as core civic values.
  • Encourage inter-caste marriages and community integration through social and economic incentives.
• Institutional and Legal Measures: Implement zero-tolerance policies for caste-based harassment, linking compliance to officers’ Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs).
  • Establish Caste Sensitivity Cells across ministries, universities, and public sector units with confidential grievance mechanisms.
  • Conduct periodic social audits to assess inclusion, representation, and systemic bias.
  • Strengthen enforcement of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act through fast-track courts and strict accountability.
  • Incorporate anti-discrimination pledges and grievance redressal in public institutions like Police, Education, and Health services via a Citizen’s Charter framework.
• Economic and Digital Empowerment: Expand access to credit, land reforms, and entrepreneurship schemes for marginalized communities.
  • Enforce Information Technology Rules to curb online caste hate and misinformation, ensuring ethical digital citizenship.
• Role of the Administrator: Serve as a moral sentinel, proactively safeguarding constitutional values.
• • Ensure ethical vetting for leadership roles to assess commitment to social justice and empathy.
  • Uphold a duty of care for victims, preventing retaliation and maintaining confidentiality.
  • Strengthen accountability mechanisms, holding superiors responsible for inaction and embedding ethical liability in governance.

Conclusion

Caste discrimination shows India’s unfinished moral revolution. Laws grant representation, but true equality needs ethical change. As Ambedkar warned, political equality alone cannot erase social inequality. The focus must shift to mind-making, nurturing constitutional morality and dignity, so India’s democracy becomes truly just and humane.

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