Dr Sandhu also presented an estimation of Scheduled Caste (SC)population during the session. According to the data, there was an increase in the percentage of Scheduled Castes in class V towns. (File photo)Segregation of society has increased with increasing urbanisation, said Dr R S Sandhu during a national seminar addressing emerging issues faced by the Dalits, held in the auditorium of Panjab University, Wednesday.
Dr Sandhu is a professor of Urban Sociology at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. According to the 2011 census of India, Dalits constitute 16.7 per cent of India’s population. Yet, Dalits still remain socially excluded from the benefits that are accrued to many communities. Despite the efforts by the state, the social and economic disparities have increased over the years. Caste discrimination against Dalits has strongly pronounced.
Dr Sandhu also presented an estimation of Scheduled Caste (SC)population during the session. According to the data, there was an increase in the percentage of Scheduled Castes in class V towns.
Estimation showed that the population of SC in class I town was nearly 16.77 per cent, where in class V towns it was at 42 per cent. “The Scheduled Caste population in big towns remains under-represented and this population is more prone to poverty,” he said.
Harwinder Bhatti, sociologist at Punjabi University, Patiala, said, “We segregate people into classes, leading to division of society.”
The plans and schemes of central and state governments, with regard to Dalits’ social welfare and social affirmative action, do not reach these target groups.
Dr Barinder Pal, Professor of Social Anthropology at Punjabi University, Patiala, said education and health sector were two important pillars for empowerment of the society.
He further questioned that if the private sector was to take over the government sector, what would be the impact on the poor section of population?
Both, social status and economic status, exclude Dalits in many social spheres of life. Similarly, Dalits still face caste discrimination in their everyday lives.
“Educated people are more communal than uneducated people. In a given time, there does not seem to be any way out,” Dr Barinder Pal signed off.
