TEMPLATE FOR RECORDING EXAMPLES OF PRACTICE

The Shared Societies Project: Leadership for Dialogue, Diversity and Social Cohesion Building a world safe for difference Replicable example of practice Commitment I Locating responsibility to ensure the promotion of social cohesion clearly within government structures Suggested Approaches: Create an independent body such as a community relations council to act as a link between government and the people and to encourage civil society involvement in enhancing community relations. Commitment IV Ensure the legal framework protects the rights of the individual Suggested Approaches: Enact as part of the constitution a statutory bill of rights that reflects international norms and instruments.

National Commission for Scheduled Castes Country: India Background • • • • •

Long standing divisions exist in India between those from higher castes and those from lower castes, justified on religious grounds. Most lower caste people have had very limited opportunity for upward mobility Lower caste people are very poor and disadvantaged. They have also been subject to ill treatment and violence At independence the Constitution highlighted the importance of equality and provided for the establishment of special arrangements for castes listed in a schedule to the Constitution, thereafter called Scheduled Castes. The constitution of India provides both for the commission and highlights the importance of equality

Goals • • •

to protect the rights of and end discrimination against scheduled castes to improve the living conditions and life changes of members of scheduled castes To increase the acceptance of members of Scheduled Castes as equal members of society.

Method • • • •

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A National Commission for Scheduled Castes was set up under the Constitution to protect the rights of different Scheduled Castes in India. The commission’s chairman and vice-chairman have Union Cabinet Minister and Union Minster of State status. Members of the commission hold the rank of Secretary to the Government of India. The commission’s functions include: o Monitor the implementation of protective legal safeguards for Scheduled Casts. o Investigate any transgression to the aforementioned legal safeguards. o Evaluate the effectiveness of current legislation as pertains to the protection of individuals from Scheduled Casts. o Make recommendations on the type of measures that should be introduced to further promote and/or safeguard the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of Scheduled Castes. o Investigate complaints regarding violations to the legislations which protect the rights of Scheduled Castes. o Evaluate, together with other bodies, the socio-economic development of Scheduled Castes. With reference to investigations the Commission has all the powers of civil court trying a case

Impact • • •

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Statistically progress has been made: Literacy, for example, increased from 10 to 37% between 1961 and 1991. Scheduled castes are able to elect their own representatives to the seats reserved for them in parliament. Progress is being made in poverty reduction of scheduled castes. However, the speed with which poverty is reduced amongst scheduled castes, or the speed with which scheduled castes progress in terms of health or economic indicators, for example, is proportionally lower than that of other groups. Some argue that while scheduled castes have a role in government, their actual involvement in decision-making is small. There is still a great deal of prejudice against lower caste people in some parts of the country, especially in rural areas. The bottom line is that while the measure explored here is an important one, it will not achieve major change unless other efforts are carried out along side it.

Enabling conditions •

Article 338 of the Constitution provides for a National Commission for Scheduled Castes.

References/contacts for farther information • • •

Hollo, Lanna. “Discrimination and Conflict Prevention”. Conflict Prevention Handbook Series. Folke Bernadotte Academy http://www.indianetzone.com/45/national_commission_scheduled_castes. htm Sukhadeo Thorat. Economic exclusion and poverty in Asia: The Example of Castes in India. 2020 FOCUS BRIEF on the World’s Poor and Hungry

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People. December 2007Nishith Prakash. The Impact of Employment Quotas on the Economic Lives of Disadvantaged Minorities in India. Dartmouth College, November 2009 see: A. de Haan, “Extreme Deprivation in Remote Areas in India: Social Exclusion as Explanatory Concept,” presented at the conference on Chronic Poverty (Manchester, April 2003); A. Sen, “Social Exclusion: Concept, Application, and Scrutiny,” Social Development Papers No. 1 (Office of Environment and Social Development, Asian Development Bank, 2000); S. Thorat, A. Negi, and P. Negi, Reservation and Private Sector: Quest for Equal Opportunity and Growth (Jaipur, India: Rawat, 2004).

Submitted by Ananda Millard