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TheScheduled Castes[1] andScheduled Tribes (abbreviated asSCs andSTs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups inIndia.[2] The terms are recognized in theConstitution of India and the groups are designated in one or other of the categories.[3]: 3 For much of the period ofBritish rule in the Indian subcontinent, they were known as the Depressed Classes.[3]: 2
In modern literature, many castes under the Scheduled Castes category are sometimes referred to asDalit, meaning "broken" or "dispersed" for the untouchables.[5][6] The term having been popularised by the Dalit leaderB. R. Ambedkar during the independence struggle.[5] Ambedkar preferred the term Dalit overGandhi's termHarijan, meaning "people ofHari" (lit. 'Man of God').[5] Similarly, the Scheduled Tribes are often referred to asAdivasi (earliest inhabitants),Vanvasi (inhabitants of forest) andVanyajati (people of forest). However, theGovernment of India refrains from using such derogatory and incorrect terms that carry controversial connotations. For example, 'Dalit', which literally means 'oppressed', has been historically associated with notions of uncleanness, carries implications of reinforcing the concept ofuntouchability. Similarly, 'Adivasi', which means 'original inhabitants', carries implications ofnative and immigrant distinctions and also perpetuates the stereotypes of beingcivilized and uncivilized.[7] Therefore,the Constitutionally recognized inclusive terms "Scheduled Castes"(Anusuchit Jati) and "Scheduled Tribes"(Anusuchit Janjati) are preferred in official usage, as these designated terms are intended to address socio-economic disabilities, rather than to reimpose thosesocial stigmas and issues.[8][9] In September 2018, the government "issued an advisory to all private satellite channels asking them to refrain from using the derogatory nomenclature 'Dalit', though rights groups and intellectuals have come out against any shift from 'Dalit' in popular usage".[10]
The Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes comprise about 16.6% and 8.6%, respectively, of India's population (according to the2011 census).[11][12] TheConstitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 lists 1,108castes across 28states in its First Schedule,[13] and theConstitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 lists 744 tribes across 22 states in its First Schedule.[14]
Since the independence of India, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were givenReservation status, guaranteeing political representation, preference in promotion, quota in universities, free and stipended education, scholarships, banking services, various government schemes and the Constitution lays down the general principles ofpositive discrimination for SCs and STs.[15][16]: 35, 137
Article 366 (24) of the Constitution of India defines the Scheduled Castes as:[17]
Suchcastes,races ortribes or part of or groups within such castes, races or tribes as are deemed underArticle 341 to be Scheduled Castes for the purpose of this [Indian] constitution.
Article 366 (25) of the Constitution of India defines the Scheduled Tribes as:[18][17]
Suchtribes ortribal communities or part of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed underArticle 342 to the Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this [Indian] Constitution.
Article 341
(1) ThePresident may with respect to anyState or Union Territory and where it is a State after consultation with theGovernor thereof, by public notification specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of thisConstitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union Territory, as the case may be.
(2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued under clause of any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.[17]
Article 342
(1) The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purpose of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union Territory, as the case may be.
(2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes specified in a notification issued under clause any tribe or tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.[17]
The castes and tribes notified underArticles 341 and342 of theConstitution of India are recognized as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Through scheduling, these castes and tribes are provided social security and adequate representation in education, employment, and governance, facilitating their upliftment and integration into mainstream society in pursuit ofsocial justice.[19][20][21] The process of including and excluding communities, castes, or tribes to/from the list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes adheres to certain silent criteria and procedures established by the Lokur committee in 1965.[22][23] For Scheduled Castes (SCs), the criteria involve extreme social, educational, and economic backwardness resulting from the practice ofuntouchability.[24] On the other hand, Scheduled Tribes (STs) are identified based on indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the larger community, and overall backwardness.[24] The scheduling process refers back to the definitions of communities used in thecolonial census along with modern anthropological study and is guided byArticle 341 and342. Per the first clause ofArticle 341 and342, the list of Scheduled communities is subject to specificstate and union territory, with area restrictions todistricts,subdistricts, andtehsils.[25][26][27][28] Furthermore, members of Scheduled Communities are entitled based on religious criteria: Scheduled Castes must be adherents ofHinduism,Sikhism, orBuddhism,[29] whereas Scheduled Tribes can belong to any religion to be recognized as Scheduled.[30][19]
The evolution of the lower caste and tribe into the modern-day Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe is complex. Thecaste system as a stratification of classes in India originated about 2,000 years ago, and has been influenced by dynasties and ruling elites, including the Mughal Empire and the British Raj.[31][32] The Hindu concept ofVarnahistorically incorporated occupation-based communities.[31] Some low-caste groups, such as those formerly calleduntouchables[33] who constitute modern-day Scheduled Castes, were considered outside the Varna system.[34][35]
Since the 1850s, these communities were loosely referred to as Depressed Classes, with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The early 20th century saw a flurry of activity in theBritish authorities assessing the feasibility of responsible self-government for India. TheMorley–Minto Reforms Report,Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms Report and theSimon Commission were several initiatives in this context. A highly contested issue in the proposed reforms was the reservation of seats for representation of the Depressed Classes in provincial and central legislatures.[36]
In 1935, the UKParliament passed theGovernment of India Act 1935, designed to give Indian provinces greater self-rule and set up a national federal structure. The reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes was incorporated into the act, which came into force in 1937. The Act introduced the term "Scheduled Castes", defining the group as "such castes, parts of groups within castes, which appear to His Majesty in Council to correspond to the classes of persons formerly known as the 'Depressed Classes', as His Majesty in Council may prefer".[3] This discretionary definition was clarified inThe Government of India (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1936, which contained a list (or Schedule) of castes throughout the British-administered provinces.[3]
After independence theConstituent Assembly continued the prevailing definition of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, giving (via articles 341 and 342) the president of India and governors of the states a mandate to compile a full listing of castes and tribes (with the power to edit it later, as required). The first list of castes and tribes was created through two orders:The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, andThe Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, containing 821 castes and 296 tribes (overlapping nature), respectively, derived from colonial lists.[a] Subsequently, the Presidential Scheduled List was modified in 1956 by theScheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Lists (Modification) Order, 1956, to include other areas,newly formed states/UTs, and communities that had not been considered during the adoption of theConstitution of India.[39] andThe Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950,[40] However, the classification and maintenance of the list Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was initially intended to be a state matter duringdrafting of the constitution, concerns over political misuse led to the centralization of authority under the Presidential Scheduled Lists. After 15 years since the order of listing Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the government adopted updated criteria for inclusion and exclusion based on the Lokur committee report of 1965.[23] Due to inclusive policies, many communities were added to the Presidential Scheduled List through amendments since the adoption of the Constitution, bringing the total to over 1,000 Scheduled Castes and over 500 Scheduled Tribes by 2018.[41]
| Census | Scheduled Castes | Scheduled Tribes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage | Numbers | ±% | Percentage | Numbers | ±% | |
| 1881 | — | — | — | 2.6% | 6,420,000 | — |
| 1891 | — | — | — | 3.3% | 9,110,000 | +41.9 |
| 1901 | — | — | — | 2.9% | 8,180,000 | −10.2 |
| 1911 | — | — | — | 3.2% | 9,590,000 | +17.2 |
| 1921 | 17.2 | 52,700,000 | — | 3.0% | 9,070,000 | −5.4 |
| 1931 | 14.9 | 50,200,000 | −4.7 | 2.5% | 7,620,000 | −16.0 |
| 1941 | 12.6 | 48,810,000 | −2.8 | 2.3% | 8,790,000 | +15.4 |
| 1951 | 14.4% | 51,340,000 | +5.2 | 5.3% | 19,110,000 | +117.4 |
| 1961 | 14.7% | 64,410,000 | +25.5 | 6.9% | 30,130,000 | +57.7 |
| 1971 | 14.6% | 80,000,000 | +24.2 | 6.9% | 38,010,000 | +26.2 |
| 1981 | 15.8% | 104,750,000 | +30.9 | 7.8% | 51,620,000 | +35.8 |
| 1991 | 16.5% | 138,220,000 | +32.0 | 8.1% | 67,750,000 | +31.2 |
| 2001 | 16.2% | 166,630,000 | +20.6 | 8.2% | 84,320,000 | +24.5 |
| 2011 | 16.6% | 201,370,000 | +20.8 | 8.6% | 104,540,000 | +24 |
| State and Union Territories | Total population of the State and Union Territories | Scheduled Castes | Scheduled Tribes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of notified communities[45] (as of Oct 2017) | Total population | % of Total Scheduled Castes | % of State and UT population | No. of notified communities[45] (as of Dec 2017) | Total population | % of Total Scheduled Tribes | % of State and UT population | ||
| Andhra Pradesh (incl.Telangana) | 84,580,777 | AP: 61 TG: 59 | 13,878,078 | 6.89 | 16.41 | AP: 34 TG: 32 | 5,918,073 | 5.66 | 7 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 1,383,727 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 951,821 | 0.91 | 68.79 |
| Assam | 31,205,576 | 16 | 2,231,321 | 1.11 | 7.15 | 29 | 3,884,371 | 3.72 | 12.45 |
| Bihar | 104,099,452 | 23 | 16,567,325 | 8.23 | 15.91 | 32 | 1,336,573 | 1.28 | 1.28 |
| Chhattisgarh | 25,545,198 | 44 | 3,274,269 | 1.63 | 12.82 | 42 | 7,822,902 | 7.48 | 30.62 |
| Goa | 1,458,545 | 5 | 25,449 | 0.01 | 1.74 | 8 | 149,275 | 0.14 | 10.23 |
| Gujarat | 60,439,692 | 36 | 4,074,447 | 2.02 | 6.74 | 32 | 8,917,174 | 8.53 | 14.75 |
| Haryana | 25,351,462 | 37 | 5,113,615 | 2.54 | 20.17 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Himachal Pradesh | 6,864,602 | 57 | 1,729,252 | 0.86 | 25.19 | 10 | 392,126 | 0.38 | 5.71 |
| Jharkhand | 32,988,134 | 22 | 3,985,644 | 1.98 | 12.08 | 32 | 8,645,042 | 8.27 | 26.21 |
| Karnataka | 61,095,297 | 101 | 10,474,992 | 5.2 | 17.15 | 50 | 4,248,987 | 4.06 | 6.95 |
| Kerala | 33,406,061 | 69 | 3,039,573 | 1.51 | 9.1 | 43 | 484,839 | 0.46 | 1.45 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 72,626,809 | 48 | 11,342,320 | 5.63 | 15.62 | 46 | 15,316,784 | 14.65 | 21.09 |
| Maharashtra | 112,374,333 | 59 | 13,275,898 | 6.59 | 11.81 | 47 | 10,510,213 | 10.05 | 9.35 |
| Manipur | 2,855,794 | 7 | 97,328 | 0.05 | 3.41 | 34 | 1,167,422 | 1.12 | 40.88 |
| Meghalaya | 2,966,889 | 16 | 17,355 | 0.01 | 0.58 | 17 | 2,555,861 | 2.44 | 86.15 |
| Mizoram | 1,097,206 | 16 | 1,218 | 0 | 0.11 | 15 | 1,036,115 | 0.99 | 94.43 |
| Nagaland | 1,978,502 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 1,710,973 | 1.64 | 86.48 |
| Odisha | 41,974,218 | 95 | 7,188,463 | 3.57 | 17.13 | 62 | 9,590,756 | 9.17 | 22.85 |
| Punjab | 27,743,338 | 39 | 8,860,179 | 4.4 | 31.94 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Rajasthan | 68,548,437 | 59 | 12,221,593 | 6.07 | 17.83 | 12 | 9,238,534 | 8.84 | 13.48 |
| Sikkim | 610,577 | 4 | 28,275 | 0.01 | 4.63 | 4 | 206,360 | 0.2 | 33.8 |
| Tamil Nadu | 72,147,030 | 76 | 14,438,445 | 7.17 | 20.01 | 36 | 794,697 | 0.76 | 1.1 |
| Tripura | 3,673,917 | 34 | 654,918 | 0.33 | 17.83 | 19 | 1,166,813 | 1.12 | 31.76 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 199,812,341 | 66 | 41,357,608 | 20.54 | 20.7 | 15 | 1,134,273 | 1.08 | 0.57 |
| Uttarakhand | 10,086,292 | 65 | 1,892,516 | 0.94 | 18.76 | 5 | 291,903 | 0.28 | 2.89 |
| West Bengal | 91,276,115 | 60 | 21,463,270 | 10.66 | 23.51 | 40 | 5,296,953 | 5.07 | 5.8 |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 380,581 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 28,530 | 0.03 | 7.5 |
| Chandigarh | 1,055,450 | 36 | 199,086 | 0.1 | 18.86 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 343,709 | 4 | 6,186 | 0 | 1.8 | 7 | 178,564 | 0.17 | 51.95 |
| Daman and Diu | 243,247 | 5 | 6,124 | 0 | 2.52 | 5 | 15,363 | 0.01 | 6.32 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 12,541,302 | 13 | 924,991 | 0.46 | 7.38 | 12 | 1,493,299 | 1.43 | 11.91 |
| Lakshadweep | 64,473 | 0 | — | — | — | native pop. | 61,120 | 0.06 | 94.8 |
| Delhi | 16,787,941 | 36 | 2,812,309 | 1.4 | 16.75 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Puducherry | 1,247,953 | 16 | 196,325 | 0.1 | 15.73 | 0 | — | — | — |
| India | 1,210,854,977 | 1,284* | 201,378,372 | 100 | 16.63 | 747* | 104,545,716 | 100 | 8.63 |
| States and Union Territories | Scheduled Caste | Scheduled Tribe | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindu | Sikh | Buddhist | Hindu | Muslim | Christian | Sikh | Buddhist | Jain | Others | Religion not stated | |
| Andhra Pradesh (incl.Telangana) | 13,848,473 | 2,053 | 27,552 | 5,808,126 | 28,586 | 57,280 | 890 | 608 | 644 | 810 | 21,129 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | — | — | — | 97,629 | 3,567 | 389,507 | 245 | 96,391 | 441 | 358,663 | 5,378 |
| Assam | 2,229,445 | 1,335 | 541 | 3,349,772 | 13,188 | 495,379 | 387 | 7,667 | 424 | 12,039 | 5,515 |
| Bihar | 16,563,145 | 1,595 | 2,585 | 1,277,870 | 11,265 | 32,523 | 150 | 252 | 123 | 10,865 | 3,525 |
| Chhattisgarh | 3,208,726 | 1,577 | 63,966 | 6,933,333 | 8,508 | 385,041 | 620 | 1,078 | 312 | 488,097 | 5,913 |
| Goa | 25,265 | 7 | 177 | 99,789 | 531 | 48,783 | 20 | 62 | 18 | 12 | 60 |
| Gujarat | 4,062,061 | 1,038 | 11,348 | 8,747,349 | 34,619 | 120,777 | 1,262 | 1,000 | 1,266 | 3,412 | 7,489 |
| Haryana | 4,906,560 | 204,805 | 2,250 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Himachal Pradesh | 1,709,634 | 15,939 | 3,679 | 307,914 | 37,208 | 275 | 294 | 45,998 | 54 | 23 | 360 |
| Jharkhand | 3,983,629 | 669 | 1,346 | 3,245,856 | 18,107 | 1,338,175 | 984 | 2,946 | 381 | 4,012,622 | 25,971 |
| Karnataka | 10,418,989 | 2,100 | 53,903 | 4,171,265 | 44,599 | 12,811 | 802 | 472 | 1,152 | 665 | 17,221 |
| Kerala | 3,039,057 | 291 | 225 | 431,155 | 18,320 | 32,844 | 42 | 44 | 18 | 376 | 2,040 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 11,140,007 | 2,887 | 199,426 | 14,589,855 | 33,305 | 88,548 | 1,443 | 1,796 | 852 | 584,338 | 16,647 |
| Maharashtra | 8,060,130 | 11,484 | 5,204,284 | 10,218,315 | 112,753 | 20,335 | 2,145 | 20,798 | 1,936 | 93,646 | 40,285 |
| Manipur | 97,238 | 39 | 51 | 8,784 | 4,296 | 1,137,318 | 209 | 2,326 | 288 | 11,174 | 3,027 |
| Meghalaya | 16,718 | 528 | 109 | 122,141 | 10,012 | 2,157,887 | 301 | 6,886 | 254 | 251,612 | 6,768 |
| Mizoram | 1,102 | 9 | 107 | 5,920 | 4,209 | 933,302 | 62 | 91,054 | 343 | 751 | 474 |
| Nagaland | — | — | — | 15,035 | 5,462 | 1,680,424 | 175 | 4,901 | 500 | 3,096 | 1,380 |
| Odisha | 7,186,698 | 825 | 940 | 8,271,054 | 15,335 | 816,981 | 1,019 | 1,959 | 448 | 470,267 | 13,693 |
| Punjab | 3,442,305 | 5,390,484 | 27,390 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Rajasthan | 11,999,984 | 214,837 | 6,772 | 9,190,789 | 13,340 | 25,375 | 663 | 445 | 622 | 1,376 | 5,924 |
| Sikkim | 28,016 | 15 | 244 | 40,340 | 369 | 16,899 | 72 | 1,36,041 | 125 | 12,306 | 208 |
| Tamil Nadu | 14,435,679 | 1,681 | 1,085 | 783,942 | 2,284 | 7,222 | 84 | 50 | 45 | 55 | 1,015 |
| Tripura | 654,745 | 69 | 104 | 888,790 | 2,223 | 153,061 | 250 | 1,19,894 | 318 | 768 | 1,509 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 41,192,566 | 27,775 | 137,267 | 1,099,924 | 21,735 | 1,011 | 264 | 353 | 410 | 2,404 | 8,172 |
| Uttarakhand | 1,883,611 | 7,989 | 916 | 287,809 | 1,847 | 437 | 364 | 1,142 | 7 | 9 | 288 |
| West Bengal | 21,454,358 | 3,705 | 5,207 | 3,914,473 | 30,407 | 343,893 | 1,003 | 220,963 | 876 | 774,450 | 10,888 |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | — | — | — | 156 | 1,026 | 26,512 | 0 | 85 | 0 | 344 | 407 |
| Chandigarh | 176,283 | 22,659 | 144 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 6,047 | 0 | 139 | 175,305 | 242 | 2,658 | 15 | 12 | 4 | 54 | 274 |
| Daman and Diu | 6082 | 1 | 41 | 15,207 | 125 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 913,507 | 11,301 | 183 | 67,384 | 1,320,408 | 1,775 | 665 | 100,803 | 137 | 1,170 | 957 |
| Lakshadweep | — | — | — | 44 | 61,037 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 16 |
| Delhi | 2,780,811 | 25,934 | 5,564 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Puducherry | 196,261 | 33 | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| India (%) | 189,667,132 (94.18%) | 5,953,664 (2.96%) | 5,757,576 (2.86%) | 84,165,325 (80.51%) | 1,858,913 (1.78%) | 10,327,052 (9.88%) | 14,434 (0.01%) | 866,029 (0.83%) | 12,009 (0.01%) | 7,095,408 (6.79%) | 206,546 (0.2%) |
To effectively implement the safeguards built into the Constitution and other legislation, the Constitution under Articles 338 and 338A provides for two constitutional commissions: theNational Commission for Scheduled Castes,[51] and theNational Commission for Scheduled Tribes.[52] The chairpersons of both commissions sitex officio on theNational Human Rights Commission.
The Constitution provides a three-pronged strategy[53] to improve the situation of SCs and STs:
The Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) of 1979 mandated a planning process for the social, economic and educational development of Scheduled Castes and improvement in their working and living conditions. It was an umbrella strategy, ensuring the flow of targeted financial and physical benefits from the general sector of development to the Scheduled Castes.[57] It entailed a targeted flow of funds and associated benefits from the annual plan of states and Union Territories (UTs) in at least a proportion to the national SC population. Twenty-seven states and UTs with sizable SC populations are implementing the plan. Although the Scheduled Castes population according to the2001 Census was 16.66crores (16.23% of the total population), the allocations made through SCSP have been lower than the proportional population.[58] A strange factor has emerged of extremely lowered fertility of scheduled castes inKerala, due to land reform, migrating (Kerala Gulf diaspora) and democratization of education.[59]
In the original Constitution, Article 338 provided for a special officer (the Commissioner for SCs and STs) responsible for monitoring the implementation of constitutional and legislative safeguards for SCs and STs and reporting to the president. Seventeen regional offices of the Commissioner were established throughout the country.[citation needed]
There was an initiative to replace the Commissioner with a committee in the 48th Amendment to the Constitution, changing Article 338. While the amendment was being debated, the Ministry of Welfare established the first committee for SCs and STs (with the functions of the Commissioner) in August 1978. These functions were modified in September 1987 to include advising the government on broad policy issues and the development levels of SCs and STs. Now it is included in Article 342.[citation needed]
In 1990, Article 338 was amended for the National Commission for SCs and STs with theConstitution (Sixty fifth Amendment) Bill, 1990.[60] The first commission under the 65th Amendment was constituted in March 1992, replacing the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the commission established by the Ministry of Welfare's Resolution of 1989. In 2003, the Constitution was again amended to divide the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into two commissions: the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
The Scheduled Castes, as a constitutional category in India, emerged from the practice ofuntouchability in thecaste system associated with Hinduism. Although theConstitution of India did not specify religious criteria, it was accepted by theConstituent Assembly that only adherents of Hinduism would be entitled to Scheduled Caste status.[61][62] Thus,the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order of 1950 specified as such, with the exception of certain communities in relation toPunjab, who could be either Hindu or Sikh. Amendments in 1956 and 1990 extended this recognition to individuals who converted toSikhism andBuddhism, respectively. However, converts toChristianity,Islam, or other religions not specified in the order and subsequent amendments are not entitled to Scheduled Caste status and are not counted as such in census enumeration. According to theSachar Committee analysis, Scheduled Castes (SCs) make up 19.7% of India's total population. These SCs constitute 89.5% of the Buddhist population, 30.7% of Sikhs, 22.2% of Hindus, 9% of Christians, 0.8% of Muslims, and 2.6% belong to other religious beliefs.[63] Similarly, according to thePew Research survey, 89% ofBuddhists identified as SCs, followed by 47% ofSikhs, 33% ofChristians, 25% ofHindus, 4% ofMuslims, 3% ofJains, and the remaining 25% of SCs identify as the general population. Overall, estimates of the SC population in India without religious bar vary, such as 25% inReligion 2020, 24% inGlobal Attitudes 2019, and 23% inGlobal Attitudes 2017 by the Pew Research Center. Other estimates include 22% byIHDS (2005), 19% byNES (2019), and 21% byNFHS (2015-2016), all of which are higher than the 16% and 17% recorded in the 2001 and 2011 Censuses of India, respectively.[48] The demand for extending Scheduled Caste status to adherents of religions other than Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism has been rejected by theOffice of the Registrar General of India, which became the validating authority in 1999. Before that, state recommendations and the approval of theNational Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were considered for additions, deletions, or modifications to the Presidential Order throughParliament.[64][61] As a result, individuals converted to religions not specified by the constitutional order often either avoid disclosing their actual religious beliefs or assert their previous religious identity in official records to availsocial security and welfare benefits (popularly known as theReservation) provided by the government.[65][61] Although those converted SCs fall into theOther Backward Class category, which provides similar affirmative benefits except for political reservation.
The classification of communities as Scheduled Castes, initially formalized by the British in the early 20th century under the term 'Depressed Classes', was geographically specific, with communities identified at the district or provincial level based on localized patterns of social disadvantage. After independence, this area-based framework was largely retained, as socio-economic disabilities were seen as regionally rooted by social structure.[66][67]
In most states, the intra-state area restrictions are removed by theScheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976.[67] However, the inter-state area restrictions perArticle 341(1) and342(1) are defined by the Constitution. Accordingly, the lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are specific to each state and union territory.[68][69]
The notified Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were earlier regarded as homogeneous social groups for policy implementation, which resulted in disparities where some communities accessed a disproportionate share of affirmative benefits while more marginalized sections remained excluded from adequate representation. To address this, severalstate governments, notablyAndhra Pradesh andPunjab, introduced sub-classification of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for a more equitable distribution of affirmative measures. However, since the authority to maintain the list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes rests with the central government, theSupreme Court struck down the sub-classification policy, emphasizing homogeneity in the context of the scheduling list.[70]
In 2024, a seven-judgebench of the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of sub-classification, clarifying that while homogeneity applies to the Presidential Scheduled List, it does not restrict state's power vis-à-visArticle 15(4),Article 16(4), and other empowering provisions in policy implementation or the distribution of welfare benefits. The decision affirmed the state's power to adopt sub-classification or other policies for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to ensure an equitable distribution of affirmative action benefits.[71]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain: Constitution of India.
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