Two Days National Seminar On

Caste and Social Exclusion in India: Identity, Assertion and Hegemony

18-19 February, 2013

Organized by Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP) Gandhigram Rural Institute-Deemed University
(Re-Accredited by NAAC with A Grade)

Gandhigram-624 302 Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu

Our University: Indias struggle for independence fuelled by revolutionary thoughts of founding fathers not only led India ultimately freedom. During its course, it laid foundation for modern and vibrant India. Education is one such noble endeavour our founding fathers forecasted that it will enable India to upsurge from the colonial exploitation. Many educational institutions were established during the freedom struggle and after independence. Nestling in the breezy and luxuriant landscape in the lower slope of Sirumalai Hill in the rural Tamil Nadu, the Gandhigram Rural Institute (GRI) is one such institution, was founded in 1956 on the noble advice of Mahatma Gandhiji by his disciple couple Dr. G. Ramachandran and Dr. T.S. Soundram with the aims of promoting classless and casteless society through teaching, research and extension activities. In recognition of its exemplary services and contributions in the field of rural higher education, the Institute was conferred Deemed University status in 1976. The Institute was accredited with Five Star status by NAAC in February 2002 and re-accredited with A grade by NAAC in 2010. Students from all parts of India and other developing countries are studying in this Institute. The Institute is fully funded by the Government of India. The Institute is a member of the Association of Commonwealth University (ACU) and the Association of Indian Universities. Today, GRI has emerged as a premier Institute for advanced learning and research, perhaps, the best in rural oriented courses and extension. Started in a small way, the Institute has developed a big corpus comprising seven different faculties, offering about fifty different programmes. Our Centre: The Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP) in Gandhigram Rural Institute-Deemed University (GRI-DU) started to function as a policy research centre in June, 2010, as per University Gants Commission (UGC) guidelines. Social Exclusion refers to the complex processes that deny certain groups full participation in society. The concept of Social Exclusion originated in France in 1970s and eventually acquired wider currency in academic milieu across the world to characterize discriminations and disadvantages of marginalized groups. Though the concept of social exclusion is borrowed from the West, this new and emerging field of inquiry with its multi-dimensional approach acquire more requisite and contextual in the areas of social science research in India due to the exclusive characteristics of Indian society. India, the land of exclusion where great majority of population still experience institutionalized discrimination and exclusion due to their identities based on caste, religion,

gender, ethnicity, region, etc. Dalits, Adivasis, Women and Minorities are such core excluded groups. Elderly, transgenders, differently-abled, people with HIV/AIDS, Small and Marginal farmers, People in Unorganized sectors, labourers are other excluded groups recently focused as referent dimensions of exclusion today. Even after six decades of planning and development, these marginal groups did not fare well in social indicators compared with established sections of Indian society. The states attempt to bring the excluded majority into the mainstream through policy intervention, albeit, did not give fruitful effects in mitigating social exclusion due to various factors. The establishment of the centre for study of social exclusion and inclusive policy by UGC all over India is such a natural development of the academic quest to identify unmet needs of policy and to bring out multi-thronged policy level solutions through empirical studies. With this noble cause, the UGC established 35 such centres in higher educational institutions throughout the country. The establishment of CSSEIP in GRI is an important milestone in the Institutes academic contributions to combat social exclusion for which it was founded. Thus, the aims of both GRI and CSSEIP fit together and add another stature to establish a more inclusive and a just society. Since its inception, the Centre is marching towards achieving the goal through teaching, research, extension and networking with the Third Sectors. Currently, the Centre is engaged in identifying the unmet need of policies, the challenges and prospects of inclusive policies. The Seminar: Caste is a form of social exclusion unique to the South Asian subcontinent. However, caste system was never imposed all at once on Indian society: it took centuries before caste became the hegemonic feature of society. It has influenced, even shaped the social, cultural, economic and political life of almost all communities in the subcontinent since ancient times. Sociologists define caste or jati (as locally referred to) as a hereditary, endogamous group which is usually localized. Each linguistic region has a large number of jatis. According to one estimate, there are two to three hundred jatis in each linguistic region of India. Anthropological Survey of India reports the existence of 4635 communities or caste-like groups in India. Exclusion is an institutionalised and socially, sometime, religiously sanctioned attempt to exclude, segregate or cast out a segment of the population due to their identity such as caste, race, class, gender, religion, age, etc; it is that much more difficult to change. Social exclusion, discrimination, identity formation and assertion based on caste have become the central focus of

discourse in India today. Though the term Social Exclusion is recently introduced in India, the term offers a unique, multiple and holistic framework to study the caste system, the exclusive feature of Indian society under which the majority of population were excluded over the centuries. Throughout the history, the caste system has been cruel and atrocious institution. It has stunted and shackled the potential of the vast majority of population. Thus, caste is a dominant institution of exclusion which involves what Sukhadeo Thorat describes as living mode exclusion i.e. exclusion from political participation and disadvantages in social and economic opportunities. Notwithstanding all efforts at seeking internal or national solutions to the noxious system of caste; be they legal remedies such as abolishing untouchability constitutionally and reservation for Backward Classes including Dalits, caste based mobilization and assertion or even conversion to non- Hindu religions, caste as a lived reality still continues to be a dominant identity to hit hard the majority of population. Formally and legally, the country denies caste and considers untouchability a crime. But socially and ideologically, it persists in many ways. Though Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, banned scavenging system and made its practice a punishable offence, government is the largest agency that employed and pays over a million of scavengers in the country. The recent reports of NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) also points that crimes under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, is rising across the country. Another worrying trend apparent from the NCRB data is growing cases of rape of women belonging to Dalits. Many reports confirm that, a hidden form of caste based exclusion exists in Indias premier higher educational institutions and government offices where students and officials from reserved communities such as SCs, STs and OBCs are discriminated due to their caste identity. Caste is not exclusive to Hinduism alone. Despite Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Sikhism provide no doctrinal support to caste system; majority of converted Dalits in these religions what social anthropologists prefer to call them as micro-minorities, namely Arzals in Islam, Dalit Christians or Neo-Christians in Christianity, Mazhabis in Sikhism, NeoBuddhists are still excluded by macro-minorities- converts from upper castes or Caste Hindus due to their caste origins i.e., untouchables.

Examination of Indian society since 1947 reveals that caste was not only alive; it was flourishing in the most innovative and changing circumstances. Despite the relative decline of caste system, it has been observed that caste groups and caste identities are invoked in public, and persist and flourish in Indian society, not only in matrimonial markets and electoral politics but also in everyday life shaping access to land, credit, capital, market, employment, housing and knowledge, prestige and power. Occupational mobility, access to state benefits and consciousness rising by movements has altered caste dynamics, increased competition between groups and enhanced the political salience of caste identities today. Today, we talk about caste mostly in the context of assertion by Backward Castes and Dalits against deprivation and exclusion. However, in recent years, caste based identity politics are very active, widespread and are visible in our naked eyes. Caste identities are now fearlessly and unabashedly expressed. Identity, ones sense of self is not natural, but shaped through ascriptive and subjective processes. Only those experiencing a particular form of oppression can either defend or fight against it. It is this well and collective socio-historical experience of oppression and exploitation that provide fodder for all Dalit and Backward castes movements and assertion. Oppression, discrimination, exclusion and psychological vulnerability push them to seek shelter under identities. Studies on contemporary caste noted down that historically excluded groups have acquired much greater capacity today for negotiation with state and modernity including globalization. New leaders have arisen among them who are more able to articulate caste identity and mobilize their community. Scholars have viewed lower caste assertion as a positive use of caste identity in a struggle against oppression. Due to identity based assertion, untouchable castes that were once considered supine and docile are now militant, aggressive and fully conscious of their power and rights in a democratic polity. Lower and middle castes do not see themselves as inferior in any essential sense. They have valorized conceptions of themselves. The organization of electoral politics around the axis of caste enabled them to forge their identities strongly and to deconstruct and reinvent caste history. The popular commemoration of Uda Devi and Chuharmal among Dalits in North India and Immanuel Sekaran and OndiVeeran by Dalits in Tamil Nadu are such incidence of caste based identity assertion and mobilization under which Dalits are aggressively articulate their identity. However, caste still continues to be elusive, enduring, but hegemonic feature of Indian society.

In this context, CSSEIP, GRI has proposed to organize two days National Seminar on, Caste and Social Exclusion in India: Identity, Assertion and Hegemony. This seminar will provide an opportunity and a platform for academicians, researchers and social activists to discuss caste based exclusion and identity assertion that would bring out a broad based, multithronged public policy for building caste less society. Sub-Themes of the Seminar: 1. Caste and Social Exclusion in India 2. Theorizing Caste: Origin and Development of Caste based social exclusion in India. 3. Caste and State Policy: Constitutional Provisions, Reservation and Caste Census 4. Untouchability, Manual Scavenging and Social Exclusion in India. 5. Interplay of Caste, Class, Power and social exclusion in India. 6. Caste based (identity) politics, anti-caste movements and social exclusion in India. 7. Caste based violence and atrocities in India. 8. Gender based Caste discrimination and social exclusion in India. 9. Caste among Non-Hindus and social exclusion in India. 10. Social exclusion, Identity formation, Assertion among Dalits in India. 11. Exclusion of Deprived castes from employment and market in India. 12. Any other themes related to caste. Objectives of the Seminar: 1. To discuss caste as a dominant source of social exclusion practices in India. 2. To identify the sustaining role of caste system in the backdrop of modernization, democratic processes and development. 3. To examine the role of caste based exclusion in identity formation and assertion politics. 4. To analyze the hegemonic features of the caste system accountable for social exclusion. 5. To suggest a broad based multi-thronged public policy for building casteless society. Date and Venue: 18th 19th February, 2013 and Silver Jubilee Hall, GRI. Participants: Academicians, Experts, Researchers, Scholars, College and University teachers working on the various dimensions of caste based exclusion and also those NGOs actively involved and working towards the positive inclusion of the excluded on the basis of their caste identities will be the vital participants for the seminar.

Call for the papers: Preferably, the Papers based on empirical research and theoretical work on the various subthemes of the seminar are invited. Soft copies of abstracts not exceeding 300 words or one printed page on the seminar theme/ sub-themes should be e-mailed (chandra.anjuli@gmail.com or anjuli_c@rediffmail.com or gri.csseip@gmail.com) on or before 31st December, 2012. The authors will be intimated the acceptance of paper by e-mail. The acceptance of paper implies that each author should get registered individually. Full length paper, along with the Power Point presentation/ slides should be submitted in both soft and hard copies on or before 15th January, 2013. Paper Presentation and Publication: The papers invited for presentation at the Seminar will be published as abstracts in the Seminar Proceedings. The selected papers will be published as an edited book by reputed publishers with ISBN. Authors of selected papers for publication will have to pay publishing cost depending upon the publisher. Registration Fees: Delegates Academicians Student/Scholars Others Out station(Rs.) 500 300 500 Local (Rs.) 400 200 400

Registration fee has to be paid through Demand Draft in favor of The Registrar, GRI-DU payable at Canara Bank, Gandhigram (Code 8500). On spot registration is also accepted. Food and Accommodation: All outstation participants will be provided accommodation for two days on request, on first come first serve basis. Dining arrangements are made for all registered participants for both the days of seminar. It is requested to all the outstation participants to meet their travel expenses through their parent organization, while the Organizing Committee would take care of local hospitality and guidance. (TA may be given depending on the fund sanctioned by ICSSR). Important Dates: Last date for submission of Abstract Intimation of Acceptance Last Date for full paper Confirmation of participation : 31.12.2012 : 01.01.2013 : 15.01.2013 : 20.01.2013

How to reach Gandhigram: The institute is located on the NH-7(Dindigul to Madurai Road). It is 12 Km away from Dindigul bus stand, 2 km from Ambathurai Railway station and 15 km from Dindigul Railway station. The nearest Airport is Madurai, located in about 80 kms. ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Chief Patron: Dr. SM. Ramasamy, Honorable Vice- Chancellor, GRI- DU, Gandhigram-624 302 Patron: Dr. N. Narayanasamy, Registrar, GRI- DU, Gandhigram-624 302

Coordinator: Dr. C. Ramanujam, Associate Professor cum Deputy Director & Coordinator, CSSE&IP, GRI, Gandhigram-624 302 Seminar Convener: 1. Dr. P. A. Sam Velladhurai, Assistant Professor cum Assistant Director, CSSEIP Gandhigram Rural Institute- Deemed University, Gandhigram-624 302 Mobile: 09840391263, 09790596787 E-mail:samwhity@gmail.com; gri.csseip@gmail.com Organizing Secretaries: 1. Dr. Anjuli Chandra, Assistant Professor cum Assistant Director, CSSEIP, GRI- DU, Gandhigram-624 302 Mobile: 09715339798 E-mail: chandra.anjuli@gmail.com; anjuli_c@rediffmail.com 2. Dr. A. Mani, Assistant professor cum Assistant Director, CSSEIP, GRI- DU, Gandhigram-624 302 Mobile: 09865909795, 09976914529 E-mail: mani.chella@gmail.com 3. Dr. V. Thirukkani, Research Associate, CSSEIP, GRI- DU, Gandhigram-624 302 Mobile: 09865012152 E-mail: thirukani@gmail.com Note: All the correspondence related to the seminar should be addressed to Dr. Anjuli Chandra, the Organizing Secretary of the Seminar.

Two Days National Seminar On

Caste and Social Exclusion in India: Identity, Assertion and Hegemony

18-19 February, 2013 REGISTRATION FORM 1. Name 2. Sex 3. Designation 4. Department/ Centre 5. Mailing Address : : Male/Female : : :

6. Mobile No : 7. E-mail ID : 8. Accommodation Needed : Yes/No 9. Arrival Date______________ Time______________ 10. Signature________________ Date______________ 11. Nature of participation : Presenting Paper/ Participation only 12. Registration fee. Particulars: DD No: Rs: Bank: Date: Signature (Registration fee has to be paid through Demand Draft in favor of The Registrar, GRI-DU payable at Canara Bank (8500), Gandhigram. On spot registration is also accepted). *Filled registration form should reach our Centre on or before 15th January, 2013. Please confirm your participation through e-mail at: chandra.anjuli@gamil.com or anjuli_c@rediffmail.com or gri.csseip@gmail.com

Note: Photocopies of the registration form can be made, if required.