Education and Inequality

Uma Ramaswamy
The Constitution is committed to improving the educational level of the Scheduled Castes through preferential
policies. The commitment has found expression in a variety of schemes including reservation of seats in educational institutions, lowering eligibility conditions for admission to various courses, scholarship programmes, exemption of fees, free supply of study and dress materials and provision of hostel facilities and other amenities.
Underlying the policy of special help is the conviction that the underprivileged should educate themselves for
secular employment and move away from stigmatised traditional occupations as well as low-paid agricultural
labour, where the bulk of them are employed.
The implementation of the preferential policies and the extent to which the Scheduled Castes have actually
availed of the benefits are thus matters of considerable significance. This paper focuses on the educational advancement of the Scheduled Castes in Andhra Pradesh.
T H E C o n s t i t u t i o n of India is c o m m i t t e d to
improving the educational level of H a r i j a n s
t h r o u g h preferential policies. T h e c o m m i t ment has f o u n d expression in a variety of
schemes including reservation of seats in
educational institutions, lowering eligibility
conditions for admission to various courses,
scholarship programmes, exemption of fees,
free supply of study a n d dress materials,
provision of hostel facilities and other
amenities. Pre- and post-matric scholarships
of the state and Central government respectively have helped a large n u m b e r to gain
access to e d u c a t i o n . T h e schemes enable
every aspiring student to avail of financial
assistance. T h e assurance of financial support from school to university is the bulwark
of H a r i j a n e d u c a t i o n . T h e five year plans
have been the m a j o r vehicle for implementing the various schemes. Successive five year
plans have a p p o r t i o n e d an increasing share
of resources for promoting education. Underlying the policy of special help is the conviction that the disprivileged should educate
themselves for secular employment and move
away from stigmatised traditional occupations as well as low paid agricultural labour,
where the bulk of them are employed. The
implementation of the policy in the decades
since Independence a n d the extent to which
the scheduled castes have actually availed of
the benefits are matters of considerable significance. This paper focuses on the educational advancement of the H a r i j a n s in
A n d h r a Pradesh.
G R O W T H OF LITERACY A M O N G H A R I J A N S

Considering the low base from which the

H a r i j a n s began in the forties, the growth of
literacy may be said to be dramatic between
1941 and 1981. At the national level, the
literacy rate a m o n g them increased from 2.3
to 21.4 per cent during this period. 1 In
Andhra, much of which was an integral part
of the Madras Presidency till 1956, literacy
increased from 1.5 to 8.5 per cent in the two
decades till 1961. In the next decade, there was
a modest increase to 10.7 per cent. However,
the succeeding decadc, 1971-81, reveals a
sharp rise f r o m 10.7 to 17.6 per cent. 2 This
may be attributed to the greater emphasis laid
on their education in Fourth and Fifth Plans.
While the allocation for their education in
the Second and Third Plans was just around

one-third of the total outlay on scheduled

caste welfare, the Fourth and Fifth stepped
it up to 82.4 a n d 69.2 per cent respectively. 3
With all this development, the H a r i j a n s continue to lag behind the general population.
The level of literacy for the population of the
state as a whole stood at 29.9 per cent in 1981
as against 17.6 per cent for the H a r i j a n s
A critical scrutiny of the literacy chart of
the scheduled castes at once reveals that they
have gained most at the primary level. T h e
percentage of their enrolment to total enrolment at the primary stage has increased from
12.9 per cent in 1967 to 15.3 per cent by 1978,
the coefficient to the corresponding enrolment of all communities being 115.3 per cent
(Table I). Paradoxically, stagnation and
wastage are also most acute at this stage.
Non-participation, in the sense of not sending
children to school at all, is another problem.
Non-participation, wastage and stagnation at
the primary level are c o m m o n to the entire

population, and not unique to the scheduled

castes. It is estimated that the dropout for all
communities at the fifth and seventh classes
are 59.7 and 68.2 per cent respectively, while
the corresponding figures for the scheduled
castes are 61.7 and 72.4 per cent. The low
differential is, however, poor comfort for the
scheduled castes with so high a dropout rate.
A study on wastage, stagnation and inequality of opportunity in primary education by
the Administrative Staff College notes that
the dropout rate a m o n g the landless and
small farmers households is higher a m o n g the
scheduled castes than a m o n g all other castes.
Moreover, increased household income which
leads to greater educational participation
a m o n g other castes does not have a similar
effect a m o n g the scheduled castes. 4
Empirical evidence shows that a c o n j u n c tion of factors contribute to non-participation
and wastage. Poverty which compels parents
to use children as economic units is a m a j o r

TABLE 1: ENROLMENT OF SCHEDULED CASTE STUDENTS

Year
1967 68
1968-69
1969-70
1970-7]
1971-72
1972-73
1973-74
1974-75
1975-76
1976-77
1977-78

Primary

Middle

High
School

Vocational

12.9
(97.0)
13.5
<101.5)
13.5
(101.5)
11.5
(86.5)
1'2.7
(95.5)
13.4
(100.8)
13.2
(99.2)
13.5
(101.5)
13.5
(101.7)
14.6
(110.0)
15.3
(115.3)

9.1
(68.4)
9.6
(72.2)
9.6
022)
9.5
(71,4)
9.8
(73.7)
9.4
(70.7)
9.0
(67.7)
9.6
(72.2)
9.4
(70.8)
9.1
(68.6)
10.2
(76.9)

8.4
(63.2)
8.3
(62.4)
8.3
(62.4)
8.0
(60.2)
8.5
(63.9)
9.1
(68.4)
9.0
(67.7)
8.2
(61.7)
8.2
(61.8)
8.7
(65.6)
9.0
(67.8)

23.8
(179.0)
23.1
(173.7)
26.8
(201.5)
18J
(136.1)
20.2
(151.9)
20.3
(152.6)
20.3
(152.6)
13.3
(100.0)
15.5
(116-5)
11.4
(85.7)
13.6
(102.3)

Special University
Education
21.8
(163.9)
21.5
(161.7)
23.7
(178.2)
16.5
(124.1)
21.1
(158.6)
17.1
(128.6)
19.5
(146.6)
6.4
(48.1)
5.9
(44.4)
7.2
(20.3)
14.1
(106.0)

5.8
(43.6)
6.0
(45.1)
6.0
(45.1)
6.3
(47.4)
7.6
(57.1)
8.3
(62.4)
7.0
(52.6)
9.7
(72.9)
9.5
(71.6)
7.3
(55.0)
6.6
(49.7)

Professional
6.0
(45.1)
5.3
(39.8)
5.3
(39.8)
5.6
(42.1)
5.8
(43.6)
5.5
(41.4)
5.4
(40.6)
5.9
(44 A)
12
(54.3)
9.7
(73.1)
9.4
(70.8)

Notes: Figures indicate proportion to total enrolment. Figures in brackets indicate co-efficient
of equality:
Percentage enrolment of scheduled castes to total enrolment of all communities
Percentage population of scheduled castes to total population
Source: Ministry of Education and Culture, "Trends of Educational Development of Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes in India", New Delhi: Government of India. 1983.
Economic and Political Weekly
Vol XX, No 36, September 7, 1985

1523

September 7, 1985

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY

causative factor While education is free in

the sense that no fees are charged and
some facilities extended in the term of
clothing, mid-day meals and supply of books,
monetary inducements by way of scholarships
are insignificant at this level. As a result,
parents feel that children can be put on more
profitable employment. A recent study of
educational backwardness in three districts
of Andhra Pradesh brings out the salience
of the economic consideration for the high
incidence of dropouts. This apart, there is
little to attract children to school. The study
observes that an overwhelming number of
primary schools arc located either in tents or
in one room tenements with few supportive
facilities. Above all, parents and children
do not see primary and middle schooling as
being relevant to their economic betterment.
It is difficult to relate general education to
any specific employment. 5
Significantly, the retention of Harijan
students in the middle stage is far higher.
Regardless of the point of time, nearly twice
as many children arc retained at the middle
stage as at the primary (Table 2). What
dampens this otherwise optimistic picture is
the fact that enrolment itself declines as one
TABLE 2: R e t e n T I O N RAVIOFSCHEDULED
CASTE STUDENT IN PRIMARY AND MIDDLE
SCHOOL DURING 1967-78

Year

Primary

Secondary

1967
1968
1%9
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975

22.2
24.3
24.3
31.9
29.0
31.2
34.0

58.5
54.6
56.2
61.8
61.5
61.4
62.6
52.1
60.1

Note: Primary education spans five and

secondary education three years.
Source: Ministry of Education and Culture,
"Trends of Educational Development
of Scheduled Castes and Tribes in
India", New Delhi: Government of
India, 1983.

moves up the school ladder. The proportion

of Harijan children drops to around ten per
cent at middle level and further to around
nine per cent at high school. At both these
levels, the representation of the scheduled
castes in the school population is less than
proportionate to their representation in the
general population. They have fared better in
vocational education although the proportion
of students with this background has steadily
declined over a decade from 23.8 to 13.6 per
cent.
An important reason for the nonparticipation, high dropout rate and high
wastage in school is the inadequate funding
of education at this level. The provision for
scholarships at school level, which is the
responsibility of the state government, has
been extremely meagre. The Elayaperumal
Committee included Andhra as one of the
states which accorded very low priority to
Harijan education at school level.6 In contrast, the Central government, which funds
higher education has been generous with
scholarships. The number of post-matric
scholarships awarded to Harijan students in
the state of Andhra trebled between the Third
and Fourth Five Year Plans, nearly doubled
in the Fifth, and once again doubled in Sixth
Plan. On the other hand, the number of
scholarships at school level remained stagnant
during the Third and Fourth Plans and increased marginally in the Fifth Plan. It was
only in the Sixth Plan that the number
quadrupled. 7
In university and professional education,
the representation of scheduled caste students
is less than proportionate, ranging generally
from six, to nine per cent of the student
population. Even though outstripped by
students from other communities, there is
clear evidence of steadily growing preference
of Harijan students for professional education which will prepare them for a career. In
the sixties Harijan students were by and large
found in law and teacher training which were
less remunerative and prestigious. Medicine,
engineering and agriculture were regarded
beyond their aspiration and reach. the picture in the seventies reveals a gradual shift.

TABLE 3: ENROLMENT of SCHEDULED CASTFS IN PROFESSIONAL EDucaTION during. 1967 78

Year

1967-68
1968-69
1969-70
1970-71
1971-72
1972-73
1973-74
1974-75
1975-76
1976-77
1977-78

Agriculture Commerce Engineering

and
and
Forestry
Technical
2.1
2.7
2.6
3.3
5.3
5.2
5.2
6.7
4.5
2.3
3.8

1.0
0.6
0.5
1,7
2.8
3.1
3.1
3.3
12.1
...

37.7
38.3
38.2
44.9
49.8
50.2
50.2
35.9
31.1
52.7
56.4

Law

Medicine

Teacher
Training

Others

2.5
4.0
4.0
8.1
3.9
6.8
6.8
7.2
6.5
5.9
0.2

22.0
21.7
21.7
25.1
30.3
294
29.4
36.0
27.6
28,8
29.3

26 7
30.2
30 2
15.5
3.5
3.9
3.9
5.4
14.9
9.0
4.1

80
2,5
2.8
1.4
4.4
1.4
1,4
4.8
3.3
1.2
6.2

Note: Figures indicate proportion to total scheduled caste students in professional education.
Source . Ministry of Education and Culture, 'Trends of Educational Development of Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes in India", New Delhi: Government of India, 1983.

1524

Their enrolment in professional colleges has

stepped up from 6 per cent in 1967 to 9.4 per
cent by 1978, the corresponding coefficient
of equality being 70.8 per cent. Within the
professional courses, the bulk of the students
are found in engineering (56.4 per cent) and
medicine (29.3 per cent) (Table 3). One may
expect more students to get into these courses
were it not for the capitation fee charged by
the many private institutions, which is clearly
beyond the means of these people. However,
the trend is likely to grow, altering the occupational pattern of the upwardly mobile
The literacy figures given in the census are
a misleading indicator of educational attainment. Any one who has ever been to school
is defined as a literate regardless of whether
he has completed even elementary education,
it is noteworthy that in 1961 more than twothirds of the educated among the Harijans
were mere functional literates (Table 4). There
is a marked decline in numbers as we pro
ceed from elementary to higher education,
which is more manifest among the rural than
the urban segment of the scheduled castes.
In 1961, seventy per cent of literates among
the rural segment of the scheduled castes had
no formal education, 27.7 per cent had
primary and 1.9 per cent higher secondary
education. By 1971, literates without educa
tion had declined to 45 per cent and those
with primary education had increased to over
fifty per cent. The number of matriculates
had more than doubled to 4.2 per cent.
Again, in 1961, among the urban scheduled
castes 56.1 per cent of the literates had no
formal education. Of the rest, 37.9 per cent
had primary, 5.3 secondary and 0.4 per cent
graduate education. It can be seen that the
concentration of literates is at the base, where
education boils down to simple literacy.
Although the rate of literacy progressed by
1971, the level of educational attainment was
similar to that of the earlier decades. Of the
literates 43.7 per ccnt were functional
literates. Among the rural segment, 44.6 per
cent had no formal education, 50.9 had
primary and 4.2 per cent higher secondary
education. Those who graduated were
negligible. Among the urban segment, 41.6
per cent were functional literates. Of the rest,
47.2 per ccnt had primary and 10 per cent
were matriculates. Those who progressed
beyond matriculation comprised a mere 1.1
per cent.
INTER-CASTE AND INTER-REGIONAL
DIFFERENCES

Two distinct features of the educational

pattern of the scheduled castes are noteworthy. One is the difference in literacy
between the two major castes, the Mala and
Madiga, who together constitute eighty per
cent of their population. While the Madiga
are concentrated in backward Telangana (60.3
per cent), the Mala are the major scheduled
caste in coastal districts (43.1 per cent). In
Rayalaseema, the Mala and Madiga comprise
39.2 and 47.6 per cent of the scheduled caste
population respectively.

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY

The differential between the Mala and

Madiga in traditional caste status and exposure to reformist activity have deeply influenced their contemporary existence The
consequences are clearly visible in education.
The higher literacy among the Mala is accounted for by their concentration in Coastal
Andhra which has been exposed to social
reform and missionary activity, both of which
promoted the education of the underprivileged. The Mala have always been ahead of the
Madiga at all levels of education. In 1961,10.1
per cent of the Mala were literate against 5.1

September 7, 1985

per cent of the Madiga flfcble 5). The number

of matriculates and post-matriculates among
the Mala was nearly three times as many as
among the Madiga.
The 1971 census shows a continuation of
this trend. The proportion of literates among
the Mala had gone up to 12,9 per cent in
comparison with 6.2 per cent among the
Madiga; and that of post-matriculates among
the former to 0.9 per cent against 0.3 among
the latter. The same difference exists at higher
levels of education. The figures for 1981
which are not yet available are likely to show

TABLE 4 : LITERACY AMONG THESCHEDULEDTO CASTES BY R U R A L / U R B A N AREAS

Region

Total
Literates

Func- Primary
tional
Literates

Matric

Gradua- Non- Technical Technical

tes and Technical Diploma Degree
Above Diploma
Fquiva
Not
fc'qui
lent
valent to
to P G
Degree

1%1
Circar
Rural
Urban
Rayalaseema
Rural
Urban
Tfelangana
Rural
Urban
Andhra
Rural
Urban

187398
43070

66.89
47.87

30.71
45.0J

2.38
6.35

56483

74.94

23.03

2.03

14688

52.65

40.62

6.18

57527

76.75

22.66

0.59

61930

62.63

32.45

301408

70.28

27.74

119688

56.09

37.97

0.46

0.06

0.17

0.35

0.01

0.13

0.06

4.44

0 28

0.07

0.06

0.06

1.98
5.34

0 36

0.06

0 11

0.07

0.22
0.84

0.04

0.05

0.11

0.02

0.08

0.06

0.08

1971
Circar
Rural
Urban
Rayalaseema
Rural
Urban
Tfelangana
Rural
Urban
Andhra
Rural
Urban

258014
82431

36.04

59.77

43.23

47.82

3,96
7.90

76221

50.17

4 5 21

4,51

0.11

21169

39.44

49.79

10.13

048

__

87003

65.48

29.72

4.66

0.14

92691

40.67

46.12

11.89

0.95

0.06

0 19

0.12

421238
196291

44.68

50,93

4.21

0.18

41.61

47.23

10.03

0.85

0.05

0.12

0.11

Note: Figures indicate proportion to total literates among scheduled castes.

Sources: Census of India, 'Census of India 1961, Andhra Pradesh: Special Tables and Scheduled
Tribes', Vol II, Part V A, Delhi: Manager of Publications, 1975; Census of India, 'Census
of India 1971, Andhra Pradesh: Social and Cultural Tables and Special Tables on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes', Part II C (i) and Part V A, Hyderabad: Directorate
of Census of Operations, 1978.
TABLE: 5: LITERACY LIVEL AMONG THE. MALA AND MADIGA (1961-1971)

1961
Total population
Literates without educational level
Primary
Matric
Graduates and above
Total literates

1971

Mala

Madiga

Mala

Madiga

17,45,466
1.15,031
6.6
55.653
3.2
5.624
(J. 3
387
002
10.1

21.47,879
78,123
3.6
28.715
1.3
2,249
0,1
107
0.01
5.1

21,13,393
1,09,484
5.2
1,40,956
6.7
19,164
0.9
3,300
0.15
12.9

25,14,948
73,566
2.9
72,950
2.9
8,692
0.3
520
0.02
6.2

Source: Census of India 1961, Andhra Pradesh, Part V A: 1971. Pan V A,

the persistence of the gap. A logical consequence of the pronounced advantage which
the Mala have enjoyed over the Madiga is to
be seen in employment and in various walks
of life This had resulted in resentment
between these two castes, dividing the community deeply.
The second is u e marked difference in the
extent of literacy among the scheduled castes
between the three regions of Andhra: Rayalaseema, Telangana and Coastal Circars. The
literacy rate of the rural scheduled castes in
Coastal Andhra in 1981 is 19.9 per cent
whereas in Rayalaseema and Telangana their
literacy is 13.2 and 8.6 per cent respectively.
Again literacy is highest among the urban
scheduled castes in Coastal Andhra (40.5 per
cent) whereas in Rayalaseema and Telangana,
it is 34.8 and 36.2 per cent respectively.
CASE STUDIES

The statistical portrait of scheduled caste

education presented above affords only a
partial view of the problem. What follows is
a narration of the experiences of Harijan
students which will complement the statistics
and present a more comprehensive picture.
The experiences are typical of the educated
youth of the caste. The analysis that follows
the profiles draws from these specific instances as well as broad-based discussions
with a number of Harijan students.
Swamy, an M Phil student, is a Mala from
a village in Krishna district. His brother is
a lecturer in a college. His younger brother
and sister are still in school. His father, a
school teacher, was a political activist in his
younger days. He paid dearly for his activism
by being transferred from one remote village
to another. He wants his children to be more
pragmatic and not follow his idealism.
Swamy is proud of his academic record and
the positions he held in the hostel and college union. After his entry into the University,
he succeeded in getting elected as the General
Secretary of the hostel. This became possible
because fifteen of the fifty inmates belonged
to his community. His predecessor was a
Mala, which weighed in his favour. Besides,
an upper caste radical student helped to
mobilise students in his favour However, he
could not manage the affairs of the hostel.
His attempt to invite an IAS officer from his
community to preside over a function evoked
a lot of opposition. Upper caste students
threatened the official of dire consequences
and forced him to decline the invitation.
Swamy could not convene a single meeting
as General Secretary and was eventually voted
out of office through a motion of noconfidence. To seek revenge for his ouster, his
caste friends have ensured that no election
was held in the hostel. In Swamy's perception, he ran into all this trouble because he
was a Mala.
He narrated some of his experiences as a
college student. Some Kamma boys once contemptuously remarked that even Malas and
Madigas were sitting in the class. Unable to

1525

September 7, 1985

bear this insult, the Harijans pooled money

and bought sticks and knives to prepare for
a confrontation. He remarked that having
witnessed the rough and tumble of village life,
Harijan boys are quite capable of taking on
the upper castes. He was, however, of the view
that his own experience of discrimination was
slight in comparison to the trauma that his
friends and relatives have faced.
Discrimination, in his view, operates subtly,
"To get seats and scholarships, we have to
establish our caste status. From the village
munsiff to the district magistrate, everyone
drags his feet before issuing a caste certificate.
We feel that they don't want us to get scholarships. They fear that a paieru's son may one
day become an IAS officer. Getting a house
in an upper caste locality is arduous. Even
in cosmopolitan Hyderabad, we are forced to
assume an upper caste label such as Naidu
to get a decent house on rent. Our teachers
are not always objective in assessing our
performance. I agree that with our kind of
family background and school education we
may not perform as well as the upper caste
boys. But we d o have the intelligence to see
discrimination when boys of comparable
merit are rated differently. We have teachers
in the University who think that Harijans are
not worthy of sitting in the class room. It
hurts deeply.'
Swamy feels that the burden of changing
the society rests with the educated Harijans.
The leaders of the scheduled castes are, in his
view, non-performers. They might have been
revolutionaries long ago, but right now they
are mere reactionaries in the grip of upper
caste politicians, The younger generation does
not believe that the caste leaders and politicians will improve the lot of ordinary folk.
Boys of his age have to do the job. He himself
is actively engaged in enlightening poor villagers. He visits his native village frequently.
There are groups in contemporary Andhra,
some of them political, striving to change the
thinking and consciousness of the people. He
observes that the plight of Harijan labourers
is worsening. Landlords are no longer willing to lease out their land to the Harijans.
Land reforms have made them cautious and
land can be had only if the labourer proves
his loyalty. The social relationships in village
society have not changed fundamentally.
When the educated Harijan so much as wears
a pair of trousers, he is scorned. In many
places, the Harijan still dare not sit in the
presence of an upper caste man.
Krishna, a Mala, is in his final year of
medicine at Guntur. He comes from a nearby
village where his father is a small peasant and
sharecropper. Coming from a village, he has
experienced a great deal of discrimination.
During his school days he had to regularly
clean the cattleshed of a Kamma teacher. He
was repeatedly told that the son of paieru is
doomed to be a paieru. "When I applied for
medicine, I was laughed at. But when I
managed a seat, several upper caste youth
became friendly and even took me to their

1526

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY

homes. They are ambivalent when I visit
them. Some refuse to offer a glass of water
under the influence of kith and kin, but I
would not say that all of them discriminate!'
Having failed in the final year, Krishna is
reappearing for his examinations. He attributes his failure to the confrontation he
once had with his teacher who passed a
derogatory remark on a fellow Harijan
student.
In his college and hostel, the Kamma
dominate. A decade ago, the Kamma monopolised some blocks in the hostel. Harijan
boys were not allowed into their domain. Now
students from similarly placed castes share
a room. Friendships usually develop only between boys of similar caste status. Seating in
the mess generally goes by caste. Caste is not
openly discussed nor are the Harijans explicitly humiliated. The Harijans are in any case
too many and too strong for such a thing to
happen. But caste consciousness is so intense
that even those who were unaware of these
distinctions are forced to come to terms with
them. The sense of caste hierarchy is so overpowering that it is difficult to be insular.
Krishna narrated a recent confrontation in
Guntur between the Harijans and the upper
castes. The incident was triggered by a movie
where a scene depicted a Harijan boy remarking that it was better to get back to their traditional occupation than battle with studies.
The insinuation was that Harijans were unfit
for education and good enough only for their
lowly traditional occupations. Enraged at
this, Harijan students decided to hit back.
Some five hundred of them marched to the
theatre, pulled out the film and destroyed it.
In another town, the theatre screening the
film was burnt down. In his own hostel,
upper caste boys were found playing records
of the objectionable dialogues from the film.
Fortunately, the office bearers of the hostel
took away the tapes and preempted a confrontation. "The Director of the film would have
been butchered if we had laid hands on him",
he remarked. 8
DIVISIONS WITHIN HARIJANS

It is not merely the Harijan and upper

castes who are divided by the caste barrier.
Krishna admitted that there are deep divisions
within the Harijans themselves. In his hostel,
there is hostility between the Mala and
Madiga arising out of the latter's sepse of
inferiority. Clashes frequently break out
between the two groups. Like many Harijan
students, Krishna maintains that the scheduled castes must help each other. He himself
has extended such fraternal help to fellow
students. In the same breath, however, he
argues that caste should not be a guiding
principle in social relationships. He is not
averse to marrying a girl from another caste,
unlike his friends who believe that no good
comes of inter-caste marriage.
Nagiah, post-graduate student, came to
Hyderabad from Kurnool for higher studies.
His father was an upper caste Reddy and his

mother an untouchable Mala. Unable to bear

the persecution by the family and kinsmen
for having married a Mala, his father moved
to a neighbouring village and settled down
as a cultivator. His sympathies were with the
poor and downtrodden who often turned to
him for counsel. This was resented by the
upper castes who thought he was undermining their authority. All these enmities
culminated in his murder. His death is still
shrowded in mystery, and the neighbourhood
gossip is that he was put to death by his own
kinsmen who could not reconcile to his mar
riage. The gruesome death of the father has
left a deep mark on the family which has now
moved to Kurnool after leasing out the land
in the village. His mother, a teacher, has now
retired and lives with another son who has
married a Madiga. They live in a multi-caste
neighbourhood where each caste occupies a
separate block. Although multi-caste in com
position, the caste of every person is known
and a'Mala or Madiga passing through an
upper caste block is immediately noted.
Nagiah is proud of his unanimous election
as the joint secretary of his class in college
In his view, the Harijans are also to be blamed for not rising to positions of prominence
in the college and hostel. Even in a milieu
where it is possible to remain unanimous,
they suffer from a sense of insecurity and fear
of being identified as belonging to the low
castes. As a result, they remain an insular
group rarely mixing with others, which counts
against them. There is a government college
in his town where nearly half of the students
are Harijans from neighbouring villages.
College education and urban residence have
made little difference to their lifestyle. They
continue to affect a manner of speech and
behaviour which at once identifies them as
belonging to the scheduled castes. Nagiah
claims to mix freely with boys of all castes
uninhibited by his own background. His
closest friend is a Brahmin. His advantage
is also that bccausc of his mixed parentage
he cannot be so readily identified as a Mala.
In common with other youth, Nagiah eon
siders the political leaders of his caste selfseekers who have no thought for upliftment
and reform. His own uncle who holds an important political office might on occasion
help the family, but has no consideration for
castcmen who approach him for jobs or col
lege and school admissions. To him, most
scheduled caste leaders are corrupt puppets
in the hands of upper caste politicians. He
remarked that his uncle moved around with
upper caste men and imitated their speech
and dress, but rationalised that successful
men have probably to keep up with their
social circle. What has really helped Harijans
is protectionist policy. The only avenue to
their mobility and freedom lies through
education and secular employment.
Chandra is in his fourth year of postgraduation. He comes from a village in
Krishna district where the Kamma dominate.
His parents still live in the village gudem,

which is an exclusive Madiga residence. He

becomes acutely conscious of his caste in the
village, but the stigma lessens as he moves
from village to town and city. The problem
of Harijans, in his view, is not so much that
they are poor or uneducated but the mere fact
of being Harijan. In a recent incident, a gang
of Kamma attacked his gudem to retaliate
against an assault on a casteman. The
Madiga men went into hiding exposing the
women and children to vulgar abuse. Since
this incident, the Kamma have begun to move
about the gudem menacingly whereas
no Harijan would dare to walk through a
Kamma neighbourhood. In yet another incident, both the Madiga and Kamma were detained by the police for interrogation. The
Kamma got bailed out in a day while the
Madiga were in jail for a fortnight. "It is not
without reason that we suffer a sense of insecurity. The stranglehold of caste continues
to enslave us. It makes me furious to see our
people treated this way. I must do something
to free them from this plight. My castesmen
have placed a lot of hopes on me. They ex
pect that I would become a collector or police
officer one da>!'
Although friendship does cut across caste,
it can never be deeprooted. Upper caste
friends are apt to shift the blame on to them
if something should go awry. Their family
and friends would also not approve of friend
ship with Harijans. Recently, the old boys
association of his village school felicitated the
Headmaster. As the only English-knowing
boy, he was asked to compose the felicitation.
The other boys were ridiculed by the public
for not being able to get someone better than
a Madiga to do the job.
Chandra repeated the familiar argument of
Harijan politicians being subordinate to their
upper caste bosses. He is equally emphatic
that protective discrimination has benefitted
the caste. But he doubts whether education
would narrow the social gulf between them
and the upper castes. There is no way of
bridging the gulf unless there is a change of
heart among the upper castes. The respect
and acceptance that the upwardly mobile
Harijans expect has so far eluded them. Some
of them excel in their respective fields. But
the wider society would rather attribute their
success to preferential policy than merit.
Chandra laments that the Mala look down
upon them as inferior Even the lowly
Yenadi and Erukula tribals treat them demeaningly. In his college days at Machilipatnam, the animosity between the Mala and
Madiga resulted in frequent clashes, especially
at election times. His own lecturer, a Mala,
stopped socialising with him the day he learnt
that he was a Madiga. The two would however close ranks if confronted by the upper
castes.
Chandra himself is not above caste prejudice. He characterises the Madiga as frank,
sociable, naive and introspective while the
Mala are pretentious, clever and worldly wise.
He alleges that, being clever and opportunistic, the Mala have cornered most of the
benefits set aside for the scheduled castes. He
also feels superior to other backward classes

because the latter do not enjoy the benefits

in education and employment to the same
extent as the Harijans do.
Viswam, having spent a year of postgraduation in literature, has shifted to
political science. He comes from a family of
agricultural labourers. He has been sent for
higher education in the hope that he will do
well and come up in life. His parents cannot
afford to educate his other brothers and
sisters as they are the main source of income:
When he returns home he becomes one of the
family, but they like to treat him differently
by providing better food and other amenities.
He has often worked as a wage labourer,
although his parents do not want him to work
in the fields. The wages he collects comes in
handy. Although educated, he is part and
parcel of the wage earning family.
The source of their insecurity and accompanying sense of inferiority is mainly the
lowly position of their caste. "As a result, we,
especially, the educated, are extremely sensitive to any act that smacks of discrimination.
We have built defences to protect ourselves
from the onslaught of the wider society. Paradoxically, I also feel guilty when we are preferred to boys with better marks on account
of caste. I then realise that without reservation some of us would not have seen the
inside of a college. The upper castes derisively
call us 'sons-in-law 1 of the government, but
they don't know our plight. Often, I don't'
have a paisa on me. If I have to go to my
village suddenly, I cannot put together my
fare. Many of my friends are not in a position
to buy soap or toothpaste. I can't ask my
parents for money when they themselves are
struggling to make both ends meet. The only
way the Harijans can fight these insinuations
is to work hard and prove that they are as
good as others!'
He rues the misuse of reservation which
has undermined the credibility of the policy
and maligned his caste. Harijan Christians,
some of them well-to-do, are cornering the
benefits by calling themselves scheduled
castes and depriving the needy of their
legitimate share. Many scheduled caste
students stay on in the campus, jumping from
one subject to another, in order to avail of
scholarships. Some have become notorious
by remaining on the rolls for a decade and
half. Some students enrol in two institutions
to collect scholarships from both the places.
Education has not changed his status in
village society. He has often heard people
remark, 'What education can you get? After
all you are a Madiga'. On the other hand, a
Reddy boy evokes respect even if he has failed
in the examinations. With all this, their only
hope lies in education with the help and protection of the government. 'We will gain con
fidence and self-respect only when we prove
to the Reddy.s that wc are as good as them.'
He argues that the status distinction between the Mala and Madiga are due to the
occupations that they traditionally pursued.
The Madiga have been tanners and leather
workers. In some places, they are scavengers.
In others they are grave diggers. In a neighbouring village of his some Madiga families

have continued their ancestral occupation

of grave digging. When there is a death in
the village, they dig the grave, roll the corpse,
and take the payment and the cloth that is
due to them standing in the pit. They then
stitch the cloth and wear it. With such demeaning occupation, it is not surprising that
they are looked down upon.
It is true that even today in several places
these two castcs do not take water from each
other, interdine or intermarry. Each of them
feels superior to ine other. The traditional
criteria that separated them are being replaced
by modern values such as education, city
jobs, wealth and urban way of life. Mala have
successfully managed to utilise the benefits
and rise socio-economically. The majority of
the highly placed Harijan government officials are Mala. This itself has given the
community an edge over the Madiga.
Narasimham, a post-graduate student of
history, is a Madiga. His father is a government employee. He has a sister awaiting marriage and two younger brothers still in school.
He has to take up a job soon after postgraduation as his father would soon retire.
In his native town of Kurnool, he lives in a
Harijanwada where the Mala and Madiga
reside together. Lately, some Vaisya (Komati)
traders have opened shops and started living
in their neighbourhood. Although they are
just about ten in number, they have begun
to intrude into the lives of the Harijans,
which is intensely resented. Commenting on
their helplessness, Narasimham remarked:
"Whatcan mere numbers do. Mere show of
strength is of no avail. It is easy to beat them
up or even kill them, but this would be a
momentary victory. Even if we score over
them, they would bounce back with their
superior caste status and dominate again. The
Harijans have begun to feel insecure. In times
of crises, they have no ope to reach for
redressall'
Many of the problems of the Mala and
Madiga are caste specific. The poor among
them, in his view, are not comparable to the
poor among the other castes. Unlike the
others, they cannot seek security in their caste
status. Among the upper castes, there are
philanthropists and influential persons whose
patronage could be sought for getting
educated or employed. He maintains that it
is difficult to make friends across caste. "Tkke
my own example. 1 want to be friendly with
all irrespective of caste. 1 have tried several
times to gain entry into a upper caste circle
of friends. Whenever I go into their rooms,
they stop all conversation and make me feel
unwanted. They help me with term papers
and course books, but don't realise that what
I desire most is their 'spiritual' help. The
affection that I want does not come forth.
Tris students from my own caste who are
warm towards me. They are critical of my
overtures to upper caste students. 1 am constantly brainwashed with historical accounts
of how we have been persecuted by the upper
castes, especially the Brahmins, The affection
they have for me may be due to caste affinity
hut it gives me a sense of security!' College
and university education has elevated his

1527

status in his family and community. Sensitivity to the plight of his caste has inculcated
a sense of obligation and responsibility
towards his family and caste. "I feel bounden
to my community. I am aware that the society around me is imperceptibly building a caste
wall around me. I also fear that my individual
identity may gradually get engulfed by the
caste grid!'
There is a sense of unity among the scheduled caste students. When he joined the
university, the scheduled caste boys helped
him with his application and scholarship. He
is acutely conscious of the hiatus between
the Mala and Madiga. His Mala girl friend
moved away from him the moment she realised he was a Madiga. The Mala being more
prosperous, are able to corner the benefits of
reservation. He is unhappy that the Mala are
getting all the benefits, depriving the Madiga
of their share. It is difficult for these castes
to come together. The scheduled caste
students in his university got together in late
seventies to form a welfare association. But
it soon became defunct when the differences
between the Mala and Madiga surfaced and
intensified.
CONCLUSION

The growth of literacy and the emergence

of a small stratum of educated elite bears
testimony to the ability of Harijans to take
advantage of the reservation policy and improve their social and economic condition.
The continuation of protectionist policy could
eventually make them occupationally and
economically quite indistinguishable from
any other caste. Already, their employment
in the government is proportionate to their
representation in the population. While they
are of course concentrated at the lower levels
of the employment hierarchy, there do exist
a fair number of officials at the'upper reaches
as well. If enrolment in professional education is any indication, the Harijans are bound
to be strongly represented in a variety of professions in the near future. The number of
such highly mobile men is still small compared to the vast multitudes of their population. The occupational transformation of the
caste as a whole will naturally be a long
drawn process, considering that higher education has reached only a fraction. For the
Harijans to attain an occupational profile
similar to other castes, protectionist policy
would have to continue for a long period. If
it does, there is no reason why they should
remain a homogeneously depressed and backward group.

of truth, the more important reason for the

resentment is the feeling that Harijans are
being protected at the expense of others. The
preferential allocation of scarce resources
such as college admissions and government
employment does evoke anger. Many states
have witnessed violent outbursts against protectionism in recent times.
The Harijan youth of today see a facet of
the upper castes which their forefathers were
not exposed to. In the traditional social
system, the upper castes had minimal social
ties with the Harijans. Physically and socially,
the Harijans lived at the edge of the village.
There was an element of exploitation as well
as of paternalism in the interface between the
two In their contemporary relationship,
hostility, aggression and competition have
taken the place of paternalism and patronage
The discrimination that the Harijan boys
have experienced in schools and colleges is
real. The anonymity of the city has not
helped them to forget their identity.
For their part, the Harijan have compounded the problem by perceiving discrimination and prejudice where it may not exist.
Harijan youth have developed a heightened
and even exaggerated sensitivity to their social
environment. They have a marked propensity
to interpret everyday experience with peers,
superiors and subordinates through the caste
idiom. This is especially pronounced with
those who have not done too well for themselves. The boy who cannot pass the examination or get elected to the hostel committee
finds in social discrimination a ready explanation for his predicament. Those who are more
successful in coping with the educational
system see their situation in a more balanced
way. They argue that Harijans themselves
must bear a part of the blame for not making
the grade. They keep to themselves, behave
in ways typical of their caste and generally
insulate themselves from the rest. Subjective
perceptions add to and compound the objective realities of intercaste relations.

Ironically, the Harijans themselves are not

above the caste prejudice and discrimination
which they so resent. What the upper caste
practice towards the Harijans, the Mala practice towards the Madiga although in an attenuated form. If the caste Hindu labours
under misconceived stereotypes about the
Harijan, much the same obtains between one
Harijan caste and another. The Mala feel
superior to the Madiga and the Madiga in
turn think of themselves as simple and
straightforward in comparison to the devious
Mala. University education and urban residence have done little to dispel these preWhile there is much reason for optimism
judices. On the social front, the reservation
on the occupational and economic front, the
policy is erecting new barriers in replacement
ability of education to bridge the social gulf
of, or in addition to, the already existing ones.
that separates the Harijans from the rest of
It is difficult to see how the continuation of
Indian society is very much jn doubt. The improtectionist policy and greater educational
mediate consequence of the reservation policy
opportunities for Harijans would bridge the
is to evoke the hostility and ire of the upper
social gulf.
castes.
The common argument is that the
lowering of standards to enrol Harijan
Notes
students in schools and colleges and subsequently employ them in a variety of jobs
[I wish to thank Sarat Chandra for all his help.]
would impair the quality of performance in
all walks of life. While this may have a kernel
1 The literacy of the general population, on the

1528

other hand, increased from 12.2 per cent in

1941 to 36.2 per cent by 1981.
2 A glance at the plans in Andhra Pradesh
reveals that till the Fifth Plan, the allocation
against scheduled caste welfare fluctuated
within a meagre one per cent of the total
"outlay. The Fifth Plan, however, increased it
to 1.02 per cent and the Sixth Plan to 3.2 per
cent. However, within the overall framework
of their development, the task of providing
education received increasing emphasis.
Barring the Second and Third Plans which
allocated just around one third of the outlay
on education, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth
Plans allocated as much as 82.4,69.2 and 51.7
per cent respectively on their education.
See 4Five-Year Plan, II, III, IV, V and VI,
Andhra Pradesh', Hyderabad: Government
of Andhra Pradesh.
3 These figures are for the period 1976-83.
From Directorate of Public Instruction,
Andhra Pradesh.
4 Administrative Staff College of India,
'Wastage and Stagnation and Inequality of
Opportunity in Rural Primary Education',
Hyderabad: ASCI, 1982.
5 The study analyses the educational backwardness of girls in the three districts of
Adilabad, Kurnool and KarimnagaV in
Andhra Pradesh. See State Council of
Educational Research and Training, Andhra
Pradesh, 'Report on the Study of Educa
tional Backwardness of Girls in Andhra
Pradesh', Hyderabad: SCERT, 1984.
6 The Committee reported several lapses in the
implementation of scholarship schemes. In
some places, Harijans were not given free
education. Even the funds allotted for prcmatric scholarships have been lapsed. Till late
seventies, unlike in other states, there were
no scholarships for students in primary
schools. The Andhra Pradesh State Harijan
Conference held in 1976 recommended that
Harijan students in primary schools be given
Rs 5 per month for 12 months by way of
incentive. It must also be mentioned that
Andhra Pradesh made primary education
compulsory only in 1961 for six to seven year
children and extended it to children six to
eleven years only in 1965. See Government
of India, 'Report of the Committee on Un
touchability, Economic and Educational
Development of the Scheduled Castes', Delhi:
Manager of Publications, 1969; Government
of Andhra Pradesh, 'Recommendations of
Andhra Pradesh State Harijan Conference
1976; Hyderabad: Social Welfare Department, 1976; National Institute of Educational
Planning and Administration, Administration of Elementary Education, Andhra
Pradesh', New Delhi: 1979.
7 The pre-matric scholarships increased from
3,23,781 in the Third Five-Year Plan to
3,26,629 in the Fourth, 4,02,499 in the Fifth
and 17,90,659 in the Sixth whereas the postmatric scholarships increased from 28,145 in
the Third Plan to 89,465 in the Fourth,
1,51,418 in the Fifth and 3,49,535 in the Sixth,
From the Department of Social Welfare,
Andhra Pradesh.
8 'Census of India, Census of India 1981,
Andhra Pradesh', Series 2, Hyderabad: Directorate of Census Operations, 1982.
9 This film Ee Chaduvulu Makoddu (literally,
we do not want these studies) became so controversial that several members of the Legislative Assembly took exemption to certain
dialogues and scenes in the movie and
demanded the government to take steps for
their deletion. See Deccan
Chronicle,
April 15, 1984.