Caste Discrimination against India's “Untouchables” - Human Rights ...

also fail to adequately address child labor because they suffer from a lack of political
commitment, non-enforcement, and weaknesses inherent in the Act itself. 379
f. Discrimination in hiring and wage payments
Private employers routinely discriminate against Dalits both in hiring and in the payment of
wages. This discrimination is felt acutely by Dalit women (see Section V(B)(4)(a)). The
Untouchability in Rural India survey revealed that in 36 percent of the villages studied,
Dalits were denied wage-paid employment in agriculture and in one-third of the villages
were excluded from construction labor on the grounds that upper-caste community
members did not want Dalits to “pollute” their homes. In 25 percent of the villages, Dalits
received less than the market wage rate for their labor. According to NCDHR,
“untouchability” was also practiced in the payment of wages such that “the Dalits received
wages in cash or kind from a respectable distance so that physical touch of a Dalit was
avoided.” 380 Even well-educated Dalits are not immune from discrimination by private
employers. 381
Neither the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, nor the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, sufficiently
guard against these disparities. Specifically, the NHRC has concluded that the objectives of
relevant laws have been soundly defeated by an inadequate and unresponsive enforcement
machinery, the dominant social and economic position of the employer, a dilatory and
ineffective adjudication process, the lack of alternative employment opportunities, and the
including domestic labor, may soon be tabled in Parliament, it is unclear whether or not this bill will increase the protection afforded by
child labor legislation. Oineetom Ojah, “Govt may table unorganised sector Bill in winter session,” The Financial Express, November 21,
2006, http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=146944 (accessed February 7, 2007).
378
NHRC Report, Section V, p. 73. Rehabilitation programs involve the establishment of special schools to provide non-formal education,
vocational training, supplementary nutrition, a stipend, and health care; further, over 100 national rehabilitation projects are under
implementation.
379
NHRC Report, Section V, p. 74. In 2005, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Central government regarding the present Child
Labour Act which it considers to be unconstitutional in the light of the right to education. “Notice issued to Centre on pleas against child
labour,” The Hindu, December 13, 2005, http://www.hinduonnet.com/2005/12/13/stories/2005121301720900.htm (February 7, 2007).
380
Shah, et al., Untouchability in Rural India, pp. 94-95.
381
Despite earning a Masters degree in economics from Gujarat University, the best job 24-year-old Arvind Vaghela could get was as a
road sweeper. Vaghela’s story underscored the experience of many other university-educated Dalits. In his city of Ahmedabad, “[n]early
100 of its council sanitation workers have degrees in subjects ranging from computing to law, but cannot get better jobs because they
are Dalits.” Dalit sweeper, Prakash Chauhan, had been hired by an accounting firm, but the firm subsequently fired him upon learning
his caste from his school certificate. Chauhan, 32, expressed the frustration that Dalits with his educational achievements share: “Our
parents had a dream that education would mean we would not have to do the jobs they did. It did not turn out that way.” Randeep
Ramesh, “Untouchables in new battle for jobs,” The Observer, Oct. 3, 2004,
http://www.netphotograph.com/bartholomew.tv/PDF/obs_041003_new_26_3413213.pdf (accessed February 7, 2007).
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