equal by law, unequal by caste - International Dalit Solidarity Network

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292 Wisconsin International Law Journalwater supply, prohibiting entry into hospitals, refusing to sell goods orrender services, and insulting someone on the basis of his or her caste. 204Perhaps the greatest deficiency of the PCR Act was the fact thatabuses against Dalits were not limited to name-calling or denial of entryinto public spaces: violence was a defining characteristic of the abuse.Thirty-four years after the introduction of the PCR Act, the ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989, wasenacted purportedly to bring these other forms of abuse to an end. 2052. THE SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES(PREVENTION OF ATROCITIES) ACTIn 1989 the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Preventionof Atrocities) Act was enacted to prevent and punish caste-based abuses,to establish special courts for the trial of such offenses, and to provide forvictim relief and rehabilitation. 206 Its enactment represented anacknowledgement on the part of the government that abuses, in theirmost degrading and violent forms, were still perpetrated against Dalitsdecades after independence. 207 A look at the offenses made punishableby the Act provides a glimpse into the retaliatory or customarilydegrading treatment Dalits may receive. The offenses include: forcingmembers of a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe to drink or eat anyinedible or obnoxious substance; dumping excrement, waste matter,carcasses or any other obnoxious substance in their premises orneighborhood; forcibly removing their clothes and parading them nakedor with painted face or body; interfering with their rights to land;compelling a member of a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe into formsof forced or bonded labor; corrupting or fouling the water of any spring,reservoir or any other source ordinarily used by scheduled castes or204 The Protection of Civil Rights Act, No. 22 of 1955 §§ 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. The Act was originallycalled the Untouchability (Offenses) Act of 1955, and was amended in 1976. Thoughsubstantively unaltered, under the revised law, untouchability was made both a cognizable andnon-compoundable offense and stricter punishments were provided for offenders.205 See The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, No. 33 of 1989,pmbl. For a list of offenses under the Act, see ch. I and § 3 of the Act.206 The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, pmbl. (1989).207 In 1995 the government of India enacted accompanying rules for the Scheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The rules set out the amounts of, andtimetables for, state-allotted compensations for victims of various crimes defined under the act.Rules 16 and 17 call for the constitution of state and district-level vigilance and monitoringcommittees comprising official and non-official members. The Scheduled Castes and ScheduledTribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995.
Vol. 26, No. 2 Equal by Law, Unequal by Caste 293scheduled tribes; denying right of passage to a place of public resort; andusing a position of dominance to exploit a scheduled caste or scheduledtribe woman sexually. 2083. ADDITIONAL SOCIAL WELFARE LEGISLATIONIn addition to the acts described above, a number of otherstatutes aim to eradicate exploitative labor arrangements in which Dalitsare frequent victims. The Employment of Manual Scavengers andConstruction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, prohibits theemployment of manual scavengers or the construction of dry (non-flush)latrines and punishes such offenses with imprisonment and/or a fine. 209The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, seeks to abolish allagreements and obligations arising out of the bonded labor system,release all laborers from bondage, prohibit the creation of new bondageagreements, and order the economic rehabilitation of freed laborers bythe state. 210 Other relevant acts include the Inter State Migrant Workmen(Regulation of Employment and Service Conditions) Act, 1979, 211 theChild Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, 212 the MinimumWages Act, 1948, 213 and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. 214C. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MEASURESThe government of India has also attempted to increase the selfsufficiencyof the scheduled caste population through financial assistance208 The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, No. 33 of 1989, §3.209 The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, No.46 of 1993.210 Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act (1976). Under the Act, payment of less than minimumwage for the purposes of working off a debt also amounts to bondage. Id.211 Dalit migrant laborers are seldom paid minimum wage. They work long hours, live in subhumanconditions and may face physical abuse if they try to escape their place of work. NHRCREPORT, supra note 110, at 78.212 The Act prohibits the employment of children in particular industries, while regulating theconditions of their work in other industries.213 The Minimum Wages Act only regulates employers who employ more than 1,000 workers. TheMinimum Wages Act, No. 11 of 1948, § 3(1A), cited in NHRC REPORT, supra note 110, at 81.214 The Act requires equity in the payment of wages between men and women employed to performthe same or similar work. Equity cannot be achieved by reducing the wages of the higher paidworker. Employers are also prohibited from discriminating on the basis of sex in recruitment,hiring, or promotion. The Act is especially significant for Dalit women who frequently get paidless than their male counterparts. See supra note 91.
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