ISSUES OF CONCERN

which adapts to its surroundings like any
organic life. The urban setting is not
amenable to the kind of observance of
castes as in remote villages where one
confronts its crude forms. Largely, caste
remains at the level of prejudice.
As stated above, the castes have
been reduced to simple class like divide
between Dalits and non-Dalits. Among
non-Dalits it stays as cultural residue
sans any ritual sense. But it is more
pronounced at the classical kink in the
caste continuum dividing Dalits and
non-Dalits. Over the decades, Dalits
have made significant progress, thanks
to reservations. Although minuscule
compared to their population, this class
became visible in cities and towns.
Urban spaces [32] are not immune to Casteism
The operation of castes, however,
presents a complex pattern. It is seen that
the salience of castes is often associated
with the material aspects. It depends
upon options available. For example,
in situation of supply constraints, Dalits
are accepted as in the IT sector. They
may, however, be marked down vis-à-vis
their counterpart. The phenomenon is
commonly seen in our elite institutions,
where Dalit students are picked up
readily but generally marked down
vis-à-vis their non-Dalit counterpart. The
explanatory variables to some extent are
cultural attributes that the Dalit students
do not reflect the class upbringing that
the recruiters expect but the influence
of caste also plays a part. There is
a tacit association of inferiority with
Dalits. These days the second and
third generation Dalit students appear
to perform as good as any other in
admission tests. But it is commonly seen
that in personal interviews they are never
given good marks because of the bias that
if they are given marks they deserved,
they would come into open merit and
deprive a general category seat. I have
experienced this play of prejudice all
through my career.
In organizations, particularly the
public sector undertakings (PSUs) where
Dalits land up for security reasons, a
different kind of dynamics plays out. The
PSUs are monitored for their compliance
with the statutory provisions for the
SCs/STs in terms of numbers. As
anywhere, the discrimination is often
associated with other secular factors. A
Dalit employee who is more pliable is
preferred and elevated as a demo-piece
to demonstrate non-discriminatory
treatment of Dalit employees. They
are used as official representatives of
their caste as required by the policy to
validate actions of the management. It
helps management to size up assertive
Dalit employees. Since a favoured Dalit
employee would be extra-beholden to
his managers, it serves the interests of
the latter even in manipulative practices.
It is simplistic therefore to talk about
caste discrimination being only due to
caste without reference to other factors.
Caste may be understood as premium
or discount over the base price. The
Brahman gets a premium and Dalit gets
discounted. In societal matters, it varies
with the scale of economic prosperity;
the upper layer facing lesser of prejudice
and the bottom ones more. Many inter
12 Issues Of CONCERN No. 7 February 2016