Paradoxical Analysis Of Government’s Role And Situation Of Scheduled Caste In The State Of Punjab

Harnirmal Singh & Chahat Gupta, Jindal Global Law School, O.P Jindal Global University, Sonipat

Introduction

India is a tremendous example of unity in diversity and home to more than one hundred and sixty million people, recognized as ‘Schedule Caste,’ under Article 341(1) of India's constitution, commonly referred to as “Dalits.” These are the communities that are judiciously given special status from the rest of the communities. Equality before law enshrined in Magna Carta of the constitution that is “fundamental rights” reads as “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or equal protection of laws within the territory of India1” with addition to Article 15, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth2. Still, unfortunately, there is disjointedness related to the position of Scheduled Caste in India.

It is essential to understand why Punjab, which has the highest SC population of 31.9% (census, 2011), still faces atrocities and differences in caste, economic status, the standard of living, literacy, and equal opportunity. We try to understand the problems faced by SC in the state of Punjab that is mainly because of the poor implementation of schemes and an inability of the government to abide by directive principles of state policy such as Article 463.