This paper is extracted from the research study conducted by the Indian

Institute of Dalit Studies under the International NGO Partnership

Agreement Programme of the Christian Aid. The author would like to thank

Prof. Sukhadeo Thorat, who reviewed this work, for his useful comments;

and Dr R P Mamgain and Mr. Martin Kamadong for their support.

* * *

Sobin George is with the Indian Council of Social Science Research,

New Delhi. Usual disclaimers apply.

Email: sobing@gmail.com

Dalit Christians in India:Discrimination, Development Deficit andthe Question for Group-Specific Policies

Sobin George

Working PaperIndian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi

2012

Foreword

The Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS) was established in 2003 as a not-for-profit autonomous institutionwith the goal to undertake research; provide knowledge support to civil society organisations and policy inputsto the government; function as a resource centre for academicians, researchers and activists; and build upliterature and database on the most complex and challenging issues which confront the Indian society as wellas societies in different countries. The special focus of the Institute is on the development concerns of variousexcluded and discriminated groups in Indian society who experience social exclusion on account of theiridentity and origin in terms of caste, ethnicity, gender, religion, colour, disabilities, and regional or groupidentities. The Working Paper Series disseminates both empirical and theoretical findings of ongoing researchon issues which pertain to forms and nature of social exclusion and discrimination, and inclusive policies forthe marginalised social groups in Indian society and in other countries.

This Working Paper ‘Dalit Christians in India: Discrimination, Development Deficit and the Questionfor Group-Specific Policies’ provides evidence from literature that caste has been a defining marker of socialand economic relationship in Christianity. Even after conversion, the characteristics of caste such as endogamy,residential segregation, restricted social interaction, hierarchies, caste-based occupations and graded ritualpurity and pollution continued in one way or the other among the converted Christians. The paper furtherexamines the current socio-economic status of Dalit Christians as compared to other socio-religious groupsfrom different literature. The paucity of scientific data on the exact level of deprivation of Dalit Christians,however, remains a major challenge to understand the picture at a disaggregated level.

Various committees appointed by the Government of India also highlighted the level of deprivation ofDalit Christians in India. Based on the available official data and micro-level studies, the paper concludes thatDalit Christians like other Dalit groups also suffer from a development deficit which further calls for group-specific policy interventions for their upward mobility. This paper also highlights that there exists strongevidence that Dalit Christians face continuous deprivation in various spheres and, hence the group’s demandfor Scheduled Castes status is justified. This will provide the group benefit from reservations in education andemployment, and protections available under the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Nidhi Sadana SabharwalDirector, IIDS

Contents

I. Introduction 5

II. Caste among the Christians: Evidences from Social Science Literature 6

II.a Social Origin of Christianity in India: Assimilation of Local Traditions 6

II.b Christianisation of Caste: Interactions of Church with Local Social Systems 8

II.c Identity Questions and Status Conflicts among Converted Christians 9

II.d Identity of Dalit Christians Outside Church 11

III. Discrimination and Atrocities: Contemporary Challenges of Dalit Christians 12

III.a Caste-Based Discrimination against Dalit Christians: Nature, Forms and Patterns 13

III.b Caste-Based Atrocities on Dalit Christians 15

III.c Inadequate Legal Safeguards against Discrimination and Atrocities 16

IV. Demographic and Development Profile of Dalit Christians 16

IV.a Demographic Profile 16

IV.b Development Profile 18

IV.b.i Education 18

IV.b.ii Household occupation patterns 19

IV.b.iii Poverty situation 20

V. Concluding Remarks 24

Footnotes

References

Annexure

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I. INTRODUCTION

Christianity in India, like other religions, does notbelong to monolithic category. It has furthersubdivisions not only on the basis of congregationaldifferences, but also on caste lines. Caste-likecharacteristics such as hereditary, membershipconfirmed by birth, endogamy, social andoccupational segregations, economic differentiation,etc., are also common among the Christians, especiallyin those places where conversion cuts across allcastes. Several studies have noted that in most of thecases it was the Dalits who converted to Christianity.The primary motivation of conversion to Christianitycould be to overcome the discriminatory caste systemand to seek upward social and economic mobility. Itis indeed a complex question that how far the Dalitswho converted to Christianity could get rid of caste-based discrimination and make qualitativeimprovements in their life. In reality, as several studiesand reports have highlighted, caste prejudices againstDalit Christians remained more or less similar bothinside and outside Christianity in most parts of thecountry, especially where the traditional social andoccupational relations did not change significantlyover time.1 Furthermore, Dalit Christian is notrecognised as a valid social category in India. Hence,they are not covered under any compensatorymeasures such as reservations and special legalsafeguards which are otherwise extended to Dalitswho belong to Hindu, Sikh and Buddhistcommunities, though caste-based prejudices are strongin Christianity and Dalit Christians too face similarforms of discrimination and exclusion as other Dalits.

Though there is enough evidence in social scienceliterature on the identity issues and discriminationfaced by Dalit Christians, there remains several otherquestions to be addressed alongside while examiningthe claim for group-specific policy interventions for

Dalit Christians. The most important one possibly isthe caste-religion interface of non-Hindu Dalits. Thisis significant in the context that religion is the primarycriterion to officially define Scheduled Castes in Indiaas per the Constitutional Order of 1950. As per theofficial definition “no person who professes a religiondifferent from the Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist religionsshall be deemed to be a member of Scheduled Castes.”It completely ignores the reproduction of casterelations and its discriminatory attributes inChristianity and leaves several crucial questionsunaddressed such as: Whether caste or religion is theprimary identity of the converted? How have theidentities of the converted been perceived both insideand outside their religion? What is the self identity ofthe converted Dalits? Whether caste practices arebeing perpetuated and reproduced in Christianitythe way it happens in Hindu religion? If yes, what arethe present forms and nature of discrimination thatDalit Christians face and whether caste prejudiceslimit them from access to services, amenities and othereconomic opportunities? Whether discrimination andexclusion is mirrored in their developmentperformance? If Dalit Christians have group-specificdevelopment deficit, how does it vary from othersocio-religious groups? Finally, whether there is ajustification for group-specific policies for DalitChristians on the basis of their development profile?

This paper attempts to address some of the abovementioned questions using the available literatureand official data. The study is largely based on thehistorical and current social science literature on casteamong the Christians in India. Apart from that, thestudy relies on official data on select developmentindicators such as demographic profile, educationalstatus, occupational pattern and poverty situation ofthe Christians who identify themselves as Dalits.

This paper is organised into five sections. The

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second section surveys the available literature, mostlyethnographic ones, and brings out the persistence ofcaste among the converted Christians. It specificallylooks at how Christianity integrated with Indiansociety and how its assimilation with local culturereproduced caste relations within Christianity andhow all these effected the society at large. The thirdsection identifies the prevailing spheres, forms andpatterns of caste discrimination against DalitChristians by caste Christians and Hindus. It alsoattempts to see whether such discrimination limitDalit Christians from access to services such aseducation, employment, health, drinking water, etc.This section also offers a brief discussion on theatrocities on Christians in general and DalitChristians in particular. The fourth section, usingavailable official data, looks at the demographic anddevelopment profile of Dalit Christians both incomparison with other Dalits and other socialgroups within Christianity. It specifically examineseducation, occupational patterns, poverty andcharacteristics of poor Dalit Christian households.The fifth section takes into account all the aspectstogether and concludes that there exists a need forgroup-specific policies for Dalit Christians in India.

II. CASTE AMONG THE CHRISTIANS: EVIDENCES

FROM SOCIAL SCIENCE LITERATURE

In India the inequalities and hierarchies withinChristianity and Islam have been well discussed insocial sciences, especially in anthropology, sociologyand other development literature. There are differentviews on whether subdivisions among thesereligious groups could be equated to caste. Severalscholars have attempted to study caste or caste-likesubdivisions among these religious groups from astandpoint that both the religions have considerablenumber of converts from the Hindu fold, especiallyfrom the lower strata of its caste hierarchy, along withothers. If one extends this line of argument of ‘Hindubackground’ (with its inherent hierarchies) of thesereligions further to explain the existing inequalitiesprevailing among the low caste Christians andMuslims, traces of caste or similar hierarchies could

still be established. Broadly speaking, it is in fact atricky task to trace the entire social origin of areligion, especially Christianity and Islam, whichhave historically evolved into its present socialcomposition and is also a blend of a ‘foreign’ or non-indigenous religion with local cultures and traditionsin India. Islam existed in India through Arabmigration to the Malabar coast; trade relations withTurkey, Arabia and Afghanistan; and further throughconversion of the inhabitants of the then existedterritory. Similarly, the social origin of Christianitycan be traced from the pre-colonial period to the massconversion movements in the twentieth century.

However, the question of social origin of areligion and its caste or caste-like hierarchies couldbecome relevant even today when it is placed in thewider canvas of citizenship and human development.It is also important then to probe further, whethersuch hierarchies lead to social and occupationalsegregation, economic differentiation, discriminationand widening of disparities. If caste is a reality inChristianity then how has it been historicallyperpetuated and reflected? Whether the definingcharacteristics of caste such as endogamy, notions ofpurity and pollution, and occupational division areattributable to Indian Christianity? How have theidentities of the converted Dalits been perceived bothinside and outside their religion? Finally, what is theself identity of the converted Dalits? This sectionattempts to address these questions with a specialfocus on Christianity through survey of relevant socialscience literature.

II.a Social Origin of Christianity in India:Assimilation of Local Traditions

Christianity, which is the subject of discussion here,is classified broadly into three distinct groups byscholars. They are: ‘(a) The Anglo Indians, a distinctproduct of miscegenation and colonialism (b) Thosewho became Christians through mass conversionmovements (mostly people from the ScheduledCastes, Scheduled Tribes and Other BackwardClasses (OBC) that took place during the colonialperiod (c) Pre-colonial Christians who claim to be

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converts from the upper castes’ (Oommen, 2010: 22).Apart from that, the social origin of the majority ofthe Christians has marked differences across India.For instance, in northern India where proselytisationis relatively recent, the Christians are mostly of ‘lowercaste’ origin including the Scheduled Castes andthe Scheduled Tribes (Deliege, 1998). In southernIndia where conversions occurred even before thecolonisation and British rule, the Christians compriseall castes which also include a small number of uppercastes (Ibid).

The underlying logic of mass conversion oflower castes was that it would enable them to comeout of the discriminatory caste system. Most of theconversion that took place among Dalits was toChristianity, Islam and Sikhism in the beginning andlater to Buddhism by the middle of the twentiethcentury. As per the estimates given by Webster,by the early twentieth century approximately onemillion Dalits had converted to Christianity(Webster, 1992: 33). Mass conversion took placemostly among Dalit groups which include Chuhras ofPunjab, Chamars of North India (Uttar Pradesh,Bihar and Madhya Pradesh), Vankars of Gujarat,Mahars of central and western India, especiallyMaharashtra, Paraiyars of South India and Pulayas ofKerala. It was noted that the Christian populationgrew from 3912 in 1881 to 3,95,629 in 1931 in thePunjab region as a result of Chuhra conversions(Webster, 1977). Another mass movement ofconversion to Christianity was by Mazhabi Sikhs,Bhangis and Chamars in Uttar Pradesh. Eventually,by 1931 there were about 1,73,077 Christians inUttar Pradesh who had converted from these groups(Turner, 1931). In the western region, about 15,000Vankars in Gujarat converted to Christianity between1889 and 1905 and a large number of Mangs andMahars in Maharashtra also embraced Christianityby the beginning of the twentieth century (Webster,1992; op cit). The southern part of India, especiallyAndhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, witnessed morevigorous mass conversion of Dalits to Christianity.For instance, a majority of the Malas and Madigas inAndhra Pradesh converted to Christianity. Similarly,

a large number of Paraiyars in Tamil Nadu, Paraiyarsand Pulayas in Kerala, and Tigalas in Karnatakaconverted to Christianity.

As mentioned elsewhere, the Dalit movementof mass conversion was largely grounded on theirconviction that “Christianity is a true religion; adesire for protection from oppressors and, if possible,material aid; the desire for education for theirchildren; and the knowledge that those who havebecome Christians had improved” (South IndianMissionary Conference, 1908: 44). Forrester (1979)noted that religious conversion of Dalits in generaland to Christianity in particular was due to both theclosure of their avenues of upward mobility and theresponse of these religions, especially Christianity tothe need of Dalits for acceptance and recognitionby the higher castes. Several scholars have pointedout that though not pronounced; there was anupward mobility for some groups of converts in termsof education and employment after conversion(Ferguson, 1905; Stewart, 1896). However, questionssuch as the ‘new identity’ of the converted Dalitswithin and outside Christianity and whether castemattered after conversion in their social, cultural andpolitical life remained.

To begin to answer these questions, it is essentialto look at how the converts themselves perceivedtheir new identity. In several cases, as many scholarsdiscussed, converts often carried a dual identity.Tanika Sarkar (2002) by quoting Percival Spear(1958) noted that there is often an accumulation ofidentities among converts which include “a series ofdeposits of cultural traces, rather than an exclusivegesture that rejects and abandons one identity foranother” (Sarkar, 2002: 123). Moreover, they kepton engaging with their local environments andnetworks in the same manner and remained part ofthe very social and power structures after conversionas in many cases conversion only changed theirreligious identity. There is a general agreement thatthe caste component in Christianity remained evenafter conversion either as a ‘residual leftover’ due tothe predominance of the Hindu environment, asDumont (1980) views it or as a day-to-day practice

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and affair as scholars like Fuller and Bayly argue; eventhough Christianity does not sanction caste or anypractices on caste line in principle. As Bayly (1989)observed, in South India, there was an assimilationof Christianity into the native South Indian religioussystem. Similarly, Fuller (1992) noted that the Hindureligious traditions continue in Christianity in India,especially in Catholicism due to the interplaybetween local Christians and the clergy even after300 years since conversion. Persistence of such localtraditions, mostly the Hindu traditions, amongthe Christians point to the fact that conversions hadnot significantly changed the existed structures;conversely it tended to integrate Christianity withthe Indian society. As a result, the caste practicesand religious ceremonies continued among theconverts. For instance David Moss (1994) notes:

“. . . both Christian cult shrines and earlymissionary churches became incorporated intolocal systems of political patronage and religiousgifting. Through systems of festival honours, theyserved the same purpose as local Hindu templesin extending and legitimating the authorityof local rulers and village headmen, and inintegrating the highly diffuse domains of politicalcontrol which characterized the pre-colonial statein southern Tamil Nadu.” (Moss, 1994: 304)

II.b Christianisation of Caste: Interactions ofChurch with Local Social Systems

The ways in which various Christian denominationsand congregations integrated with the Indian society,and local cultures and traditions to a greater extentappear to be accountable for the continuation of castesystem among the Christians. The classic example ofChurch authorities’ tolerant attitude towards castepractices was the letter of Pope Gregory XV in 1923.As Prakash Louis (2007) cited, “the letter allowedthe request of the missionaries to adjust to certaincaste practices, considering the ‘difficulties’ faced bythe upper caste converts.” In many cases, most of thecongregations accepted the existing social systems anddid not attempt much to introduce radical changesin the social network of the congregations (Bugge,

1998). For instance, the Danish Halle-Mission inTranquebar did not attempt to change the caste rulesor the divisions based on caste distinctions since theyfound the caste system a social phenomenon and nota religious one based on Hinduism (Ibid: 89). Thereare evidences that the Portuguese Missions, in orderto protect the caste sentiments of the upper casteconverted Syrian Christians, followed a different rite(Latin) for Paravas and Mukkuvas who are consideredlower castes in Kerala (Webster, 1992). Similarly, theMadurai Mission of Roberto de Nobili in theseventeenth century allowed distinction betweenpriests who ministered the upper castes and lowercastes (Ibid: 35). Discriminations were also visible inthe roles of church functions. For example, Robinson(2010, b) highlighted that during the sixteenth andseventeenth centuries the low caste converts werenot given any significant positions of power andauthority including priesthood in the church. DalitChristians were denied priesthood in Kerala until1968 and as Ninan Koshy (1968) cited there wereno Dalit priests in Mar Thoma or Jacobite churchesin Kerala till 1968. Similarly, Dalit Christians weremarginalised in the positions of priests and nuns inTamil Nadu though they constituted a majorityamong the Christian population (Louis, 2007, op cit).While some missionary groups, especially theProtestants, decided to denounce such caste practicesand eliminate caste from churches in the nineteenthcentury, it did not happen due to the strong resistancefrom the upper caste converts, especially in SouthIndia. It is interesting to note that, on the other hand,even the missionaries got divided over whether thebest strategy was to take a hard line stand onprohibition of caste or a more pacifying approachsince caste feeling was very strong in South India(Oddie, 1969; Forrester, 1979, op cit). The Britishmissionaries also accepted the caste system initiallyin churches though they resisted it later. The ‘policyof adaptation’ by the Catholic Missions, for instance,in a way sanctioned caste distinction in society.Evidences show that the Catholic Missions chose towork within the caste system. The practices held bythe Catholic Mission, especially the Jesuits in South

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India, clearly show the reinforcement of segregationamong the converted Christians.

“The XVIIth-century Jesuit mission led by thefamous Roberto de Nobili in Madurai centeredon different Church buildings for high-caste andlow-caste Christians, and the untouchables inany case being kept outside the Church. Theuntouchables were considered by the nativepopulation too unclean to be accepted inside theChurch—and this was accepted by the mission.Similarly, the Church officials educated andemployed in the missionary Churches belongedto various castes, corresponding to thecongregations for which they had to work. A low-caste official was never put in charge of a high-caste community, neither in the beginning in theXVIIth century, nor later in the XIXth century.”(Bugge, 1998: 89–90)The integration of Christianity with the Hindu

traditions and the Indian society also resulted in thecontinuation of its caste hierarchies and therebypractices. As a result, as several scholars observed,the lower caste Christians remained ‘untouchables’in society. Robinson (2010, b, op cit) noted that itwas mostly the converts who resisted ‘egalitarianrelations’ within the Christian groups in order tomaintain their status distinctions. It is interesting tonote that in South India, where conversion cutsacross all castes, the church eventually got dividedalong caste lines (Deliege, 1998, op cit). The definingcharacteristics of caste such as endogamy or marriagewithin the caste group, residential segregation,restricted social interaction, hierarchies, caste-basedoccupation and above all notions of graded ritualpurity or pollution were reproduced among theconvert Christians. Deliege (1998) notes how thecaste relations have been reproduced among theParaiyar Christians of Tamil Nadu.

“. . . the Paraiyars consider themselves Christiansand even though a good many of them marrywithout benefit of clergy, they do marry amongstthemselves. The Indian Catholics, including theParaiyars, do not view themselves as alien, and itappears that by becoming Christian they have

adopted a separate caste identity rather than atotally different religious faith. The Paraiyars havethus become endogamous by becoming Catholicbut, otherwise, they have kept their traditionalcaste identity and have remained very close tothe Hindu Paraiyars. In Valghira Manickam, forinstance, Hindu and Catholic Paraiyars emphasizethis proximity; friendship and sexual affairsare common between members of the twocommunities. Children play together and housesare more or less mixed in the same streets. TheHindu Paraiyars are much closer to the CatholicParaiyars than to the Hindu Pallars. It couldtherefore be said that, in this case, caste mattersmore than religion.” (Deliège, 1998: 32)

II.c Identity Questions and Status Conflictsamong Converted Christians

The reproduction of caste relations also mirrored insocial relations among the converted Christians inone form or the other. As several scholars pointedout, marriage was the important occasion, when castepractices were most visible as those who belong todifferent caste among Christians do not inter-marry(Mullens, 1854; Luke and Carman, 1968; Hardgrave,1969). For instance, Christian Reddys in AndhraPradesh and Christian Nadars in Tamil Nadu preferto marry Hindus of their own caste than DalitChristians (Robinson, 2010, a). Similarly, SyrianChristians in Kerala do not marry Dalit Christians.Even intermarriage between Bamons and Sudras inGoa is quite uncommon (Ibid: 14).

Continuation of caste-based occupationalpatterns among Dalit Christians is another importantevidence to ascertain caste among the IndianChristians. Dogar (2000) for instance, highlightedthat occupational patterns (including manualscavenging) prevalent among Dalit Christians innorth-west India are quite similar to that of DalitHindus. Similarly, in most parts of the country, liketheir Hindu counterparts, Dalit Christians continuedas agricultural workers, daily wage labourers and smallcultivators. Most interestingly, as existed betweencaste Hindus and Dalit Hindus, there existed a

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‘patron-client relationship’ between caste Christiansand Dalit Christians in several parts of India. Wiebeand Peter (1977) discussed the continuation ofmaster-client relationship between peasant group andDalits among Christians in rural Tamil Nadu. Dalitsused to work in the fields of caste Christians and takecare of their animals. Caste-based occupations ofDalit Christians also had not changed in manyinstances after conversion. Kaufmann (1981) notedthat Paravas of Tamil Nadu, who were fishermen byoccupation, remained fishermen after conversion.Similarly, majority of Pulaya Christians in Keralaremained agricultural workers and coolies, what theywere before, after conversion (Alexander, 1977).Arguably, the continuation of caste-basedoccupational patterns even after conversion, in a way,reproduced caste relations in Christianity.

Another important marker was the notions of‘impurity’ in rituals and eating habits amongconverted Christians. Japhet (1986) noted thatsocial segregation on the ground of impurity waspredominant in the intermingling of Dalits and uppercaste Christians in Karnataka. It included use ofseparate wells, denial of the service of people likebarbers to Dalit Christians, and separate eating anddrinking utensils in hotels and teashops (Ibid: 61).Similarly, Caplan (1980) highlighted the prevalenceof such things among Tamil Protestant communities.While Christian doctrine does not prohibit anydietary practice as such, the majority of the ProtestantTamil Christians who consider themselves as nonScheduled Castes do not eat beef or pork as thesefoods are categorised as dirty and polluting by theHindu society (Ibid: 230).

Participation in church functions was also a majorfactor which evidenced caste relations in IndianChristianity as in many cases the converts were ableto reconstruct their socio-cultural systems aroundchurches as Robinson (2004) argues. For instance,Dalits were given inferior roles in mass, funerals andfestivals among Catholics in Tamil Nadu (Wiebe andPeter, 1977, op cit). Some studies brought out thepractices of untouchability against Dalit Christiansby caste Christians similar to that of caste Hindus

against Dalit Hindus. Raj (1992) gives an account ofsuch practices against Dalit Christians in Tamil Naduin church and related social life in 1980s. It hadeverything separate for Dalit Christians such aschapel, seating arrangements within the chapel(Dalits had to sit on the floor), queues to receive holymass, cemeteries as well as hearses to carry deadbodies. Moreover, it restricted Dalits to become altarboys, avoid processions of Palm Sunday and CorpusChristy in the locality of Dalit Christians, exclusionof Dalits from participation in washing feet ceremonyduring Maundy Thursdays and separate celebrationof the feast of village patron saint. Robinson (2004)in a study conducted among a church community inGoa noted that upper caste converts were givenprivileges and honours in the church-related rituals.Such honours and privileges in rituals given to uppercaste members of the church also defined ordemarcated social relationships and political authoritywith visible hierarchies. She further noted how caste-based social relationships are reproduced in churchlife through their roles and privileges in rituals in thechurch in Goa:

“The two Catholic associations are the majorand the minor confraternities. The majorconfraternity in Santosgaon is Confraria deSantissimo e Nossa Senhora de Socorro. Onlyhigh caste Gauncars may be members of thisconfraternity. The confraternity enjoys theprivilege of organizing the harvest feastcelebrations and those centred around GoodFriday. The confraternity has red capes, whichdistinguishes its members, which they wear at thefeast organized and hosted by them. Members ofthe confraternity are registered automatically atbirth and all the Gauncars of the village belongto it. They organize and participate in it feasts.”(Robinson, 2004: 354)Among the south Indian states, differential

treatments on caste lines among Christians were themost prominent in Kerala. Ninan Koshy (1968)noted that Dalit Christians were given separate placesfor worship in the dioceses of church of South India,Roman Catholic and Mar Thoma which continued

11

till 1970s. Similarly, Alexander (1977, op cit) pointedout the differential treatments given to lower casteChristians including access to community resources,access to worship along with caste Christians andinvolvement in other important church activities inKerala. He also noted that the Syrian Christianspractised untouchability against the ‘lower casteChristians’ by not giving them food inside their houseand keeping the mouth closed with hand whilespeaking to Syrian Christians (Ibid: 54). In brief,as Lobo (2001) observed, the Scheduled CastesChristians developed a dual identity with thesustenance of caste practices among the converts.

Prakash Louis (2007) narrates instances ofdiscrimination against lower caste convertedChristians by upper caste Christians citing historicaldata. He highlighted that Cathedrals in South Indiabuilt between 1893 and 1941 had practised customarycaste bar. In many places Dalit Christians had theirown churches and in common churches they hadeither separate seating arrangements or attended themass from outside (Louis, 2007: 18). It is interestingto note that such discriminations continued inorder to appease the caste Christians and that ithappened with the consent of church authorities. Hecited more evidences of such practices in churchesin Tamil Nadu:

“The Vellalars of Vadakkankulam refused to takecommunion, that is, symbolic and sacred body ofChrist, within sight of Nadars after the priest hadknocked down the wall, which had kept the twogroups from seeing each other in the church.If in the Hindu system, the shadow of anuntouchable falls on the caste Hindu he ispolluted. In Christianity, if two castes see eachother even in the holiest of holies, it results inpollution.” (Louis, 2007: 18)

II.d Identity of Dalit Christians Outside ChurchWhether the caste identity of converted DalitChristians had changed outside the church afterconversion? The answer perhaps is ‘no’ since asdiscussed elsewhere they always carried the dualidentity such as Dalit first and a converted Dalit

Christian later. It is interesting to note that in certaincases, even if converted Dalits do not wish to identifythem as ‘Dalits’, their identity is often reflected intheir socio-cultural life as they are viewed as Dalitsby others, irrespective of their change of faith. Forinstance, Ambrose Pinto (2010) highlighted theidentity issues of Dalit Catholic Christians in a studyconducted in Bengaluru. He pointed out that eventhough Dalit Catholics do not wish to identifythemselves as Dalits, their identity mattered whenthey mingled with other castes. Suresh Pathare(2010) noted that “being a Christian in ruralMaharashtra means to be a former Mahar” and thedistinction between these two identities are skeletaland interchanging. The caste identity in the officialrecords of Mahar converts in Maharashtra, forinstance, also reinforces the ‘identity crisis’ amongthem as in many cases, the caste certificates indicateChristian Mahars caste as either Indian Christians,Mahar Christians and Hindu Christians. He furtherhighlighted the trends related to the caste identityamong the converted Christians in Maharashtra fromhistorical accounts:

“Firstly, some of the converts, mostly theProtestant Christians, prefer to discard the casteidentity while registering their children’s caste inofficial records. They are least bothered aboutthe reservation facilities. Secondly, there areChristians who have their caste certificates as‘Christians’ but for official records of theirchildren especially while admitting children inschool they prefer to register their caste as HinduMahars. Thirdly, many of them like to be calledChristians but for all the official records theyretain their caste identity intact . . . Fourthly,there are people who often declare their religiousidentity according to the situation.” (Pathare,2010: 117)Recent studies on Dalit Christians in Gujarat

showed that the identity of Dalits who converted toChristianity has not changed much till now and theysuffer from caste-based discrimination by uppercastes on one hand and alienation from other non-converted Dalits on the other (Patil, 2010). It is also

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important to note that Gujarat is a state where thetraditional village power structure and its casterelations are still prevalent. As several scholars haveobserved, a majority of Dalit Christians is deprivedof productive resources such as land, and hencedepends on higher castes for livelihood (Ibid: 132).Therefore, the caste practices, though its forms mighthave changed over the years, still perpetuate in thevillages. As R R Patil noted “different forms ofdiscrimination do take place against them atworkplace such as non-payment of minimum wages,use of separate glasses/cups, harassments, casteistremarks and atrocities in case of protest against highercastes” (Ibid). Mahida (2010) also shared the sameview that conversion to Christianity by Dalits inGujarat has not brought about any qualitativeimprovements in their socio-economic status as theyhave to stay in the caste system and its occupationaldivisions. Most importantly, some studies, forinstance, Fernando et al. (2004) pointed outincidences of practices of untouchability such as‘refusal to drink water from the same glass’ againstChristians converted from Vankar caste by casteHindus.

Similar to what happened with caste prejudicesin general, nature and forms of discrimination againstDalit Christians by non-Dalits has also changedover the years. Nevertheless, studies show that in theinitial years of conversion, discrimination againstDalit converts outside Christianity was more severe.John C B Webster quoted:

“The village washermen were told not to workfor (the Madiga Converts); the potter was toldnot to sell pots for them; their cattle were drivenfrom the common grazing grounds; the Sudrascombined in a refusal to give them the usualwork of sewing sandals and harness; at harvesttime they were not allowed to help and lost theirportion of grain” (Webster, 1992: 65, c.f. Clough,1914: 171)Many times the nature of discrimination in

society against Dalit converts went beyond mereeconomic boycotts. It took severe forms like physicalabuse, set Dalit churches on fire and get converts

arrested on false charges (Webster, 1992, op cit). Thesevere forms and nature of discrimination againstDalit Christians, however, changed over a periodof time mostly due to interventions of churchesthrough their initiatives of material support and theeffect of Dalit assertion movements in general. Partof this change can also be attributed to the impactof education, even though Dalits were not themajor benefactors of educational programmes ofmissionaries. Some of them, especially the youngergeneration got opportunity to learn by theinvolvement of the teacher catechists in the villagesof converted Dalits who along with religiouseducation also taught primary school curriculum(Webster, 1992, op cit). As a result, those who wereeducated could move out of the village economy andits caste relations to urban areas where they gotemployment. For instance, John C B Webster citedElders’ (1963) occupational statistics of DalitChristians in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh in 1963,which showed that out of the total Dalit Christians,27.8 per cent were skilled workers; 18.1 per centhad white collar jobs; 15.2 per cent were teachers,preachers and religious workers and another 2.9 percent were managers or executives (Webster, 1992:183). It should also be mentioned that this, however,was not true for all Dalit Christians in the country.Other important reasons pointed out by scholars werethe concerted efforts of churches for inclusivenessand the collective actions of Dalit Christians forrecognition. However, it should also be noted thatmore severe issue that Dalit Christians faced in postindependent India outside the church perhaps isatrocities rather than discrimination which is dueto anti-conversion movements. It also took violentforms in several parts of the country, which will bediscussed at length in the next section.

III. DISCRIMINATION AND ATROCITIES:CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES OF DALIT

CHRISTIANS

As discussed in the previous section, Christianity inthe process of integration with Indian society alsosustained the hierarchical structures of Hinduism and

13

the caste identity of Dalit converts remained the samedespite efforts of church for inclusiveness from somequarters. Therefore, Dalit Christians, like otherDalits, continue to confront their identity in variousspheres of life and suffer discrimination and atrocities.Several studies have pointed out that caste-baseddiscrimination is still a reality in Indian society; itprevails in all spheres of life such as education, health,employment, housing, trade and business, labourmarket, etc., (Chakravarty, 2003; George, 2004;Hasan and Mehta, 2006; Shah et al, 2006; Acharya,2007; Nambissan, 2009; Thorat and Newman, 2007;Jodhka, 2010) and Dalit Christians too face themalong with their counterparts in other religions.This section specifically examines the presentnature and forms of discrimination which DalitChristians face and whether caste prejudices limitthem from access to services, amenities and othereconomic opportunities. It also discusses the atrocitieson Dalit Christians which were rampant in postindependent India.

III.a Caste-Based Discrimination against DalitChristians: Nature, Forms and Patterns

There are ample evidences in social science literaturethat Dalit Christians are still discriminated on castelines by upper caste Christians and rest of the societywhich include caste Hindus, church institutionsand in some circumstances Dalit Hindus (Jose, 1990;Moss, 1994; Louis, 2007; Kujur, 2009; Patil andDabhi, 2010; Pathare, 2010; Pinto, 2010). Scholarshave observed that Dalit Christians suffer from sameforms of discrimination, atrocities, socio-economicbackwardness and deprivations like that of otherDalits. Some studies also pointed out that the formsof discrimination against Dalit Christians range fromuntouchability practices to denial of equal rightsin spheres like buying and selling in markets,employment and access to services such as health,drinking water and sanitation. For instance, Jose(1990) highlighted the instances of untouchabilityfaced by Dalit Christians through an empirical studyconducted in rural Tamil Nadu. The study showedthat the predominant forms of discrimination faced

by them also include classical forms of untouchabilitylike prohibition in using common drinking waterresources at places like schools. The study also drewattention on the deprivation of Dalit convertedChristians in terms of facilities available. It showedthat for most of the indicators such as access todrinking water, pucca houses and education DalitChristians were worse off than even non-convertedDalits. David Moss (1994) also noted the continuingcaste-based discrimination against Dalit Christiansin Tamil Nadu. The study highlighted thatprohibitions such as access to high caste streets,common drinking water sources, village temples andteashops on Dalit Christians along with other Dalitsstill prevail. More evidences on the discriminatorypractice against Dalit Christians in South Indianstates are available from Felix Wilfred’s (1995) work.He highlighted that even if there have beenconscious efforts by various churches for inclusion,discrimination practised on the basis of caste stillprevail in churches. The predominant form of itsmanifestation is the reinforcement of their identitiesby referring them to as ‘new Christians’. This hasvisibly demarcated the caste Christians and DalitChristians in their church and related social life.Similar to the practises prevalent in the initial yearsof conversion, there are still separate churches forworship, segregation in burial grounds and exclusionfrom decision making in the parishes (Ibid). WalterFernandes (1996) also gives an account of similarforms of discrimination against Dalit Christians byother Christians in Tamil Nadu. He noted that theforms of discrimination include division within thechurch buildings, separate entrances for high casteand Dalit Christians, etc. (Ibid). T K Oommen (2010)highlighted the following forms of discriminationwhich Dalit Christians face from their counterparts,the Syrian Christians:

“In spite of the belief that all Christians are unitedthrough their savior, viz, Jesus Christ, there isno equality shown in the participation of HolyCommunion, the most crucial ritual which bindsthem. Earlier a practice of offering the HolyCommunion to Christians of clean caste/upper

14

class first and only then to those of ScheduledCastes background, who are usually, lower class,was prevalent. While the discrimination inseating arrangement is gradually disappearingin Christian congregations, intermarriages areextremely rare even today. Generally speaking,the caste-class conjunction prevails among IndianChristians as in the wider Indian society.”(Oommen, 2010: 30)R R Patil (2010) attributes the lower socio-

economic status of Dalit Christians in Gujarat todiscrimination and isolation from access to incomeearning assets like land. Most of the Dalits includingChristians in rural Gujarat are still very much insidethe village agriculture economy and its castestructures. In most of the cases, Dalits do not havecultivable land or any other income earning assets.Therefore, they are heavily dependent on upper castesfor livelihood. The data presented from two villagesof Borsad taluka from Anand district in the studyshow that there is no qualitative improvements inthe living conditions of converted Vankars (Dalits)and in fact there is no marked difference in the socio-economic conditions of Vankar Christians and VankarHindus (Ibid: 130). The predominant spheres ofdiscrimination against Dalit Christians in Gujaratinclude socio-cultural space by caste Hindus; culturalalienation from Dalit Hindus and church and relatedsocial life by caste Christians. The different forms ofdiscrimination from caste Hindus include differentialpayments for the same work for Dalits and non-Dalits,non-payment of minimum wages, giving water andtea in separate glasses and cups, harassments, casteistremarks and subsequent atrocities if Dalits protest(Ibid: 132). The different forms of discriminationfrom church include suppression of independent Dalitleaderships and limited participation of DalitChristians in non-religious spheres such as educationand employment (Ibid: 134).

Ambrose Pinto (2010) highlighted the appallingliving conditions of Dalit Christians in Karnataka.His study showed that even though most of the DalitChristians depend on agriculture in rural areas theydo not have land. The upper castes Vokkaligas and

Lingayats own much of the fertile land and DalitChristians mostly work as labourers in their land. Thisin a way binds them to the traditional caste and powerrelations. Similarly, the study showed that as much as60 per cent Dalit Christian households in the studyarea did not have electricity and 23 per cent livedin huts (Ibid: 169). The study also detailed variousspheres and forms of discrimination. The differentspheres of discrimination include public functionswhere intermingling of communities often takes place,public places like hotels and teashops, and marriageceremonies. The common forms of discrimination thatthe study revealed are restriction in intermingling,residential segregation and cultural alienation.

Prakash Louis (2007) while referring to persistingbackwardness of Dalit Christians in the fields likeeducation and employment discusses the variousforms of discrimination faced by Dalit Christians inUttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu by casteChristians, caste Hindus, church and non-convertedDalits, which limit their upward mobility. He citedthat Dalit Christians in these states continuedtheir caste-based occupations such as agriculturalworkers, casual workers, manual scavengers and nightsoil labourers (Ibid: 22). The different forms ofdiscrimination by caste Christians that he identifiedin the study are separate cemeteries, separate seatingarrangements at churches, marriage restrictions, jointdining and exchange of food, prohibitions of Dalitsto become priests and nuns and the mention of castenames while referring to Dalit Christians. Similarly,Dalit Christians face discrimination from casteHindus due to the former’s dependence on work andlivelihood on latter. In most of the cases, it turns outto be complete subjugation as any form of resistancecan have serious implications on their livelihood andeven life. Gomati Bodhra (2010) highlighted thevarious spheres and forms of discrimination againstDalit Christians by caste Hindus in Jharkhand. Likein the case of rural Gujarat and Karnataka, most ofthe converted Dalits are still tied up with their casteand traditional occupation as agricultural workers inthe lands owned by upper castes. This reinforces thelocal power relations which in a way propagates the

15

existing caste practices. As a result, Dalit Christiansoften become subject to discrimination, slavery,bondage, atrocities and economic exploitation (Ibid:266). These reflect in the forms of non-payment ofwages, bonded labour, non-payment of minimumwages and persecution (Ibid).

III.b Caste-Based Atrocities on Dalit ChristiansThere were several incidences of atrocities andviolence on Dalit Christians such as physical abuse,burning of churches and getting them arrested onfalse charges (Webster, 1992) in the beginning ofmass movement of conversion. The incidences ofatrocity, however, increased in the recent years mostlydue to the re-emergence of Hindu nationalism andthe anti-conversion movements. For instance, it hasbecome a major apprehension and state like TamilNadu, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan broughtout anti-conversion legislations (Robinson, 2010).While atrocities related to conversion are commonto all Christians, Dalit Christians face caste atrocitiesas well. This section, to begin with, look at theatrocities faced by Christians due to conversion ingeneral and caste-based atrocities faced by DalitChristians in particular.

An overview of the recent incidences of atrocitieson Christians reveals that atrocities and violence aremostly perpetuated by anti-conversion groups ofradical rights who advocate Hindu nationalism. Dataon incidences of atrocities on Christians in selectedstates show that maximum cases of atrocities werereported from Gujarat which included murder,physical attack, damage of personal and churchproperties, false police charges and harassments,disruption of worship and ceremonies, and evenpersecution of dead bodies. Forms of atrocities onChristians in Bihar and Maharashtra (which followedGujarat in atrocities in terms of number) includedmurder, massacre, rape, persecution and humiliationat public places, attack on places of worship, damageto properties and physical attack. Similar forms ofatrocities and violence were reported from Odisha,Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,

Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.It should also be noted that conversion is not

the only ground of atrocities on Dalit Christians. Itis also often situated in the caste-religion interfaceand in many instances anti-Christian movements areanti-Dalit movements as well. Reports and studiesshow that Dalit Christians face caste atrocities likeother Dalits. The recent incident at Kadhamal,Odisha showed that one of the underlying factors thattriggered the violence was the ethnic conflict betweenHindu Kandhas, who are Scheduled Tribes (ST) andPanas who are Dalit Christians on one hand; andthe active roles of Hindu extremists groups includingVanavasi Kalyan Ashram, Bajarang Dal, etc., on theother.2 Caste-based atrocities by upper caste Hinduson Dalit Christians are also common in many partsof India. For instance, Louis (2007, op cit) cites anincident of caste atrocity on Dalit Christians in avillage in Andhra Pradesh.

“In 1993, in a non-descript village, Chunduruof Andhra Pradesh, 12 Dalit Christians weremassacred by the Reddys allegedly because aDalit Christian youth sat with his feet up inthe local cinema hall and accidentally touchedan upper caste youth sitting in the seat in frontof him. This massacre took place just becausethe ‘offender’ was a Dalit Christian and not aKamma Christian or Reddy Christian.” (Louis2007: 17–18)The divide between Dalit and non-Dalit

Christians on the caste lines and resultant conflictsalso lead to atrocities on Dalit Christians. The majorground of conflict between these two groups is thecaste divide in churches. It takes the forms of violenceand atrocities when Dalit Christians tend to challengethe discriminatory practice by upper caste Christians.The disturbed relationship between caste Christianshad adverse social and economic repercussions forDalit Christians as they are dependent on casteChristians in many fronts. Worst of it is the socialand economic boycott by caste Christians and casteHindus by not allowing them to work on their landwhich is their principle source of livelihood.

16

III.c Inadequate Legal Safeguards againstDiscrimination and Atrocities

Although Dalit Christians face similar forms ofdiscrimination and atrocities as other Dalits, the legalsafeguards against untouchability, discrimination andatrocities are not extended to them since they donot come in the official category of Scheduled Castes(SC).3 Dalit Christians are either considered‘Christians/Indian Christians’ or OBCs in most partof India. The existing legal protections againstdiscrimination and atrocities for SCs underUntouchability (Offences) Act, 1955; the Protectionof Civil Rights Act, 1976; the Scheduled Castes andthe Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,1989 and the Scheduled Castes and the ScheduledTribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act Rules, 1995are not applied to Dalit Christians. These Actsprovide protection against various forms of violence,atrocities and discriminations such as deprivingfacilities; denial of rights; eviction; economicexploitation including wrongful occupation of landand other properties; personal attack and exploitationincluding insulting, intimidating harassment anddishonouring and heinous criminal activitiesincluding rape, molestation, murder and massacreof SCs and STs. Interestingly, various reports showthat discrimination, violence and atrocities beingcommitted on Dalit Christians are mostly on castelines and its nature and forms are same as that of theoffences and atrocities enlisted in the above Acts (seesections III.a and III.b). However, Dalit Christianscannot seek protection from the state against theseunder any of these Acts.

IV. DEMOGRAPHIC AND DEVELOPMENT PROFILE

OF DALIT CHRISTIANS

It merges from the previous discussions that DalitChristians like other Dalits suffer from various formsof discrimination and exclusion. It is well establishedthat discrimination and social exclusion lead towidening of income inequalities, degree of povertyand deprivation through denial of equal opportunitiesand access to resources and services (Thorat, 2003;Thorat and Louis, 2003; Sundaram and Tendulkar,

2003; Himanshu and Sen, 2004). Therefore, whenit comes to questions of citizenship and development,discrimination appears to have manifold ramificationsrelated to exclusion from economic entitlements,basic services and opportunities on one hand andhumiliation, subordination, exploitation and denialof rights on the other. Social exclusion of DalitChristians in this particular context raises furtherconcerns on their development trajectory. First ofall, it is important to examine whether discriminationand exclusion are reflected on their developmentperformance such as education, material condition,poverty, etc. If Dalit Christians have group-specificdevelopment deficit, how does it vary from othersocio-religious groups? Whether there is a need forgroup-specific policies for Dalit Christians on the basisof their development profile? This section attemptsto address these questions drawing from available dataon certain indicators of development.

The data on demography and developmentindicators for Dalit Christians are taken from theNational Sample Survey (NSS) and other publishedreports. It should also be noted that Dalit Christianis a self reported category in NSS surveys. The samplesize of Dalit Christian households in the survey isalso a matter of attention here. It includes 155 DalitChristian households in rural India and 123 inurban India. Since the sample size is small, furtherdisaggregation across states is not attempted. Dataextracted from NSS rounds include household bysocial groups by religion, level of poverty by socialgroups by religion and some of the characteristics ofpoor Dalit households with regard to household typeand occupation, landholding, education and industryof occupation. Indicators on educational status ofDalit Christians are adopted from the report Dalits inthe Muslim and Christian Communities: A Status Reporton Current Social Scientific Knowledge by SatishDeshpande and Geetika Bapna, submitted to theNational Commission for Minorities.

IV.a Demographic ProfileAccording to the Census of India, 2001 theChristians constituted about 2.34 per cent of the total

17

population of which 2.86 per cent lived in urban areasand 2.14 per cent lived in rural areas. Withinminorities, the number of Christians is more thanSikhs, Buddhists, Jains and others and notably lessthan Muslims. Like other religious minorities,Christian population is slightly more in urban areasthan in rural areas. The states which have highproportion of Christians are Nagaland (90 per cent),Mizoram (87 per cent), Meghalaya (70.3 per cent),Manipur (34 per cent), Kerala (19 per cent) and Goa(26.7 per cent). In terms of absolute numbers, Keralahas the highest number of Christians (6,057,427),followed by Tamil Nadu (3,785,060), Nagaland(1,790,349) and Meghalaya (1,628,986).

There is no systematic data collected on the exactnumber of Dalit Christians in India. Organisationsof Dalit Christians claim that there are 15 to 16 millionDalit Christians in India which constitute around65 to 66 per cent of the total Christians as of 2001.NSS, however, gives some trend in the distributionof social groups in Christianity and other religions.Table 1 shows the distribution of religious groups insocial groups including SC, ST, OBC and others. Outof the total SC population in rural India, 93.33 per centare Hindus, 3.04 per cent are Sikhs, 2.22 per cent areBuddhists and 1.24 per cent are Christians. Amongthe STs, 88.69 per cent are Hindus and 7.22 per cent

are Christians while among the OBCs 88.38 per centare Hindus and 9.26 per cent are Muslims. In urbanIndia, among the SCs, Hindus constitute about90 per cent followed by Christians (1.81 per cent)and Sikhs (1.47 per cent). The share of SCs amongthe minority groups was the highest among the Sikhsin rural India and the Christians in urban India.

Table 2 presents data on proportion of varioussocial groups within religious groups. It shows thatamong all religions, the share of SC is more amongBuddhists (30.23 per cent) and Sikhs (27.35 per cent)as compared to Hindus (20.25 per cent), Christians(2.15 per cent) and Muslims (0.56 per cent) in ruralIndia. The same pattern of distribution is seen inurban India as well where among all religiousgroups, the highest share of SC is among Buddhists(97.01 per cent), followed by Sikhs (15.17 per cent)and Christians (10.51 per cent). Among minorityreligions, the share of OBCs is predominantly moreas compared to SC and ST for Muslims both in ruraland urban India; ST in rural and OBC in urban Indiafor Christians; SC in rural India and OBC in urbanIndia for Sikhs and ST in rural and SC in urbanIndia for Buddhists excluding the ‘others’. AmongBuddhists and Christians in rural areas, the share of‘other’ (upper castes) is notably less than that of allother social groups.

Table 1: Distribution of religious groups in social groups, 2004–05

snoigileR laruR nabrU

TS CS CBO HTO LLA TS CS CBO HTO LLA

udniH 96.88 33.39 83.88 33.96 95.48 74.08 55.09 87.28 58.47 12.08

milsuM 35.0 3.0 62.9 65.42 13.01 49.1 27.0 89.31 34.81 66.31

naitsirhC 22.7 40.1 42.1 19.2 82.2 41.41 18.1 63.2 25.2 27.2

hkiS 41.0 40.3 40.1 7.2 8.1 50.0 74.1 18.0 92.2 85.1

niaJ 0 0 20.0 63.0 1.0 31.1 0 0 26.1 97.0

tsihdduB 55.0 22.2 0 70.0 55.0 26.0 43.5 0 40.0 58.0

nairtsaoroZ 20.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10.0 81.0 90.0

srehtO 28.2 30.0 10.0 20.0 23.0 26.1 90.0 20.0 30.0 90.0

llA 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001 001

Source: NSS, 61st Round, 2004–05

18

Table 3: Educational profile of Dalits by religions aged six and above, 2004–05

snoigileR noitacudEfosleveL

etaretillI otpUyramirP

otpUyradnoceS

rehgiHyradnoceS

amolpiD /+etaudarG

latoT

laruR

udniH 35.84 13.33 8.41 79.1 83.1 001

milsuM 80.84 58.23 93.51 41.2 35.1 001

naitsirhC 24.83 76.03 1.32 92.6 25.1 001

hkiS 88.34 69.43 33.71 88.2 59.0 001

tsihdduB 31.33 99.03 18.62 44.4 36.4 001

stilaDllA 9.74 92.33 62.51 1.2 54.1 001

nabrU

udniH 88.03 92.43 73.52 16.4 58.4 001

milsuM 97.13 59.63 41.52 88.1 42.4 001

naitsirhC 96.51 74.33 59.03 54.8 54.11 001

hkiS 60.82 98.33 31.72 26.6 3.4 001

tsihdduB 23.71 50.03 51.13 33.8 51.31 001

stilaDllA 87.92 50.43 38.52 19.4 34.5 001

Source: Deshpande and Bapna (2008: 58)

Table 2: Social groups break-up by religious groups, 2004–05

noigileR s laruR nabrU

TS CS CBO HTO latoT TS CS CBO HTO latoT

udniH 22.11 52.02 34.34 1.52 001 10.3 2.81 63.63 34.24 001

milsuM 64.1 65.0 85.53 4.26 001 33.0 36.0 93.83 56.06 001

naitsirhC 7.97 51.2 95.6 75.11 001 94.71 15.01 67.13 52.04 001

hkiS 1 53.72 59.22 7.84 001 11.0 71.51 65.81 61.66 001

niaJ 91.1 - 39.8 88.98 001 8.5 - 93.0 28.39 001

tsihdduB 45.55 32.03 60.3 71.11 001 66.1 10.79 92.0 40.1 001

nairtsaoroZ 33.35 - 76.64 - 001 52.0 - 49.9 18.98 001

srehtO 11.39 14.0 46.4 48.1 001 5.55 53.51 86.9 74.91 001

Source: NSS, 61st Round, 2004–05

IV.b Development ProfileThere is very little information available on thedevelopment profile of Dalit Christians due to paucityof official data. NSS is the only data source whichgives some indications on the development profileof social groups across religion. Deshpande and Bapna(2008) attempted to disaggregate data on DalitChristians and Dalit Muslims from NSS 61st Round

for indicators such as education, consumptionexpenditure, occupational pattern and poverty. Theirstudy showed that intergroup differentials are highamong Christians as compared to Muslims, Sikhs andBuddhists and the level of deprivation is notablypronounced among Dalit Christians as compared toother Christians, especially with regard to ruralpoverty (Ibid). Though not exhaustive, there are

19

some micro-level studies which examined thedevelopment profile of Dalit Christians at variousparts of the country. For instance, studies conductedin Gujarat (Patil, 2010; Mahida, 2010), Karnataka(Pinto, 2010) and Jharkhand (Ekka et al., 2010)showed that most of the Dalit Christians in rural areasdid not have any upward mobility. Most of them areilliterate and remain in their traditional caste-basedoccupations like agricultural labourer and coolie, andmost of them live in highly impoverished conditions.The following section examines some of theindicators such as education, poverty andcharacteristics of poor Dalit Christian households ascompared to their counterparts in other religions andacross other social groups within Christianity.

IV.b.i EducationAccording to the Census of India (2001) data, theMuslims had worse literacy rate (48.05 per cent)followed by Sikhs (60.56 per cent) and Buddhists(62.56 per cent) among minority groups. The literacyrate of Christians, as a whole, was around 70 per centwhich was better than all other religious groups,except the Jains. However, data on level of educationamong Dalits across religions show notable intergroupdifferentials (tables 3 and 4). Table 3 shows that as

much as 50 per cent Dalits in rural India and 30 percent in urban India were illiterates. A comparison ofthe level of education of Dalits within their religionshows that the share of Dalits who are not literateswas the highest among Hindus and Muslims both inrural and urban India. While the share of illiterateDalit Christians in urban India was relatively less(15.69 per cent), it was around 39 per cent in ruralIndia, which was more than Dalit Buddhists. Theshare of Dalits who were diploma holders andgraduate was relatively less in all social groups. Inrural India, while 4.6 per cent Dalit Buddhistscompleted diploma/graduation, it was nearly one percent among Dalit Sikhs, 1.5 per cent among bothDalit Muslims and Dalit Christians and 1.38 per centamong Dalit Hindus. In urban India, share of thosewho completed diploma/graduation, though less as awhole, was higher among Dalit Buddhists (13.15 percent) and Dalit Christians (11.45 per cent) ascompared to other Dalits. Within Christianity, thedata show that the percentage of illiterates is thehighest among SC Christians than OBC and uppercaste Christians (Table 4). While 38.42 per cent SCChristians were illiterates, the share of illiteratesamong upper caste Christians was 12.88 per cent inrural India. Urban India also showed a similar trend.

Table 4: Educational profile of Christians by caste groups aged 6 and above, 2004–05

spuorgetsaC noitacudEfosleveL

etaretillI otpUyramirP

otpUyradnoceS

rehgiHyradnoceS

/amolpiD+etaudarG

latoT

laruR

CS 24.83 76.03 1.32 92.6 25.1 001

CBO 91.12 25.63 45.13 62.4 5.6 001

etsaCreppU 88.21 54.03 62.93 62.6 41.11 001

LLA 93.42 44.63 61.92 13.4 96.5 001

nabrU

CS 96.51 74.33 59.03 54.8 54.11 001

CBO 27.8 44.03 95.53 63.9 98.51 001

etsaCreppU 94.6 3.32 48.63 43.01 30.32 001

LLA 43.8 47.72 67.53 21.01 30.81 001

Source: Deshpande and Bapna (2008: 59–60)

20

Table 5: Household types by religions, 2004–05

suoigileRspuorg

laruR nabrU

ANES LA LO AES HTO ES ES/WR LC HTO

udniH 51 76.52 71.01 39.04 32.8 21.04 46.24 84.11 57.5

milsuM 32.92 73.91 68.01 96.92 58.01 49.65 13.42 41.31 26.5

naitsirhC 91.21 61.91 77.61 94.83 93.31 2.72 14.94 36.31 67.9

hkiS 7.51 50.22 29.31 15.73 18.01 26.75 33.13 49.4 11.6

niaJ 66.34 16.71 97.5 29.62 20.6 9.77 53.71 93.0 73.4

tsihdduB 31.7 15.65 45.8 20.91 8.8 75.81 99.15 9.42 45.4

nairtsaoroZ AN AN 24.53 85.46 AN 70.62 63.04 38.0 37.23

srehtO 90.9 87.91 22.8 55.65 53.6 76.55 46.53 97.2 9.5

llA 45.61 98.42 44.01 64.93 86.8 99.24 74.93 17.11 28.5

Source: NSS, 61st Round, 2004–05

Table 6: Household types of Christians by social groups, 2004–05

puorglaicoS s laruR nabrU

ANES LA LO AES HTO ES WR ES/ LC HTO

tilaD 1.71 7.43 5.61 4.7 3.42 9.31 9.15 9.42 3.9

CBO 7.02 9.81 6.42 4.71 4.81 6.92 14 5.61 9.21

etsaCreppU 4.71 3.61 6.51 5.23 2.81 2.92 8.05 9.5 1.41

llA 9.41 6.81 8.41 1.53 5.61 6.62 2.74 1.11 1.51

Source: Deshpande and Bapna (2008: 53)

Further, their share is also less in the categories of‘up to secondary’ and ‘diploma holders/graduate’ thanother social groups among Christians. It clearly showsthat Dalit Christians are backward in education ascompared to other Christians.

IV.b.ii Household occupational patternsHousehold occupational patterns of religious groupsshow that in line with the trend shown for otherreligious groups, most of the Christian householdsare engaged in agriculture related occupationeither as self employed or as agricultural workers inrural India. Their share in ‘self employed in non-agriculture’ category was notably less than otherminority groups which include Muslims, Sikhs andBuddhists. On the other hand, the share of Christianswas relatively more in the category of self employedin agriculture compared to other major minoritygroups. This also points to the fact that they have

relatively more access to fertile land for cultivation.Christians in urban India also showed better positionand their proportionate share in the category ofregular and salaried employees was more than Hindus,Muslims and Sikhs. However, it was also togetherwith a contrasting trend that their proportionateshare in the households of casual labourers, themost vulnerable group, was more than all otherreligious groups.

The explanation of the relatively higher shareof Christians in the most vulnerable householdcategories such as casual labourers in urban India andagricultural labourers in rural India comes out clearlywhile we disaggregate Dalits among Christians. Datashow that the share of Dalit Christian householdsworking as casual labourers in urban areas andagricultural labourers in rural areas was higher thanthat of other Christians (Table 6). The share of DalitChristians in the category of self employed in

21

agriculture was also less than other Christians in ruralIndia. However, it should be noted that the share ofregular/wage salaried households of Dalit Christiansin urban India was almost equal to that of upper casteChristians which was possibly due to the impact ofeducation and early migration of Dalit Christians tourban India as discussed elsewhere in the study. Inshort, most of the Dalit Christians continue theircaste-based occupations in rural India as agriculturaland other labourers.

IV.b.iii Poverty situationTable 7 provides the latest social and religiousgroupwise poverty figures based on consumptionexpenditure data collected by NSS. It shows that therate of poverty is higher among Dalits as comparedto other social groups both in 1993 and 2004.Although poverty among Dalits, as a whole, declinedbetween 1993 and 2004, the data show considerableintergroup and inter-religious variations in povertyreduction. While poverty reduction for Dalitsbetween 1993 and 2004 was around 11 percentagepoints, it was around 14 per cent for other groups in

rural areas. Urban India also showed almost similarpattern of decline. When we disaggregate povertyestimates across religious and social groups for ruralareas, the poverty level is found to be substantiallyhigher among Hindu Adivasis (46 per cent) in 2004followed by Dalit Buddhists (39 per cent), DalitMuslims (35 per cent), Dalit Hindus (32.48 per cent)and Dalit Christians (23.61 per cent). The situationis more or less similar in urban India and thehighest incidence of poverty was found among OBCMuslims (37.97 per cent), followed by Dalit Hindus(43.13 per cent), Dalit Muslims (31.13 per cent),Dalit Buddhists (25.88 per cent) and Dalit Christians(24.4 per cent).

Chart 1 shows the change in poverty situation ofsocial groups within Christianity over two decades.As it is evident from the chart, Dalit Christians havebeen the poorest group among Christians in 1983,1994 and 2004–05 both in rural and urban India.Data show that there is a marked difference inthe poverty situation between Dalit Christians andother Christians. While the poor Dalit Christianhouseholds was 56.1 per cent in 1983, 51.8 per cent

Chart 1: Poverty situation of Christians by social groups: Changes across 1983, 1994 and 2004–05

Source: Estimated at IIDS, from NSS 38th, 50th and 61st rounds

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

38.1

30.7

21.7

56.1

51.8

30.1 30.8

27.1

9.5

32.9

18.7

12.7

64.1

52.1

32.229.4

19.7

9.5

38th

50th

61st

OTHSCSTOTHSCST

RURAL URBAN

22

Table 7: Estimated poverty by social groups by religions

snoigileR laruR nabrU

TS CS *CBO TO H llA TS CS CBO TO H llA

05SSN ht 3991(dnuoR – )49

udniH 58.84 07.34 - 01.72 66.33 79.73 23.44 - 62.22 81.62

milsuM 16.15 03.03 - 31.63 22.63 16.63 99.84 - 43.24 73.24

naitsirhC 74.72 22.54 - 05.32 94.62 61.51 04.84 - 83.51 88.71

hkiS 0 08.11 - 30.2 11.5 0 84.63 - 08.6 70.11

tsihdduB 68.9 49.45 - 05.63 93.15 05.92 25.63 - 91.92 50.63

llA 67.64 81.34 - 97.72 43.33 98.43 67.34 - 48.42 08.72

16SSN ts 4002(dnuoR – )50

udniH 50.64 84.23 58.22 03.01 41.52 69.33 31.43 34.22 31.8 06.81

milsuM 65.32 59.43 50.72 30.32 36.42 84.12 79.33 79.73 31.13 85.33

naitsirhC 16.02 16.32 41.11 27.6 91.41 89.11 04.42 74.11 54.6 07.01

hkiS 38.91 50.6 735 22. 48.3 0 46.22 39.6 05.1 84.5

tsihdduB 18.6 59.83 78.31 80.2 11.43 48. 88.52 55.42 73.51 70.52

llA 93.34 37.13 19.22 10.31 05.42 18.92 23.33 22.42 60.21 31.02

*OBC was not a category in the NSS 50th RoundSource: NSS, 50th and 61st rounds, consumption expenditure, estimated

in 1994 and 30.1 per cent in 2004–05 in rural India;the corresponding figures for ‘other’ Christianswere 30.8 per cent, 18.73 per cent and 12.72 per centfor 1983, 1994 and 2004–05 respectively. Also,the percentage of poor households among DalitChristians is higher in urban than rural India.

The following section attempts to understandsome of the characteristics of the poor Dalithouseholds in general and Dalit Christian householdsin particular. It should be noted that since the samplesize of Dalit Christians is very small in the NSS survey,the data presented here gives only some indicationsbut not the exact pictures. Table 8 gives informationon the household types of poor across social groupsin various religions in rural and urban India. As it isevident from the table, the incidence of poverty wasthe highest in households of agricultural labourers inrural India and in the households of casual workersin urban India across all religious groups. Among allsocio-religious groups in rural India, the incidence ofpoverty was found to be the highest in households ofagricultural labourers who belonged to Dalit and tribal

Muslims followed by tribal Hindus, Dalit Hindus andOBC Muslims. In urban India, the incidence ofpoverty was the highest in households of casualworkers of tribal Hindus followed by Dalit Hindus,Muslims, Dalit Christians and Dalit Buddhists.

Among the Christians, the incidence of povertywas the highest among Dalit Christians as comparedto other Christians in most of the categories, exceptagricultural labourer households where the incidenceof poverty was more among ST and OBC Christians.Interestingly, contrary to the general trend, incidenceof poverty was more among households of self-employed in agriculture, other labourers and self-employed in non-agriculture of Dalit Christians inrural areas. Casual labour and self-employedhouseholds of Dalit Christians showed higherincidence of poverty in urban India as compared toother Christian groups.

As discussed elsewhere, the percentage ofDalits who have completed higher / technicaleducation was less as compared to other groupswhich possibly is one of the explanations of their

23

persisting impoverished conditions. Tables 3 and 4also showed that the chances of Dalit Christianspursuing education beyond higher secondary level arerelatively small. The educational level of poor Dalithouseholds in various religious groups is shown intables 9 and 10 (see Annexure). The data show thatthe interrelationship of high level of poverty andlow level of education is true for tribal and Dalitgroups across all religions in rural India (Table 9).Among all social groups, the share of poor in thecategory of ‘illiterate’ was the highest for STfollowed by Dalits. Across religious groups, the

poverty-illiteracy interface was notably pronouncedamong ST Hindus, Dalit Buddhists, Dalit Hindus,Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. Among theChristians, the Dalits constituted the group with thehighest share of poor in the category of illiterate,reinforcing their educational deprivation and itsinterconnectedness with poverty.

Urban India also showed the same trend ofpoverty-education interface. STs across all socialgroups had the highest share in the category of poorand illiterate followed by Dalits (Table 10). Acrossreligious groups, along with ST Hindus, Dalit Hindus,

Table 8: Poverty incidence by socio-religious groups and household types, 2004–05

noigileR s laruR nabrU

laicoSspuorG

ANES LA LO AES ES ES/WR LC HTO

udniH

TS 30.93 29.16 42.64 93.64 48.94 39.51 51.17 61.71

CS 19.33 70.94 80.53 14.72 63.74 53.42 76.56 70.82

CBO 37.12 7.34 3.92 13.12 99.03 78.61 75.45 6.81

HTO 35.9 12.13 18.41 11 27.11 33.7 73 6.7

milsuM

TS 48.1 88.26 - 76.62 67.52 53.0 57.38 95.9

CS 56.54 43.26 - 83.64 15.64 13.64 68.93 31.36

CBO 24.03 27.94 68.82 87.62 88.64 99.23 76.75 2.04

HTO 93.62 65.24 81.23 77.91 14.73 43.33 50.26 9.52

naitsirhC

TS 24.21 1.53 9.23 32 73.71 89.5 3.04 7.7

CS 45.04 13.62 36.24 25 86.82 68.01 7.46 53.6

CBO 20.5 32.23 72.9 38.01 7.11 71.5 88.93 21

HTO 76.12 94.5 23.3 47.8 75.3 60.02 42.5

hkiS

TS - - - - - - - -

CS 13.3 66.11 35.7 - 82.81 35.61 89.05 80.1

CBO 98.3 90.31 92.51 - 2.6 1.7 52.7 59.9

HTO - 96.71 62.0 - 70.1 58.2 11.22 1.0

tsihdduB

TS 4.5 62.2 42.72 56.8 49.0 3.0 - 97.0

CS 41.82 66.75 50.05 59.02 19.63 79.11 1.55 79.02

CBO 7.75 - - - - - - -

HTO - - 70.72 69.2 41.65 1.09 - -

llA

TS 33.63 18.06 92.54 89.24 30.24 75.31 7.96 69.41

CS 78.23 48.74 67.33 72.72 10.64 82.32 95.46 62.72

CBO 20.32 7.34 54.82 24.12 73.43 48.71 95.45 2.22

HTO 15.51 72.53 17.91 89.11 75.71 11 44.84 15.01

Source: Estimated from NSS 61st Round

24

Dalit Christians, Dalit and OBC Muslims also hadsignificant share in the poor and illiterate category.Among the Christians in urban India Dalits remainedthe group with the highest share in the poor andilliterate category.

The incidence of poverty among the socio-religious groups across industry of occupationwhich included agriculture, hunting and forestry,manufacturing, wholesale/retail /repair, transport/communication and construction in 2004–05 ispresented in tables 11 and 12 (see Annexure). Inrural India, among the socio-religious groups acrossall occupational categories, the incidence of povertywas the highest for Dalit Christians in constructionsector followed by ST Hindus and Dalit Muslims inagriculture, and hunting and forestry; and ST Hindusin manufacturing (Table 11). Agriculture, huntingand forestry were the sectors where the incidence ofpoverty was high for all socio-religious groups. Amongthem, the highest was marked for Hindu STsfollowed by Dalit Muslims, Dalit Sikhs and DalitHindus. Construction and manufacturing were othermajor sectors where the incidence of poverty washigher for most of the social groups in rural India.Among the Christians, group which showed higherincidence across various occupational categories wasDalit Christians. Their share was more in sectorswhich included construction, wholesale/retail/repair,agriculture, and hunting and forestry in rural India.Incidence of poverty was comparatively less in othergroups among the Christians in all categories. Inurban India, across all social groups, the incidence ofpoverty was higher for Dalits in all occupationalcategories followed by ST (Table 12). Across socio-religious groups, ST Hindus and Dalit Hindus werethe groups who had higher representation of poor inall categories, followed by Dalit Muslims, OBCMuslims, Dalit Buddhists and Dalit Christians. Acrossall occupational categories and socio-religious groups,the highest incidence of poverty was among DalitMuslims in wholesale/retail/repair and transport/storage sectors. Public services, defence and socialservices were the sectors where the incidence ofpoverty was relatively less for all socio-religious groups.

Among the Christians in urban India, the highestincidence of poverty was among Dalit Christians inmanufacturing sector. Other occupational groups,where the incidence of poverty was higher ascompared to other Christians were wholesale/retail/repair and transport/storage sectors. It should alsobe noted that incidence of poverty among DalitChristians was more than Dalit Sikhs in urban India.

V. CONCLUDING REMARKS

Available social science literature clearly shows thatcaste has been a defining marker of social andeconomic relationship in Christianity. Even afterconversion, the characteristics of caste such asendogamy, residential segregation, restricted socialinteraction, hierarchies, caste-based occupations andgraded ritual purity or pollution continued in oneway or the other among the converted Christians.Continuation of caste-based occupational patternsamong Dalit Christians is another importantevidence to ascertain caste among the Christians inIndia. Arguably, the continuation of caste-basedoccupational patterns even after conversionreproduces caste relations within Christianity. Studiesalso show that there are widespread practices of purityand impurity in eating habits and even traces ofuntouchability among the Christians in India whichevidence the strong presence of caste prejudices inChristianity. Persistence of local traditions, largelythe Hindu traditions, among the Christians alsopoints to the fact that conversions have notsignificantly changed the existing social structures.As a result, the caste practices even in the religiousceremonies continue among the converts. Moreimportantly, the identity of converted Dalits remainsmore or less the same in the society at large.

There are sufficient evidences in the socialscience literature that Dalit Christians are stilldiscriminated on caste lines by upper caste Christiansand rest of the society including caste Hindus, churchinstitutions and in some circumstances Dalit Hindus.In most of the cases, it turns out to be completesubjugations as any form of resistance can have seriousimplications on their livelihood and even life.

25

Furthermore, the converted Dalits are still tied upwith their caste and traditional occupations asagricultural workers in lands owned by upper castesin rural areas. This reinforces the local power relationswhich in a way propagates the existing caste practices.As a result, Dalit Christians often become subject todiscrimination, slavery, bondage, atrocities andeconomic exploitation. Reports show that theincidences of atrocities on Christians in general andDalit Christians in particular have increased in recentyears mostly due to the re-emergence of Hindunationalism and anti-conversion movements. It isalso often situated in the caste-religion interface andin many instances anti-Christian movements areanti-Dalit movements as well. What is important tonote is that although Dalit Christians face similarforms of discrimination and atrocities as otherDalits, the legal safeguards against untouchability,discrimination and atrocities are not extended tothem since they do not come in the official categoryof Scheduled Castes.

Available official data and micro-level studiesshow that the socio-economic conditions of DalitChristians are more or less equal to that of otherDalits. One of the important inferences is that thegap between Dalit Christians and other Christiansare very high. Strikingly, this intergroup disparityamong Christians is higher than that of Sikhs,Muslims and Buddhists. The data also show that thereis not much notable social and economic upwardmobility for Dalit Christians except in some pocketsin urban areas. Apart from the slightly betterpicture in urban India, the educational level ofDalit Christians is almost equal to that of all Dalitsand there are stark intergroup disparities withinChristianity. It points to the fact that the celebratededucational attainment among Christians is limited

only to a certain section of the Christians and mostof the Dalit Christians in rural India lag behind.Though Christians as a group are relatively better offwith regard to their household occupation than otherminority groups, their proportionate share amongcasual labourers and agricultural labourers whichconstitute the most vulnerable groups in urban andrural India respectively is high. The incidence ofpoverty among Dalit Christians, though better thantheir Muslim and Buddhist counterparts, is more orless equal to that of Dalits in general. Similarly, likeother Dalits the interface between low levels ofeducation, casual and agricultural labourers, andinformal employment; and high incidence of povertyare also true for Dalit Christians. In short, based onthe available data, it can be ascertained that DalitChristians like other Dalit groups also suffer from adevelopment deficit which further calls for group-specific policy interventions for their upwardmobility. The paucity of scientific data on the exactlevel of deprivation of Dalit Christians, however,remains a major challenge to understand the pictureat a disaggregated level.

Various committees appointed by theGovernment of India have commented favourablyon the need to amend the Constitution Order, 1950to include Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims in theofficial category of Scheduled Castes so that theycould benefit from reservations in education andemployment and protections available underProtection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and theScheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Preventionof Atrocities) Act, 1989. The human developmentindicators of Dalit Christians such as discriminationagainst them on social, economic, political andcultural spheres and above all the increasing atrocitieson them justify the need to have group-specific policies.

FOOTNOTES

1. For a discussion see, Jose 1990; Moss 1994; Louis 2007; Kujur 2009; Patil and Dabhi 2010; Pathare 2010; Pinto 2010

2. For more discussion please see, Kanungo (2008)

3. Third para of Article 341, the Constitution Order 1950 directs that “no person who professes a religion differentfrom the Hindu religion shall be deemed to be a member of Scheduled Castes.”

26

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29

ANNEXURE

Table 9: Poverty incidence by socio-religious groups and level of education in rural areas, 2004–05

snoigileR laicoSspuorG

etaretillI tuohtiwetaretiLgniloohcSlamroF

etaretiLwoleBtubyramirP

yramirP elddiM yradnoceSevobAdna

etaudarGevobAdna

udniH

TS 19.65 90.74 20.53 11.02 35.81 56.7 74.6

CS 49.34 49.43 71.72 84.91 23.61 61.7 55.31

CBO 77.23 81.62 67.71 68.21 46.9 39.2 53.5

HTO 71.81 86.31 40.01 55.6 14.4 24.1 21.3

milsuM

TS 03.63 68.9 51.2 59.0 - - -

CS 67.34 73.83 43.21 83.62 - - -

CBO 39.93 13.92 11.61 23.01 35.8 - 31.9

HTO 13.33 54.62 55.51 79.9 88.5 09.1 73.1

naitsirhC

TS 58.13 29.81 46.51 21.11 84.91 - 31.1

CS 24.14 13.42 34.62 59.01 16.2 - -

CBO 71.81 20.02 59.7 76.5 30.6 83.3 71.4

HTO 97.41 46.7 43.3 02.4 25.2 09.1

hkiS

TS 84.8 - - - - - -

CS 85.9 46.7 99.2 91.1 - - -

CBO 41.01 84.8 14.1 39.0 03.0 - -

HTO 33.0 54.0 18.0 - - - -

tsihdduB

TS 08.71 04.61 66.1 88.0 82.0 01.4 -

CS 37.05 25.05 65.44 47.32 47.32 - 77.01

CBO 58.03 52.41 54.21 - - - -

HTO 83.7 46.4 11.1 - - - -

llA

TS 02.55 54.34 87.13 40.81 86.71 41.6 48.5

CS 69.24 82.43 82.72 07.81 17.51 84.6 88.21

CBO 43.33 32.62 92.71 72.21 33.9 27.2 74.5

HTO 39.22 19.61 35.01 74.6 32.4 84.1 77.2

Source: Estimated at IIDS, from NSS 61st Round

30

Table 10: Poverty incidence by socio-religious groups in urban areas by level of education, 2004–05

snoigileR laicoSspuorG

etaretillI tuohtiwetaretiLlamroFgniloohcS

tubetaretiLwoleB

yramirP

yramirP elddiM yradnoceSevobAdna

etaudarGevobAdna

udniH

TS 31.95 89.83 73.72 54.11 62.9 74.1 74.3

CS 21.55 38.34 19.92 60.22 81.71 74.8 27.6

CBO 08.24 22.23 89.42 92.61 76.11 33.5 44.6

HTO 16.22 25.51 29.01 33.6 98.4 95.1 08.1

milsuM

TS 22.43 94.72 60.12 77.21 24.74 04.61 76.42

CS 45.54 29.55 26.24 61.04 - - -

CBO 34.75 64.64 86.23 67.32 50.02 11.8 32.11

HTO 35.35 63.34 43.92 78.81 13.31 95.01 08.6

naitsirhC

TS 79.63 97.71 09.6 69.5 66.1 48.9 20.1

CS 44.05 48.92 57.13 92.22 94.4 89.02 35.3

CBO 63.61 89.42 41.51 12.8 66.3 90.1 78.0

HTO 02.91 62.21 80.8 67.3 68.1 12.0 44.0

hkiS

TS - - - - - - -

CS 50.73 46.22 28.81 14.8 63.1 - -

CBO 02.9 57.8 72.7 01.8 42.0 - -

HTO 37.2 26.2 89.1 98.0 32.1 - 14.0

tsihdduB

TS 34.1 44.0 91.0 46.1 - - -

CS 05.83 40.23 61.43 47.21 - - 52.9

CBO 59.92 81.75 11.35 - - - 99.34

HTO 52.78 83.83 15.98 13.01 - - -

llA

TS 38.65 62.53 99.22 43.01 09.8 72.3 59.2

CS 69.35 57.24 72.03 12.12 60.61 14.7 47.6

CBO 80.64 66.43 27.52 08.61 00.21 10.5 93.6

HTO 40.43 78.22 95.41 38.7 95.5 20.2 10.2

Source: Estimated at IIDS, from NSS 61st Round

31

Table 11: Incidence of poverty across socio-religious groups across industries in rural areas, 2004–05

snoigileR laicoSspuorG

,erutlucirgAgnitnuH dna

yrtseroF

gnirutcafunaM /elaselohWdnaliateR

riapeR

,tropsnarTdnaegarotS

noitacinummoC

noitcurtsnoC

dniH u

TS 59.35 57.25 50.82 94.33 34.24

TS 83.14 15.53 54.33 73.82 05.53

CBO 96.82 46.22 73.91 82.41 17.23

HTO 27.41 89.6 66.7 12.11 50.81

milsuM

TS 72.43 15.9 - - -

CS 16.35 19.42 49.5 - 68.42

CBO 30.63 96.92 87.82 02.62 37.43

HTO 73.82 73.82 64.12 92.33 30.33

naitsirhC

TS 30.52 75.42 96.01 - 47.51

CS 68.92 23.2 87.63 09.22 53.86

CBO 14.42 57.1 23.5 - 06.01

HTO 51.01 14.1 - 69.3 01.5

hkiS

TS 79.45 - - - -

CS 46.01 52.51 38.2 - 36.7

CBO 01.8 21.0 64.7 - 54.51

HTO 04.0 47.1 - - -

tsihdduB

TS 69.5 66.41 - - -

CS 65.05 49.24 41.64 51.31 59.44

CBO - - - 61.37

HTO 59.2 - - - 70.72

llA

TS 99.05 98.15 24.52 97.92 48.14

CS 97.04 26.43 90.23 47.52 47.43

CBO 59.82 81.32 61.12 16.61 60.23

HTO 42.71 03.41 11.21 42.81

Source: Estimated at IIDS, from NSS 61st Round

32

Table 12: Incidence of poverty for socio-religious groups across industries in urban areas, 2004–05

snoigileR laicoSspuorG

,erutlucirgAgnitnuH dna

yrtseroF

gnirutcafunaM /elaselohWdnaliateR

riapeR

,tropsnarTdnaegarotS

noitacinummoC

,dAcilbuPecnefeD na d

ecivreSlaicoS

udniH

TS 91.77 67.72 90.93 03.34 37.9

CS 51.66 01.63 30.64 50.74 20.22

CBO 60.64 14.62 31.92 94.82 22.8

HTO 59.42 29.8 75.21 43.21 17.3

milsuM

TS 04.47 05.85 71.63 36.2

CS 84.9 84.08 91.36 56.11

CBO 89.64 34.64 48.44 67.04 16.01

HTO 99.94 62.73 61.93 82.73 10.23

naitsirhC

TS 10.33 35.22 86.6 67.11 27.1

CS 02.5 41.73 87.82 72.92 91.31

CBO 12.52 85.61 93.31 64.01 00.2

HTO 53.6 23.21 77.7 19.4 70.0

hkiS

TS - - - - -

CS 13.03 45.9 10.14 09.71 15.33

CBO 23.41 46.1 46.42 25.1

HTO 26.0 02.1 39.0 80.4 08.0

tsihdduB

TS 10.91 - 64.8 65.0

CS 06.71 59.03 12.9 34.03 96.02

CBO - - - - -

HTO - - 00.001 44.61 -

llA

TS 96.76 91.82 19.33 53.93 65.6

CS 31.36 22.53 64.44 26.44 59.12

CBO 36.54 90.03 77.23 82.03 01.8

HTO 54.72 53.61 51.81 99.81 99.6

Source: Estimated at IIDS, from NSS 61st Round