Data Gaps

How Unreliable Data On Dalit Christians & Muslims Expose Them To Discrimination

Shreehari Paliath
March 15, 2021
Photograph: Madan Sehgal/Shutterstock.com. Modified
There are an estimated 3.2 million Dalit Christians and Muslims in India, according to a 2008 report
But the two groups have not been given Scheduled Caste status & thus, are not enumerated separately in the Census
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The caste information available has gaps since some respondents may identify as OBCs...
...and separating OBCs from Dalit Muslims or Christians then becomes impossible
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Without the status,
they fail to get the same entitlements as the SCs among Hindus, Sikhs & Buddhists, leaving them vulnerable to the stigma around caste-based occupations
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Various benefits and protections guaranteed by the Constitution to the SCs such as SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act that provides for special courts to try offences against marginalised groups, and offer relief and rehabilitation are thus not accessible to the Dalit Muslims and Christians
Read the full report here
Our latest in the Data Gaps series
on why this enumeration is important