"As our Prime Minister firmly believes, we need to focus on four major castes. They are, ‘Garib’ (poor), ‘Mahilayen’ (women), ‘Yuva’ (youth) and ‘Annadata’ (food provider i.e. farmer)," said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her her
Budget 2024 presentation.
Sitharaman's comment becomes significant coming in the wake of a raging political debate over the caste census — last released in 1931; the data collected in 2011 was never released — in the country.
"Social justice is not just a slogan. We have shown that it's a governance model for us," she emphasised in her post-budget press conference.
For the uninitiated, the traditional Hindu community in India comprises four communities in descending order of social status and privilege — Brahmin (priests), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (merchants) and Shudra (workers with menial jobs and untouchables).
In that context, Sitharaman's attempt to reimagine caste categories can be seen as an attempt to reinforce the party's resistance to the
growing demand for a caste census from rival political parties across the country.
Bihar has already conducted one and released the results.
Andhra Pradesh has initiated the process for a similar survey. Regional leaders in other states are also
debating it.
The idea is that government policies should be reshaped based on the latest caste composition of the populace to ensure better delivery of social justice.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which Sitharaman belongs to, has
resisted these demands saying such an exercise will deepen the cracks caused by the discriminatory caste system.
Simultaneously, supporters of the BJP believe that the popularity of Narendra Modi transcends traditional caste loyalties, which are deeply embedded in Indian society and the country's politics.
After decades of political efforts to stop the discrimination and dilute caste identities, it's still, very often, said that Indians don't cast their votes, they vote their castes.
India's centuries-long history of caste-based discrimination has been a flashpoint for social and political rivalries across the country since the country's independence.
Despite Modi's political might, unprecedented as it is in recent decades of Indian politics, the lines between the progressives (who want affirmative action to compensate for caste-based discrimination) and the conservatives who oppose such policies won't be erased easily.
These are some of the government's achievements and initiatives targeting each segment, or caste, highlighted by the Finance Minister.
For the poor:
250 million people have risen from multidimensional poverty in a decade
800 million people have been given subsidised food.
₹ 34 lakh crore of government subsidies have been directly transferred to people's bank accounts, minimising leakages and generating substantial savings for the government.
Initiatives like PM SVANIDHI, PM JANMAN Yojana, PM Vishwakarma Yojana, and schemes for divyang (specially abled) and transgender empowerment.Addressing youth concerns,
430 million loans totalling ₹22.5 lakh crore for new entrepreneurs
Initiation of schemes such as dedicated funds and schemes to promote startups
Skill India Mission
The construction of new educational institutions: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in seven new locations, Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at 16 locations, seven new campuses of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), 15 medical colleges under the banner of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and 390 other universitiesFor women empowerment
30 crore Mudra Yojana loans have been given to women entrepreneurs
Female enrolment in higher education has gone up by twenty-eight per cent in ten years.
In STEM courses, girls and women constitute forty-three per cent of enrolment - one of the highest in the world.
The government's family law made Triple Talaq illegal, and one-third of legislative seats are now reserved for women.For farmers
The periodic increase in minimum support prices
Financial assistance for 118 million farmers
Crop insurance claims paid to 40 million farmers under a government schemeFirst Published: Feb 1, 2024 12:01 PM IST
