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2026.04.07
Dalits (the "untouchables") make up about 16.6% of India's 1.4 billion people — more than 200 million. Not even included within the framework of the caste system, they are the people who have faced the harshest discrimination for thousands of years.
This article draws on on-the-ground reporting experience in India to explain everything from the historical background of Dalits and the current realities of discrimination, to how they are identified, and the rights movement and institutional reforms. An overview of the caste system Reading it alongside this article should deepen your understanding of Indian society.
Dalit is a collective term for people placed outside the four varnas (social ranks) of the Hindu caste system. Because they have been treated as "untouchable," they are also called the "untouchables."
"Dalit" is Sanskrit for "the trampled" or "the oppressed." The term was first adopted by Dalits themselves in the 1970s, an expression of their will to reject names imposed on them from outside.
| Term | Meaning | Period of use | Issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Untouchable | One who must not be touched | Colonial era onward | A discriminatory expression |
| Outcaste | One outside caste | Colonial era onward | A term premised on exclusion |
| Harijan | Children of God | 1930s onward | Coined by Gandhi; criticized by Dalits themselves as condescending |
| Scheduled Caste (SC) | A constitutional administrative category | 1950 onward | A legal term not used in everyday speech |
| Dalit | The oppressed | 1970s onward | A self-designation chosen by Dalits themselves; now the mainstream term |
Gandhi's term "Harijan" was coined with good intentions, but Dalit activists disliked being permanently cast as recipients of charity. The name "Dalit," which they chose for themselves, carries a sense of being active agents fighting against discrimination.
The Hindu caste system consists of four varnas: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (royalty/warriors), Vaishyas (merchants), and Shudras (laborers). Dalits belong to none of these four categories and are placed "outside" the system.
The basis for placing Dalits at the very bottom lies in the Hindu concept of "purity and impurity." People engaged in work religiously deemed "defiling" — disposing of animal carcasses, leather processing, cleaning, and handling waste — were regarded as "impure" and strictly restricted from contact with upper castes.
According to the 2011 Indian census, the Scheduled Caste (Dalit) population was about 201.3 million, or 16.6% of the total population. Distribution varies greatly by state — high shares in Punjab (about 32%) and Uttar Pradesh (about 21%), while northeastern states such as Mizoram and Nagaland have almost none.
In terms of the urban-rural split, about 77% of Dalits live in rural areas. This uneven distribution is a major factor behind regional disparities in discrimination.
Discrimination against Dalits began with the formation of the caste system and was entrenched by religious justification and colonial rule.
The origin of the Dalits is said to lie in the migration of the Aryans around 1500 BCE, when some of the conquered indigenous people were made to take on "impure work." The earliest Vedic texts contain no description corresponding to Dalits, and the concept of untouchability is thought to have formed in later periods.
In the "Purusha Sukta" hymn of the Rigveda, a sacred Hindu text, the four varnas are said to have originated from the body of the primordial being Purusha, but there is no mention of Dalits. They are, quite literally, the people pushed outside the system.
The Manusmriti (Laws of Manu), compiled sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the 2nd century CE, laid down detailed codes of conduct between castes and religiously justified discrimination against Dalits.
The Manusmriti sets out detailed punishments for disrespect toward higher castes: piercing the mouth with an iron nail for uttering the name of a higher-caste person, or cutting the buttocks for sitting in the same seat, among other provisions. These provisions name the Shudras, the lowest of the four varnas, and do not directly target the Dalits, who were placed outside the varna system altogether. However, as the concept of purity and impurity was applied by extension of this framework, it became the basis for discrimination against Dalits to take root in society as a "divinely ordained order."
British colonial rule, which began in the late 18th century, changed the situation of Dalits in complex ways. While the census, started in 1871, administratively fixed caste categories, the British also introduced certain improvements, such as providing educational opportunities to Dalits.
Ambedkar's 1936 declaration of the "Annihilation of Caste" symbolized the Dalit liberation movement of the colonial era. It was, in part, precisely because of British rule that reform arguments going beyond the framework of Hinduism could be openly debated.
Untouchability was abolished under the 1950 Indian constitution. However, a large gap still remains between the legal prohibition and social reality.
The work Dalits have traditionally been assigned is the work regarded as most defiling under the Hindu concept of purity and impurity. Manual scavenging — cleaning sewage by hand — was banned by law in 2013, but it has not disappeared entirely.
| Occupation | Description | Current status |
|---|---|---|
| Manual sewage cleaning | Handling sewage and waste with bare hands or simple tools | Banned by law in 2013; violations continue to be reported |
| Disposal of animal carcasses | Collection and disposal of cattle and other carcasses | Continues in part in rural areas |
| Leather processing | Tanning animal hides into products | Industrializing, shifting toward factory labor |
| General cleaning | Cleaning roads, toilets, and public facilities | Many Dalits are engaged in this in urban areas |
| Laundry | Washing clothes for upper castes | Increasingly being replaced by commercial laundries |
Discrimination against Dalits remains deeply entrenched in rural areas. Their residential areas are segregated to the edge of villages, and access to shared wells and Hindu temples are still reported to be restricted.
"Honor killings" targeting inter-caste marriages — especially love marriages between Dalits and upper castes — are also a serious problem. According to National Crime Records Bureau statistics, more than 50,000 crimes against Dalits are reported each year, most of them occurring in rural areas.
Dalit women face a "double discrimination" of caste and gender. Cases of sexual violence against Dalit women continue unabated, and NCRB reports record several thousand cases of rape against Dalit women every year. In many cases, victims who come forward are not taken seriously by police, and access to justice itself is effectively blocked.
Open discrimination has declined in urban areas, but "invisible discrimination" continues in a different form. There are cases where caste is inferred from surnames, leading to disadvantageous treatment in job hunting and renting housing. Meritocracy is taking hold at IT companies and startups, but the influence of caste is still pointed out at traditional large corporations.
After a long posting in India, you notice that the younger urban generation tends to avoid discussing caste. In public they say they "don't care," yet caste becomes an important criterion once it comes to choosing a marriage partner. This duality is at the core of the Dalit issue in modern India.
"How to identify a Dalit in India" is a keyword with high search demand, but it is impossible to tell whether someone is a Dalit from appearance alone. That said, Indian society does sometimes infer caste from a few clues.
In India, surnames can sometimes serve as a clue to caste. However, this varies greatly by region and does not apply universally.
| Example surname | Presumed caste | Region |
|---|---|---|
| Paswan, Ram | Dalit (Chamar, etc.) | Bihar, Uttar Pradesh |
| Valmiki | Dalit (sanitation caste) | Across North India |
| Paraiyar | Dalit | Tamil Nadu |
| Mahar | Dalit | Maharashtra |
| Sharma | Brahmin (upper caste) | North India |
To avoid being identified this way through surnames, some Dalits change their surname or choose names that do not suggest caste. In job hunting especially, BBC reporting has revealed survey findings showing that changing to an upper-caste surname raises interview pass rates.
In rural areas, residential zones are often divided by caste, and living on the outskirts of a village or in low-lying land can be an indicator of being a Dalit. Working in occupations such as cleaning or leather processing is also a factor that leads to caste being inferred.
In urban areas, however, identification by residence is nearly impossible. In Bengaluru and Hyderabad, where IT and startups are concentrated, an environment where people are evaluated on merit regardless of caste is spreading. Recruiting talent in India using caste as a criterion is prohibited by law, and Japanese companies attempting such identification is strictly forbidden.
Dalit emancipation has been pursued in close connection with India's independence movement. Institutions have been built up in stages, from legal prohibitions on discrimination to affirmative action measures.
B.R. Ambedkar (1891-1956) was himself born into the Mahar caste (Dalit) yet became a jurist educated at Columbia University and the University of London. As the drafter of the Indian constitution, he wrote the abolition of untouchability and the prohibition of discrimination into it.
In 1956, shortly before his death, Ambedkar converted to Buddhism along with about 360,000 Dalits (the number of converts on that day; accounts vary). This was based on his belief that leaving Hinduism, which is inseparable from the caste system, would lead to spiritual liberation. This Buddhist conversion movement continues today, with a large conversion ceremony held every October in Nagpur.
The Indian constitution, enacted in 1950, abolished untouchability under Article 17 (the general prohibition of caste-based discrimination is under Articles 15 and 16). Laws punishing discrimination have also been put in place, including the Protection of Civil Rights Act (1955) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (1989).
However, there are challenges to the effectiveness of these laws. In rural areas, even filing a complaint is difficult, and cases have been reported of police refusing to accept Dalits' complaints. The laws exist, but enforcement has not caught up.
The reservation system is an affirmative action measure that secures quotas for Scheduled Castes (SC) in education, employment, and political participation. the article explaining an overview of the caste system as mentioned there, Dalits are allotted a reservation quota of about 15%.
| Field | SC reservation quota | Effect | Challenge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher education | 15% | Rising university enrollment rates | High dropout rate |
| Civil service | 15% | Expanded participation in administration | Senior posts remain few |
| Parliamentary seats | 84 seats (Lok Sabha) | Securing political voice | Influence within parties remains limited |
The reservation system has achieved some success in raising the social status of Dalits, but the benefits tend to be limited to those who already have access to education. Critics point to a "creamy layer problem," in which the poorest Dalits struggle to benefit from the system.
At the same time, backlash from upper castes calling the reservation system "reverse discrimination" is also growing. In 2019, an additional 10% quota was created for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), allowing preferential treatment on grounds other than caste. The design of the reservation system remains one of the most important themes in Indian politics, and debate flares up again with every election.
Legally, untouchability was abolished under the 1950 constitution and discrimination is prohibited. As a social practice, however, discrimination remains deeply entrenched, especially in rural areas. According to NCRB statistics, more than 50,000 crimes against Dalits are reported every year, and full equality has not yet been achieved.
In the 2011 Indian census, Scheduled Castes (Dalits) accounted for about 16.6% of India's total population, or about 201.3 million people. Although positioned at the very bottom, they are a very large group in absolute numbers. Note that India has not conducted a caste-wise census of upper castes since 1931, so there is no official statistic showing their current population share.
It cannot be judged from appearance. In Indian society, caste is sometimes inferred from surname, region of origin, or occupation, but identification is becoming difficult in urban areas. Caste-based discrimination is prohibited by law, and attempting to confirm someone's caste in a business setting should be avoided.
The most famous is B.R. Ambedkar, drafter of the Indian constitution. K.R. Narayanan (1997-2002) and Ram Nath Kovind (2017-2022), who both served as President of India, are also of Dalit background. More Dalits are also becoming prominent in the IT industry and business world.
It is a structural problem embedded in religion, society, and the economy over thousands of years, and a legal ban alone is difficult to solve it. Multiple forces sustain the discrimination — the economic structure of rural areas, endogamy in marriage, caste-based voting behavior, and more. The spread of education and urbanization are driving change, but full eradication will still take time.
Scheduled Caste (SC) is an administrative category under the Indian constitution, and most of the people it covers are Dalits. Dalit is Sanskrit for "the oppressed," a self-designation chosen by the people themselves. The difference is that SC is a legal and statistical term, while Dalit is a name that carries a sense of being an active agent fighting discrimination.
The Hindu caste system is made up of four varnas — Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra — but Dalits are not included in any of these and have been placed outside the system. This is said to be because they were made to take on work considered defiling under the concept of purity and impurity.
According to the census, Scheduled Castes (Dalits) account for a significant share of the total population and form an extremely large group in absolute numbers. There is a large regional skew, with higher shares in northern states and lower shares in the northeast. Most live in rural areas.
B.R. Ambedkar was a jurist of Dalit background himself who studied in the West and is known as the drafter of the Indian constitution. He wrote the abolition of untouchability and the prohibition of discrimination into the constitution. In his later years, he converted to Buddhism together with many other Dalits.
Untouchability was abolished under the constitution, and laws to punish discrimination have been established. However, discrimination as a social practice remains deeply entrenched, especially in rural areas. Incidents based on discrimination continue to be reported, and it remains a social challenge.
Caste-based discrimination is prohibited by law, and attempts to confirm a candidate's caste during hiring should be avoided. Caste cannot be identified from appearance, and merit-based evaluation is spreading in urban IT industries and startups. Understanding the Dalit issue provides a basic perspective for doing business in India with an appreciation of the complexity of its society.
Dalits make up about 16.6% of India's population while being the people who have faced the harshest discrimination outside the caste system. Let's review the key points of this article.
Understanding the Dalit issue is Where businesses go wrong in India an important perspective for avoiding An overview of the caste system and the language situation in India Understanding it alongside this is needed to grasp the complexity of Indian society from multiple angles.
[References and sources]
-Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, "Basic Data on India"
-Census of India
-National Human Rights Commission of India
-National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
-Wikipedia"Dalit"
-Wikipedia"B.R. Ambedkar"
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