In South Asia's caste system, an untouchable, dalit, or achuta is a person outside of the four castes, and considered below them. Untouchables include such people as leather-workers. There are various subcastes or jati within untouchable, the lowest ranking generally considered to be the Bhangis. At the 1991 census, Dalits constituted more than 16% of India's population, [1] (http://www.censusindia.net/scst.html) with the greatest numbers living in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Bihar. Nepal and in Pakistan (http://www.pakdalits.tk), more than 60% of total Hindus is Dalit population.
Harijan was the polite form for untouchable coined by Mahatma Gandhi which means "Children of God" (Hari is another name for Vishnu, a Hindu God). Untouchables generally consider this term to be condescending and prefer the name dalit, variously translated as "crushed", "stepped on" or "oppressed". The term scheduled castes/scheduled tribes (SC/ST) is also used in the Indian legal system to refer to this group along with other non-caste tribes.
Mari Marcel Thekaekara. 1999. Endless Filth: The Saga of the Bhangis. London: Zed Books. ISBN 184277266X.
Subrata K. Mitra and V.B. Singh. 1999. Democracy and Social Change in India: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the National Electorate. New Delhi: Sage Publications. ISBN 817036809X (India HB) ISBN 0761993444 (U.S. HB).
ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes are communities that are accorded special status by the Constitution of India.
The Scheduled Tribes were unable to participate in the community life of the Indian Society and were thus deprived of any opportunity for integration with the rest of the society and corresponding opportunities for educational, social and economic growth.
Therefore, to prevent atrocities against the people belonging to ScheduleCastes and Schedule Tribes and punish the offenders of such crimes, the ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was enacted by the parliament.
Likewise, question 3 of the household scheduled enquires whether the head of the household belongs to scheduledcaste or scheduled tribe and question 4 the name of the scheduled caste/tribe of the head of the household, if the answer to question 3 is in the affirmative.
If a person merely claimed to be a scheduledcaste or scheduled tribe, but said that he/she did not belong to any of the notified communities applicable to the area, as reflected in the list supplied to the enumerator, he/she was not reckoned as belonging to a scheduledcaste or a scheduled tribe.
If the person belonging to a scheduledcaste or scheduled tribe returned his caste or tribe by any synonym or generic name of the caste or tribe not mentioned in the list, he was not eligible to be entered as belonging to a scheduledcaste or tribe.
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