Caste

The changing caste realities in Haryana and their links with economic processes became visible in the recent protests of Jats for Other Backward Class status. The concerns of Jats are embedded in twin processes initiated in 1991: the “Market” and the “Mandal.” Led by economic liberalisation, the Market demands certain attributes and levels of education and social skills to profit from its growth process, and Jats are perceived to be lacking in these aspects. In contrast, the Mandal has facilitated the relative mobility of lower castes, such as OBCs and Dalits, through reservations in government jobs and education. Thus, Jats have responded to this crisis by changing the discourse from one of domination to one that highlights their deprivation to bolster their demands for OBC status.

Using data from the India Human Development Survey, this examination of toilet possession and personal hygiene in India shows that the strongest influences on households in India having a toilet were their circumstances: standard of living, educational level, and whether they possessed ancillary amenities. However, toilet possession depended also on households’ social environment; households in more developed villages were more likely to have a toilet than those in less developed villages. Open defecation is due to a lack of development and not because caste, ritual pollution, and untouchability instil in rural Indians a preference for defecating in the open.

Farmers of Jiwandesar, a village in Rajasthan have waged a struggle for the past two and half decades for getting irrigation water from Gang canal. However, due to the larger political economy of the region where large and influential farmers resist any cutback in their water allowances from the Gang canal and the inert attitude of successive state governments which do not want to antagonise the large farmers’ lobby, the struggle of has not led to a fruition.

Sebastian & Sons: A Brief History of Mrdangam Makers by T M Krishna, Chennai: Context, 2020; pp 366, ₹799.