All what you say is correct.

You raise very good points regarding minimum wage, class equality in schools and job equality.

Only if the politicians were to rise above caste politics and actually do something.

They treat some jobs as inferior and some jobs as superior. That is the problem.

The Congress (The party I hate most) motto is Roti Kapada makaan.

These can be achieved only by putting:
I think a minimum wage and class equality bill should be brought in the parliament.

And finally we have to indoctrinate (I know the word is very strong) kids from a younger age with class equality from kindergarten itself.

The first 10 years of their literature schooling should contain on stories that bring equality.

This will definitely achieve the gist of our discussion.

Any criticism is welcomed.

But I only feel that we should bring some grass roots organizations to bring some unity and tell them we are all the same.

A movie like swades can give a good message.

A country can progress only when it recognizes all citizens are equal.

I have been thinking about this for a while now. There doesn’t seem to be any clear formula to dismantle the caste system. I am hoping to write a post on this in the coming days.

But yes, primary education is key and labor reforms are also needed but our implementation of our laws is so pathetic and makes you wonder how much they will help.

The fact is we face problems on multiple fronts and they are so interlinked that we have to attack almost all of them at the same time. This needs a strong desire and the will to do it. Unfortunately this is seriously lacking in India at present.

I think reservations at primary school level is one way. Right to education would be another.

Basically, we need “equal opportunities” for all – in real sense. That can certainly be done in govt institutions, may be not in religious ones (temples, people’s minds).

If we can touch upon and enforce a more modern “minimum wage” law, that will help too. But our govt thinks we aren’t mature enough yet for labor reforms.

But at the same time, I don’t think the caste-mentality within the Buddhist communities can be removed that easily. For the same reason it cannot be done within the Hindu community. The fact the Buddhism has been penetrated by casteism is symptomatic of a problem that cannot be solved by conversion.

With metta,

There are so many hundreds of NGO efforts for Dalits. If you want to volunteer / donate / know more about them, the best place to begin would be Delhi based organisations like NCDHR and NACDOR or the Dalit Foundation.

The more I read/think about the issues related to dalits, the more I am convinced that the change can be brought only by dalits themselves. Non dalits who wish to bring about a change need to empower/organize them in a way that they become a force to reckon with.

The current programmes run by NGOs is intended only to help them with some of their needs but will not do much good in the long run. Someone needs to arouse that fighting spirit in them to fight for their rights. Fight for what is right. Without a visible fight for it, I don’t think anything will change. Small programmes here and there will take centuires to bring about any change.

BTW, Do you know of any such effort going on at the grass roots level?
Is there a repository of NGOs working for the betterment of the Dalits? Maybe there should be an effort to bring maximum NGOs in one umbrella to provide them number strength if not anything else?
Is there any effort in the Media? I mean are there visible people in the media taking up this cause?