Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: Two Social Groups - Class 10



Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs, Adivasi) are Indian communities that are accorded special status by the Constitution of India. The scheduled caste communities were considered "outcasts" in the Hindu social order. They have been denied access to various resources and were given only low-status work.

 

The scheduled tribes included those communities that were self-sufficient and lived in hills and forests. They were not allowed to live with the rest of the society and were also not given equal opportunities for work.

 

Reasons as to why Caste alone cannot determine Election Results in India?

 

Under the caste system, work is divided among people on the basis of their caste. Occupations are passed from generation to generation. Every caste group has exclusive occupations. In politics, special attention is given to the caste groups to gain their votes in the elections.

 

Candidates from major caste groups are chosen to ensure the support of their caste groups. Promises and appeals are made to various caste groups that their interests and demands would be taken care of. However, politics is not only about the castes: Even though attention is given to the caste groups, the political system is not all about the caste system.

The reasons are:

 

1. No state legislature in the country has a majority of any caste group. Every caste group has its presence in the Parliament. It means that no caste group can be ignored and every citizen's vote is necessary to win the elections.
2. It is not necessary that people of the same caste vote for the same political party. They have different demands and vote according to their choice. It means that no political party represents only one caste.
3. It does not happen that there are candidates from every caste. It might happen that all the candidates are from one caste. It might also happen that there are more than one candidate from one caste and no candidate from the other caste.

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