Untouchables amongst Untouchables: An Anthropocentric Study of Ghasi Dalit Women

Abstract

A dalit refers to a member of that caste which is placed outside the rigid structure of Hindu society. Located at the very bottom of the four-tiered caste system some dalits are so completely and permanently socially excluded that they are called untouchables. But even among this community there are those who are even more socially excluded like the women of the Ghasi community. These women are manual scavengers traditionally responsible for keeping villages clean. They are, in a sense, the most untouchables amongst untouchables. To assess existing levels of discrimination, a study of 88 Ghasi women living in the Kharmunda panchayat of Bargarh district in Odisha was undertaken. It was found that they faced many harsh economic and social restrictions including accessing the village’s common resources which meant they could not enter temples or even access common water sources. Even though the government passed the Manual Scavengers Act, 2013 and the Atrocities Act, 1989 that legally banned discriminatory social practices, these offensive customs have continued even 70 years after India's Independence.