T he O ther B ackward C lasses

T he O ther B ackward C lasses Untouchability was the most visible and comprehensive form of social discrimination. However, there were a large group of castes that were of low status and were also subjected to varying levels of discrimination short of untouchability. These were the service and artisanal castes who occupied the lower rungs of the caste hierarchy. The Constitution of India recognises the possibility that there may be groups other than the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes who suffer from social disadvantages. These groups – which need not be based on caste alone, but generally are identified by caste – were described as the ‘socially and educationally backward classes’. This is the constitutional basis of the popular term ‘Other Backward Classes’ (OBCs), which is in common use today. Obtain a copy of the Constitution of India. You can get it from your school library, from a bookshop, or from the Internet (web address: http:// indiacode.nic.in/). Find and list all the articles and sections (laws) that deal with the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, or with caste-related problems like Untouchability. You can make a chart of the most important laws and put them up in your class.