CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Stratification is universal phenomenon of human

society. The essence of social stratification is social

inequality which manifests in vivid forms. There are two

types of social stratifications. (1) Fluid system of social

stratification and (2) Rigid system of social

stratification. The contemporary American society with its

class system of stratification is a typical example of

fluid system of social stratification, in which there is a

greater scope for 'achieved* social status. On the other

hand, in the rigid system of social stratification, there

is a greater scope for 'ascribed' social status of an

individual in the society and movement between the strata

is extremely difficult. Membership in a caste group was

determined by birth, as was prevalent in traditional Hindu

society.

Untouchability is one of the worst features of the

Hindu society. In the process of evolution of caste on the

principles of graded chaturvarna (four varnas) such as

Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Shudra, the vast

body of people known as Panchamas, exterior, Antyajas or

Scheduled Castes, fell outside the purview of Chaturvarnas

-2-

(not belonging to varnas). They were denied the rights

enjoyed by the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and even they

were prohibited to perform Upanayana (to wear sacred

thread), learning Vedas, doing trade and other clean

occupations. They were forced to live on the outskirts of

village, thus restricting their mobility. In this way, they

were segregated and became the Antyajas or untouchables.

The untouchables (Panchamas or Avarnas) had no share in

social, political and judiciary powers.

Untouchability in India is intimately and

organically associated with the institution of caste. Its

rigid form is a logical outcome of a peculiar notion of

pollution, sanctified by religion and codified by the

Brahmanical discriminative laws. This not only

institutionalized the caste hierarchy and untouchability,

but also gave it socio-religious and legal approval.

Untouchables were not allowed to enter the houses of

the higher castes. However, they were allowed to work as

labourers during construction, repair or storing the grains

etc. But, later the house was purified by sprinkling cow

urine or cow dung. Food was served to the Scheduled Castes

only outside the house in leaves or broken vessels which

were to be washed by him before and after use. The

Scheduled Caste members were not allowed to enter temple.

-3-

In the court of justice, the man had to shout from the

appointed distance and take his chance of being heard. He

was prohibited from entering the village or town and hence

virtually kept away from employment, business and contact

with people.

The concept of pollution was attached to them and

they were treated as untouchable castes. These castes were

systematically listed in the 1931 Census of India. These

untouchable castes in India were officially defined as

depressed castes in 1932. Mahatma Gandhiji named them as

'Harijan'. 'Harijan' means people of God. It means a child

whose father's identity is unknown, and hence a bastard

progeny. Therefore, not only it was disliked but also

vehemently opposed by the untouchables. It was duly

replaced by the term "Scheduled Castes" in 1938 and it

continues to be used as "Scheduled Castes' in government

records and circulars even today.

It was Mahatma Jyotibha Phule, the first Indian

social reformer from Maharashtra in the 19th century, who

not only attacked the caste system and untouchability, but

also led a movement in an organised way through his

"Satyashodhak Samaja". This movement was the first of its

kind to organise the masses and gain their confidence to

abolish caste system and untouchability.

-4-

Until early 1930, the Scheduled Castes had no say in

the government. Only after the organised movement of the

Scheduled Castes for sharing political power and social

justice under the able leadership of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in

early 1930, the British Government gave some thought to the

problem of "Scheduled Caste". Dr. B.R. Ambedkar demanded

separate electorate, but it was opposed by Mahatma

Gandhiji. Therefore, the demand for separate electorate was

withdrawn. As a compensation, reservation of seats was made

for Scheduled Castes both in Parliament and State

Legislative Assemblies.

Since the last century, in India, winds of change

have been blowing over many traditional institutions and

concepts. The process of modernization and mobility is, the

process of far reaching social and economic changes,

affecting the values and institutions in society. New

technologies in agriculture, industrialisation and the

growth of urban centres, democratization have led to

extensive changes in the ways, nature, time, work, family

and the community. The penetration of mass media of

communication into every sector of society has brought

about the emergence of new attitudes, new values and

expectations and as a consequence, undermined-traditional

forms of social behaviour and economic activities have come

to take shape.

-5-

Article 17 of the Indian Constitution abolishes the

practice of untouchability.

According to Article 16(2),"No citizen shall on

ground only of religion, race, sex, or any other of them be

ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of any

employment of office under the State".

Article 46 of the Directive Principles of State

Policy states that "the state shall promote with special

care the educational and economic interest of weaker and

downtrodden people of the society and in particular.

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and shall protect

them from social injustice and all forms of exploitations.

The objectives of protective discrimination and special

help to the weaker sections are to educate them for secular

employment and also to move them away from stigmatized -

traditional occupations and low paid agricultural labour,

where bulk of them are employed. Thus the Constitution has

opened up new avenues of growth with obligation of rights

and privileges to the citizens, in general, and Scheduled

Castes, in particular.

The Democratic Constitution of India has provided

some special privileges like reservation of seats in

educational institutions with a provision of scholarships

-6-

and reservation of jobs with roaster system. These

provisions have created several opportunities to Scheduled

Castes for mobility in the occupation and sometimes in the

social hierarchy.

According to Prof.M.N. Srinivas, a well known

sociologist, full implications of westernisation are indeed

revolutionary for India. The foundations for the changes

were laid by the establishment of British rule over India

and the consequences, direct and indirect which flowed from

it. The first thing they did was to use the new technology

brought by the British for the effective administrative and

political integration of the entire sub-continent. The

building up of the network of roads, the creation of modern

country-wide bureaucracy, and the steps taken towards

establishing a uniform legal system were all indispensable

to the administrative and political integration, the

abolition of slavery, the introduction of tenurial reform,

the opening of plantations for such crops as tea, coffee,

cotton, tobacco and development of towns and cities laid

the basis for the eventual economic development of the

country.

As a result of establishment of schools and colleges

for imparting modern education, the study of western

literature, political thought, history and law made the

-7-

Indian elite sensitive to such new values as the equality

of all men and women before law and civil rights. European

missionary attacks on Hinduism, untouchability and caste.

The indigenous elite have played their part in the social

reforms which have been introduced during the past 140

years in India and in creating an ideological and moral

climate favourable to westernization.

The new opportunities - educational, economic,

political - were in theory, caste-free, which means that

they were open to all, and no one was banned from having

access to them by virtue of birth in a particular caste or

sect or religion.

Apart from providing reservation of seats for these

people in the State and Central legislatures, educational

institutions and government services, several efforts have

been made and are continued to be made to improve their

social and economic conditions.

Due to the impact of modernization, the traditional

pattern of stratification in India is being replaced by new

patterns; especially the widespread modern educational

system has not only introduced new values and ideologies

among the different strata of Indian society, but also

injected new dynamism into a system which was known for

-8-

its tenacity. As a consequence, new occupations, new

opportunities on achievement rather than ascription have

emerged.

In the social stratification, occupation is

considered to be one of the important factors. Occupational

mobility is the movement of individuals, families and

groups from one social position to another. The study of

occupational mobility deals with a present to a past social

position. Although in the past, caste has played an

important role in determining a person's social status as

well as his occupation, the present day caste and

occupation have been delinked by such processes as

democratization, industrialization and modernization. Due

to these processes, Indian society is undergoing profound

changes. These changes have brought about an increased

number of different categories of occupations. Thus,

according to Eisenstadt "New occupations are not based on

caste, but on personal factors like education, experience,

professional knowledge". These occupations are adopted by

different people. As a result of these changes, two sets of

occupations have emerged viz., (i) the traditional caste

occupations and (ii) the caste-free occupations. In the

present society, the traditional caste occupations are

being replaced by caste-free occupations, particularly in

-9-

the urban centres. In the modern industrial urban

societies, allocation of social position is increasingly

inevitable upon education. Entrance into ever increasing

space of professional occupation is restricted to those who

possess better higher educational qualifications. According

to Bogardus "A profession is a specialized type of

occupation which maintains formal standards for admission

which requires training".

In a developing country like India, the educational

system becomes a leverage of transforming its agrarian and

orthodox way of living into those of modern industrial and

urban society.

Frederic Harbision and Havighurst have emphasised

that education plays a very significant role in bringing

extensive social transformation in the society.

With the help of government. Scheduled Caste people

have possessed certain prescribed qualifications. As a

result, they have been entering into various professional

fields, such as medicine, engineering, administration,

teaching, law, science and technology.

Many of the Scheduled Caste members have become

primary and secondary school teachers, lecturers, readers

and professors in universities and various colleges.

-10-

Since Scheduled Caste people are educationally

backward, teaching profession is very essential, in order

to impart educational knowledge to these people. A person

after becoming a teacher from the Scheduled Caste community

not only plays a role to enhance the social status, but

also serves the educational cause of his community people.

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar himself was a professor of law. After

realising the importance of teaching, he started various

educational institutions in the country with a view to

provide education to the downtrodden people.

In ancient India, teaching profession was

monopolised by the Brahmins. And most of the non-brahmins

were completely prohibited from entering into this

occupation. In Buddhism, with its anti-brahmin attitude

around the turn of 3rd century B.C, there was a shift not

only in the venue of imparting education,but also in the

recruitment of teachers from the top most stratum of

Brahmins to the lower strata of Kshatriyas and Vaishyas.

During the reign of Buddhist monks, the students drawn from

other non-priestly classes like the Kshatriyas and the

Vaishyas were trained not only in the arts of reading and

writing but also in technical and professional courses. The

teacher and teaching profession have been considered as

'noble' in our society. The following views have been

expressed by different persons.

-11-

Teacher is one who is a liberally educated person,

possessing a body of specialized skills and knowledge

related to and essential for the performance of his

function. He/she is able to make rational judgements and to

take appropriate action within the scope of his/her

activities, and responsible for the consequences of his/her

judgement and action.

Further, he/she places primary emphasis upon his/her

service to social rather than his/her personal gain. He/she

practises his/her profession on a full time basis and is

engaged in a continuing search for newer knowledge and

skill.

School is an important institution created by the

society to carry out some of its tasks in a systematic

manner. The call is from the society but the responsibility

has to be shouldered by those who have been given this

important role, that is the teachers. Realising the

importance of the role of a teacher, it is said that 'No

people can rise above the level of its teacher'.

According to Socrates "The teacher is the leader of

civilization"..

St. Augustine stated "If a man is evil he is not

teacher and if he is a teacher he is no evil".

-12-

Swami Vivekananda remarked "The teacher is the pivot

on which any educational system revolves".

Mahatma Gandhi has described "A teacher cannot be

without character. If he lacks it, he will be like salt

without its savour". Further he said 'A teacher must touch

the heart of the student'.

Dr.Radhakrishnan has quoted: "A teacher must work

with implicit confidence in the power of humanity". Further

he described that "Teachers as "Gurus" and "Acharyas".

Acharya is one whose 'Achar' conduct is exemplary and good.

If he is a victim of 'Durachar' then he is not an

'acharya'. He must be an example of 'Sadachar' or good

conduct. He must inspire the pupils who are entrusted to

his care with love of virtue and goodness and abhorrence of

cruelty and violence. That is the first essential character

for any kind of civilized being. We must love the good and

detest the bad. Unless we are able to give our youngsters

that kind of outlook, we cannot call ourselves good

teachers. According to Dr. Radhakrishnan, "Teachers are the

reservoirs of the new spirit, new spirit of adventure in

intellectual, social and political matters".

Dr. Zakir Hussain has stated "Teacher is the

custodian of the highest values that represent a

-13-

composition of most of what is best in the culture of

mankind".

The Guru, held in great esteem in ancient India, is

economically the worst hit today. He is almost an outcaste

-socially. To quote, Dr.K.L. Shrimali, "Low social and

financial status accorded to him is one of the main reasons

why young persons of ability and character are not

attracted to the teaching profession and that is why

persons of calibre continue to drift away from it'.

In the words of Stephen Leacock, "Teachers are

indeed gifted and brilliant men who are compelled to spend

their lives in the most dreary, the most thankless and the

worst paid profession".

Teaching profession was monopolised by Brahmins in

the past, but now, doors have been opened to all caste

people to choose this profession if they possessed the

prescribed qualifications.

A new kind of professional mobility has been taking

place in the lives of Scheduled Caste people. After

becoming teachers in educational institutions, they have

been able to enhance their social status in the scale of

social hierarchy of Indian society.

-14-

Today, we notice, with the help of protective

discriminative rules, more number of Scheduled Caste

members are being appointed as teachers at various levels.

This has opened up new vistas for socially deprived

communities.

The educational backwardness of certain classes of

citizens is also due to historical reasons. In traditional

India, some castes and classes were denied education under

Brahmanical supremacy. The Brahmanical supremacy was put to

an end with secular and formalised system of education

introduced during the British era. But even this change

benefitted the higher castes more than the lower castes.

The reason was that the castes were merged with

occupational status, and thus many lower castes were

induced to pursue traditionally low occupation for which

education was not necessary. And even when attempts were

made by the lower castes to achieve upward mobility through

education, such attempts were opposed by the higher castes.

The Kaka Kalelkar Commission came to the conclusion

on the basis of the caste-wise literacy figures of the 1931

Census that generally lower castes were educationally

backward also. The causes of educational backwardness were

summed up by the Commission as traditional apathy for

education on account of social and environmental conditions

-15-

or occupational handicaps, poverty, lack of educational

institutions in rural areas living in inaccessible areas,

lack of proper conununication due to the absence of adequate

educational aids, paucity of funds to purchase books and

clothing and lack of hostel facilities.

Education is the most important instrument for the

development of personality. But in a caste-ridden and

hierarchical society like India, access to educational

opportunities is unequal and unjust. The so-called higher

castes with greater economic power had the sole monopoly in

the field of education during the pre-independence period,

and the weaker sections were denied educational facilities.

However, after independence, special measures were proposed

in our Constitution for the education of the Scheduled

Castes and liberal plan allocations were made under

different five year plans to improve the lot of Scheduled

Castes. Besides, a large number of facilities and benefits

were provided to them with a view to promoting education

among these people. A lot has been achieved and a lot is

yet to be achieved.

Education is considered as the most influential

agent of social change. Education helps to acquire a high

social status and accelerate the process of socio-economic

mobility. It encourages not only rural to urban migration.

-16-

but also accelerates the process of occupational mobility

from agriculture to non-agricultural fields. In the field

of political interaction, education helps to increase

political awareness and political participation. Culturally

too, education is the harbinger of change in the form of

new life styles, new value systems and new institutional

matrix. In the context of Scheduled Castes who were

hitherto largely illiterate and ignorant, education has a

most significant role to play. The economic distress in

which the Scheduled Caste community has to live and the

stigma attached to their polluting occupations can be

overcome only through education. Education also provides

them the necessary skill, training and aptitude to gain

better economic opportunities.

Articles 335 of the Constitution provides that the

claims of the members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled

Tribes shall be taken into consideration, consistent with

the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in making

appointments to posts and services, in connection with the

affairs of the Union or States.

Article 16(4) permits reservation in favour of

citizens of backward classes, who may not be adequately

represented in service in pursuance of these provisions,

the government has made reservations for Scheduled Castes

in the services under their control.

-17-

The government, in addition to reserving a certain

percentage of posts for the recruitment of Scheduled Castes

also extended certain concessions to enable them to come up

in large numbers in all categories of posts.

There is a distinction between "Social" and

"Occupational mobility". The term "mobility" has multi­

dimensional facets. It can be examined in terms of the

movement both in the vertical and horizontal directions.

Pitirim A. Sorokin has divided into two types of social

mobility: (1) Horizontal social mobility and (2) vertical

social mobility. Horizontal social mobility means, the

transition of an individual or social object from one

social group to another, situated on the same level.

"Shifting may take place without any noticeable change of

the social position of an individual or social object in

the vertical direction. Vertical social mobility means the

relations involved in a transition of an individual (or

social object) from one social stratum to another. Further,

vertical social mobility is of two types (i) ascending and

descending and (ii) social climbing and social sinking.

Modern industrial society offers increased

opportunities for economic and political fluctuations

through free competition and specialization of education.

Sometimes, the distinction between occupational mobility

-18-

and social mobility is forgotten. But, it has to be kept in

mind that occupational mobility is only a part of social

mobility.

On one hand, the social mobility refers to the

variation in the social origin of the members of a given

social stratum. On the other hand, it refers to the ways in

which the opportunities available to a given generation are

distributed among them, according to their various

characteristics,consequent to the urbanization and

industrialization. Conditions of city life have broken down

many of the occupational taboos imposed by caste.

Traditionally, caste denoted not only a rank, but also a

function, each caste group having a definite occupation as

determined by the hereditary qualities.

The early writers on the caste system in India

argued that its occupational structure was complex and

rigid and possibilities for occupational change did not

exist. However there are some studies which have thrown

some light on changes in the traditional occupational

structure, which have occurred throughout Indian history.

They have brought to light instances which were not only

possible theoretically, but also they had actually

occurred. Though in ancient India, the kings were supposed

to belong to the Kshatriya caste, the famous Mauryan empire

-19-

and the Gupta empire were built up by kings who were not

Kshatriyas. Similarly, the Maratha empire was built up

first by peasant Marathas and later by the Peshwas who were

Brahmins.

According to Hazara (1940)/Occupational mobility was

allowed among the lower castes even during the classified

Hindu period.

Historical instances of upward social mobility by

change of occupation from lower to higher and to

respectable occupations, are cited by Maynard (1970), Orans

(1959), Panikkar (1955), Binder (1958) and Thapper (1966).

Thapper noted there is evidence of Jati mobility from the

Gupta period as when silk weavers organised as a guild....'

moved across to another region and rose to a new and

respectable occupations.

Professor M.N. Srinivas who is one of the earliest

sociologists to deal with the phenomenon of social mobility

in Hindu caste system systematically argued that

opportunities for upward social mobility had been available

throughout pre-British Indian History. He employed the

concept of "Sanskritization" to examine this process.

According to Professor M.N. Srinivas, "Sanskritiza­

tion is the process by which a low Hindu caste or tribe or

-20-

other group changes its customs, rituals, ideology and way

of life in the direction of a high and frequently, 'twice

born'caste. Generally, such changes are followed by a claim

to a higher position in the caste hierarchy, than that

traditionally conceded to the claimant caste by the local

community.

Review of Literature

Over the past five decades, the process of

occupational mobility and social mobility in India has been

examined by sociologists. A vast majority of them, have

shown a keen interest in comprehending the volume of

deviation from caste occupation and their findings are of

great importance to social scientists.

The major contention of the investigation is that

not only the traditional occupational structure is

gradually becoming more and more flexible,but also certain

number of new occupations have come into existence.

Further, people from different castes are able to move into

them, indicating that the relationship between castes and

occupation is slowly delinking.

Davis Kingsley in his book 'The Population of India

and Pakistan' published by Oxford University Press, London,

wrote that according to 1921 census of India, in the

-21-

coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions of erstwhile Madras

state, only half of the male workers from among Madiga

Untouchable castes who were engaged in traditional

occupations had deviated from their traditional occupation.

Further, the census revealed that only 1.9 per cent were

already employed in agriculture. Similarly, as per 1931

Census of India for the regions of United Province and

Oudha in Uttar Pradesh, only 5.1 per cent of the Chammars

carried on their occupations as tanners and knackers, while

at the same time, 82.4 per cent were engaged in their

traditional professions.

After Independence, various studies have been

carried out in rural areas with a view to understand

occupational deviation. These studies have shown that

deviation from caste occupation is on the increase, but

general correlation between caste and occupation continues

to exist, in the sense that the upper castes are moving

into occupations of high position, while the downtrodden

castes are moving into lower level occupations, providing a

wider variety of essential services to the society. Here,

an attempt is made to review a few such studies. Mayer

(1960), Reddy (1968), Kantowsky (1970), and Baum (1974)

have reported the practice of occupations, other than their

own traditional occupations in rural areas.

-22-

Mayer A.C in his studies on 202 households near

Indore of Madhya Pradesh found that, on an average, 44 per

cent of the male workers were employed outside their caste

occupations.

Eswar Reddy, in his study of a village in Telangana

region of Andhra Pradesh observed that, castes in the

village were acquiring new modes of livelihood patterns. He

found, that of the 36 households - belonging to thirteen

different castes in the village, change of occupation has

taken place within twelve households (33 per cent)

belonging to eight different castes.

Kantowsky's investigation in a village near Banaras

showed that 40 per cent of 338 men were capable of carrying

on their traditional occupations, and the rest deviated

from their traditional occupations.

Baum, G.A. in his study on occupational changes in

784 rural households at random distance from Hyderabad

city, reported that out of 784 households, 195 (20.3 per

cent) had changed their traditional occupations to other

activities. Similar findings were also noticed by Beals,

A.R. in Tamil Nadu and Bettielle in Mysore.

There have been also a few studies on inter-

generational occupational mobility in India. They clearly

-23-

show the increasing trends of occupational deviation from

the caste occupations and from the parents' occupations

over the generations.

Lakshmana, C. in his study in the coastal and

Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, found that the

respondents' occupational deviation from the grandfather's

occupation was slightly more marked than that from their

father's occupation. His data showed that 246 respondents

(25 per cent) out of 986 were not following the occupations

of grandfathers. Only 21.3 per cent among the respondents

evenly spread over all the caste groups, did not follow the

occupations of their fathers.

Ambastha and Jaiswal in their study of an East Bihar

village, found a considerable percentage of occupational

deviation over the generation. They noticed that from the

first to fourth generations,the number of occupational

deviations from caste occupations increased considerably.

The percentage of families, following caste occupation

was reduced from 77 per cent (first generation) to only

37 per cent.

Some of the studies have thrown light on the

occupations into which these deviants have moved. Generally

speaking, majority of occupations of higher status have

-24-

been monopolised by upper castes, though a few of them have

been taken by the lower caste.

Sharma K.L. in his study in six Rajasthan villages

showed that people of upper castes were shifting to non-

caste occupations and discarded traditional callings, more

than the other groups. Forty-six per cent from among the

male workers of the upper castes were engaged in non-caste

occupations. Further, the lower castes had abandoned their

own traditional occupations and moved into cultivation to

agricultural labour. The Chammars, the Naiks and the Nair

had been involved in this process.

There are some researchers, who have thrown light on

some interesting aspects of occupational changes, while

some other studies reported the abandonment of defiling

caste occupation by lower castes, and a few others have

pointed out that, these castes tend to retain as their

subsidiary occupations.

Based on his study in a village of Uttar Pradesh,

Hitchcock, stated that though the higher caste Rajputs did

not like the occupational changes, they could do nothing

about the lower castes, abandoning their traditional

'defiling' castes.

According to Srivastav's findings on Raigars

(Cobblers) in Kundapur village near Jaipur city, 93.8 per

-25-

cent of the main earners were engaged in occupations other

than their caste occupations.

The view that Scheduled Castes still continue to

dominate in their traditional occupations is also supported

by Abbasayulu (1979). Mandal (1975) found that the evidence

of inter-generational occupational mobility among Scheduled

Castes.

The studies conducted after Independence reveal

that, the occupational deviation is tending more in urban

areas than in rural areas.

During the first decade after Independence, Gist

carried out investigations in Mysore and Bangalore, and

gave a detailed account of occupational differentiates in

these two cities. He noticed that a large proposition of

the heads of households (418) and their sons (177) had

broken away from the parental occupations, irrespective of

whether they were members of high or low castes. However,

according to Gist, the caste system was a dynamic force and

in his view, there were many castes which were occupation-

oriented in the sense that the majority of the individuals

were still following a particular vocation. He cited

the examples of Reddy and Gowda castes, who are still

engaged in agricultural organizations, whereas the

-26-

Mudaliar and Naidu caste people are engaged in urban

trading activities.

Chekki Dan, A., in his study of urban Brahmins of

Gokul, found that only in case of 5 per cent households ego

and their sons were engaged in the same economic activity.

In case of 90 per cent of households, the occupations of

the heads of the households differed from their children.

Sankar in his research on 56 Kumbar families

(potters) in Mysore city came out with a different finding.

He noticed increasing trends of inter-generational

occupational mobility among craftsmen.

Sunanda Patwardhan's research on the problem of

social mobility of untouchable castes in Pune city, showed

a vast variation in the deviation, rejection or retention

of traditional occupation by her study samples. For

instance, her study revealed that Mahars who had no

specialised skills, showed the maximum degree of change

from traditional to non-traditional occupations.

Parmar's study of occupational changes among

Mahayavanshis (a Scheduled Caste in Surat city) indicated

that the trend of change was from intensive manual labour.

He found majority of them were engaged in such economic

activities which required some work experience or education

or sometimes both.

-27-

Bhatnagar Damayanti in her study on social change of

attitudes of Bureaucratic Personnel towards Scheduled

Castes and Scheduled Tribes found that officials higher in

the hierarchy and belonging to upper castes opposed

reservation more often than lower level and lower caste

employees. More than 50 per cent of respondents supported

this policy.

Kumar Awadesh, in his research investigation, has

observed that in India, constituting hierarchically-ranked

cooperate groups is known for its rigidity. Any social

mobility generally resulted in the fission of a caste

and formulation of a new sub-caste. For individuals,

the rules of endogamous inheritance of caste identity

prohibit the prospects of moving up. However, under

certain conditions, social mobility has been possible,

such as,

1) Under conditions of acute deprivation, the

members of a lower caste adopt an indigenous religion or

start a new religious movement and have consequently been

accorded higher caste status.

2) Individuals could gain prestige through

renunciation and negation.

3) Through usurpation of political power, a

leader could improve the position of his own caste

-28-

or raise or lower the rank of a caste as reward or

punishment.

4) The migration to or acquisition of cultivable

land by a low caste which eventually permitted these castes

to raise their status, and

5) Certain low caste groups like the Jataks, the

Mahars have improved their position through political

mobilization.

Thus, the preceding discussion clearly points out

that the departure from traditional caste occupations in

India is now more frequent and pronounced, revealing larger

possibilities for certain changes in the occupational

structure. Further, there is still a general correlation

between caste and occupation in the sense that the

upper castes are moving into occupation of higher ranks,

while the lower castes are moving into lower level

occupations.

Generally speaking, these studies have stressed the

role of urbanization, industrialization, migration,

expansion of administrative activities, greater educational

opportunities and demand for a large number of educated

people, development of agriculture and rapid increase in

road and rail-road systems and expansion of mass media of

-29-

communication systems as responsible for occupational

changes and social mobility.

In the recent times/ the existence of several

indigenous crafts have been threatened by the modern

industries. Consequently, the artisans have found their

pursuits of indigenous craft non-profitable and

unremunerative and have been forced to search for new

occupations.

Proximity to urban setting and easy accessibility to

the urban and industrial settings due to better

communication facilities, such as road and transport often

encourage occupational mobility.

Occupational mobility has been found to be

greatest in urban areas, indicating urbanization and

industrialization as the pre-eminent factors involved

in occupational mobility. A closer examination of

these studies reveals that most of them are migrants,

indicating a strong relatiosnhip between migration and

mobility.

The most important factor in the studies of

occupational mobility is the number of years of formal

education. The spread of modern education has brought new

-30-

values and ideas which have undermined the caste norms

related to occupational changes as well as status

attainment. One major consequence of modern education can

be understood in the form of a role of educational

achievements in upward occupational mobility. In other

words, modern education has become a major channel through

which traditional lower castes have been able to achieve

higher status in society.

Apart from the provision of facilities for

educational attainments, the differential recruitment

policy and other concessions offered by the Government

have considerable influence in bringing increasing

trends of occupational mobility among the weaker

sections.

In India, in the last five decades, among the

overall prominent forces which have brought radical social

changes, land reforms in such significant force, more

specially, the land reforms aimed at the abolition of

Zamindari, Jagirdary, tenancy reforms and the recent

ceilings on land holdings. These reforms to some extent,

have succeeded in bringing about structural changes and

have greatly influenced the occupational mobility trends in

modern India.

-31-

The objectives of the present study:

The objectives of the study are

(i) to ascertain the occupational and social

mobility of Scheduled Caste teachers in Mysore city.

(ii) to probe the socio-economic and demographic

background of Scheduled Caste teachers.

(iii) to find out the historical perspectives of

social mobility in general, and of Mysore district in

particular.

(iv) to ascertain inter-generational and intra-

generational mobility of Scheduled Caste teachers and

(v) to analyse, to what extent industrialization,

urbanization and widespread modernization, education, social

reform movements, reservation policy, influenced the

mobility of Scheduled Caste teachers in Mysore city.

Methodology of the Study

For the purpose of the present study - various

educational institutions were classified into eight

different categories, viz., primary schools, secondary

schools, junior colleges, degree colleges, post-graduate

departments, engineering colleges, medical colleges, and

-32-

teachers training college. These colleges have been

re-grouped into five broad categories namely - primary

schools, secondary schools, degree colleges, which include

junior colleges, post-graduate departments and professional

colleges, which include all the professional colleges like

engineering, medical, teachers training colleges. Luckily,

Mysore has the important cultural and educational

institutions belonging to these various categories.

Having made a list of educational institutions,

the present researcher proceeded to draw a list of the

teachers working in these various educational institutions.

Official records maintained in these institutions were used

for this purpose. As per the official records in 1991-92,

when the data were collected, there were 4599 teachers

working in these various educational institutions. In view

of the fact that caste plays an important role, a castewise

breakup of these 4599 teachers, was prepared. The following

is the list of caste-wise categories in which the teachers

were distributed under the heads; other than Scheduled Caste

categories and Scheduled Caste categories. All the touchable

castes come under the other than Scheduled Caste and

untouchable castes come under Scheduled Caste categories.

Having specified the educational institutions and

caste groups, the next step was to draw the sample. The

•33-

sampling frame was prepared in consultation with

statisticians. The sample of the universe was done as

follows:

A breakup of all the teachers working in various

educational institutions, on the basis of sex and caste is

given in Table 1.1. As seen from the Table, out of 4599

teachers, 2211 (417 males and 1794 females) constituting

48.07 per cent were working in the primary schools, 855 (455

males and 400 females) constituting 18.59 per cent were

working in the secondary schools, 215 (123 males and 92

females) constituting 4.67 per cent were working in the

junior colleges, 327 (277 males and 50 females) constituting

7.11 per cent were working in degree colleges, 471 (364

males and 107 females) constituting 10.24 per cent were

working in post-graduate departments, 273 (187 males and 86

females) constituting 5.93 per cent were working in

engineering colleges, 247 (206 males and 41 females)

constituting 5.37 per cent were working in medical colleges.

Of the 4599 teachers working in various educational

institutions, out of 1879 other than Scheduled Castes,

general categories 376 (males) constituting 8.17 per cent

were working in primary schools, 438 (males) constituting

9.52 per cent were working in the secondary schools, 116

(males) constituting 2.52 per cent were working in junior

- 34 -

4

0)

V) « u •D Q

u

ot

•8 01

o

§

a •C) •H M 4J U)

0)

V)

«s •o

•-< a 0)

•g to

s

5 o

O

O

0) •u w <D U

T3 0)

f-H 3

TD <U

•C o <o

0) •-H (0

e 0) [*,

(U --t (D

s:

0)

•u O

•u «o ID

o •o <u 3

0) x: u

W U 0)

u 0)

o\o

•-H O

o

00 .

CT) 00

>a- o

«3 n 1^ t^

oV

cn 00

OP O) m

to • V) 00 00 »-l

o • >3- 0 0

m 00 in •

o\o

O) O

to

O •-H If) <y> • CO 00

00 m CO •

"-I •

•o\o O O

CO to

O

CO o"

o\o V)

t̂ o

CO

00 '-i

C<<

»o in

CO « > .

00 o

o •

oV

CN to

O •

00 in

CN O

CO 00 o .

CO o «* in • CN m

cAO >9-CN

"-I • t>. O >* tH

<*P CO

CO O ) tx . CM m

cAO CM

t x CO

o • »H CM

oVO lO 00

ID . 00 »-l

cAO »H

>» CD lO • CO t ^

<Ao lO

N . O 00 • »-H >»

o\o O

in o

o\o

m SI- . >a- o

CM C3

tfP

o

CN CJ

o\o «-H

CM CM

o . «~l CM

o\o s f 00

in • 00 »-l

o\o in

CD O) CN . CO lO •

«AO SJ

m o 00 • "^ vr

ts. CO ^ • CM m

00

«o >a-o • CM vr

OP

O

<A<» l O CM

C N . '-I O

cAO CO 00 o .

CD . »-< s f

V , U - H •0 o E O

•H J3 l-i O

Oj u)

U) U Q) x: u (D 0) •u

> N (H «D

•O »-( C O O O

o x: 0) u m m

w tn Q) x: u <0 <u 4J

u o

•H c 3 h)

w (U (^ Cn 0) ID x :

-H U •H ID O 0)

u -u

U) 0) l 4

0) Cn 0) 0) Q) x : tH M O O) •"< ID 0) O 0)

Q O -U

ID 3

ID m i-i tH U 0) 1 x: •u o V) ID

o <u 0^ -U

tn c:

LI m 0) Q) 1-4 0 ) & ) <U q lu x :

•H <-< U C n ' - i ID C O O ) U} o -u

(0 •~l 01 in ID t3> 0) u 0) x :

••^ --H O •D -H « Q) O 0)

s: u -M

-35-

colleges, 250 males constituting 5.43 per cent were working

in degree colleges, 320 males constituting 6.95 per cent

were working in post-graduate departments, 185 males

constituting 4.02 per cent were working in engineering

colleges, 194 males constituting 4.21 per cent were working

in medical colleges, so totally, 40.85 per cent other than

Scheduled Caste males were working in various institutions.

Of 1716 females constituting 37.31 per cent were

working in primary schools, 391 females constituting

8.50 per cent were working in secondary schools, 89 females

constituting 1.93 per cent were working in junior colleges,

40 females constituting 0.86 per cent were working in degree

colleges, 102 females constituting 2.2 per cent were working

in post-graduate departments, 85 females constituting

1.84 per cent were working in engineering colleges, 40

females constituting 0.86 per cent were working in medical

colleges - total 2463 females under other than Scheduled

Caste categories constituted 53.55 per cent in various

institutions.

In comparison, the percentage of Scheduled Caste

teachers is less. Ignorance, illiteracy, economic and social

backwardness were the major factors which were responsible

for their low distribution of teaching profession in the

various institutions.

-36-

Of the total of 4599 teachers, 150 male Scheduled

Caste teachers constituting 3.26 per cent were working in

various institutions, 41 males constituting 0.89 per cent,

in primary schools, 17 males constituting 0.36 per cent were

in secondary schools, 7 males constituting 0.15 per cent

were in junior colleges, 27 males constituting 0.58 per cent

were in degree colleges, 44 males constituting 0.95 per cent

were in post-graduate departments, 2 males constituting 0.04

per cent were in engineering college, 12 males constituting

0.26 per cent were in medical colleges. Likewise, 78

female Scheduled Caste teachers constituting 1.69 per cent

were working in primary schools, 9 females constituting

0.19 per cent were working in secondary schools, 3 females

constituting 0.06 per cent were working in junior colleges

10 females constituting 0.21 per cent were working in degree

colleges, 5 females constituting 0.10 per cent were working

in post-graduate departments, 1 female constituting 0.02 per

cent is working in engineering college. Totally, 107

Scheduled Caste female teachers constituting 2.32 per cent

were working in various educational institutions. Scheduled

Caste female teachers were found more in number than

Scheduled Caste male teachers in primary schools, but out of

a total of 257 Scheduled Caste teachers, male teachers were

more than females. Even in the other than Scheduled Caste

teachers category, the females per cent was more because

their parents were encouraging their female wards to

work in educational institutions, but the Scheduled Caste

female per cent was more only in primary schools.

-37-

Having made a list of educational institutions,

another list of the Scheduled Caste teachers, working in

these educational institutions was prepared. Official

records maintained in these institutions were used for this

purpose. When the data were collected, there were 257

Scheduled Caste teachers working in these various

educational institutions. But, only 210 teachers responded

to the questionnaire. Sub-caste wise break up of these 210

teachers was prepared. The following is the list of eleven

sub-caste wise categories in which the teachers were

distributed under the heads of(l) Adikarnataka, (2) Adi

Dravida, (3) Korama, (4) Lambani, (5) Bhovi, (6) Adi

Jambava, (7) Talwar, (8) Adi Andhra, (9) Holeya, (10) Mahar

and (11) Samagar.

Having specified the educational institutions and

caste groups, the next step was to determine the sample.

The sample of the universe was done as follows:

A break up of all the Scheduled Caste teachers on

the basis of sex, sub-caste and the level of educational

institutions in which they were working is given in

Table 1.2. The "Eible reveals that out of 210 Scheduled

Caste teachers, 64 (27 males and 37 females) were working

in primary schools, 34 (26 males and 8 females) were

working in secondary schools, 47 (34 males and 13 females)

- 3 7 a -

e m

! «

(s n

CM

0 )

lO

o

I 3

e

3

S !

! «

r • <:

e I

! *!

! "̂

-Q I «:

! <*•

CM

-4 I «

u I h.

! *:

•e u m .111 .i

in

41 U

O CI « •^ >-i o t; "^ « o 3 o «

V)

41 O i 41 4) 4) -C

U « O 4)

i s 3

b ? l | l W .1 w

« t4 Ol «l « .c -< u

L I B U « ' H O l

• C G « l

« • -< I « M O I ( i t i U

-38-

were working in degree colleges which included junior

colleges, 49 (44 males and 5 females) were working in the

University post-graduate departments, 3 (2 males and 1

female) were working in engineering colleges, 12 (11 males

and 1 female) were working in medical colleges, only one

male teacher was working in teachers training college and

no teacher was found working in any of the three law

colleges in Mysore city.

1. Of the 161 Adikarnataka teachers, 60 (26 males

and 34 females) were working in primary schools, 29 (22

males and 7 females) were found working in secondary

schools, 8 (5 males and 3 females)were working in junior

colleges, 26 (18 males and 8 females) were working in

degree colleges, 27 (25 males and 2 females) were working

in post-graduate departments, 2 (1 male and 1 female) were

working in engineering colleges, 8 (7 males and 1 female)

were working in medical colleges and only one male teacher

was working in the teachers training college.

2. Of the 13 Adi-Dravida teachers, only one female

teacher was found working in a primary school, 3 (2 males

and 1 female) were working in secondary schools, no teacher

was found working in any junior colleges, 2 (1 male and 1

female) teachers were working in degree colleges, only 3

male teachers were working in post -graduate departments,

-39-

only 3 male teachers were found working in medical college

and only one male teacher was working in engineering

college.

3. Of 8 Adi Jambhava caste teachers - no teacher was

found working either in primary schools or secondary

schools or junior colleges, or even in degree colleges. 7

(5 males and 2 females) teachers were working in post­

graduate departments. No teacher was working in engineering

college. Only one male teacher was working in medical

college. No teacher was found working in teachers training

college or law colleges.

4. Of 2 Adi-Andhra caste teachers, one male teacher

was working in secondary school and only one male teacher

was working in degree college. No teacher belonging to this

caste was found working in other schools or colleges.

5. Of 4 Korama caste teachers, 2 (1 male and 1

female) teachers were working in primary schools, no

teacher was found working either in secondary schools or in

junior colleges or in degree colleges and only 2 male

teachers were working in post-graduate departments. There

were no teachers from among this sub-caste group working in

any of the engineering, medical, law and teachers training

colleges.

-40-

6. Of 8 Lambani caste teachers of the sample, no

teacher was found working either in primary schools or in

secondary schools. Only one male teacher was working in

junior college, only 4 male teachers were working in degree

colleges, 3 (2 males and 1 female) teachers were working in

post-graduate departments and no teacher was found working

either in engineering or medical or law or teachers

training colleges.

7. Of 8 Bhovi caste teachers, only one female

teacher was working in primary school, only one male

teacher was working in secondary school, only one male

teacher was working in junior college, 3 (2 male and 1

female) were working in post-graduate departments. No

teacher was found working either in engineering or medical

or law, or teachers training colleges.

8. All the 3 teachers belonging to the Holeya caste

were working in post-graduate departments.

9. Only one Talwar caste teacher was working in a

post-graduate department.

10. Only one male Mahar caste teacher was working in

post-graduate department.

11. Only one male Samagar caste teacher was working

in degree college.

-41-

While the historical material and other data were

collected from Census reports, district gazetteers,

municipal records, and published and unpublished reports,

the primary data about the teachers in the present study

were collected with the help of interview schedule. Before

finalising the interview schedule, a pilot survey was

conducted to ensure the suitability of questions. In the

light of experience gained in the pilot survey, the

interview schedule was finalised. The following are some of

the important features of the interview schedule.

A. Particulars regarding respondents

These included questions pertaining to the

demographic and other aspects of the respondents such as

age, sex, religion, migration, marital status etc.

B. Family background

It included detailed information regarding the

family background of the teachers.

C. Education

It contained educational careers of the respondents,

the educational attainment of close kin members such as

grandparents, parents, siblings and close paternal or

maternal relatives like uncles.

-42-

D. Occupational Background

Occupational mobility being one of the main

objectives, the traditional occupation of the family,

present occupation of kin members like grandparents

parents, siblings, paternal or maternal uncles were

included.

E. Status

During the discussion with the teachers, pointed

questions were asked regarding the self-assessment of their

class such as their income, the house, the household

gadgets, way of life etc.

F. Family attitudes

Several questions on various aspects of family so as

to collect exhaustive information on this subject were

asked and the replies recorded.

G. Teacher-Student relationships

Questions were framed to ascertain attitudes of the

teachers and the taught towards each other and towards the

educational system, reservation policy.

Since the respondents were all educated, the

researcher did not find any difficulty, except one or two

-43-

respondents who refused to answer. Remaining all the

respondents very cordially extended their whole-hearted

support in giving a detailed information. Thus, the

scheduled questionnaire was completed successfully.

All possible efforts have been made to maintain the

validity and reliability of the facts required for the

analysis.

Theme of the Thesis

The theme of the thesis has been divided into seven

chapters.

Chapter I deals with the introduction. Review of

literature. Objectives of the present study, methodology

and tools of collection of data.

Chapter II deals with the setting of Mysore City,

including the density of population literacy rate, the

historical background and workers and non-workers of Mysore

city, comparative statement of population since 1901 to

1991, the contribution of Mysore Maharaja towards

education, art, sculpture, architecture and science.

Chapter III discusses the socio-economic and

demographic background of Scheduled Caste teachers, such as

sex composition, age-structure, religion, marital status.

-44-

nature and size of family, number of children, income,

ownership of house and land, ownership of vehicles,

migration, perception of social class of Scheduled Caste

teachers as well as opinion with regard to the reservation

policy.

Chapter IV consists of a historical perspective of

social mobility, as to how social mobility existed and what

were the causes and consequences of such historical

development. Such panorama of social mobility helped the

researcher in comprehending the causal as well as the

consequential analysis of social mobility.

Chapter V examines the inter-generational mobility.

It refers to the change in the occupational standing of the

son/daughter relating to his/her father's, grandfather's,

etc.

Chapter VI consists of intra-generational mobility

of scheduled caste teachers. It refers to an individual's

occupational standing in relation to his fathers intra-

generational mobility indicating change in an individual

position during his life time.

Chapter VII sums up with the conclusions on the

phenomena of social mobility which has emerged as an

important field of enquiry in sociology.