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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 -
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-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 -
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-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.