Curing prisons of caste prejudice

For an issue that flew under the radar for many decades, this is a watershed moment in several ways. The bench said caste-based assignments of labour, such as assigning menial tasks like cleaning and sweeping to marginalised castes while reserving cooking for higher castes, is a violation of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which ensures equality and prohibits discrimination on the grounds of caste. More evidence of this unfortunate phenomenon came last week when the Supreme Court outlawed caste-based bias in prisons and scraped an array of caste-discriminatory jobs given to inmates in Indian jails. PREMIUM The bench said caste-based assignments of labour, such as assigning menial tasks like cleaning and sweeping to marginalised castes while reserving cooking for higher castes, is a violation of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} Among India’s oldest fault lines, caste and associated discrimination is both stubborn in its longevity and pernicious in its reach. PREMIUM The bench said caste-based assignments of labour, such as assigning menial tasks like cleaning and sweeping to marginalised castes while reserving cooking for higher castes, is a violation of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution The bench said caste-based assignments of labour, such as assigning menial tasks like cleaning and sweeping to marginalised castes while reserving cooking for higher castes, is a violation of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which ensures equality and prohibits discrimination on the grounds of caste.