The Dalit world, at a glance
Scheduled Castes — constitutionally recognised as Dalits — are India's largest marginalised group: 201 million people spread across 1,108 officially listed communities. Though 84 parliamentary seats are reserved for them, structural exclusion persists at every level. Beyond India, the United Nations estimates caste-based discrimination touches 260 million lives across South Asia and its global diaspora. International legal recognition has been slow and uneven: Seattle became the first US city to ban caste discrimination in February 2023, while the United Kingdom still has not enacted its own long-standing statutory duty to add caste as a protected characteristic.
- 1.Scheduled Caste (SC) Population in India — census2011.co.in (Census of India 2011 data)
- 2.Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes — Wikipedia (citing Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950)
- 3.Reserved political positions in India — Wikipedia (citing Delimitation Order 2008 and Art. 330, Constitution of India)
- 4.UN Human Rights Council: General Debate on Ending Discrimination Based on Caste and Descent — Human Rights Watch
- 5.Seattle becomes first US city to ban caste discrimination — Al Jazeera
- 6.Equality Act 2010, Section 9 — Race — legislation.gov.uk
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