In a somersault, Gujarat govt says it never wanted to review NGO untouchability study

By Rajiv Shah

In a complete about-turn, the Gujarat government has asserted that it never asked the CEPT University to review or refute an NGO study by Navsarjan Trust on wide prevalence of untouchability in Gujarat's rural areas. The NGO study titled "Understanding Untouchability", carried out in 2010, was based on a survey of about 1,600 villages. The statement is in total contrast to what the introduction to the CEPT report says -- that the state government had sponsored it in order to "review" the NGO study and find out if there was such wide prevalence of untouchability as the study claims. It is not known what has prompted the state government to make a change in its stance.

The statement -- issued to refute media reports that the CEPT report was meant to prove that the NGO study's findings on untouchability were unfounded -- also states that the CEPT University was merely asked "to suggest ways on how to remove caste discrimination in Gujarat". It says this despite the fact that several earlier government statements, including a government resolution (GR) issued two years ago, had all along been saying that the state government had asked the CEPT University to find out if the allegations of untouchability in the NGO study were correct.
The statement does not stop here. It simultaneously declares that allegations of untouchability in the NGO study -- which was carried out by a couple of world-class scholars hired by John F Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights for Navsarjan Trust --are "misplaced", claiming, "The social justice and employment department sent its officials to several of the 1,589 villages where the NGO survey was carried out, and they found that the allegations of wide prevalence of untouchability are totally wrong."
While the statement does not say when did it send officials to 75 of these villages to find out the "truth" about untouchability, a top knowledgeable source has told www.counterview.net that "Dalits in several of the villages were forced to declare, on affidavit, that they did not face issues of untouchability in their village." The source said, "It did this taking advantage of the Gujarati version of the NGO report, 'Understanding Untouchability' -- Abhadcched ni Bhal -- which gives a profile of 75 villages to cite examples of untouchability in rural areas."
Interestingly, the CEPT University report -- running into 300 pages -- says that it report's findings are based on survey of five villages of Gujarat to "review" the NGO's untouchability study in 1,589 villages. Prepared by a team headed by Prof R Parthasarathy, a scholar known for his expertise on water resources, critics have wondered why was a senior sociologist not chosen for a "review" on untouchability in Gujarat. Notably, Parthasarathy's report sets aside issues of "discrimination" in villages (it does not even use the word untouchability) as a matter of "perceptions", continuing for generations.
No doubt, the CEPT report does give certain examples of caste discrimination in villages, as found visible during cultural functions, but believes that such differences exist even within families. It also finds such examples like refusal of Dalits entering into temples as something normal, born out of Dalits' own desire. And if Dalit youths do not participate in such functions as Navratri by mixing up with youths of other castes, this is because -- the report seeks to declare -- the Dalit elders wisely advise them not to do so to avoid any quarrel! In fact, the report even states that the Dalits are happy with their own festivals like Ambedkar Jayanti in the same way as upper caste people are happy with their own festivals!

Comments

From Kerala to Bangladesh: Lynching highlights deep social faultlines

By A Representative The recent incidents of mob lynching—one in Bangladesh involving a Hindu citizen and another in Kerala where a man was killed after being mistaken for a “Bangladeshi”—have sparked outrage and calls for accountability.

What Sister Nivedita understood about India that we have forgotten

By Harasankar Adhikari In the idea of a “Vikshit Bharat,” many real problems—hunger, poverty, ill health, unemployment, and joblessness—are increasingly overshadowed by the religious contest between Hindu and Muslim fundamentalisms. This contest is often sponsored and patronised by political parties across the spectrum, whether openly Hindutva-oriented, Islamist, partisan, or self-proclaimed secular.

When a city rebuilt forgets its builders: Migrant workers’ struggle for sanitation in Bhuj

Khasra Ground site By Aseem Mishra* Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is not a privilege—it is a fundamental human right. This principle has been unequivocally recognised by the United Nations and repeatedly affirmed by the Supreme Court of India as intrinsic to the right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. Yet, for thousands of migrant workers living in Bhuj, this right remains elusive, exposing a troubling disconnect between constitutional guarantees, policy declarations, and lived reality.

Aravalli at the crossroads: Environment, democracy, and the crisis of justice

By Rajendra Singh* The functioning of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has undergone a troubling shift. Once mandated to safeguard forests and ecosystems, the Ministry now appears increasingly aligned with industrial interests. Its recent affidavit before the Supreme Court makes this drift unmistakably clear. An institution ostensibly created to protect the environment now seems to have strayed from that very purpose.

'Festive cheer fades': India’s housing market hits 17‑quarter slump, sales drop 16% in Q4 2025

By A Representative Housing sales across India’s nine major real estate markets fell to a 17‑quarter low in the October–December period of 2025, with overall absorption dropping 16% year‑on‑year to 98,019 units, according to NSE‑listed analytics firm PropEquity. This marks the weakest quarter since Q3 2021, despite the festive season that usually drives demand. On a sequential basis, sales slipped 2%, while new launches contracted by 4%.

Safety, pay and job security drive Urban Company gig workers’ protest in Gurugram

By A Representative Gig and platform service workers associated with Urban Company have stepped up their protest against what they describe as exploitative and unsafe working conditions, submitting a detailed Memorandum of Demands at the company’s Udyog Vihar office in Gurugram. The action is being seen as part of a wider and growing wave of dissatisfaction among gig workers across India, many of whom have resorted to demonstrations, app log-outs and strikes in recent months to press for fair pay, job security and basic labour protections.

India’s universities lag global standards, pushing students overseas: NITI Aayog study

By Rajiv Shah A new Government of India study, Internationalisation of Higher Education in India: Prospects, Potential, and Policy Recommendations , prepared by NITI Aayog , regrets that India’s lag in this sector is the direct result of “several systemic challenges such as inadequate infrastructure to provide quality education and deliver world-class research, weak industry–academia collaboration, and outdated curricula.”

The rise of the civilizational state: Prof. Pratap Bhanu Mehta warns of new authoritarianism

By A Representative Noted political theorist and public intellectual Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta delivered a poignant reflection on the changing nature of the Indian state today, warning that the rise of a "civilizational state" poses a significant threat to the foundations of modern democracy and individual freedom. Delivering the Achyut Yagnik Memorial Lecture titled "The Idea of Civilization: Poison or Cure?" at the Ahmedabad Management Association, Mehta argued that India is currently witnessing a self-conscious political project that seeks to redefine the state not as a product of a modern constitution, but as an instrument of an ancient, authentic civilization.

Why experts say replacing MGNREGA could undo two decades of rural empowerment

By A Representative A group of scientists, academics, civil society organisations and field practitioners from India and abroad has issued an open letter urging the Union government to reconsider the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and to withdraw the newly enacted Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025. The letter, dated December 27, 2025, comes days after the VB–G RAM G Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 16 and subsequently approved by both Houses of Parliament, formally replacing the two-decade-old employment guarantee law.

Search This Blog