Modern-day reality: Destitute Brahmins are 10 per cent higher than the all-India below poverty line figure

By Sadhan Mukherjee*
This is about modern-day Brahmins. Many do not seem to be aware that Brahminism, who were once the leading lights of our society, are now in dire straits, socially, economically and politically, despite some of them doing well in some fields. This is what modern times have brought them to. The hiatus has increased multifold between Brahmins who are well to do and Brahmins who barely subsist.
Can you imagine Brahmins working as cleaners in shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi and other places; as porters, bearers, waiters, rickshaw pullers and in several other jobs to earn some money for survival? Economically most of them are hard hit and their situation has deteriorated over the years.
Several reasons are assigned for it. One, the social progress seems to have bypassed them and they remained as history’s ignored children in developing India. Second, there is no unity among the Brahmins, divided as they are not only between the north and the south but also due to their various social status, nomenclatures and regional variations.
Further, there is no mutual help among them. It is alleged and probably rightly so that a Brahmin normally does not render any assistance to another Brahmin to help him grow. This selfishness probably originates from the old purohit (priest) and jajman (client) relationship where the Brahmin fiercely protected his disciples and the disciples too remained attached to his kul purohit (family priest) through generations.
Another reason that is expressed only privately is that while Dalits have reservations and they are thriving, there are no such measures to help economically poor Brahmins. In fact, it is argued that reservations in jobs should be on the basis of economic status, not social status. Many Brahmins have moved to cities and towns leaving their ancestral villages in search of jobs other than priesthood and teaching which are no longer paying.
It is not at all fortuitous that many Tamil Brahmins have migrated abroad and joined avocations where they have thrived. Some Brahmins have also developed a network of priesthood abroad where many migrated Indians seek assistance of Brahmin priests for various functions.
This author himself is witness to a Durga Puja many years ago in Berlin where the priest was invited to come from Frankfurt, where he was employed at the airport as a ground engineer. This writer himself was invited to read out the Lakshmi stotra (verses for Goddess Lakshmi) during Lakshmi puja in Helsinki where the household was a non-Brahmin one.
Brahmins who went abroad are these days not only earning well but also prospering and are doing exceptional work in the countries they reside, not because they are Brahmins but because they have used their intellectual prowess and perseverance to move ahead. Of the 10 Indian-origin MPs elected to British Parliament, five are Brahmins. One can find among the Brahmin diaspora, Nobel laureates, well known applied scientists, space technologists, nuclear scientists, medical notables, surgeons, academicians, politicians, and so on.
There is a very wellknown Brahmin Samaj in USA which is doing very useful work for the last nearly 30 years. It was set up in New Jersey and has now spread to many places.
In our own country, due to economic difficulties many Brahmin students give up their studies quite early. Few are able to continue in schools and colleges; they fall back upon either the traditional priesthood or take to other professions migrating from their villages.
According to a study, in Bihar and UP villages, population is predominantly of Dalits and that is why many of the lawmakers are Dalits. Only 5 seats out of 600 in the combined UP and Bihar assemblies were held by Brahmins (2006) — the rest were mostly Yadavs. A report in The Times of India (November 11, 2015) showed that 25 per cent of the Bihar assembly consisted of Yadavs, and Brahmins elected to that body were only four per cent. Together with Bhumihars, they constituted 11 per cent of the MLAs. In 1962 Brahmins alone constituted 13.9 per cent.
A study of the Brahmin community in a district in Andhra Pradesh ("Brahmins of India" by J Radhakrishna, Chugh Publications) reveals that today all purohits live below the poverty line. Eighty per cent of those surveyed stated that their poverty and traditional style of dress and hair (tuft) had made them the butt of ridicule. Financial constraints coupled with the existing system of reservations for the ‘backward classes’ prevented them from providing secular or holistic education to their children.
The study also found that 55 per cent of all Brahmins lived below the poverty line — below a per capita income of Rs 650 a month. Since 45 per cent of the total population of India is officially stated to be below the poverty line, it follows that the percentage of destitute Brahmins is 10 per cent higher than the all-India below poverty line figure.
There are some organisations of Brahmins in many places but these seem mostly narrow in their viewpoints. Some even describe themselves as World Brahmin Federation, International Brahmin Council and so on. But the real work of unity and development that is required seems to be eluding these bodies. This is what is needed now to go ahead and unite all Brahmins. It is not a parochial approach but embracing all, not Brahmins in isolation.

---

*Veteran journalist

Comments

When democracy becomes a performance: The Tibetan exile experience

By Tseten Lhundup* I was born in Bylakuppe, one of the largest Tibetan settlements in southern India. From childhood, I grew up in simple barracks, along muddy roads, and in fields with limited resources. Over the years, I have watched our democratic system slowly erode. Observing the recent budget session of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, these “democratic procedures” appear grand and orderly on the surface, yet in reality they amount to little more than empty formalities. The parliamentarians seem largely disconnected from the everyday struggles faced by ordinary exiled Tibetans like us.

Fair prices, fresh produce: Vegetable market opens in Rajasthan tribal village

By Vikas Meshram* On 18 March 2026, the tribal village of Sajjangarh in southern Rajasthan witnessed the grand and dignified inauguration of a new vegetable market (mandi). Established through the tireless joint efforts of the Krushi Avam Adivasi Swaraj Sangathan (Bhilkuaan) and Vaagdhara, under the active leadership of the Gram Panchayat of Sajjangarh, the market is being hailed as a cornerstone for local self-governance, self-reliance, and a sustainable rural economy.

Study links sanctions to 500,000 deaths annually leading to rise in global backlash

By Bharat Dogra International opinion is increasingly turning against the expanding burden of sanctions imposed on a growing number of countries. These measures are contributing to humanitarian crises, intensifying domestic discord, and heightening international tensions, thereby increasing the risks of conflicts and wars.

Ex-IAS Atanu Chakraborty and a tale of two different Gujarat vision documents

By Rajiv Shah The likely appointment of Atanu Chakraborty as HDFC Bank chairman interested me for several reasons, but above all because I have interacted with him closely during my more than 14 year stint in Gandhinagar for the “Times of India”. One of the few decent Gujarat cadre bureaucrats, Chakraborty, belonging to the 1985 IAS batch, at least till I covered Sachivalaya was surely above controversies. He loved to remain faceless, never desired publicity, was professional to the core, and never indulged in loose talk. When he neared retirement, which happened in April 2020, first there were rumours in Sachivalaya that he would be appointed SEBI chairman, and then there was talk he would be chairman (or was it CEO?) of Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City (a dream project of Narendra Modi as Gujarat chief minister, which as Prime Minister Modi wants to promote, come what may). But, for some strange reasons, and I don’t know why, none of this happened, despite the fact...

Weaponised bravery, institutionalised cowardice as the engine of authoritarianism

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* The insidious politics of crony capitalism is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, aided by the reckless expansion of artificial intelligence and other technologies designed not to liberate but to dominate, domesticate, and dehumanise societies. Alongside this, an illiberal politics of cowardice is emerging—serving as an accomplice to dehumanisation amid growing imperialist wars and conflicts across the world. Death in distant lands no longer stirs conscience. The push-button culture of digital screens has transformed social media into a disconnected, individualised, Hobbesian space, where the puritan pursuit of self-interest is elevated as the essence of human existence.

Moon missions and manholes: Development's drumbeat drowns out deaths in sewers

By Vikas Meshram* We proudly narrate the story of our nation’s progress. On every platform, we speak of the success of Chandrayaan , Digital India , and our rapidly growing economy. But behind this radiant picture lies a darkness—the world of sanitation workers who descend into sewers, risking their lives. This darkness is not confined to the drains alone; it runs deep within the conscience of our society.

Witnessing Iran beyond propaganda: Truth, war, and the path beyond western paradigm

By Naile Manjarrés On June 23, 2025—marked as the 2nd of Tir, 1404, on the Persian calendar—a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was announced. This "night of the decree" shifted the trajectory of global affairs; although the world may appear unchanged on the surface, we have yet to fully grasp its impact.

Best left-handed cricket XI of all-time: Could it beat an all-time right-hander XI?

By Harsh Thakor* This is my all-time left-handers Test XI. It could arguably give an all-time right-handers XI a strong run for its money, boasting the likes of Garry Sobers, Brian Lara, Wasim Akram, and Adam Gilchrist.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge — Blurring the line between fiction and political narrative

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan* "Dhurandhar: The Revenge" does not wait to be remembered; it arrives almost on the heels of its predecessor, released on March 19, 2026, just months after the first film’s December 2025 debut. The speed of its arrival feels less like creative urgency and more like calculated timing—cinema responding not to storytelling rhythm but to the emotional climate of its audience. Director Aditya Dhar, along with actor Yami Gautam, appears acutely aware of this moment and how to harness it.

Search This Blog