Caste Discrimination Reforms Delayed

Government ministers have recently announced a timetable for the introduction of Anti-caste discrimination laws.

Government ministers have recently announced a timetable for the introduction of Anti-caste discrimination laws.

As readers may remember from our April bulletin, discrimination based on caste involves people being separated into different rankings/levels/categories within a particular religious, national or social grouping, with the lowest rankings or castes being treated as ‘subhuman’ or ‘untouchables’.

In April 2013, the Government acknowledged that caste discrimination needed to be addressed, which was a welcome development for anti-caste campaigners at the time.

Since then however, the Government have resisted calls for caste discrimination to be added to the Equality Act as one of the ‘protected characteristics’, believing that extensive consultation is required on what they called a ‘sensitive’ and ‘complex’ issue. They believe that more needs to be understood about caste discrimination before any changes can take place, with public authorities and the judiciary being cited as bodies who need to increase their understanding in this respect, to ensure that any new laws are administered accurately and consistently.

On Monday 29 July 2013, the Government Equalities Office confirmed that a full consultation process would begin in March 2014, running for a period of 12 months. The Equality and Human Rights Commission have also said they will be looking into the issue.

A final draft Order is not set to be introduced until the summer of 2015, which has been criticised by a number of groups such as the Anti-Caste Discriminatory Alliance, with many believing that the Government have deliberately delayed moves to outlaw this type of discrimination, something which the Government denies.

The more cynical minded reader may also believe as the Order will not be introduced before the next General Election, that the Government are being very non-committal about the whole issue, which may still disappear from the political landscape in any case.