21st Century Untouchability? Students In UP Village Bring Own Plates For Mid-Day Meal Because They Can¡¯t Eat With Dalits
Students at a primary school in Rampur UP are reportedly bringing plates from their home for mid-day meals and eat separately from those belonging to SC ST and Dalit communities. Principal of Rampur primary school said the practice prevails despite school authorities asking students not to do so.
A school is a place where children are supposed to get educated so that they grow up to become citizens who can think beyond the boundaries of caste, religion and region.
But what if the discrimination starts from the school itself?
In a shocking case of untouchability in the 21st century some students at a primary school in Rampur, UP are reportedly bringing plates from their home for mid-day meals and eat separately from those belonging to the SC, ST and Dalit communities.
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¡°Anyone can eat in the plates available in schools, so we bring separate plates from home,¡± one student from the school told ANI.
P Gupta, Principal of Rampur primary school said the practice prevails despite school authorities asking students not to do so.
¡°We ask students to sit together and eat but they go separate ways as soon as we leave. Maybe they¡¯ve learned it from home. We¡¯ve tried a lot to teach them that they¡¯re all equals but students from upper caste try to stay away from those of lower-caste,¡± he said.
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As shocking as it may sound caste discrimination in schools is not anything new.
In the past, there have been many instances in schools where students from upper castes refused to eat the food prepared by cooks who belonged to lower castes.
One such incident was reported last year from UP's Sitapur in a village called Palharia. According to reports parents who were mostly Yadavs and Brahmins gathered at the school and protested after the school appointed a woman from the lower caste as a temporary cook. The students refused to eat the food prepared by the woman and had to be dumped later.
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A similar incident was reported from Madhya Pradesh's Tikamgarh, in 2017 where few children who belong to 'upper caste' denied eating the midday meal that was provided to them on the school premises because the meal was prepared by 'Dalits'.
Just recently another news had surfaced from Tamil Nadu where students were made to wear different color wrist bands to identify them by their caste.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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