There are now as many as 47 members from disadvantaged communities in the 77-member Council of Ministers.
The Cabinet reshuffle undertaken by the Narendra Modi government is significant for various reasons. While the induction of new, exceptionally qualified, Ministers with varied backgrounds, and some high-profile exits, has been noticed, equally important is the thrust on a socially equitable representation of various castes and communities in the Modi 2.0 government.
There are now as many as 47 members from disadvantaged communities in the 77-member Council of Ministers. Of these 27 ministers are from OBC communities. They come from 19 communities and 15 states. Twelve Ministers are from SC communities, from 12 communities of eight states. Eight Ministers are from seven ST communities, of eight states.
Naturally, this will be linked to politics and political messaging. But there is a larger underlying social message in all this as well 바카라 that of inclusion and integration.
For a political party that is now India바카라s pivot and the world바카라s largest, this can be seen as an example of its all-encompassing social philosophy. And to think that only in the 1980s, it was perceived to be a front of a few upper caste groups! The party has indeed traveled quite a bit of distance since then.
The book 바카라Social Harmony" by Narendra Modi, edited by Kishor Makwana, (Prabhat Prakashan, 2008) provides interesting insights on the PM바카라s views on the subject, since his days as CM. Two different passages from the book merit attention in today바카라s context.
In one of the references, Modi quotes Babasaheb Ambedkar바카라s vision of casteless society and says: 바카라Dr. Babasaheb gave us a message of love and equality. His dream was for the creation of a casteless society, meaning thereby that that whole society unites harmoniously without any difference of high and low castes바카라.
In another passage, he talks about Swami Vivekananda바카라s harmonious approach towards the political system.
바카라Swami Vivekananda showed the path for eradicating the evils of society based on religion, love, and mercy. He also envisaged a political system based on harmony for the progress of society,바카라 says the passage.
바카라Swami Vivekananda predicted: 바카라Over the ages, the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas, have been in power. It is time for the lower castes to come to administrative power and nobody will be able to thwart it,바카라 says another passage.
The theme of 바카라harmony바카라 and 바카라harmonious co-existence바카라 runs through all Hindu thinkers 바카라 much in contrast to the Marxist school바카라s emphasis on 바카라conflict바카라 -- as they interpret Vivekananda, Gandhi, Ambedkar, social reformers, and RSS leaders, in their quest for an equal society.
Former ABVP and now top RSS leader Sunil Ambekar in his work 바카라The RSS: Roadmaps for the 21st Century바카라 (Rupa, 2019) underlines the governments and the PM바카라s emphasis in the current context.
He writes: 바카라When the PM of the country washes the feet of the sanitation workers or picks up a broom for a cleanliness drive, it is a lesson on their importance for the entire society바카라 The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan of PM Modi signals this new social order by shedding light on the sanitation worker바카라.
The gradual but steady movement towards an equal and inclusive social order has been captured by social scientist Badri Narayan in his 바카라Republic of Hindutva바카라 (Penguin, 2021). Says Narayan: 바카라The RSS is trying to bring Dalit and OBC communities within the Hindutva fold. It envisions a gradual fading away of caste identities by evolving a broader Hindu identity among everyone -- poor to rich, and Dalits and tribal groups to higher castes바카라.
The BJP, the RSS, and the Parivar have achieved many milestones in this journey.
Narayan, for instance, notes BJP바카라s and RSS바카라 initiatives to integrate Dalits and upper castes 바카라by arranging community meals, opening schools in Dalit settlements, and organizing sensitization campaigns for upper castes바카라. 바카라This has its beginnings in the early 1980s when the samajik samrasta campaign was launched in Maharashtra,바카라 he observes.
The social scientist also notes political and social programmes like the one by Amit Shah, who as then BJP national president took part in caste rallies and meetings of various Dalit communities, in UP and Bihar, before the 2014 elections.
Ambekar, on the other hand, lists Ambedkar (바카라In 1986-87, the ABVP started a campaign that a photograph of Dr. Ambedkar is installed in every household바카라); Gandhi (바카라major movement to fight untouchability바카라); Savarkar (바카라In his essay 바카라Abolition of Caste바카라, he wrote on untouchability바카라); Dr. Hedgewar (바카라caste discrimination had no place in Hindu society바카라); Guru Golwalkar (at his initiative and meetings with saints and shankaracharyas, a public vow was taken that 바카라Na Hindu patito havet바카라 or 바카라no Hindu can be impure바카라); and Balasaheb Deoras (바카라There is no greater sin than untouchability and it should go lock, stock and barrel바카라) as important contributors in anti-caste movement.
Ambekar then says that the current Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat has 바카라given a clarion call that every village should have a common temple, a common source of water, and a common cremation ground바카라. He says that the Sangh is trying to reach out to every village to establish this idea.
The current instance of 바카라social engineering바카라 in the Cabinet reshuffle, then, is no one-off instance.
It, perhaps, reflects the BJP바카라s -- and the RSS바카라s and the brotherhood바카라s -- commitment to work towards a social order whether the hierarchical order goes away, and an equal Hindu social order, with harmonious co-existence, becomes the way of life.
Two initiatives can give a greater push to the project.
One, getting a Dalit priest at Ayodhya바카라s Ram Temple can be a big step forward, and the logical culmination of the process that was started by the foundation stone getting laid by a Dalit activist in 1989.
Two, a public acknowledgment that hierarchical caste differences and caste-based atrocities, especially on Dalits, must go. In the past, all the appeals from PM Modi have had the desired result. People listen to the PM, and this is beyond politics. His appeals, whether on Swachh India or giving up LPG and train ticket subsidies, have always worked. So, a call to make caste irrelevant, redundant, and to end all forms of caste atrocities, say, on 바카라Mann ki Baat바카라, can work wonders.
At a 2019 event, Amit Shah called PM Modi a 바카라social reformer바카라. PM Modi, the social reformer, can make the anti-caste crusade a lot more potent.
In New India, the Narendra Modi government, with Kashmir바카라s full integration with the Union, has fulfilled Sardar Patel바카라s and Syama Prasad Mookerjee바카라s unfinished agenda.
Now, with a war on caste inequalities, it바카라s time that the BJP finished Ambedkar바카라s unfinished agenda as well.
(The writer, a JNU alumnus, is a political analyst. Views are personal. Feedback can be sent to skjthe@gmail.com)