75% SCs Experience 'Untouchability' in Karnataka: Report

Though it is not visible, the practice is embedded in daily activities, says survey

- DEVARAJ B HIREHALLI @Bengaluru

The Justice HN Nagamohan Das commission, which conducted the Scheduled Caste (SC) survey for internal quota, in its report submitted to the government has made a startling revelation that 'untouchability' in various forms is still prevalent in Karnataka. In all, 75% of respondents from 101 castes, who were contacted for the survey, mentioned it.

"All 101 castes in the Scheduled Castes are subject to one or the other form of untouchability. There is a ban on entry into temples, a ban on eating in groups, giving separate tea cups, separate seating arrangements, ban on entry into houses, ban on using roads, ban on entry into public places, discrimination in schools, practice of serfdom, discrimination in the name of rape and atrocities," it noted.

There have been changes in the methods of untouchability. Though it is not visible on the surface, the practice is embedded in daily activities, it observed.