Caste behind bars: In Indian prisons, the marginalized are barred from cooking and forced to clean excrement

The Supreme Court recently told jails across the country to adhere to laws outlawing millenia-old discrimination, yet this is easier said than done

Mridul Kumar (22, name changed), a resident of Banda in north India’s populous state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), was jailed in 2018 for assaulting a neighbor who eventually died in the hospital. He was handed a jail sentence of four years.

Mridul is a dalit. Dalits are lowest in the Hindu caste hierarchy (indeed, they are technically below the pyramid and thus were known as ‘outcasts’) and have faced discrimination for millennia. Several steps have been taken to end this discrimination, yet it persists in India. 

Recounting his ordeal after his acquittal in May, the first thing that shocked him as he entered jail was the work distribution by jail authorities on the basis of caste. Mridul used to sell egg rolls on a cart in his hometown and assumed he would be assigned a role in the kitchen. To his shock he was asked his caste by the lower jail authorities and directed to clean the drains.

“I protested, I tried talking to authorities to assign me cutting and chopping work but they did not listen to me. I was asked to clean the drains,” Mridul said of his experience inside the prison.

The UP jail manual clearly mentions that “religious scruples and caste prejudices” are important for “reformative influences.” A separate chapter says: “Reasonable respect shall be paid to religious scruples and caste prejudices of the prisoners in all matters as far as it is compatible with discipline.” 

The prison administration holds sole discretionary power over the extent of the “reasonability and compatibility” of these prejudices. The “reasonability,” though, has only meant furthering blatant caste prejudice in assigning work to dalits while exempting other castes from harsh labor, both in male and female prisons.

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In July 2020, Mridul raised this with the deputy jail superintendent who took note and assigned him to utensils-cleaning duty and also as a helper to inmates on cooking duty. Yet these inmates protested, as he was a scheduled caste (SC). The disheartened Mridul was assigned to gardening, of which he had no experience. 

On 3 October 2024, a Division Bench of then Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra delivered a judgement directing the federal government and states to revise their prison manuals and rules to address caste-based discrimination in prisons. It noted that existing manuals and rules as they stood violated Articles 14, 15, 17, 21, and 23. 

The decision came on a writ petition filed by journalist Sukanya Santha in 2023 after she revealed the widespread prevalence of caste-based discrimination in Indian prisons through an investigative story she published in 2020. Sukanya could not be reached for comment. 

Indian Police Service (IPS) senior officer Manoj Kumar, currently posted in Ratlam (in central India’s Madhya Pradesh, MP), once managed the jail there, and he says that the problem is so deeply ingrained in our society that even after this judgement, solving it remains a distant goal. 

“I remember a dalit inmate was once assigned to serve food, but this was so loudly protested by other inmates, including those who cooked food, that over 50% of them did not eat food that day,” the police officer said. “Some even refused to eat in plates touched by this person, and to contain the situation the authorities had to put this dalit inmate on another duty.”

The MP Jail Manual, despite recent amendments, perpetuates caste discrimination by mandating that Mehtar (scavenger) prisoners handle human excreta in prison toilets under its mal vahan (conservancy) chapter. This effectively institutionalizes manual scavenging within the prison system.

Discrimination in getting justice

The National Crime Records Bureau, responsible for collecting and analyzing crime data, in 2020 reported that a majority of India’s undertrials are from marginalized castes. In the 17 years to 2019, nearly two in three (64%) on average were from the SCs (21.7%), scheduled tribes (12.3%) and other backward classes (OBCs, 30%).

“Individuals belonging to marginalised communities are disproportionately impacted from these unwarranted detentions. Other factors such as limited access to legal assistance and difficulties in meeting bail conditions contribute to the heightened likelihood of underprivileged individuals spending time in prison without being convicted,” noted a study published in 2024.

“Even after 77 years of independence, caste-based discrimination in prisons represents a blatant violation of the ‘Right to Equality’ guaranteed under Articles 14 to 18 of the Constitution,” says Pranavesh Om, a lawyer practicing with the Allahabad High Court. “Our society and system have failed to reform archaic prison laws and rules, continuing practices that are both unconstitutional and inhumane.”

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“While the Supreme Court’s judgment is welcome as it reaffirms citizens’ faith in the Constitution, I hope the Government will implement the mandated changes to Prison Rules within the given timeframe,” he adds. “However, we must also address how overburdened courts affect undertrial prisoners, particularly those from marginalized communities, who languish in prisons for years awaiting justice.”

As the saying goes: justice delayed is justice denied. This reality is reflected in NCRB reports showing the disproportionate number of undertrials from marginalized backgrounds.

“A person faces caste discrimination everywhere – not just outside but inside jails too,” said Naresh Paras, an activist who has been working with inmates for two decades. “In prisons, caste-based discrimination is commonplace, beginning right from the jail register where a prisoner’s caste must be recorded in a dedicated column. Dalit prisoners face discriminatory treatment from the moment their caste is documented. Work assignments in jail are made based on caste. Dalit prisoners are forced to sweep and clean toilets. If they refuse, they face physical abuse and torture. They are subjected to inhumane treatment.”

“The dominant caste prisoners force dalits to do their personal chores and address them with caste-based slurs and abuse,” he added. “This discrimination violates their human dignity and self-respect, leading to stress. The prison system openly violates Article 21 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court’s order has kindled hope for justice. Perhaps prisoners can now be freed from caste discrimination, provided this order is properly implemented and monitored,” he adds.

Mridul once wanted to run a restaurant but now works as a hand pump mechanic. “My dreams shattered after being implicated in a false case and then realizing, from my jail experience, that I come from a lower caste. People would not want to eat food prepared by me. It is a hard truth but I accept it as I cannot do anything about it,” he concluded.