Caste in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Historically, it is a glaring fact that any disaster or pandemic made the Dalit and Adivasi as the worst victim. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to unfold the caste dynamics and social realities around the debate of the COVID-19 pandemic. A unique feature of India’s caste system is in its flexibility. Therefore, even during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the prescribed medical guidelines of ‘social distancing’ encourages the Savarnas to strengthen the caste prejudices in the name of science. Apart from this, the prescribed guidelines for ‘social distancing’ and ‘home quarantine’ exposed the graded caste inequality in India. The empirical evidence from this study brings it to the forefront that a graded caste inequality persists in household’s availability of exclusive room with attached toilet facilities and adequate ventilation facilities, household’s access to exclusive drinking water source, household’s affordability in practising hand wash with soap or detergent, etc. Therefore, when the Forward caste become the most privileged in maintaining the home quarantine and complete isolation, it becomes an unaffordable luxury for the Dalits. It makes the Dalits most vulnerable during this pandemic. Therefore, this pandemic provides a stark example of the pervasiveness and perniciousness of social inequality in India.

Infection, cases due to SARS-CoV-2 in rural areas during early COVID-19 vaccination: findings from serosurvey study in a rural cohort of eastern India

“…For Infection to case ratio (ICR), while the number of infections was determined by extrapolating the seroprevalence (SARS-CoV-2 IgG positive) among the age and gender specific population in the study area, the number of COVID-Though seropositivity among females (55.95%) was higher than males (52.74%), it was not statistically significant. Vaccination coverage among females was also higher (9.49%) as compared to males (4.12%) (Table - by OBC and forward caste people indicating safer status of forward caste where as both SC and OBC are lagging behind reflecting the impact of social inequalities [17]. With limited information to establish this plausibility, more research studies could help us to investigate it further.…”

“…Though there are limited prior studies revealing any caste-wise variation in seroprevalence, our finding suggests that OBC category people have higher seroconversion compared to other castes. According to a study by Mondal and Karmakar (2021), SC category people are most socially vulnerable group in this COVID pandemic followed by OBC and forward caste people indicating safer status of forward caste where as both SC and OBC are lagging behind reflecting the impact of social inequalities [17]. With limited information to establish this plausibility, more research studies could help us to investigate it further.…”

Caste and COVID‐19: Psychosocial disparities amongst rural Indian women during the coronavirus pandemic

“…Low‐caste communities may have less access to water due to caste‐based segregation or economic disadvantage and may not be able to afford practices such as frequently washing hands with soap. The difficulty in following such public health recommendations may lead to a greater experience of FOC (Mondal & Karmakar, 2021).…”

Deep care: The COVID‐19 pandemic and the work of marginal feminist organizing in India

“…Even Dalit women elected as local representatives in Kerala have their authority undermined constantly by local politicians and government officials while having to adhere to the regional gendered norms of respectability to hold on to their positions (Williams et al., 2015 ). These erasures caused by caste blindness had devastating impacts on caste minorities during COVID‐19, amplifying all existing social and economic inequities (Mondal & Karmakar, 2021 ).…”