Summary of Report of the Committee on Untouchability, Economic and Educational Development of the Scheduled Castes and Connected Documents, 1969

In 1969, the Indian Government established the Committee on Untouchability, Economic and Educational Development of the Scheduled Castes (CUED) to review the progress and make recommendations for the advancement of India’s Scheduled Castes. This Committee was tasked with producing a Report that would serve as an overarching reference document for understanding the current situation of Scheduled Castes in India, and for acting as a blueprint for improved social and economic integration. The Report thus brought together all available knowledge relating to the living standards and social conditions of India’s Scheduled Castes, in addition to formulating detailed recommendations for India’s policy makers and administrators. In terms of its main findings, the Report emphasized the consequences of continued discrimination and exclusion experienced by India’s Scheduled Castes, in particular their low levels of education and employment opportunities, exclusion from political decision-making, and extreme levels of impoverishment. The Report also highlighted the importance of removing structural barriers to social and economic advancement in order to enable greater Scheduled Caste integration. To this end, the Report called for greater investment in educational infrastructure and other forms of development assistance, as well as affirmative action measures such as quota systems. Overall, the Report was a significant step in the direction of enhancing Scheduled Caste development and integration in India. The Report set the stage for the Government to implement a number of policy recommendations and actions in support of Scheduled Caste development, leading to the eventual passage of the 1989 Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.