Empowering The Marginalized: Unveiling The Role of Law in Safeguarding Scheduled Caste Rights in India with The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Act, 2021

Abstract

In its constitution, India offers the legal frameworks for the oppressed Scheduled Castes (SCs), but horrible past concerns remain. The above-mentioned recent amendment of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order Act, 2021 is aimed at providing derasied castes state protections. The Amendment's influence is investigated in this research through official legal and social-legal methodologies. The research follows up the legal evolution of a period after fifty years and examines the effect on the welfare, economics, and political situation when the SCs were reclassified through the court judgments, statistics, academic literature and the activists’ viewpoints. Data shows the people afforded protection through this amendment grew from nearly 1.7 million. Afterwards, the benefits that were extended off-reservations became evident. For instance, in terms of recognition, people were now able to land jobs in the federal government, participate in voting and run for office. But at the same time disparity in status and mobility is sizable among them. As the internment of the advanced castes is meant to achieve equity, the newSCs members still have to face the rigid uprising of stigma and structural hurdles as regards healthcare, gender justice, education and employment. Caste-based prejudice still not only deeply stands social and institutionally, but also goes against the essence of social equality. The fact ongoing legislative expansion provides a showing state responsiveness is a true indication, but sustained equality needs multi-faceted legal and social reform efforts. A further indication for why categorization-based schemes are in need of amelioration and should be substituted by an intersectional policy generation is the implementation inconsistencies.