Untouchable?

Synopsis: Veerasamy lives in a small village in southern India where all the inhabiants are dalits - outcasts or ‘untouchables’ as they’re known in India. But even among the dalits, there are divisions, and Veerasamy belongs to the lowest scale of the hierarchy. The only payment he receives for back-breaking work, washing and steaming and drying the village’s laundry, is to receive the left-overs from their meals to feed his small family. Discrimination based on caste membership has been, theoretically, illegal since India first gained independence in 1947, but it’s an accepted part of everyday life across the continent. Whole families of dalit people exist effectively as bonded or slave labourers, cutting up rocks with their bare hands in a Tamil Nadu quarry.There are an estimated 100 million child labourers in India. Human rights organsations are now taking up the dalits’ cause and are calling for the end to this system of discrimination
Series: Life, Series
Language: English
Country: India
Year of production: 2000
Subjects: Development studies
Keywords: caste system; India

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