Death of Merit: Caste and Education,"... B.R. Ambedkar wrote: ‘It is the education which is the right weapon to cut the social slavery and it is the education which will enlighten the downtrodden masses to come up and gain social status, economic betterment and political freedom’. The Dalit students from Hyderabad Central University to IIT Madras have overcome insurmountable odds to achieve education that is systematically denied their community. ..."

Shiva Shankar

"... B.R. Ambedkar wrote: ‘It is the education which is the right weapon to cut the social slavery and it is the education which will enlighten the downtrodden masses to come up and gain social status, economic betterment and political freedom’. The Dalit students from Hyderabad Central University to IIT Madras have overcome insurmountable odds to achieve education that is systematically denied their community. ..."

It is the casteist teacher (more often than not a 'dwija' brahmin/kayasth) who is today's criminal dronacharya, who demands more than a thumb:

"... Among them is Mansi, a student of class two. Mansi has a startling revelation: the principal forced her to dispose off the carcass of a puppy. When she refused to do so she was brutally caned. That is not all, she is also regularly made to sweep the school premises.  ... 'Teachers and administration make it difficult for us to obtain everything from entry into labs, library books, scholarships to job opportunities. We are made to run around from one office to another for the signatures, for scholarships to be released, for food and everything else. I always felt we were deliberately kept in desperation mode right at the edge of meeting our needs.' ..."

Death of Merit: Caste and Education by Madhura Chakraborty (with powerful videos by Video Volunteers staff)

In Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh, a primary school accommodates students from nearby villages. Among them is Mansi, a student of class two. Mansi has a startling revelation: the principal forced her to dispose off the carcass of a puppy. When she refused to do so she was brutally caned. That is not all, she is also regularly made to sweep the school premises. Investigation reveals that many children like Mansi are forced to perform menial tasks like this in school. The reason? They belong to the Dalit community. The principal, in her interview, admits to asking Mansi to clean and dispose of dead animal. But it is clear from her expression that she thinks this is acceptable. ...

... Caste based discrimination is pervasive, not just in the actual institutions of education but even in accessing basic standards of living that enables attainment of rights. The UNICEF report from 2014 notes that in ‘areas with a concentration of SC, ST or Muslim communities, civic services like electricity supply, water supply, etc. are poor. The provision of schooling facilities is also deficient’. A report from Bihar by a Community Correspondent shows that a Dalit village has not had access to electricity for over a decade. The school-going children interviewed say that they are forced to study during the day because it’s very difficult to study by lamp light. And often evenings in the village are spent in complete darkness when there’s a shortage of kerosene disbursed through the Public Distribution System.

But why is such pervasive discrimination invisible? We live in a time when only the goriest of caste atrocities make front page news–so common the violence. The National Crime Records Bureau reported a 19% rise in crimes against Dalits between 2013 and 2014. And yet this doesn’t evoke outrage in middleclass urban Indians. Instead, the only way caste makes its way into our metropolitan existences is in decrying caste-based reservation quotas. A simple search with the terms ‘anti reservation’ on Facebook reveals pages and communities with up to ten thousand members. ...