I come from a village in UP and I have seen and felt the horrid conditions of Dalits. They are still looked down upon. From my childhood i have seen only one change that they are no longer treated as untouchables and they dont die of hunger but they are still outcaste. Look at jitan Manjhi, the CM of Bihar, who visited a temple and later it was cleaned with ganga water. Since he is CM it became a news but even when an upper caste hindu Police Inspector of a Thana, takes charge from a dalit incumbent, he also does the same to his office by cleaning with holy water and performing some pooja. Can you sense the underlying discrimination and hatred? If a Dalit CM is treated like that what will be happening to others? His children may not need reservation from economic point of view but from social perspective they definitely need constitutional intervention.
I personally support all constitutional privileges to the people of dalit community and tribals and they dont belong to my religion. For the rest its debatable.
You must know the basis of reservation given to dalits. Its purely social basis not economical. Their economic backwardness is only a by product of their social exploitation. Reservation is given to them to instil self-respect in them and make them feel like humans and be part of the mainstream society. After 67 years of freedom, there are still incidences of their ihuman treatment by the so-called civilized people and they are still not into mainstream.
Majority of India is rural and atrocities are more in rural areas but not limited to villages only. I just gave an example of Bihar CM jitan Manjhi and find out if being rich or being powerful has changed his status.
Dalits account for about 25% of Indian population but they do not even have 2.5% resources of the nation. Illiteracy, malnutrition, infant mortality, poverty, exploitation are highest in this community. If one thing that really makes me ashamed of my country is the condition of dalits. Muslims are poor too and they also are discriminated but not like them. If any reform is needed of this 67 year old framework that is to expedite the process of their upliftment.