Despite Article 17, caste-based exclusion from temples persists. Analyse the reasons and suggest remedies.

Article 17 abolishes untouchability and forbids its practice "in any form" [2]. Yet a century after C. Murugesan, an SC devotee, was acquitted in 1925 for entering the Tiruchanoor temple's sanctum [4], exclusion from temples continues. This is mainly because the law is not enforced, not because the law is missing.

Reasons for persistence

• Social: Purity-pollution norms survive most strongly in village temples run by dominant castes. The barrier has shifted from the priest and the colonial court to the local community. This makes the barrier informal and hard to prosecute.
• Enforcement gap: NCRB recorded only 24 cases under the PCR Act across India in 2023 [1]. Media reports of exclusion are far more frequent than this, which suggests heavy under-reporting.
• Judicial delay: 965 PCR Act cases are pending in courts [1], which is roughly 40 times the number filed in a year. Victims see little reason to complain.
• Administrative: District officials often treat exclusion as a law-and-order dispute. They broker "peace agreements" between communities instead of registering FIRs, so the law's deterrent effect is lost.
• Legal-constitutional: Article 25(2)(b) lets the State open Hindu public temples to all [2]. It has to be balanced against Article 26 denominational rights, and customary claims are often used to justify exclusion.
• Evidence deficit: The Ministry of Social Justice's last major evaluation of the PCR Act was the NLSIU study sanctioned in 2004 [1]. Policy is being made without current data.

Remedies

• Register, don't reconcile: Police should invoke Section 3, PCR Act, which punishes the enforcement of religious disabilities [3], instead of mediating settlements.
• Speed up trials: Special courts and fixed timelines would clear the backlog of pending cases.
• Fresh survey: A new village-level survey by the Ministry would map where exclusion actually happens.
• Inclusive temple governance: SC members should sit on trust boards, and priest training should be open to all castes.
• Social mobilisation: Commemorations such as the Tiruchanoor centenary [4] should reach village temples where exclusion continues, turning symbolism into pressure for change.
• Awareness: Gram sabhas and schools should teach the constitutional value of fraternity.

The problem is weak enforcement and entrenched social norms, not a missing law. Strict application of the PCR Act, faster justice and social reform together can deliver the Preamble's promise of dignity and fraternity. They would also advance SDG 10 (reduced inequalities) and complete the work that the 1925 acquittal began.