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The main of the constitution is to bring social equality.

This was expressed after independence in the form of Article 17 of the constitution which abolished the practice of untouchability and made it a punishable offence.

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Certain acts were declared as offences when done on grounds of untouchability.
Punishments for such offences like denial of admission to to any person to public institutions like the place of worship; schools, and hospitals; subjecting any person to disability with regard to access to any shop, hotel, or with regard to access to any shops, hotels, or with regard to use of sources or water, road, etc were formulated.

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The 17th Paragraph of the Indian Constitution states that untouchability is a punishable offence. The Untouchability Offences Act was passed by Indian Government in 1955 in which any person forcing the disabilities of untouchability can be sentenced to six months imprisonment or a fine of Rs. 500/- or both for his first offence.

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And for every subsequent attempt, the punishment involves imprisonment for more than 6 months as well. The act was actually passed seeing the discrimination in the society over caste. Amendments were made time to time to make the condition better, but all in vain.

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An amendment to the Act in 1976 declared the practice of untouchability a legal offence punishable by law through imprisonment for one to two years.

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The Dalit’s in India are the lower caste that live below the poverty line. There are 250 million Dalits in India-about 1/6th of the total population, and still we treat them as minorities. They are highly regarded as untouchables. The cases against Dalit violence is not new in the country but actually dig deep.

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The prohibition of untouchability in the Constitution has, this, been given a realistic and effective shape by this act.