Caste shocker: Candidates appearing for police exam marked 'SC, ST and General' during medical in Madhya Pradesh

In a shocking instance of caste discrimination, candidates appearing for the post of constables in Madhya Pradesh, were 'marked' with their castes during a medical examination.

According to news agency ANI, candidates undergoing medical exams at a district hospital in Dhar had their castes – 'scheduled caste', 'scheduled tribe' and 'general' - written on their bare torso. 

The Superintendent of Police Birendra Singh called it a serious matter and said they had ordered an investigation.

Candidates for post of Constables labelled with their respective caste on their chest during medical examination at a district hospital in Dhar. Superintendent of Police Birendra Singh says, 'it is a serious matter & we have ordered investigation' #MadhyaPradesh pic.twitter.com/hKUbChuDSA

— ANI (@ANI) April 29, 2018

State DGP Rishi Kumar Shukla, who took cognizance of the matter told Hindustan Times that there was no bad intention behind the move.

He said: “It was done as a precautionary measure to ensure that there was transparency in the laid down norms for physical measurements of these categories. I have given instructions to the district police to remove the marking, if any, and to ensure there is no recurrence.”

District officials told HT that men were marked so as to give them the ‘benefit of the relaxation in selection norms and to avoid mixing of one section with another’.

In the medical exam, OBC and SC candidates should be at least 168 cm, while an ST candidate should be 160 cm. There is also relaxation for candidates in chest measurement. Civil surgeon Dr Khare, who is heading the medical board said the marking was done by the police department to identify candidates.

This isn’t the first time such an incident has occurred in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, in October 2016,  students were given schoolbags which helped identify their castes

These bags which were distributed among 250 of the 600 undergraduate and post-graduate SC/ST students, mentions that they have been distributed under the "SC/ST scheme".

A student who spoke to ANI said, "These bags lead to profiling, students not belonging to SC/ST look down on us and we face discrimination."

This incident came to forefront when the pictures of students with the bag started making rounds on social media.