Rajesh Jatavad*, a supply driver for Zomato, a meals supply app in southern India, is nervous about his full title being displayed for patrons on the platform – as a result of his final title reveals that he belongs to a marginalized caste.
Extra privileged communities amongst India's caste system have traditionally thought-about castes similar to Jatavad 'untouchables'.
Jatavad's concern is predicated on lived expertise. “It’s simple for others to determine my caste from my surname. A few of the shoppers, after studying my surname from the app, don’t enable me close to them, and even [allow me to] hand over the meals package deal. They are going to inform me to place her down after which go away,” Rajesh informed Al Jazeera.
Then, in mid-March, his employer introduced a choice that threatens to make Jatavad's already perilous day by day battle in opposition to caste prejudice even more durable.
On March 19, Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato, said X social networking platform that the corporate was launching a “Pure Veg Mode with a Pure Veg fleet on Zomato, for patrons who’ve a 100% vegetarian dietary desire.”
“India has the most important proportion of vegetarians on this planet, and probably the most essential feedbacks we received from them is that they’re very specific about how they cook dinner their meals, and the way they deal with their meals,” he wrote
The Pure Veg Mode permits clients to select from a curated checklist of eating places that serve solely vegetarian meals and exclude eateries that serve any meat or fish. The Pure Veg fleet, Goyal introduced, will include riders who will solely carry meals from Pure Veg Mode eating places.
And sooner or later, Goyal wrote, the corporate plans to introduce different specialised fleets – a remark that left Jatavad anxious and that betrays, say sociologists, an ignorance of a fancy actuality that helps the large meals supply trade India-based app, valued at $7.4. bn in 2023.
Greater than half — 54.5 % — of supply employees belong to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, in response to a March 11 examine by the College of Pennsylvania.
These communities are designated “scheduled” by the federal government as a result of they’ve suffered centuries of discrimination and socioeconomic drawback. In India's caste-stratified society, they’re additionally usually related to being “unclean” by privileged castes.
Zomato's newest insurance policies might find yourself reinforcing these stereotypes and deepening discrimination in opposition to employees like Jatavad, sociologists and employees' rights advocates mentioned. There are 700,000 to 1 million meals supply employees on platforms like Zomato in India.
“If that occurs, I'm in bother”
Jatavad realized concerning the specialised fleets from a screenshot shared by his colleagues. Instantly, his thoughts went racing.
“' What’s the objective of the corporate? he mentioned. “Will they create fleets based mostly on faith and caste subsequent? If that occurs, I'm in bother.”
In his posts on X, Goyal defined his reasoning for the separate fleets. “As a result of regardless of everybody's efforts, typically the meals spills within the supply packing containers. In these circumstances, the odor of the earlier order travels to the following order and may result in the following order smelling the 'odor of the earlier order,' reasoned Goyal. “For that cause, we needed to separate the fleet for vegetable orders.”
Within the wake of pushback over the dangers the color-coded uniforms might pose to riders if neighborhoods who see unclean meat determine to assault or abuse supply employees, Goyal has backed down partly.
“All our riders – each our common fleet and our vegetarian fleet might be carrying the colour crimson,” he wrote in a follow-up submit. “It will be certain that our supply companions in crimson uniforms aren’t mistakenly related to non-veg meals and blocked by anybody throughout any special occasion… the bodily security of our riders is of prime significance to us” , mentioned his submit.
However whereas riders carrying vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals won’t be distinguishable by their uniform, they’ll nonetheless belong to completely different fleets — and clients will be capable of select the 'Pure Veg' fleet within the Zomato app.
The employees are nervous.
“At the moment, they’ll say veg and non-veg; tomorrow, they’ll convey up faith and caste,” mentioned Shaik Salauddin, nationwide normal secretary and co-founder of the Indian Federation of App-Primarily based Transport Staff (IFAT), a commerce union federation of ride-sharing and different transportation employees. Al Jazeera. “They are going to say, higher caste clients have requested for higher caste supply boys. It will create extra division among the many employees.”
Shaikh questioned why Zomato was plunging into delicate problems with meals and tradition in a rustic as numerous as India. “This firm divides individuals,” he mentioned. “In the event that they're right here to do enterprise, allow them to do enterprise.”
“Purity and Air pollution”
Requested by Al Jazeera concerning the supply employees' considerations, Zomato mentioned clients will be unable to decide on supply companions based mostly on the rider's dietary desire.
He added that “Zomato's onboard supply companions aren’t and can by no means be discriminated in opposition to on the premise of any standards (together with dietary/political/non secular preferences).”
However that's simpler mentioned than finished, in response to Mini Mohan, a sociologist based mostly within the southern Indian state of Kerala, who argued that by segregating vegetarian and non-vegetarian choices, Zomato was exploiting non secular divisions and caste based mostly.
“The caste system in India hyperlinks meals with purity and air pollution,” he mentioned. “Vegetarian meals is taken into account 'pure', whereas meat and occupations related to the decrease castes are thought-about 'impure.'” This shapes dietary practices, with the upper castes avoiding even caste-treated meals decrease”.
Zomato's strategy “not solely discriminates in opposition to sure teams, but in addition dangers widening social conflicts. When meals decisions dictate remedy, it creates conflicts and undermines social concord,” he added.
And the intersection of deep-rooted prejudices and meals supply is just not new to India – or to Zomato.
In 2019, Zomato confronted controversy when a buyer cancelled an order as a result of faith of the supply individual. Zomato's response, which emphasised that meals has no faith, was broadly praised on social media. 5 years later, the corporate is now on the opposite facet of the fence.
“Rise in Brahmin eating places”
The idea of pure and impure meals in Hinduism dates again to the Dharmasutras, Vedic texts written by numerous authors between 700 BC and 100 BC, TS Syam Kumar, a Sanskrit scholar and trainer and debater informed Al Jazeera .
“Dharmasutras are historical Indian texts that functioned as a information for dharma – an idea that features responsibility, justice and moral conduct. They’re thought-about the primary supply of Hindu legislation,” he mentioned.
Citing chapters of Dharmasutras, the scholar mentioned that the scriptures said that meals that has been touched by an impure individual turns into impure, however is just not rendered unfit to be eaten. Alternatively, meals introduced by a Shudra – the bottom degree of the standard caste hierarchy – is just not match to be eaten.
The caste system usually associates deprived conventional castes with meat consumption and considers them “polluted”, justifying their social exclusion. Additionally it is true in Kerala, a state usually seen as a progressive bastion in India.
Kerala, too, he mentioned, “has witnessed a rise in Brahmin eating places.”
“Individuals give precedence to purchasing sure manufacturers of substances with higher caste names,” mentioned Kumar.
In the meantime, Shashi Bellamkonda, a advertising and marketing skilled and former hotelier mentioned that Zomato's controversial strategy is a results of communication failure and never understanding the client.
“As an alternative of introducing a separate 'Pure Veg Mode' and 'Pure Veg Fleet', the corporate might have centered on enhancing its current processes to make sure that vegetarian orders are handled with the identical care and a spotlight because the non-vegetarian orders,” he mentioned. . “And he communicated that to clients.”
* Identify modified to protect anonymity
