Demographic status:
According to 2011 Census Buddhist constitute of 0.70% of country’s total population. The overwhelming number of Buddhists are in Maharashtra as compared with only a few hundreds in other States. The staggering Buddhist population in Maharashtra was due to the initiative of one man Dr.B.R.Ambedkar.
Social Status:
Buddhist in India were a two-tier structure and not the conventional four-fold Varna system. In the upper type were placed the Brahmins, Kshatriyas & certain categories of Gruhapatis and in the lower tier were tribal and other marginal groups. The divisions of Buddhist into the Mahayapa and Heenayana were based on doctrinal difference and do not represent a graduation in society.
Economic Status:
Buddhists belong to different economic categories. Those in the upper category follow their traditional occupations even to day. Some of them have entered Govt-jobs and private jobs. Among the tribal & marginal groups some follow their traditional occupations & some of them entered public & private establishments mostly on account of reservations and rarely on account of merit consideration. The Mehars in Maharashtra and the Scheduled caste in AP, UP & MP who became neo-Buddhists of Dalits are small fanners, agricultural workers, daily wage earners, Some of them have entered Govt, service on the basis of constitutional benefits.
Conversions:
Having considered the possibility of conversion to several non-Hindu religions Ambedkar finally took diksha in Nagpur on 14th Oct 1956 at the hands of the oldest Buddhist monks in India. Then he administered a simple conversion ceremony to an estimated around of 4 lakhs. The Buddhist conversion movement then spread to MP, Punjab & UP particularly to those areas where Ambedkar the political party namely tire All India SC Federation found by Ambedkar had some direct influence. However, by the next decade 1961-71 the tempo of conversion increased and the percentage of Buddhists during this period was only 17.33 % The neo-Buddhists, the low caste converts to Buddhism, celebrated the 25th anniversary of “Ambedkar diksha on 6th Oct 1981 to mass conversion. R.s.Gavai who led this mass conversion claimed that 31 lakhs embraced Buddhism on that day. The figure were contested by some but even the parsimonious estimate of Prakash Ambedkar, a grandson of B.R. Ambedkar and an official of the Buddhist Society of India puts it at 1 lakh.50thousand. Conversion as an escape route from ritual degradation and caste oppression is not known in Indian history. Both Christian and Islam grew through conversions from low castes, but converted to Buddhism is distinct in several ways.
Buddhist converts are episodic rather than systematic. This is due to the absence of missionary organisation systematically involved in conversions. Buddhist Converts are largely single caste affair For example. Mahars in Maharashtra, Chamars in UP and some Scheduled Caste population in Andhra Pradesh come under this categories. The converts have not joined an already established large organisation and but are themselves building a new religious organisation.
Conversion is not simply a religious act but also a political move in that most new Buddhist are also involved in political party. After the deatli of Ambedkar in 1956, All India Scheduled Caste Federation was disbanded and Republican Party of India was formed in 1957. This party is closely associated with new Buddhists consisting mainly of the erst-while Mahars of Maharashtra, and Jathavas of U.P. In 1970 the Republican Party of India was split into two factions. By 1972, a group of young men mainly drawn from Mahars who identify themselves as Buddhists formed themselves into tire active group of “Dalit Panthers”. The later group is spear heading to emancipate the oppressed in India from the cumulative dominance they have been subjected to for centuries.