No they are not Feb 2012 is recent:
Only recently, on 15 February 2012, at Daulatpur village in Haryana's Uklana region, a Dalit youth had to face the wrath of an upper caste when in a bid to quench his thirst he drank water from a pot located on his premises. Once his caste became known, his hand was chopped off with a sickle. Even though we are living in the 21 century and make claims of having the world's largest democracy, there is little change in the attitude of the upper caste towards Dalits, literate or illiterate.
shame on you for trying to minimise the suffering of dalits