Deprivation among Dalits remains high (The Hindu)
“A series of papers presented at the national seminar on ‘Dalit households in village economies’ painted a grim picture of deprivation among Dalits in rural India. These papers, based on a series of village studies since 2004, pointed to Dalits’ relatively poor access to official sources of credit, their lack of command over assets and amenities, and lower levels of employment and income.
“Commenting on the papers, Abhijit Sen, member, Planning Commission, pointed out that the value of these village studies — conducted by the Foundation of Agrarian Studies (FAS) and other researchers — was enhanced by the fact that they were not aimed at finding out how Dalits were faring exclusively in socio-economic terms. Instead, the extent and nature of deprivation among Dalits was being demonstrated as a part of a study of agrarian relations in the country, in which caste played an important role.
“Drawing on data from all the village surveys conducted by the FAS, Vikas Rawal, Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, pointed out that ownership of land accounted for an overwhelming proportion of the value of assets among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. There is ‘a huge disparity’ in the levels of landholdings between the two social groups, he observed.
“[...] V.K. Ramachandran, Professor at the Sociological Research Unit, ISI, Kolkata, said, ‘Caste not only matters, but is right up there as a major explanation for inequality.’”
See also:
‘Agrarian question linked to Dalit discrimination’ (The Hindu, January 8, 2011)
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