Dalits in India : search for a common destiny / Sukhadeo Thorat ; with assistance from Prashant Negi, M. Mahamallik and Chittaranjan Senapati.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thorat, Sukhadeo.

Contributor:

John G. Hartman Memorial Library Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dalits--India.

Dalits.

India.

India--Social conditions.

Social conditions.

India--Economic conditions.

Economic conditions.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 313 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New Delhi ; Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE, 2009.

Summary:

Destiny explores the status of Dalits in the country by presenting all-India and state-level analyses of various human development and related social and economic indicators. It provides a comprehensive understanding of the processes and dynamics that exclude them from mainstream development and are causative of their relative peripheral position.

This first-of-its-kind study examines dimensions such as demography, gender, levels and patterns of urbanisation, occupational patterns, ownership of income earning assets like agricultural land and business, situation of rural labour, employment and unemployment, employment under reservations in the public sector, incidence of poverty, literacy and education levels, health status and access to healthcare facilities, access to civil amenities like housing and the status of civil rights, with a Particular emphasis on the practice of untouchability, social discrimination and atrocities.

This book, besides presenting the present status of Dalits in India, also studies the change in their status and comes up with suggestions for improvement in their lives. It would be a rich resource for researchers, students and policy makers, and all those concerned with issues related to poverty, social exclusion and marginality.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

The scheduled castes: Who are they? 1

History of social legislations in India 3

The government approach to dalit empowerment 4

Focus of the study 6

Database 7

2 Government Strategy against Discrimination and for Empowerment 9

Constitutional safeguards 10

Reservation policy 13

Educational policies 16

Policies and programmes for economic development 23

Administrative set-up for implementation and monitoring 31

Financial mechanisms 34

3 Demographic Profile 40

Population size and changes 40

Gender distribution of the SC population 42

Level and pattern of urbanisation 43

Summary 44

4 Occupational Pattern 46

Sectoral distribution of the rural workforce 46

Rural occupational pattern in the agricultural sector 48

Rural occupational structure in the non-agricultural sector 50

Urban occupational pattern 51

Summary 52

5 Access to Agricultural Land 54

Pattern of landownership 54

Disparities in landownership 55

Summary 56

6 Rural Wage Labour 57

Magnitude of wage labour 57

Landownership background of rural and agricultural labour households 59

Wage rates in agricultural and non-agricultural employment 61

Summary 61

7 Employment and Unemployment 63

Rural employment: Level and disparity (1999/2000) 63

Changes in the level of rural employment (1983-1999/2000) 64

Urban employment: Level and disparity (1999/2000) 65

Changes in the level of urban employment (1983-1999/2000) 66

Rural unemployment: Level, disparity and change 66

Urban unemployment: Level, disparity and change 68

Summary 69

8 Employment under Reservation 71

Representation in government services, 1960-2003 71

Representation in public sector enterprises, 1971-2004 76

Representation in public sector banks, 1978-2004 80

Representation in insurance companies, 1993-2000 82

Total employment in government jobs 84

Summary 84

9 Rural Poverty: Magnitude and Change 86

Persistent rural poverty: Situation in 2000 87

Changes in the levels of poverty by social groups 89

Causes of persistent rural poverty: Some reflections 90

Factors governing poverty of social groups 93

Summary 95

10 Literacy and Education Levels 97

Literacy and educational attainments 97

School enrolment and dropout rates 100

Higher education 104

Summary 108

11 Health Status and Utilisation of Healthcare 110

Infant and child mortalities 110

Nutritional status 112

Child healthcare 113

Maternal healthcare 115

Disparities among the social groups 117

Summary 120

12 Access to Civil Amenities: Housing, Water and Electricity 122

Housing amenities 122

Household amenities 125

Summary 127

13 Practice of Untouchability and Atrocities 129

The practice of untouchability: Contemporary evidence 130

Economic discrimination 138

Atrocities on SCs: Nature and pattern 144

Summary 149

14 Conclusion and Policy Directions 151

Purpose 151

Positive improvements but disparities persist 152

Policy directions 153.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the John G. Hartman Memorial Library Fund.

ISBN:

9780761935735

0761935738

OCLC:

276228891