26 Sep, 2010, 10.38AM IST, Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar,ET Bureau
Dalits are marching ahead in Uttar Pradesh
Are you among those who think record GDP growth has done nothing for
dalits ? Think again. A seminal paper, "Rethinking Inequality : Dalits
in UP in the Market Reform Era" by Devesh Kapur, CB Prasad, Lant
Pritchett and D Shyam Babu, reveals a veritable dalit revolution after
1990 in Uttar Pradesh, long viewed as a sink of caste oppression.
The media remains full of stories of caste oppression, inequalities
and lousy economic and social indicators. Without doubt, dalits remain
close to the bottom of the income ladder. Nevertheless, the new study
reveals huge improvements in economic and social terms, based on
questions to capture realities that dalits themselves view as
important . The survey covered all dalit households in two blocks in
UP, one in the relatively prosperous west (Khurja) and one in the
backward east (Bilariaganj), between 1990 and 2008.
The dalit proportion with pucca houses rose from 18.1% to 64.4% in the
east and from 38.4% to 94.6% in the west. TV ownership improved from
virtually zero to 22.2% and 45% respectively. Cellphone ownership
increased from almost nothing to 36.3% and 32.5% respectively.
Fan ownership, curbed by electricity shortages, rose to 36.7% and
61.4% respectively . Bicycle ownership has become ubiquitous , up from
46.6% to 84.1% in the east and from 37.7 to 83.7% in the west.
A motorcycle symbolizes high rural status . Dalit ownership of
two-wheelers improved from almost zero to 7.6% and 12.3% respectively.
NSS consumption surveys consider purchases only in a short pre-survey
period, and so miss durables acquired over the years.
In times of distress, dalits historically mortgaged jewellery to upper
caste lenders. The proportion that does so has dropped from 75.8% to
29.3% in the east and from 64.6% to 21.2% in the west.
Dalits have switched from inferior foods (broken rice, jaggery ras) to
superior foods (whole rice, pulses, tomatoes). The proportion eating
roti-chutney for lunch, socially viewed as low-class food, has fallen
from 82% to just 2% and 9% in the two zones. The proportion of kids
eating the previous night's leftovers plummeted from 95.9% to just
16.2% in the east. The proportion eating broken rice fell from 54% to
2.6% in the east, and from 22.7% to 1.1% in the west.
Per capita availability of dal in India has been falling. So it's
heartening that dalits consuming dal are up from 31% to 90% in the
east, and from 60.1% to 96.9% in the west. This may be one cause for
rising dal prices. Consumption of jaggery ras, usually drunk by the
poorest, has collapsed. Meanwhile dalit consumption of packaged salt,
elaichi and tomatoes has shot up.
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