Kolkata, January 9, 2011
Deprivation among Dalits remains high
V. Sridhar
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.
Madhura Swaminathan, Professor-in-charge, Social Sciences Division,
Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, and Shamsher Singh, a
research scholar at the ISI, demonstrated the inequality, in terms of
access to basic amenities such as housing, water, sanitation and
electricity, faced by Dalits. Based on "pooled data" from surveys of
12 villages in five States, they pointed out that about one-fourth of
Dalit households lived in kutcha houses and 30 per cent lived in
"single-room structures".
"There appears to be a strong statistical association between caste
and access to the basic amenities," Prof. Swaminathan observed.
Pointing out that public intervention "[did] make an impact," she said
the provision of homestead plots for Dalits was "central" to any
programme aimed at improving their quality of life.
Venkatesh Athreya, advisor, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation,
pointed out that the village surveys filled a serious gap in the data
required for studying agrarian relations in India. 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."
Another paper, drawing on official data sources, provided an account
of how Dalits' access to official credit sources has declined since
liberalisation. The seminar, which concluded on Saturday, was
organised by the Sociological Research Unit at the ISI. It was
supported by the ISI, the Indian Council of Social Science Research
and the Foundation of Agrarian Studies.
------------------------------------
----
INFORMATION OVERLOAD?
Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to ZESTMedia-digest@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/
PARTICIPATE:-
On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com
TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:-
If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to ZESTCaste-subscribe@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/
Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
ZESTCaste-digest@yahoogroups.com
ZESTCaste-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ZESTCaste-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
No comments:
Post a Comment