Poverty and Social Exclusion in India : Dalits

Das, Maitreyi Bordia ; Mehta, Soumya Kapoor

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: CASTE;    UNTOUCHABLES;    SCHEDULED CASTES;    POVERTY;    EDUCATION;   

RP-ID  :  114155

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This brief is based on a Poverty andSocial Exclusion in India.Caste is perhaps the oldest formof social stratificationin India.After independence, theIndian Constitution abolisheduntouchability and theerstwhile untouchablescame to be known as the ScheduledCastes(SCs).The situation of Dalits has undergone dramatictransformation over time.While caste has had significantimplications for poverty and other welfare outcomes, thisnote focuseson two arenas—education and the labor market.Ouranalysis based on the National Sample Survey(NSS) datasuggests that there has been expansion in education amongDalits, but not at the samepace as among the uppercastes.Micro studies continue to document discriminationagainst SC students. In the labor market, Dalits remainlargely in casuallabor. Education is considered a panacea topoor labor market outcomes and overall it has positiveeffects for all men.It would nevertheless be naïve todismiss the changes in caste dynamics, more so over the pasttwo decades. Attendant to the economic changes, socialmovements asserting the power of Dalits have swept somestates and have given Dalits a sense of political voice andagency. In sum, we find that despite localized changes,therehave been modest changes for Dalits in the aggregate.