New India, New Dalit

Context: The government is making efforts for the upliftment of the Dalit community.

Problems faced by Dalits in India

• Placed at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid.
• No substantial achievement related to health and education.
• Lack of representation: Dalit psyche was damaged, due to the rhetoric in the name of caste and token representation. Instead, they were provided with tokenism.

Government actions for the upliftment of Dalits

• Educational upliftment:  Education provides avenues for upward mobility, dignity and recognition.
  • Post-matric scholarship scheme for students from Scheduled Caste groups. The recent allocation of Rs 59,000 crore will benefit more than four crore students in the next five years. 
    • This will help the youth, pursuing higher education and are facing financial constraints and the lackluster attitude of state governments.
    • It will maximise the gross enrolment ratio of SC students in higher education and will help in their upward mobility.
• Development of villages with significant Dalit population: The government has identified 27,000 villages for focused implementation of welfare schemes to boost infrastructure and reduce socio-economic disparities.
• Economic upliftment:
  • Schemes like Stand-up India, Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA), venture capital fund for SCs and a credit enhancement guarantee plan.
  • Encouragement of entrepreneurship and self-employment:
    • “Be Job Givers and not Job Seekers”, is a leitmotif for the government.
    • Creating a network of incubation centres and an enabling financial assistance architecture.

Conclusion:  A New India which is deeply inclusive in its foundation, consultative in its approach and focused on making the country a leading light in the new world order shall be complemented with New Dalit having empowerment and representation instead of tokenism.