124

CHAPTER 3
REVEW OF LITERATURE ON SCHEDULED CASTE

Indian society is highly stratified, with many glaring inequalities among

different social groups. The worst positioned among them are the Dalits and tribals. The
caste system segregated the Dalits from the rest of the society to such an extent that they
were denied even the basic human rights that one must enjoy in order to ensure one’s
bare assistance. The caste system has created and sustained an unequal opportunity
structure, which is an anathema to the egalitarian principles, which are the basis of a
modern democratic society. What is worse, it intensifies and perpetuates the sufferings
and servitude of disadvantage caste class groups by reducing their access to development
benefits vis-a-vis the higher caste class groups.1 Thus, after the five decades of planned
economic development and all the rhetoric of the socialistic pattern of society, the
economic status of these communities is pathetic. Importantly, the Dalits came to be
placed at the lowest rung of the hierarchical caste order from where there was no scope
for upward mobility. Moreover, religious injunctions blunt even the limited scope for
resistance. Thus, the power and privilege accorded to the upper castes in the ‘Varna’
social order in course of time resulted in the appropriation of wealth and resources. Since
wealth, power and resources were under their disposal, they could have more resources,
these resources could be converted into power, and power ensured acquisition of
resources.2 In the ultimate analysis resources, wealth, power, position, privileges, higher
status, authority, education, employment, services, land and labour got

1. Mungekar, B.L., State, Market and the Dalits: Analytics of the New Economic
Policy, in S.M. Michael (ed.), Dalits in Modern India : Culture and Vision, Sage
Publications India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1999,Pp.287-302).

2. Louis,Prakash, The political sociology of Dalit Assertion,Gyan Publishing House,

New Delhi, 2003,p.53
 125

concentrated in the hands of upper castes landed gentry. 3 The Dalits and the down
trodden of the society on the other hand were denied any place in the society and were
out casted not only in terms of physical space, social distance but also from the mindset.
Above all, they were denied and deprived from economic resources, political
participation, social interaction and cultural articulation. 4 The Indian Constitution has
made provisions for the weaker sections while various acts and legal provisions were
made for protection, development and welfare and weaker sections including scheduled
castes in India. The constitutional measures conceived in favour of the welfare of the
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes can be grouped under three areas:
 (i) Development measures;
 (ii) Protective measures;
 (iii) Positive discrimination measures.
 Development measures include centrally sponsored schemes for educational,
economic and cultural development. The Special Component Plan was adopted in 1979-
80 onwards for the developments and welfare of the Scheduled Castes. The Scheduled
Caste Finance and Development Corporation’s (SCFDC’s) was established in 1979 to
encourage interfere between the poor scheduled caste entrepreneurs and the financial
institutions in respect of bankable schemes of economic development. Similarly, National
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation were
established in 1989 to play a major role in promoting self-employment and to develop
entrepreneurial and skilled abilities among the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes. The
National Scheme of Liberation and Rehabilitation of Scavengers and their Dependents,
which was launched in March 1992, have been extended up to Eleventh Five Year Plan
period. Importantly, the National Safai Karmcharis Finance & Development Corporation
has been made operative on January 24, 1997 to promote economic development/ self
employment for the training in technical and entrepreneurial skills and extending loans to
students from the Safai Karmchari Community for pursuing higher education.

3. Ibid
4. Ibid,p.54
 126

Significantly, the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, National Commission for Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes, established in 1990, are a few examples of legal measures for the
protection of interest of weaker sections. The positive discrimination measures are known
as reservation in education at institutions, reservation of services and post in government
services and reservation of seats in the legislatures.

Review of Literature

The present work is an attempt to assess the socio economic status of the most
deprived, excluded, downtrodden section of the society to whom the economic
development bypassed because of their socio-economic isolation. It differs from existing
literature by differences in geographic coverage, time span, and use of self-reported
household benefits across a broad range of programmes. Socio- Economic Status can be
defined as ranking of the family in the surroundings to which the family belongs, in
respect of defined variables viz., physical assets, economic status, education, occupation,
social position, social participation, caste, muscle power, political influence, etc. 5 Socio-
economic status influences the accessibility, affordability, acceptability and actual
utilization of various available facilities. There have been several attempts to develop
different scales to measure the socio-economic status. The earliest attempts to find out the
social class of an individual were from the standpoint of psychologists.

5. Tiwari, S.C., Kumar Aditya, Kumar Ambrish, “Development & standardization

of a scale to measure socio-economic status in urban & rural communities in
India”, Indian Journal of Medical Research, 122, October 2005, pp 309-314
 127

Cattell (1942), in his article6 mentioned about five most important definers of
social status namely prestige rating, intelligence quotient, income (annual), years of
education and inter-correlated them with 25 occupations.

Based on social status, Cantril (1943)7 classified the American people into upper,
upper middle, middle lower middle and lower social classes. He concluded that there is
by no means a close one to one correspondence between each social class identification
and income group identification.

Warner, et. al., (1960)8 used two methods to provide accurate measurement of
____
social class. These methods are (i) Evaluated Participation Method and (ii) Index of
Status Characteristics Method. Evaluated participation comprised several rating
techniques based on the proposition that those who interact in the social system of a
community evaluate the participation of those around them and that the members of a
community are explicitly or implicitly aware of their rankings and translate their
evaluation of such social participation into social class ratings. The Index of Status
Characteristics used occupation, source of income, house type and dwelling area, which
are then rated on a seven-point scale.

Based on Index of Social Position, Hollingshed, et. al., (1958)9 placed individuals and
families in different classes. This index used three indicators namely i) residential address
of the household, ii) the occupational position of its head, and iii) the years of school the
head of the family had completed.

6. Cattell, R.B., The Concept of Social Status, Journal of Social Psychology, 15,
1942, Pp.293-308.

7. Cantirl, H., Identification with social and economic class, Journal of Abnormal
and Social Psychology, American Psychological Association, 1943, P.38.

8. Warner W.L., Meeken, M., & Eells, K.,(ed.) ,Social class in America. A manual
of procedures for measure of social status, Harper Torch books, Harper and
Brothers Publishers. New York. 1960, Pp.1-44.

9. Hollingshead, A.B., and Redlich, F.C.,(ed.), Social class and mental illness, New
John Wiley and Sons Inc, London, 1958, P.158.
 128

In Indian studies, the classification of British Registrar General based on

occupation was tried earlier. In the later period Prasad’s (1961) 10 classification based on
per capita monthly income and later modified in 1968 and 1970 has been extensively
used. Nowadays Kuppuswami scale (1981)11 is widely used to measure the socio-
economic status of an individual in urban community based on three variables namely
education, occupation and income. The modification of Kuppuswami scale (Mahajan,
1995)12 meant to determine the socio-economic status of family based on education,
occupation of head of the family and per capita income per month. Recently, Mishra, et.
al., (2003)13 have suggested an economic revision of Kuppuswami's scale in order to
account for the devaluation of rupee.

In the rural areas, Pareekh (1981)14 classified the socio-economic status in the
rural areas based on nine characteristics namely caste, occupation of family head,
education of family head, level of social participation of family head, landholding,
housing, farm power, material possessions and type of family.

10. Prasad, B.G., Social Classification of Indian families, Journal of Indian Medical
Association, 1961; Pp.250-251.
11. Kuppuswami B. Mannual of socio economic scale (Urban). Mansayan 32, Netaji
Subhash Marg, Delhi. 1981.
12. Mahajan, B.K., Gupta, M.C., Text book of Preventive and Social Medicine.
Jaypee Brothers, Delhi. Third Edition, 1995, Pp.134-135.
13. Mishra, D. Singh, H.P. Kuppuswami's socio-economic status scale: A Revision.
Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 2003; Pp.273-274.
14. Pareekh, U., Mannual of socio-economic status (rural), Mansayan, 32, Netaji
Subhash Marg, Delhi,1981.
 129

In this context, it is worth mentioning of some other studies related to socio-

economic status scale. Bharadwaj Scale on students (2001),15 Srivastava scale (1978),16
Kulshrestha Scale (1972),17 Jalota, et.al. Scale on urban families (1970)18 Shirpurkar
Scale (1967)19 and Rahudkar’s Scale on farm families (1960)20

After review of literature it was felt that the currently available scales were either
outdated or there was a need for redefinition of some relevant items for indicating the
socio-economic status accurately. Moreover, these scales were developed on smaller
samples drawn from sub-strata of population and not on larger representative cross-
section of the community; each scale has its own merits and demerits.

However, the instrument developed by Agrawal, O.P., et. al., (2005)21 is

applicable for both urban as well as rural families. Moreover, the instrument has been
developed for all sections of the Society. Various scales developed by different

15. Bhardwaj, R. L., Manual for Socio-economic status scale, National Psychological
Corporation, Agra, 2001.

16. Srivastava G.P. Socio-economic Status Scale (Urban) Agra: National

Psychological Corporation, Agra, 1978.

17. Kulshrestha S.P., Day, P., Socio-economic Status Scale (Urban) form-A, National
Psychological Corporation, Agra, 1972.

18. Jalota, S., Pandey, R.N., Kapoor, S.D., Singh, R.N., (ed.), Socio-economic status
scale questionnaire (Urban), New Delhi: Psycho-Centre, 1970.

19. Shirpurkar, G.R.I., Construction and standardization of a scale for measuring

status for farm families. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 1967, Pp. 16-24.

20. Rahudkar, W. B., A scale for measuring socio-economic status of Indian farm
families, Agricultural College Magazine, Nagpur 1960, p. 34.

21. Agrawal, O.P., Bhasin, S.K., Sharma, A.K., Chhabra, P., Agrawal, K., Rajoura,
O.P., (ed.), “ A New Instrument (Scale) for Measuring the Socioeconomic Status
of a Family: Preliminary Study,” Indian Journal of Community
Medicine,Vol.30.No.4, October-December, 2005, Pp.111-114.)

researcher mentioned above to measure socio- economic status of any section of the
society individually focuses on different variables. Total number of variables is more
 130

than twenty. However, NSSO22 uses very peculiar profile termed as MPCE (Monthly Per
Capita Expenditure) of a household to assess the socio-economic status of a section of the
society. This profile is best suitable for the purpose because directly or indirectly it
incorporates all variables used in various scales mentioned above. That is why beside
other variables, MPCE has been used in this work to analyze the socio-economic status of
Scheduled Caste people in the rural areas of Assam with special reference to the district
of Nagaon, the central region of Assam.

Many studies and research surveys have been carried out by various academic
institutions, which depict the status of scheduled caste in India. These studies are done
generally on macro level but there is paucity of empirical data, literature and studies,
which can be utilized for the analysis at micro level as well as to assess the impact of
programmes and policies on the status of scheduled castes in India and particularly in
Uttar Pradesh. In this part of report, an attempt has been made to review the pertinent
literature to find the academic gaps and suggesting the areas of future research.

Bhadra (1989)23 in his study on Caste and Class: Social Stratification in Assam,
has analyzed the structure and process of social stratification in Assam theoretically,
historically and empirically. He showed that the social structure of Assam consists of
various castes and Hinduised and semihinduised tribes. The synthesis of three traditions:
Orthodox Hinduism, Vaishnava Sectarianism and Tribalism have moulded the

22. NSSO Report No 514, 61st Round Survey, 2004-05.

23. Bhadra, K. Ranjit, CASTE AND CLASS: Social Stratification in Assam, Hindustan
Publishing Corporation, New Delhi, 1991 Pp.1-173.
 131

stratification system in a unique form displaying simultaneously rigidity, flexibility,

mobility and egalitarianism. The forces of modernization have further affected this plural
structure in recent years.

Chetty (1991)24 in his study on Scheduled Castes and Development Programmes

in India, stated that the failure of the big industries strategy compelled the Indian planners
to switch over to growth with social justice strategy and this strategy required
programmes of reducing absolute poverty. Chetty in his study on Integrated Rural
Development Project (IRDP) in Andhra Pradesh has found that the majority of the
scheduled castes in rural areas are still engaged in traditional low status occupation and
very few of them own land. He has found that the amount of loan sanctioned to this group
was inadequate and some of these beneficiaries found it very difficult to produce surplus
income. He also highlighted the inadequacy of follow-ups of programmes and recovery
of loan sanctioned.

Singh (1995)25 in his paper on Social Justice and Reservation Policy in Uttar
Pradesh concluded that the state has been a nerve centre for Indian political but the
segment of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBC population (around 60 per cent)
still suffer from alienation, inferiority and socio-economic status. Despite the provision of
reservations in government, Public sector and private, the share of SC’s and OBC’s has
been found to be very low in comparison to high castes. The ruling elite are still
constituted by the higher castes and especially by Brahmins. Since economic and political
development are the two important pillars of social justice, unless depressed classes get
their due share in these fields, social justice in real sense will not be achieved.

24. Chetty, V. B. Krishnaiah, Scheduled Castes And Development Programmes In

India, Vohra Publishers & Distributors , Indraprastha, Delhi,1991.

25. (Singh, A.K., Social Justice & Reservation Policy in Uttar Pradesh, Contemporary
Social Work, Lucknow University, Lucknow, Vol. XII, April, 1995.)
 132

Lakshmaiah et. al (1995)26 in their study on programmes for scheduled caste

labourers have examined whether the benefits of development are reaching the targeted
group and evaluated the efficacy of existing programmes.
27
Michael (1999) in his edited volume on Dalits in Modern India stated that one of
the profound changes in contemporary Indian Society has been the emergence of a new
sense of identity among the Dalits. The Dalit Movement not only rejects the vary ideas of
pollution, impurity and untouchability but in the process is forging a new vision for
Indian society which is different from that espoused by the higher castes. The volume
explores the social, economic, political and cultural content of the Dalit articulation and
its relevance for the nation.

Singh (2000)28 in his study on Dalit women in Uttar Pradesh highlighted the issues of
socio-economic conditions of scheduled caste female sweepers and scavengers in the
municipal bodies of Uttar Pradesh. He lamented upon the poor status of scheduled castes
females and rehabilitation of Scheduled Caste female sweepers and scavengers in the
state.
Jogdand (2000)29 in his edited volume on New Economic Policy and Dalits stated
that the package of macro-economic policies advocates the withdrawal of state
involvements in the social sectors. The evidences suggest that this has produced adverse
effects on marginalized sectors. The volume contained the papers on economic reforms
and dalits, economic reforms and their impact on employment and their status.

26. Lakshmaiah, T. & S.Reddy, Programmes for Scheduled Caste Labourers,

Printwell, Jaipur,1995.
27. Michael, S. M., (ed.), Dalits in Modern India: Vision and Values, Sage
Publications Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi,1999.
28. Singh, S.K.,Dalit Women: Socio-economic Status And Issues, New Royal Book
Comp., Lucknow, 2000.
29. Jogdand, P.G. (ed.),New economic policy and dalits. New Delhi: Rawat
Publications, 2000.
 133

discussion is conducted in the framework of four fairly recent development in the world
of dalits: (i) equality for Dalits is increasingly being recognized as a desirable norm, in
Indian society; (ii) capitalist development has begun to weaken the caste system; (iii)
Dalits are beginning to experience a modicum of social mobility thanks to policies of
positive discrimination; (iv) there has been an unprecedented rise in political
consciousness among Dalits in recent times.

Shah (2001)30 in his edited volume on Dalit Identity and politics highlighted the
issues of caste system and economic equality, dalit movement, dalit identity, political
consciousness and elected mobilization of scheduled castes etc. Bringing together
scholars and activists, the volume has examined the many facets of on going Dalit
struggle to improve their position. The

Singh (2001)31 in his paper on casteism and its implication for National Integration
stated that despite protective measures, the Dalits still suffer from the stigma of
inferiority and low socio-economic status. He said that various socio-economic and legal
measures are needed to be adopted for accelerating overall development of Scheduled
Castes and particularly for economically backward class. In a country like India, social
democracy should be ensured to provide opportunities for each caste, small and big, to
equally participate in decision making process

Mohanty(2001)32 in his paper Land Distribution among Scheduled Castes and Tribes
envisaged that the Scheduled caste groups continued to be disadvantaged section with respect to
land and there has been no substantial

30. Shah, Ghanshyam, (ed.), Dalit identity and politics : Cultural subordination and
the Dalit challenge, vol. 2, New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2001.
31. Singh, A.K., Casteism And Its Implication in C.P. Barthwal (ed.), National
Integration In National Integration in India Since Independence, New Royal Book
Company, Lucknow, 2001.
32. Mohanty,B.B., ‘Land Distribution among Scheduled Castes and Tribes’, Economic
& Political Weekly, October 6, 2001, Pp.3857 – 3868.
 134

improvement in their landholding position over the years. Rather, in some states, it has
declined further. Even after more than 50 years of planned initiatives and policy
measures, fair distribution of land among these backward communities appears merely
hoping against hope. It is confirmed by many studies in both India and elsewhere that
land reforms lead to the reduction of socio-economic in- equalities, poverty as well as
agricultural growth. The underprivileged communities are seldom able to take advantage of
social legislation conferring new privileges on them. Despite this, land reforms with respect
to the scheduled groups explicate lugubrious performance, which raises doubts about the
nature of the commitment of Indian government towards upliftment of scheduled castes
and tribes. The much-awaited legislative measures to protect and promote the landholdings
of the scheduled groups were formulated only in response to their strong and widespread
resistance and movements.

Athaparia and Pandey (2001)33 in their study on scheduled castes of Assam

as the victim of poverty observed that most of the scheduled castes in Assam either do
not have their residential plot or have a very small land holdings which is not sufficient
for Scheduled Caste people to maintain their family. Most of the Scheduled Caste
communities in Assam pursue agriculture as their main occupation. They engage
themselves in cultivation during the rainy season keeping other months in other
occupations. Very small land holdings of the Scheduled Caste people of Assam indicate
the unemployment and poverty of the Scheduled caste people of Assam.Fish Catching in
Assam is practiced mostly by the Scheduled Caste communities like Kaivartas, Jalia,
Namasudrs, Jhalo-Malo etc. But the fishing sources like rivers, beels etc. remains
inaccessible to the poor fisherman as the same are auctioned to the big traders or
Mahajans. Consequently, the local fisherman are suffering from the economic hardship.

33. Athaparia, R.P. and Pandey,D.N., Victims of Poverty:A case Study of

Scheduled Castes in Assam in Datt-Ray, B., (ed.), Population, poverty,and
environment in Nort-East India, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi,
2000, Pp. 344-348)
 135

Singh and Malik (2001)34 in their study on socio-economic development of

scheduled caste in India lamented upon the poor status of scheduled castes. They said that
the scheduled casts in the country are the economically, socially and culturally down
trodden sections of society which in turn has been the outcome of neglect and negation of
benefits that should have accrued to them. In spite of planned development for nearly
four and half decades and constitutional provisions as well as agreed policy priorities, the
development effort for scheduled castes has so far been too small to make any major
impact on their socio-economic conditions. Hence, most of them continue to be below the
poverty line and suffer from all the age-old disabilities. They conducted a study of SCP in
Haryana state to assess the impact of various programmes adopted for the development of
scheduled castes in Haryana.

Singh (2001)35 in his study on surplus land distribution and its impact on socio-
economic status of scheduled castes in Uttar Pradesh highlighted the issues of
backwardness, poverty, indebtedness and implementation of poverty alleviation
programmes for scheduled castes in Uttar Pradesh. He said that surplus land distribution
scheme as poverty alleviation scheme has no doubt significantly contributed in enhancing
the socio-economic status of scheduled caste, however, the benefits of land could not
availed due to poor quality of land, inability to cultivate the land and poor access to
institutional support. In a vast country like India, the efforts for poverty alleviation are
highly inefficient and inadequate. The government programmes aimed at poverty
alleviation could not dent effectively on poverty, as our experience shows. Importantly, a
large chunk of rural population is dependent on agriculture for sustenance. However, the
land ownership has been reported in favour of rich class, while

34. Singh, H. and Malik, A.S., Socio-economic Development of Scheduled Castes in

India, Aalekh Pub., Jaipur, 2001.

35. Singh,A.K., Surplus Land Distribution And Its Impact on Socio- economic Status
of Scheduled Castes in Uttar Pradesh, Poorvanchal Manav Kalyan Sansthan,
Mahrajganj, Uttar Pradesh., Feb. 2001.
 136

land holdings of Dalits and weaker sections of society are preponderance small and
marginal as well as high proportion of landlessness. Surplus land distribution as a scheme
of rural poverty alleviation was launch in 1975-76 in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It has
improved the lot of rural poor and has reduced the dependency on agricultural land to
others.

Pathak (2002)36 in his study on Special Component Plan in Uttar Pradesh envisaged
the existing socio-economic conditions of scheduled castes in respect of their economic
activities, occupational patterns and source of livelihood. The study has presented the
processes through which the Special Component Plan has been functioning in Uttar
Pradesh including assessment of the various activities for which financial assistance is
given to the members of scheduled caste communities. He said that there are many
obstacles in the implementation of Special Component Plan.

Sudha Pai (2002)37 in her study on Dalit Assertion and the Unfinished Democratic
Revolution in Uttar Pradesh stated that the recent emergence of the Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) has been one of the most significant developments in the political and social
landscape of Uttar Pradesh. Many had hailed it as a revolutionary movement where goal
was to break the caste system and introduce social transformation. However, the Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP) has failed to displace upper caste forces and, in several instances, has
actually made compromises with them. Its leadership is today forced with a difficult
decision. She examined the emergence, ideology and programmes, mobilizational
strategies, electoral progress and political significance of Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP)against the backdrop of a strong wave of Dalit assertion in Uttar Pradesh.

36. Pathak, S.N., A Study of SCP in Enhancing the Income of Scheduled Castes by
setting up Village in Cottage Industry in Uttar Pradesh. Report Centre for
Development Research and Action, Lucknow, 2000.

37. Pai, Sudha., Dalit Assertion and the Unfinished Democratic Revolution: The
Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2002)
 137

Louis (2003)38 in his book on Political Sociology of Dalit Assertion highlighted the
issues of caste discrimination, constitutional provisions, dalit identity, dalit discourse (in
Durban and post Durban) and dalit assertion and emancipation. Louis said that the
institutional forms of discrimination and deprivation reduced the Dalit and the down
trodden to a state of lesser being, won being and exist only for the well-being of the
dominant caste and class. It is not simply illiteracy, poverty, malnutrition, ill health that
became the bit of the Dalits, but in the ultimate analysis, they are reduced to resources,
powerless and baseless people.

39
Ashokvardhan (2004) envisaged the existing socio-economic conditions of
scheduled castes people of Assam in respect of their economic activities, occupational
patterns and source of livelihood. He viewed that, with the increase in the number of
people in Assam, the members of ‘middle class’ in Assamese society stood exposed to a
hitherto unknown competition as avenues for advancement in various economic spheres
were not expanding at an identical pace. On the other hand, social discriminations, the
superiority complex of the caste Hindu Assamese society and the caste based social
equations gradually started pushing them away from the larger Assamese society
resulting in the sufferings of the lower caste people in the society from the stigma of
inferiority and low socio-economic status.

Singh 2004 40 in his report on A Study of The Functioning of Coaching and Allied

38. (Louis, Prakash, The Political Sociology of Dalit Assertion, Gyan Publishing
House, New Delhi, 2003.

39. Ashokvardhan, C.,(ed.), Socio-economic profile of rural India. Volume two,

North-East India (Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland),Concept publishing
Company, New Delhi, 2004, Pp.60-68.

40. Singh, A.K., Functioning of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of oaching and llied
Services in Tamilnadu, Poorvanchal, Manav Kalyan Sansthan, Mahrajganj, Uttar
Pradesh, 2004.
 138

Services Scheme under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes component in Tamil
Nadu highlighted the issues of educational empowerment of Scheduled Caste people. He
reviewed the educational development programmes while discussing their impact on
educational development of Scheduled Castes in the state. He further investigated the
functioning of coaching and allied services scheme for civil services aspirants belonging
to Scheduled Castes. He lamented upon the poor functioning of scheme and its limited
coverage.

41
Saxena 2004 in his paper on Issues concerning vulnerable groups: Vision 2020 dealt
with demographic trends, development process, new economic policy and its impact on
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other concerning issues. He stated that the
process of gaining education, economic diversification, development in levels of
economy, empowerment through participation in political processes and government jobs
has inevitably led to the formation of an elite class among the scheduled castes.

Bhuimali and Biswas (2004)42 in their paper on Development and Empowerment of

Disadvantaged People of India concluded that scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are
far behind compared to the rest of the population in respect of literacy and educational
development. The enrollment rates among scheduled caste students are low. Even some
states have enjoyed the benefits of post matric scholarship scheme. The employment of
scheduled caste and scheduled tribes in government services and public sector
undertaking is not in line with their percentage in the total population. They further stated
that the disadvantaged group of people cannot be the gainers of the globalization,
liberalization and privatization. They are, in fact, the worst suffers in respect of obtaining
employment opportunities in the context of reformed regime.

41. Saxena, H.S., Issues Concerning Vulnerable Groups: Vision 2020 IN India Vision
2020, Planning Commission, Government of India, 2004.

42. Bhuimali, A. and Biswas, A.K., Development and Empowerment of

Disadvantaged People of India,Indian Journal of Economics & Business, Vol. 3
(1), June, 2004.
 139

Singh and Gadkar (2004)43 edited a volume on Restoration of Human Rights and
Dignity to Dalits. The volume has examined the issues related to human rights in the
context of changes in the socio-economic structure of the country. While analyzing the
atrocities perpetrated on the dalits, it also describes their aspirations and achievements
during the last five decades of independence. The volume also deals with the status of
scavengers in various states of India. It especially examines the issues related to
liberation and rehabilitation of scavengers in different parts of the country.
SK Mishra (2005)44 in his study of poverty and inequalities in rural Assam concluded
that the extent of poverty is very high among the backward communities in the rural areas
of Assam. Income inequality is alarming in the villages of Assam and such inequality is
more prevalent than in India. The prime reasons of poverty are excessive dependence on
primary sector, disguised unemployment, poor development of marketing facilities,
connectivity and power supply, poor agricultural productivity, absence of any significant
manufacturing activities, and so on. Any conscious effort to removal of poverty must
aim at the development of the manufacturing sector, creation of infrastructural facilities
and enhancement of agricultural productivity.

45
Bardhan, P. and Mookherjee, ed. (2006) in their study observed the absence of
equity-based formula for allocation of fiscal grants across different Gaon panchayats in
the states of India. While there are formulas for fiscal devolution from central to state
governments, no corresponding transparent process exists

43. Singh, Ram Gopla. Gadkar, Ravindra D. Restoration of Human Rights And
dignity to Dalits, Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, 2004.

44. Mishra, S. K Mishra, SK "Poverty and Inequality in Rural Assam : An Indicative

Study of Seven Villages in Udalguri Subdivision", 2005, SSRN:
(http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=353253.

45. Bardhan, P.and Mookherjee, D.(Editors), ed. Decentralization and Local

Governance in Developing Countries: A Comparative Perspective, MIT Press,55
Hayward Street, Cambridge, USA, 2006.
 140

for allocation across panchayats within a state. The actual allocation depends on how
vocal and politically powerful Gaon panchayat officials are when negotiating with upper
levels of panchayat bodies or state government departments. This has resulted in the
perverse situation where villages with greater need for anti-poverty programs (i.e., with a
weaker middle peasantry, with greater landlessness and incidence of low caste status)
have been systematically discriminated against. The difficult problem of implementation
has traditionally been thought to be allocation of power and resources within local
communities, which is difficult to monitor and control owing to problems of lack of
information available to outsiders. The authors favoured equitable allocation of grants
across local communities, based on publicly available information concerning their
relative needs (such as population, infrastructure and demographic composition).
Transparent need-based formulae for grants to Gaon panchayats would substantially
reduce the problem identified above in the system of most of the states in India. Through
case studies, they also uncovered the fact that such formula-based transfers to local
governments have been instituted in many other developing and middle-income countries
(such as Bolivia, Indonesia or South Africa) in recent years leading to substantial
improvement in inter-regional equity.
Karade(2009)46 in his study on occupational mobility among Scheduled Castes in India
focuses on the nature of occupation and factors which are more related to Inter-
generational as well as Intra- generational occupational Mobility in the society. After
independence, Constitution of India has made provision of protective discrimination
policy, especially Reservation policy. Therefore Following the Constitutional provision
of reservation policy in the post-independence period, many persons of Scheduled Castes
left their traditional occupations and took responsibilities of new job or position, but
those who have taken education and those who have developed skills are taking more
benefit and the tremendous change is observed in connection with their family as well as
society. The author has made a systematic attempt to establish a positive co-relation
between education and occupational

48. Karade, Jagan, Occupational Mobility Among Scheduled Castes, Cambridge Scholars
Publishing, 12 Back Chapman Street, U.K., 2009.
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mobility among the Scheduled Caste people of India. Karade in his study has found that
even those who have secured higher education and obtained better positions in terms of
economic and social status are also not able to overcome the prejudices at the hands of
the upper castes and thus could not totally escape from the discrimination at the latter’s
hands. As far as intra-generational occupational mobility is concerned, Karade rightly
observes that the successive generations of the Scheduled Caste communities aspire for
still better occupational positions as these impart social prestige along with material
empowerment. Karade also has drawn attention to an erosion of the Reservation Policy
due to declining space of the State in the economic activities in the aftermath of the
process of globalization, liberalization and privatization.

Darshan Singh(2009)49 in Development of Scheduled Castes In India – A Review,

viewed that the gap between the mainstream and scheduled caste population still persists
significantly in our traditional society. Therefore, there is an urgent need to reorient and
focus the strategy in order to support the lesser privileged by providing qualitative
education and infusing among them the individualistic and moralistic values of self-
denial, temperance, forethought, thrift, sobriety and self-reliance essential to bring these
downtrodden into the national mainstream. Besides their circumstances, the major factor
responsible for the deprivation and/or poverty among the scheduled caste people is their
improvident habits, thriftlessness and mismanagement. Their conditions can be improved
through inculcating in them individualistic and moralistic values of self-denial,
temperance, forethought, thrift, sobriety and self-reliance. These values will help them in
proper utilization of the various developmental schemes, which, in turn lead to the
stability/improvement in their lives.

49. Singh, D., ‘Development of Scheduled Castes In India – A Review’, Journal of Rural
Development, Vol. 28, No. 4, October - December : 2009
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Importance of the Study:

The Government has implemented several development programmes for the welfare and
empowerment of weaker sections. Economic development programmes are most
important schemes for the income generation and creating employment opportunities to
disadvantaged classes. A large amount of budgetary allocations was ensured under
Special Component Plan for extending benefits to scheduled castes. Effective
implementation and fund utilization under these schemes will definitely be instrumental
in alleviating the poverty and creating job opportunities for scheduled caste largely. In
this context, the present study is an attempt to assess the impact of economic
development scheme on socio-economic status of scheduled castes and to examine the
processes of implementation for larger economic gains to them. The administration and
functioning of Special Component Plan in Assam have also examined through the present
study.