1Jiwaji University, Gwalior.
2M.L.B. College of Excellence, Gwalior.
Dalits felt threatened by the economic reforms initiated in 1991, which heralded the era of liberalisation/privatisation and globalisation (LPG) in India. The reason being that whatever social mobility they have achieved has been through governmental support and the presumed retreat of the state on account of LPG, they feel, would undo all that. However the point here is that the LPG is not a matter of choice: only after the failure of the command economy model economic reforms were initiated and by doing so India was only following a worldwide trend Secondly as part of the WTO regime, India is part of globalisation process which indeed is an unavoidable and also a very rational way of being in the international economic order. Dalits must prepare for this rather to resist the inevitable. In fact the process itself is liberating. Among others, only the economic growth achieved by this process (India being one of the fastest growing countries in the world) is capable of undoing all deprivations. Deprivation and destitution are among the fundamental causes for thedenial of dignity to anyone, who may be a Dalit.
