Assistant Professor,
The term ‘Dalit’ is referred to the ‘untouchable’ class in the Indian society which was entrenched by the caste system. Historically Dalits were categorized by their occupation which involved taking on menial tasks in the society such as cleaning, leatherwork, butchery and waste removal. They were segregated, discriminated and never involved in active public life primarily because of their occupation, which was considered polluting and contagious. This revolting practice of isolating the community was largely prevalent across India and post-1950 the government took initiatives to abolish this practice. In India, Dalits – officially known as Scheduled Castes – constitute one sixth of the population. They are consistently discriminated against despite a constitutional ban on ‘untouchability’, and the enactment of specific legislations including the Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) Act, 1955 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Rural women are politically marginalized, but rural Dalit women are given even less of a voice in the decision making process. In India, there is a quota system in place for Dalits to have seats in the local Panchayats but the role Dalit women play is consistently subordinated to their male counterparts. Dalit women who attempt to utilize their power in the Panchayats are met with male and dominant caste backlash, pressure and sometimes violence. Dalit empowerment has emerged as an important aspect of the ongoing socio- political transformation in India. Empowerment is hitherto disadvantaged groups includes those deprived in social, economic, political, administrative and cultural terms is featuring as a major issue in development discourse. The notion of empowerment was introduced by the World Bank in 1990s, which stands for the expansion of assets and capabilities of marginalized sections to participate in, negotiate with, influence control, and hold accountable institutions that affects their lives. The concept of empowerment is essentially a political process, which challenges the prevailing power structure of sub-ordination. As a political process, empowerment involves three crucial elements. Access to information, opportunity for participation and inclusion in political process, and organizing capacity to influence and gain power. The idea of empowerment may be invoked in virtually any context: in speaking about human rights, about basic needs, about economic security, about capacity building, about skill formation or about the conditions of a dignified social existence. It is also seen as a way of addressing the problems of rights that remain un-enforced. In economic context it is involved in capacity building particularly of marginalized, unorganized and other disadvantaged groups, classes and categories. Dalit Empowerment is a process of gaining control by Dalits as a community over self, ideology, material and knowledge resources, which determine power relationship in a society. This section of Indian society is called Dalit because they are placed at the lowest rung of social structure and suffer various forms of deprivations and social, economic, cultural and political marginalization. The worst form of their deprivation is the scourge of untouchability. These disability, deprivations and marginalization have the sanctions of religious norms and scriptures. Thus in Indian context, the attempt to social reforms necessarily involves the transformation in religious norms and practices, which is hard to come by. Viewed in this perspective, the ideas, actions and life struggle of Ambedkar form solid bedrock which continues to inspire the ongoing process of Dalit Empowerment in India. It was Ambedkar who organized and inspired Dalits to effectively use political means of towards their goal of social equality.
