Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Education enables the growth and development of nations and individuals through multiple channels. However, everyone may not have access to education in general and to quality education in particular. This article is a modest attempt to explore the issue of caste-based premarket discrimination in rural Punjab. Caste-wise differences in access to education are analysed using the primary survey data collected in 2015–2016 from 12 villages spread across three districts—Bathinda, Jalandhar and Rupnagar—of Punjab. The analyses show that Scheduled Castes (SC) lack access to education facilities. Compared to the non-SC, a significantly larger proportion of the SC is found illiterate. It is observed that almost, at every level of education the percentage of SC possessing that level of qualification is lesser than that of the non-SC. The females are facing dual discrimination as their access to education is relatively poor in general and poorest for females belonging to the SC community in particular. Caste consciousness among the students is observed in case of their close friendship relations with peer group and seating preferences in the class.
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A Plan to Exclude Ethnic Groups and Implement Partial Development Programme Under ‘Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojana’ in the Indian Subcontinent: A Case Based on Madurai District in Tamil Nadu
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Madurai district in Tamil Nadu consists of three forestry regions such as Kurinji Nagar, Alagammalpuram and Mokathanparai as the residence of ethnic groups. The central scheme Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) found that it has no beneficiaries from the regions, and as usual the ethnic groups consume firewood with several difficulties. Hence, the study focuses on cooking energy consumers among ethnic groups as beneficiaries in detail under PMUY. A total of 108 households were chosen for the analysis which is the actual total number of households of ethnic groups in the district. Collected data have been tested by statistical tools, such as Chi-square and ANOVA, to know the relationship and the efficiency of factors, which influences the results that a majority of ethnic groups are expected to benefit under PMUY with free of cost, and they face climatic difficulties in traditional energy consumption.
Madurai district in Tamil Nadu consists of three forestry regions such as Kurinji Nagar, Alagammalpuram and Mokathanparai as the residence of ethnic groups. The central scheme Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) found that it has no beneficiaries from the regions, and as usual the ethnic groups consume firewood with several difficulties. Hence, the study focuses on cooking energy consumers among ethnic groups as beneficiaries in detail under PMUY. A total of 108 households were chosen for the analysis which is the actual total number of households of ethnic groups in the district. Collected data have been tested by statistical tools, such as Chi-square and ANOVA, to know the relationship and the efficiency of factors, which influences the results that a majority of ethnic groups are expected to benefit under PMUY with free of cost, and they face climatic difficulties in traditional energy consumption.
The Interfacing History and Narrative Representation of Bengali Dalit Refugeehood in Jatin Bala’s Stories of Social Awakening: Reflections of Dalit Refugee Lives of Bengal
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Bengali Dalit refugees and refugeehood fall under the less discussed chapter in the streamlined flow of history and narratives. Often within the hegemonic macro-narratives of partition, the ‘common minimal narratives’ (Kaur, 2008, Narrative absence: An ‘Untouchable’ account of partition migration. Contributions to Indian Sociology, vol. 42, p. 286) of the Bengali Dalit refugees get suppressed and subsided. The Dalit refugee accounts contribute a significant lot to the constructing cartographies of history. The article focuses on the representation of Dalit refugees in the anthology Stories of Social Awakening: Reflections of Dalit Refugee Lives in Bengal (2017) by the refugee author Jatin Bala. While providing a vent for polyphonic refugee voices, Bala creates an interface of history and narrative representation of the existential and identity crisis of Dalit refugees with concepts of resettlement and partitioning reality, violence, trauma memory and struggle for sustenance. The study extends its inquiry to the much curious trajectory of history and narrative of Bengali Dalit refugeehood; how the lopsided relationship and crucial junctures between the objective history and the subjective narrative representations make interplay of past and present in portraying violence and memory in the lives of the Dalit refugees. The study also explores how the narrative short fictions deconstruct the ‘essential victimhood’ of the refugees who rise above the harrowing experiences of the spatiotemporal boundary of history and reconstruct the fractured identities to be the true conscious souls of the society in building solidarity.
Bengali Dalit refugees and refugeehood fall under the less discussed chapter in the streamlined flow of history and narratives. Often within the hegemonic macro-narratives of partition, the ‘common minimal narratives’ (Kaur, 2008, Narrative absence: An ‘Untouchable’ account of partition migration. Contributions to Indian Sociology, vol. 42, p. 286) of the Bengali Dalit refugees get suppressed and subsided. The Dalit refugee accounts contribute a significant lot to the constructing cartographies of history. The article focuses on the representation of Dalit refugees in the anthology Stories of Social Awakening: Reflections of Dalit Refugee Lives in Bengal (2017) by the refugee author Jatin Bala. While providing a vent for polyphonic refugee voices, Bala creates an interface of history and narrative representation of the existential and identity crisis of Dalit refugees with concepts of resettlement and partitioning reality, violence, trauma memory and struggle for sustenance. The study extends its inquiry to the much curious trajectory of history and narrative of Bengali Dalit refugeehood; how the lopsided relationship and crucial junctures between the objective history and the subjective narrative representations make interplay of past and present in portraying violence and memory in the lives of the Dalit refugees. The study also explores how the narrative short fictions deconstruct the ‘essential victimhood’ of the refugees who rise above the harrowing experiences of the spatiotemporal boundary of history and reconstruct the fractured identities to be the true conscious souls of the society in building solidarity.
Tribal Imprint on Goa’s Cultural Identity: Kunbi-Gawdaization of Goa
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Discussions around Goa’s unique cultural identity and debates around the need for a special status for the state of Goa within India are not new. Reasons ascribed to this have oscillated between Goa’s colonial history, the geography of being nestled in the Western Ghats with a long-indented coastline, the tourism industry and the friendliness of the local people. This article based on an ethnographic study of the Kunbi-Gawda tribal community in Goa explores the tribal contribution to the framing of Goa’s cultural identity. Using the tribal icon of dress, namely the dhentulli this article illustrates how Kunbi-Gawdaization is the current cultural identity of the State as tribal icons are used in the imaging of Goa.
Discussions around Goa’s unique cultural identity and debates around the need for a special status for the state of Goa within India are not new. Reasons ascribed to this have oscillated between Goa’s colonial history, the geography of being nestled in the Western Ghats with a long-indented coastline, the tourism industry and the friendliness of the local people. This article based on an ethnographic study of the Kunbi-Gawda tribal community in Goa explores the tribal contribution to the framing of Goa’s cultural identity. Using the tribal icon of dress, namely the dhentulli this article illustrates how Kunbi-Gawdaization is the current cultural identity of the State as tribal icons are used in the imaging of Goa.
Book review: Sunaina Arya and Aakash Singh Rathore, ed., Dalit Feminist Theory: A Reader
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Volume 15, Issue 1_suppl, Page S190-S192, August 2023.
Sunaina Arya and Aakash Singh Rathore, ed., Dalit Feminist Theory: A Reader. New York: Routledge, 2020, 245 pp., $8,315.92 (Hardback). ISBN: 978-0-367-43841-8.
Sunaina Arya and Aakash Singh Rathore, ed., Dalit Feminist Theory: A Reader. New York: Routledge, 2020, 245 pp., $8,315.92 (Hardback). ISBN: 978-0-367-43841-8.
Water and Dalits: A Historical Study of United Provinces (1900Ð1950)
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Water has been a critical resource for the survival of the biotic world. This paper explores the relationship between Dalits and access to water in the United Provinces. It documents the social condition and economic status of Dalits and their impact on livelihood structure. The fact is that the Dalit community is dependent critically on water and other natural resources due to its involvement with labour and agriculture. This paper seeks to explore the historical dimension of Dalit’s struggle to gain access to water in the United Provinces. The history of the relationship between water and Dalits in the United Provinces shows the way social exclusion manifested in the domain of access to water. This paper has been divided into four sections, the first section provides general information about Dalits, and the second section proposes a brief review of the literature. The third section attempts to trace the relationship between water and Dalits in the process of exclusion and inclusion of Dalits from natural resources in North India and the final section provides an illation of this paper.
Water has been a critical resource for the survival of the biotic world. This paper explores the relationship between Dalits and access to water in the United Provinces. It documents the social condition and economic status of Dalits and their impact on livelihood structure. The fact is that the Dalit community is dependent critically on water and other natural resources due to its involvement with labour and agriculture. This paper seeks to explore the historical dimension of Dalit’s struggle to gain access to water in the United Provinces. The history of the relationship between water and Dalits in the United Provinces shows the way social exclusion manifested in the domain of access to water. This paper has been divided into four sections, the first section provides general information about Dalits, and the second section proposes a brief review of the literature. The third section attempts to trace the relationship between water and Dalits in the process of exclusion and inclusion of Dalits from natural resources in North India and the final section provides an illation of this paper.
Between Caste and Occupation: Issues of Sweeper Community in Kashmir
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Caste is a form of social stratification characterized by occupational ranking, intermarrying and ritual hierarchy. The hierarchy here includes disparities in status and access to goods and services. This disparity is mainly found among lower castes like sweepers. Sweepers belong to the lowest rung regarding caste and occupation from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. They use long-handled brooms and carts to sweep roads, gardens, marketplaces and other public places. This study attempted to review the existing literature to exhibit caste and occupation-based issues of this particular community in Kashmir. A systematic review methodology was espoused, and the relevant literature was searched through key databases, such as Google Scholar, Project Muse, PubMed, JSTOR and ScienceDirect, for this review paper by combining the keywords. The systematic review revealed that in Kashmir, the sweeper community was at the bottom of the caste and occupational structure. This mechanism institutionalizes the transmission of unclean work from generation to generation, and it was still a structural flaw that maintained inequality against the sweeper community. The people of this community are found educationally backward, socially ostracized and economically inferior. The upper castes typically forbid these people from entering their homes, whereas living amidst this community is deemed unpleasant. The process of caste mobility, such as Sayyidization, similar to Sanskritization and Ashrafization, is evident among the members of the sweeper community.
Caste is a form of social stratification characterized by occupational ranking, intermarrying and ritual hierarchy. The hierarchy here includes disparities in status and access to goods and services. This disparity is mainly found among lower castes like sweepers. Sweepers belong to the lowest rung regarding caste and occupation from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. They use long-handled brooms and carts to sweep roads, gardens, marketplaces and other public places. This study attempted to review the existing literature to exhibit caste and occupation-based issues of this particular community in Kashmir. A systematic review methodology was espoused, and the relevant literature was searched through key databases, such as Google Scholar, Project Muse, PubMed, JSTOR and ScienceDirect, for this review paper by combining the keywords. The systematic review revealed that in Kashmir, the sweeper community was at the bottom of the caste and occupational structure. This mechanism institutionalizes the transmission of unclean work from generation to generation, and it was still a structural flaw that maintained inequality against the sweeper community. The people of this community are found educationally backward, socially ostracized and economically inferior. The upper castes typically forbid these people from entering their homes, whereas living amidst this community is deemed unpleasant. The process of caste mobility, such as Sayyidization, similar to Sanskritization and Ashrafization, is evident among the members of the sweeper community.
Book review: Akhila Naik, Bheda (Translated by Raj Kumar)
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Akhila Naik, Bheda (Translated by Raj Kumar) (Oxford University Press, 2017), 108 pp. ₹495 (paperback). ISBN-13:978-0-19-947607-7
Akhila Naik, Bheda (Translated by Raj Kumar) (Oxford University Press, 2017), 108 pp. ₹495 (paperback). ISBN-13:978-0-19-947607-7
Formation of the Valmiki Heritage: Making Sense of Dalit Cultural Assertion in Punjab
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
This article seeks to understand the agenda of the government of Punjab behind the recent construction of the cultural heritage of sant/guru Valmiki which is attracting a sizable population of the Dalit community known as Balmikis in the state. In this context, the article explores the historical role of the Adi-Dharam Samaj, an anti-caste reformist movement by the Balmiki community. This movement has adopted various new modes and strategies to mobilize the community. It also subscribes to the philosophy of Ad Dharm to define a separate religious identity for Dalits, especially the Balmiki community separate from Hindus and Sikhs. It has also adopted a distinct path of ensuring Dalit social mobility without following the dominant modes like Sanskritization and conversion. The making of Dalit cultural heritage is a significant development in a realm that explores the extremely marginalized community within Dalits, and their attempt at identity articulation and assertion in contemporary Punjab.
This article seeks to understand the agenda of the government of Punjab behind the recent construction of the cultural heritage of sant/guru Valmiki which is attracting a sizable population of the Dalit community known as Balmikis in the state. In this context, the article explores the historical role of the Adi-Dharam Samaj, an anti-caste reformist movement by the Balmiki community. This movement has adopted various new modes and strategies to mobilize the community. It also subscribes to the philosophy of Ad Dharm to define a separate religious identity for Dalits, especially the Balmiki community separate from Hindus and Sikhs. It has also adopted a distinct path of ensuring Dalit social mobility without following the dominant modes like Sanskritization and conversion. The making of Dalit cultural heritage is a significant development in a realm that explores the extremely marginalized community within Dalits, and their attempt at identity articulation and assertion in contemporary Punjab.
Motherhood and Child Healthcare Experiences Among a Unique PVTG of West Bengal, India: A Case of Tradition, Transition and Transformation for the Sake of Existence
Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
All over the world and, moreover, in the developing countries like India, women experience threats to their lives, health and well-being are also overburdened with work and lack power and influence; further, the situation is vulnerable among the marginalized segment. A unique PVTG of the northern part of West Bengal is struggling for its very existence through the life experiences of motherhood and childcare practices. It is noticed that most often they follow the age-old traditions while not completely unaware of the modern biomedical procedures. The lack of accessibility makes them less confident towards the latter. A typical state of transition is evident, although their conceptions regarding the pregnancy, delivery and childcare practices are not significantly hyper-medicalized. Rather a continuous existence of humanization of birth process is being practised. The article explores the conspicuous women participation and significant roles in the entire health-seeking behaviour in connection to pregnancy, childbirth and related health care issues. Furthermore, the entire discourse also elucidates the state of motherhood and its intrinsic decision-making behaviour in order to retain the economic viability of the population.
All over the world and, moreover, in the developing countries like India, women experience threats to their lives, health and well-being are also overburdened with work and lack power and influence; further, the situation is vulnerable among the marginalized segment. A unique PVTG of the northern part of West Bengal is struggling for its very existence through the life experiences of motherhood and childcare practices. It is noticed that most often they follow the age-old traditions while not completely unaware of the modern biomedical procedures. The lack of accessibility makes them less confident towards the latter. A typical state of transition is evident, although their conceptions regarding the pregnancy, delivery and childcare practices are not significantly hyper-medicalized. Rather a continuous existence of humanization of birth process is being practised. The article explores the conspicuous women participation and significant roles in the entire health-seeking behaviour in connection to pregnancy, childbirth and related health care issues. Furthermore, the entire discourse also elucidates the state of motherhood and its intrinsic decision-making behaviour in order to retain the economic viability of the population.