Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Dalits have gradually developed different emancipation strategies during their struggle. While all of them fight against untouchability and discrimination, their positions on other issues may differ. Most of them espouse the ideas of Dr Ambedkar, for whom the prime objective was the eradication of caste. He openly rejected Hinduism and converted to Buddhism. Millions of Dalits followed his example, and many venerate him as a supreme leader to this day. Devendrakula Velalars are an exception to the rule. They reject Dalit ideology. Instead, they prefer to strengthen their caste identity and move up the social ladder. They try to prove that the three Tamil dynasties, that is, Pandyas, Cholas and Cheras, originated from among them. It was only after the ascendency of the Nayak kings that their proud name Mallar was changed into the derogatory Pallar and they were deprived of their land and turned into untouchables. Now they are trying to get themselves removed from the Scheduled Castes list and thus rid themselves of its stigmatizing influence. The aim of this article is to follow the intellectual journey of the main ideologues of this caste and to match their arguments with recent steps taken towards their political representation.

Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Vote-buying has become such a frequent kind of electoral ‘malpractice’ in India that it has become conspicuous in election culture. Despite this, we know very little about how it operates, its consequences, and how voters perceive it. While there is a significant body of literature on vote-buying in Indian elections, the research focuses specifically on attendance buying and its impact on diverse demographic groups and caste categories. By examining attendance buying, the research adds to the existing literature on vote-buying tactics, which can inform future studies and policy interventions to reduce electoral malpractice. We investigate and add to the contemporary literature on vote buying by analysing attendance buying and how it relates to diverse perspectives like low income, age, gender and education or regarding it, focusing on two different categories of caste, that is, dominant and Scheduled Caste. We conducted a survey experiment in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal to seek the effect of attendance-buying in the municipalities of Ashokenagar. The focus is on attending middle-sized political meetings rather than smaller meetings, where we thought its efficacy was prominent because of the number of free food and drinks. We found that the effect of the free foods and drinks over the larger meetings is more prominent than in local-level meetings. Our survey could not state that Scheduled Castes voluntarily engage at local-level meetings regardless of free food and drinks.

Contemporary Voice of Dalit, Ahead of Print.
Natural forests play a key role in maintaining the planet’s ecosystems and are also crucial to rural livelihoods, particularly in less developed nations. Indigenous groups still need access to contemporary conveniences and possibilities for employment in remote parts of less developed nations. As a result, the use of forests significantly contributes to household subsistence and income. The economic impact of forest resources on the millions of rural households close to forests has recently been the research focus. This study aims to quantify the distributional influence of forest revenue on economic inequality among rural families in the Gandhamardan Hill area of the Balangir and Bargarh districts of Odisha. It also sought to ascertain absolute and relative forest income. The primary data or information were gathered by utilizing focus groups, direct interviews, structured household-level surveys, and key informant interviews. The results showed that 61.9% of the households in the sample engaged in activities related to the forest. Most of the local population participates in agriculture and forestry as the main source of livelihood. After agriculture revenue, forest income represented the second-most significant income portfolio. The income share for bushmeat was larger than the income share for other forest products. The economic disparity among the studied families was reduced by forest income. Therefore, restricting forest access would negatively affect rural people’s welfare and widen economic gaps. The knowledge from the current study is crucial for creating sustainable forest management policies and strategies that will preserve and increase the economic value of using forests without jeopardizing biodiversity preservation.