BWPI Working Papers
WP 162/2012
Is caste destiny? Occupational diversification among Dalits in rural India
(Ira Gang, Kunal Sen and Myeong-Su Yun)
Abstract
The caste system – a system of elaborately stratified social hierarchy – distinguishes India
from most other societies. Among the most distinctive factors of the caste system is the close
link between castes and occupations, especially in rural India, with Dalits or Scheduled Castes
(SC) clustered in occupations that were the least well paid and most degrading in terms of
manual labour. Along with the Scheduled Tribes (STs), the SCs have the highest incidence of
poverty in India, with poverty rates that are much higher than the rest of the population. Since
independence, the Indian government has enacted affirmative action policies in educational
institutions and public sector employment for SCs and STs. In addition, there has been an
emergence of political parties that are strongly pro-SC in their orientation in the more populous
states of India. We use five rounds of all-India employment data from the National Sample
Survey quinquennial surveys from 1983 to 2004 to assess whether these political and social
changes have led to a weakening of the relationship between low caste status and
occupational segregation that has existed historically in India. We find evidence that the
occupational structure of the SC households is converging to that of the non-scheduled
households. However, we do not find evidence of a similar occupational convergence for ST
households.
Download full paper (PDF)