– NEW YORK
The Dalit community in India is more invested in a brighter future, rather than lamenting the past, according to Devesh Kapur, director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India and associate professor of Political Science at University of Pennsylvania. Given this positive attitude, and increased confidence, Dalit entrepreneurs can benefit from institutional economic changes that support their business, he added. Kapur was speaking at the Indian Consulate here on “The Rise of Dalit Entrepreneurship,” as part of the consulate’s media lecture series. The Nov. 20 discussion and key note address was moderated by Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of PepsiCo.
In his latest book “Defying the Odds: The Rise of Dalit Entrepreneurs,” Kapur and his co-authors, D. Shyam Babu and Chandra Bhan Prasad, conducted a survey of 20,000 Dalit households in Uttar Pradesh to compile the most comprehensive data set about the status of economic and social growth in the Dalit community in independent India, the consulate said in a press release. The book features about 21 Dalit entrepreneurs.
The authors began their research by asking a simple, yet symbolic, question about commensality — who you eat with and who sits at your table. The Indian government and its laws can prevent such discrimination, but Professor Kapur argues that instead on emphasizing on reinforcing laws that prevent such private discrimination, the attention needs to be shifted on economic empowerment, which will gradually contribute to political and social changes, the press release said.
In discussion with the audience, Kapur outlined several examples of the change in attitudes of the Dalit community — there was a distinct absence of bitterness about the injustices done to them in the past; they had a great willingness to live and let live; and were pro-active donors for infrastructural maintenance in their local communities.
Narasimhan closed the discussion asking Kapur if the media was racist, and if in fact being a Dalit was the equivalent of being part of a segregated community in the USA. Kapur concluded that though discrimination was still prevalent, and being labeled as a Dalit was still seen as a disadvantage in business, but the increasing numbers of Dalit millionaires is expected to soon change that mindset.
Earlier Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay opened the discussion with introductory remarks, and welcomed constructive dialogue between intellectuals, the private sector and the government for comprehensive and inclusive social and political change.