Dalit

If the law does not just mean fixity of rules but also capacity to dispense justice, can patrilineality be a fair and sufficient ground for pronouncing judgment on a caste identity?

This paper presents the results of a field study of public schools in Betul and Dewas districts of Madhya Pradesh. The study aims to document the functioning of public schools, whether created by the Education Guarantee Scheme or not and to understand the consequences of the reforms on the links between education and rural society and on the development of private schools. While the results may not be representative of all of rural Madhya Pradesh, they provide an accurate picture of the situation in two areas atypical of the settings targeted by EGS, viz, adivasi villages and dalit hamlets.

Due to a lack of political will and sensitivity, implementation of the provisions for employment reservation for dalits has been far from satisfactory. In Tamil Nadu too, dalits have suffered from the lax approach of the state towards extending reservation benefits. If this situation has to be corrected several issues need to be urgently considered, including dalits' awareness of their rights, sensitising concerned groups, and above all investing in education so that dalits can reduce their dependence on the state in the quest for social equality.

This essay outlines the historical circumstances that produced Gujarati dalit literature and locates the short story within that tradition. A 'content analysis' of select dalit short stories is provided to acquaint the reader with some of the dominant and not-so-dominant themes recurring in them. Drawing on dalit sociology, the author highlights inequalities and anomalies of representation as they criss-cross with literary narratives and also demonstrates how dealing with them will require a readjustment of the dalit aesthetic.