Dalits in India: From Marginalisation To Inclusion: SSRN Electronic Journal April 2016

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Dalits in India: From Marginalisation to Inclusion

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DALITS IN INDIA – FROM MARGINALISATION TO INCLUSION

V. Basil Hans 1

Abstract

It is said that that India is at the threshold of a Dalit Revolution, dalits being the most marginalised
people in India. This paper opens a debate on participation and poverty of dalits in India’s social
and economic spheres by introducing the lens of “inclusion” to arrive at a more nuanced
understanding of the issue. It highlights and discusses the present conditions and challenges of
India’s 167 million of oppressed and marginalised sections of society who – by and large – have for
thousands of years – remained neglected and ignored in the social milieu. The dalits have suffered
cumulative domination, protested several sources of deprivation, political powerlessness,
exploitation and poverty. These protests and movements have no doubt given organisational shape
and resulted in social awareness and political consciousness to develop self-respect and feelings of
power-sharing. Economic and social “welfare measures”, along with political reforms have tried to
address vital issues in dalit resurgence. There is some transformation in this sense. The revival of
Ambedkarism and dalit movement should be assessed in this context. Despite political empowerment
dalits live in situations of social discrimination, physical violence and abject poverty. Around 50 per
cent of the quantum of welfare measures is still unfulfilled. We need to explore social, cultural,
political and economic factors (e.g. caste, class, gender, education, state, etc.) in the context of dalit
people’s access to rights, resources, employment and security. The focus now needs to be on dalit
emancipation, rights and inclusive growth. Political reality – whether in case of agitations or
administration – must admit social equality within caste dynamics. This indeed is a challenge.
Key Words: Caste, dalit, empowerment, exclusion India, oppression

‘The path of social reform like the path to heaven at any rate in India is strewn with many

difficulties…few friends and many critics’ (Ambedkar, 1936).

1
MA, MPhil, PhD, Associate Professor and Head, Dept of Economics, St Aloysius Evening College, Mangaluru,
Karnataka State, INDIA.
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I. Introduction

A discussion on emancipation and development of dalits in India is legitimate within modern


historical canon as also in the on-going political and economic reforms. The situation of dalits and
their voice for betterment needs to be heeded considering the teeming numbers of oppressed – the
dalits, who are perpetual victims of marginalisation and socio-economic exclusion. India’s 170
million of oppressed and marginalised sections of society (i.e. about 16.23 per cent of India’s
population, according to the 2011 Census) have for thousands of years remained neglected and
ignored in the social milieu. Indian society is a marginalised society consisting of diverse groups of
dalits, backward classes and women who have different socio-economic characteristics and problems
(Hans, 2008a). More than 60 years after gaining Independence, India is still very much afflicted by
the cancer of the caste system. Dalits remain the most vulnerable, marginalised and brutalised
community in the country.
For centuries the dalits have suffered from domination discrimination and denial. The best
part of these growing years is growing awareness of dalits problems and issues, particularly with
regard to the marginalisation. But within dalit circles there is still a need for an informed debate and
in the outside circles a more nuanced understanding of the dalit and dalit related issues. This paper
therefore, is an attempt to study dalit issues in the context of marginalisation and the need for
strengthening dalit movement as a ‘transformative-inclusion process’. Inclusion encompasses equity,
equality and protection. It recognises that systematic inequality is a toxic trend (Hans, 2010).
Why study dalits? One immediate answer is the cliché: inequality – a bane in Indian society.
As Frank Herbert says, ‘All men are not created equal, and that is the root of social evil’. Inequality
has bred ills of denial and deprivation in dalit people’s access to education and employment
opportunities. For example, the stigmatised inequality between mental and manual work owing to
caste remains entrenched at the end of the extremes, even when in theory both cultural and social
capital (including skills) are most valued. This is not “enabling” at all; it is “excluding” from noble
identity. Cultural and knowledge value-addition makes the case for social emancipation, political
nurturing and economic empowerment that much stronger. We cannot ignore the fact that in a
dialectical unfolding of historical process the subaltern, in our case, the dalits do not secure to
themselves in overnight, historical advance into their political consciousness. In fact they are bound –
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as several subaltern studies show – awaken first to sub-cultural consciousness which is the first
glimpse of the political consciousness (Guru, 1998).
The exclusion of and discrimination against dalits, tribals, women and minorities in the
country continues to be quite widespread and deeply entrenched. Also, in almost all socio-economic
indicators of development (education, health, income etc.) the status of these excluded communities
continues to be low, despite some improvement. For instance, the Indian Human Development
Report (IDHR) 2011 reveals that in case of nutrition disparity between the status of SCs and STs and
the national average is noteworthy (Santhosh and Gandhi, 2012).
Mechanisms of participation of the poor and the excluded, created by legislation to support
their empowerment, remain ineffective because adequate efforts in informing people about these
mechanisms and building their knowledge and capacity to operate these mechanisms are either not
made or not sustained.
The marginalised till date have continued to remain excluded. We need social inclusion
initiatives that combat social exclusion by involving, engaging and bringing socially excluded people
to the forefront to ensure their holistic and equal participation in accessing social, cultural, political
and economic resources. Sincere efforts and creative ventures to empower the poor and the excluded
are required so that they can claim their rights and improve their lives. Education and employment
can be used as twin processes of collectivisation and learning for empowerment to promote social
inclusion. Thus, dalit study is “socially” democratic in that it is study in the society, of the society and
for the society. It benefits both dalits and non-dalits.
A dalit revolution is in the offing. The real symbol of dalit today is change and revolution.
Equality for dalits is increasingly being recognised as a desirable norm in Indian society. Weakening
of the caste system by capitalist development is another trend that has implications for dalits – their
social mobility, economic development and political recognition (Abedi, 2010).
II. Dalits: The Concept
Dalit is a self-designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as lower class. They are
a mixed population of numerous caste groups all over South Asia and speak various languages
(Geetanjali, 2011). Traditionally, there are four principal castes (divided into many sub-categories)
and one category of people who fall outside the caste system – the dalits. The word dalit – literally (in

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Hindi/Marati) translating to “oppressed” or “broken” – is generally used to refer to people who were
once known as ‘untouchables’, those belonging to castes outside the fourfold Hindu Varna system.
They are Antyaja, i.e., outside the Varna system (Mehrotra, n.d.). The Dalits are called by various
other names also: Dasyu, Dasa, Atisudra, Panchama, Tirukulattar, Adikarnataka, Adi Dravida,
Schedule Caste (SC) etc. but Ambedkar termed them as ‘Depressed Class’.
Within the dalit community, there are many divisions into sub-castes. Dalits are divided into
leather workers, street sweepers, cobblers, agricultural workers, and manual “scavengers". The latter
group considered the lowest of the low and officially estimated at one million, traditionally are
responsible for digging village graves, disposing of dead animals, and cleaning human excreta.
Approximately three-quarters of the dalit workforce are in the agricultural sector of the economy. A
majority of the country’s forty million people who are bonded labourers are Dalits. These jobs rarely
provide enough income for dalits to feed their families or to send their children to school. As a result,
many dalits are impoverished, uneducated, and illiterate.
A broad view is that the word “dalit” is not pertaining to any caste; it includes the poor,
exploited, and workers of all castes; and who are unable to work upright in the society are regarded as
dalits. Prof. Aravinda Malagatti defines:
‘The people who are economically, socially and politically exploited from centuries, unable to live in the
society of human beings have been living outside the village depending on lower level of occupation, and
unable to spell out their names, lived as “untouchables” are regarded as dalits’.
The journey to present dalit identity has travelled a long road from being identified as
“untouchable”, “unseeable”, “unapproachable”, “black castes”, “ati-sudra”, “Harijan” (= children of
God), ‘depressed caste’, “adivasis” (= indigenous people) and ‘Scheduled Caste’. None of these has
brought about a real change of meaning, since dalits continue to be tied to the notion that at the end of
the day, we are “different”, “segregated” and “excluded”.
III. Dalits: Oppression and Exclusion
Dalits have been oppressed as well as culturally subjugated, and politically marginalised.
They continue to be the victims of caste atrocities – uprooting from their homes; depriving them of
their lands; denial of public goods like wells, tans, temples, hotels, burial grounds etc. – even as due
to the spread of modern education, they are now asserting their identity in the Indian society (Kumar,
2013).
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The principles of untouchability and “purity and pollution” dictum tell what dalits are and are
not allowed to do; where they are and are not allowed to live, go, or sit; who they can and cannot give
water to, eat with, or marry; extending even into the minute aspects of daily life. Participation or its
absence is always an issue. One can examines the practice of untouchability primarily in two spheres:
a. The private sphere, which is a custom-governed sphere, and
b. The public sphere, which is a law-governed sphere.
Studies show that untouchability is sharp in religious and domestic spheres whereas it is less
strong and weakening in the occupational sphere and it is not a problem in public sphere (Gochhayat,
2013). Unfortunately however, it is practised even in the modern era of liberalisation and
globalisation. Marginalisation of dalits in economic policies and sectors is sometimes visible and
sometimes invisible, yet deplorable. For instance, in ever-growing dalit literature, issues regarding
marginalisation and invisibility of women’s contribution to economy and its growth remain under
highlighted. This is despite the attention paid to women’s studies right from 70s in general. This
clearly shows how most women’s studies have ignored caste dynamics (Mehrotra, 2012).
Discrimination for dalits does not end if they convert from Hinduism to another religion. In
India, Islam, Sikhism, and Christianity (among other religions) maintain some form of caste despite
the fact that this contradicts their religious precepts. As a result, dominant castes maintain leadership
positions while dalit members of these religions are often marginalised and flagrantly discriminated
against. For example, in some places dalit Christians are provided separate burial areas from non-
dalit Christians.
The caste system contains both social oppression and class exploitation. The dalits suffer from
both types of exploitation in the worst form. In India 86.25 per cent of the scheduled caste households
are landless and 49 per cent of the scheduled castes in the rural areas are agricultural workers. Even
though dalits make up 16.2 per cent of the total Indian population, their control over resources of the
country is marginal – less than 5 per cent. Close to half of the dalit population lives under the Poverty
Line, and even more (62 per cent) are illiterate. Among the dalits, most of those engaged in
agricultural work are landless or nearly landless agricultural labourers.
The average household income for dalits was of 17,465 in 1998, just 68 per cent of the
national average. In 2000, as against the national average of Rs.4485, the per capita income of SCs

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was 3,237. The average weekly wage earning of an SC worker was 174.50 compared to 197.05 for
other non- SC/ST workers. In 2000, 35.4 per cent of the SC population was below the poverty line in
rural areas as against 21 per cent among others (‘Others’ everywhere means non-SC/ST); in urban
areas the gap was larger – 39 per cent of SC as against only 15 per cent among others.
Less than 10 per cent of Dalit households can afford safe drinking water, electricity and
toilets, which is indicative of their deplorable social condition. Moreover, dalits are daily victims of
the worst crimes and atrocities, far outnumbering other sections of society in that respect as well. The
vast majority of these crimes remain unreported due to omnipresent fear, and those that are reported
are often ignored by police or end up languishing in the backlogged court system. Between 1992 and
2000, a total of 334,459 cases were registered nationwide with the police as cognisable crimes against
SCs. More than 60 years after gaining Independence, India is still very much afflicted by the cancer
of the caste system. Dalits remain the most vulnerable, marginalised and brutalised community in the
country. They live in most inhuman conditions, with a false consciousness of being a part of the
mainstream society. Given that equality is a right, democratic assertion of that right to dignity is the
need of the hour. It has to be ‘development with equality’. Budgets of the government are powerful
tools to address economic issues through provision of public goods for dalits. Incorporating all the
elements – economic, social, cultural and political there has emerged what may be termed as ‘dalit
movement’.

IV. Dalit Movement


The Dalit movement, in the familiar sense of organised resistance of the ex-untouchables to
caste oppression, may not be traced beyond colonial times. However, in a wider sense of the struggle
of lower castes against the hegemony of Brahminical ideology, it has had to coexist with the history
of caste itself. In another sense, it could be taken as the articulation phase of the numerous faceless
struggles against the iniquitous socio-economic formation ordained by the caste system that has
occupied vast spaces of Indian history (Teltumbde, 2000).
The modern dalit movement began with mass movements – localised, grassroots level
endeavours – somewhat simultaneous, conversion movements, where dalits became Christians, or
Muslims or Sikhs. The movements are confusing largely because of public controversy regarding

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them (Webster, 1996). It is a moot point whether these conversions could be called a social
movement insofar as technically the latter insists upon an organisation striving for some collective
goal of social change. It certainly reflects a spirit of rebellion at least at the individual level to defy
the caste code and embrace a different faith (Teltumde, op.cit). Going beyond the stereotypes one
needs to research upon dalit struggles such as the land struggle.
We cannot ignore the fact that what began as isolated struggle of the dalits in obscure villages
for land reclamation, dramatically gained a regional and national dimension. Besides revealing facts
this also implies a wider human rights issue (Borgia, 1995) and a political program. Champions of the
dalit cause therefore do not fail to indicate the right to equality both nationally and internationally, as
for example, ‘All human beings are born…equal in dignity and rights’ as stated in the Article 1 of
the Declaration of Human Rights, General Assembly of the UNO (Sharma, 2002). While this
“equality” is one that meant to securing simple ‘social justice’ – a concept that has fascinated
philosophers ever since Plato – it is also stated proactively as the promotion of equality through
comprehensive government action (Hiregoudar, 2007). Therefore, put in terms of action dalit
movement is assertion of rights. That exactly is what Ambedkar and his Team did for the country
through its Constitution.
The Indian political leadership was committed to the development of the weaker sections of
the society, right from the days of the independence movement. It was felt that due to various
historical reasons a large section of the Indian population was economically very poor, socially
degraded and politically very depressed and it was proper that after the attainment of freedom,
constitutional provisions were made to give this section more attention and help. Independent Indian
leadership had made constitutional provisions for the uplift of the down trodden. From 1947 the
practice of untouchability was declared as illegal. 2
During Ambedkar’s time we had the "Dalit" politics in the form of the Republican Party. After his
death came the Dalit Panther politics with its close relationship with the new literary movement.
However, it was: the expression of the silent majority. Rightly, politics could not be kept away from

2
Later with the release of the Mandal Commission Report by the V.P. Singh Government, a section of the population
comprising of 27 per cent of the total population, with the tag of, ‘other backward classes’ came to be included in the
ambit of reservation. They were given representation in national and state legislatures, in services and in the programs of
the social welfare and this has led to their development.
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the dalit debate and movement. Gandhi viewed “the Dalits problem” as a social one, whereas
Ambedkar saw it as a political and economic problem created by upper castes. When Ambedkar
became the first law minister, he created progressive legal reforms and incorporated these reforms
into the Constitution (Prashad 2001). Popular representation and public voice were now possible.
“Dalit” is the modern and popular identity term that is self-chosen by the community that has
suffered historic discrimination on the basis of caste. Gandhi’s attempt to identify these communities
as “Harijan” (children of God) has not gone well with the Dalits; many of them maintain a dislike of
Gandhi due to his successful campaign to communalise and subvert the issue of effective political
representation of the Dalits in pre and post-independence national governance (Macwan, n.d.). From
the individual to the community – the movement has grown.
By and large the dalit movement has been not for hegemony but for life with equality and
dignity (Raj and Raj, 2001). Essentially it is a social movement that can be forceful yet peaceful and
ethical. Any idea or ideology, in order to become a forceful social movement should be accepted first
by society in general as being morally just. Political emancipation and empowerment then becomes
easier. Public opinion creates a new public policy that may itself bring about far reaching political
change (Thimmaiah, 1993).
Education/literature has been in the forefront among the tools and strategies of dalit
movement – be it the voice of the poet Basavanna through “vachanas” of the 12th Century or
Basavalingappa’s speeches in 1970s. From a slow rise of non-Brahminical movement around 1917
to more reforms, including political representation for the under-privileged, the movement grew from
strength to strength. The period of 70s was one of movement: language movement, women’s
movement, peasant’s movement etc. that were also mutually reinforcing. From the 70s, there has
been a tremendous growth in the consciousness among the dalits about the life and works of
Ambedkar – a process which for the sake of brevity can be termed as Ambedkarisation. Organisation
of dalits, literacy (including media literacy) also took place (Singh, 1998). Organisational skills and
strategies are being used by dalits to overturn the caste system, organise for power, and fight for their
rights (Bhatt, 2005). All through, “Ambedkarism” has been the backbone of the dalit movement – in
organisations and groups.

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With political reforms it became easier to bring social change also. Spread of educational
opportunities, abolition of bonded labour system etc. were done. With the political reforms, however,
the dalit movement forsook mass struggles and adopted the electoral path to secure political power.
Political power was rightly seen as the key to all the problems. The dalit movement linked the
concept of State power with its claim of equality. The gamut of reservations basically sprang from
this. There is no denying the fact that following the strategy of sharing State power in the prevailing
circumstances certainly brought significant gains to dalits. Through the mechanism of reservations in
education, employment and politics, many dalits are catapulted to positions which otherwise would
have been unthinkable to them. But the buy-ins are always associated with gains. The truth cannot be
denied that this process, instead of strengthening dalits, has in many cases emasculated them
politically and caused the creation of a separate class of beneficiaries from amongst them, which if at
all, had a very tenuous linkage with the Dalit masses. This class has completely distorted the ideology
of dalit liberation.
Dalit politics emerged in modern India as a sharp critique of the existing social order,
unsettling the manner in which inequality and hierarchy was understood, and redefining the whole
concept of justice. But it is startling to find politics today in the currency of hurt sentiments which
shuts all doors to reasoned critique and has become (?) the favoured weapon of the chauvinist (EPW,
2012). There is also a worrisome feature in recourse to ‘alliance politics’ that overtly represents the
myopic vision of the dalit leadership which is strategizing mainly to remain visible in the political
scenario. Dalits as the native proletarian class cannot be liberated by sops granted in a prison. Their
liberation is only conceivable in dynamiting this prison and constructing a new shelter in its place as
per their own desire (Teltumbde, 2000; Wankhede, 2012). This requires good (political)
representation of social views. The roles played by communities, social-action groups and political
parties will decide the outcome. With multiple communities, castes, classes as well as political
parties, each individual/group has different opinion and interests. Conflicting interests requires good
politics: the art of generating consensus-majority (Gudavarthy, 2012; Mukhia, 2012). Mukhia (ibid)
feels that a choice between politics and social activism is not a happy one and that social activism
seeks to change the nature of politics, not become a substitute for it. Perhaps the best result can
emerge with a happy marriage between the two, where (only) one is not subservient to the other.

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V. Transformation for Inclusion


How does one transform and annihilate the caste system? It can only be done by
transformation of the identity. Identity within the caste system as both ‘touchable and untouchable’ or
‘high and low’ survives because it continues to provide meaning under the present system.
Discovering the meaninglessness of the caste system is therefore, the first major step towards
transformation. Transformation therefore is not to choose between a “touchable” and “untouchable”
identity, but it is to do way with both. This can be done only with the conviction that both constructs
are anti-human. The choice however, is never easy as relationships are based on the structure (caste)
that is traditional but formed for new purposes. Caste continues to govern rates of modernisation and
access to new opportunities (Elliott, 1986). Again “modernity” is relative, moving between thresholds
of change and always having the inevitable forces of conflict. So the forces may make or mar
“mobility” and “participation”.
The search for an identity that gives a meaning to make life worth living is a constant search,
especially for Dalits because of their suffering. “Touchable” minds are less motivated to do away
with their inhuman identity because they fear that their world – one based on hypocrisy- will – will
collapse. Transformation therefore, has to be a journey towards self-respect and value that can
influence other minds to follow and gravitate towards it. “Dalit” – as understood and internalised as a
moral position of people who believe in “equality” – is the giant step towards transformation. Dalits
therefore, are those who believe that all human beings are equal; dalits are those who practice
equality in their lives with all; and dalits are those who fight inequality wherever it is seen in practice.
To summarise, given the fact that “caste” as a system is an economic, social, political, cultural and
psychological order, there has to be a multi-dimensional approach including strategies that involve
using law, mass mobilisation, awareness of rights, globalisation of human rights, land reforms,
affirmative action programs, education, women’s leadership and reinventing spiritual discourse.
Under the scheme of Special Central Assistance (SCA), 100 per cent central assistance is
extended to supplement the efforts of the States/UTs for ensuring rapid socio-economic development
of the Scheduled Castes. It is provided as an additive to the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) of the
States/UTs for augmenting the efforts of the States/UTs for the economic development of Scheduled
Castes. The objective of the SCA is to fill the critical gaps in family based income-generating

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schemes with supporting infrastructure development. It focuses on maximising the returns from the
assets held by the SCs by filling the critical gaps in the developmental needs. Mere financial
assistance is not sufficient. Socio-economic betterment of dalits should occur also from the sides of
education, health, political participation and enlightened citizenship.
‘Educate, Organise and Agitate’ was the clarion call given by Baba Saheb Ambedkar to the
SC communities. Considering that we have more than 74 per cent of overall literacy (2011 Census)
and yet a large number of children still continuing to be out of school, this is a great challenge before
us. Academic Untouchability is well known. Reservation has not been implemented fully in many
institutions particularly in higher positions. On the other hand, children in schools as well as those
who have managed to secure spaces in higher education continuously face caste biases entrenched
into every sphere of academics. Voices of dalit children highlighting their experiences of exclusion,
discrimination and untouchability have been reported in many studies and even government reports.
Reservation system also needs overhauling to suit the dynamics of the times.

VI. Conclusion
In his historic speech in the Constituent Assembly on 25th November 1949, Ambedkar
pointed out the contradictions between politics (recognising the principle of one man-one vote) and
the social and economic life (denying the principle of one man-one value). ‘How long shall we
continue to live this life of contradictions?’ he asked and called for its removal for the sake of a
strong democracy. Yet today, after 65 year of Independence, the plight of dalits, for all practical
purposes has not wholly improved. We have a long way to go in converting our political
independence to real social and economic independence (Roy, 2009).
The Dalit movement has to revisit its stand on the issues of State, Religion, other modes of
exploitation and culture. It needs to restate its objective in clearer terms, whether it aims at
establishing a society based on liberty, equality, and fraternity or at just reversing the sides in the
equation of exploitation. It will have to rethink about its friends and foes in this context. The era of
globalisation increasingly demands clearer stands by various classes of people. It already appears

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sans its vitality and badly stagnated in the past. Its consequent degeneration has already hit the Dalit
masses. It needs serious self-criticism (Teltumbde, 2000).
Dalit movements, howsoever loosely structured or organised at the micro level with parochial
issues, are directed ultimately towards achievement of social justice and equality. This they may do
through aiming for welfare (reservation) and protective measures and/or for eradication of their social
discrimination, economic exploitation and political vulnerability. Looking beyond caste colour and
creed to claim a new social identity – secular in nature – needs to be developed and protected for
incorporating full claims for benefits of the welfare and developmental measures and thus
transforming vertical equality into a horizontal one (Ram, 2002). This is the modern inclusive
growth. To derive the benefits of modern inclusive growth irreversibly, the Dalit movement must
become enveloped in the larger genus of ‘social inclusion movement’. The transformation has to be
from ‘development of dalits’ to dalits in development’. In transformative societies, social inclusion is
a movement. In many countries of Europe it is fast becoming a process of reform in the market, of
commodities and factors. This reform process is based on a shared understanding that a job or access
to resource is, for any adult (and, indirectly, for any dependent children), the first rung on the ladder
of opportunity out of poverty and social exclusion. Dalit identity in modernity is part of the new
universe, with visible public space for words and works (e.g. movement) which is now covering
ecological issues too. The modern and growing society recognises that social justice cannot be
delivered only through reservations, subsidies, and grants. This realisation takes countries away from
utopian ideologies to innovation, employment creation, innovation and inclusion. There is now a
clear vision for how countries can tackle social exclusion, a scope for synthesising growth and
change though equity (Hans, 2008). The vision will get sharper with a critique of globalisation, with
all its crises of identity and assimilation of stakeholders. Social capital formation necessitates social
integration, not exclusion. The real test of our ability to address effectively the manifold challenges to
social integration and harmony will be seen in our struggle/journey to uphold peace, justice and
equality in the arena of balanced and sustainable economic development (Hans, 2007), and there is no
short-cut.

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(Impact Factor: 2.142)

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