The Dalit Capitalism Conference will seek ways to help Dalits become a vibrant business class, capable of generating employment, a big step away from being passive recipients of job doles.
NEW DELHI: A Dalit conference to be held in Delhi in October may redefine the job quota debate.
The Dalit Capitalism Conference will seek ways to help Dalits become a vibrant business class, capable of generating employment, a big step away from being passive recipients of job doles.
Inspired by Richard Nixon’s Black Capitalism initiative, which supported entrepreneurship among Blacks, two organisations — the Pune-based Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) and the Delhi-based Dalit Vyapar Welfare Association (DVWA) — are trying to do the same for Dalits.
The target of DICCI, set up in 2004, is “to dispel the belief that Dalits are solely dependent on job quotas”, says Milind Kamble, a prime mover of the group with 100 members across Maharashtra having turnovers of Rs50 lakh to Rs4 crore.
The DVWA, set up only five months ago, has 500 members in Delhi, most of them running small businesses with turn-overs of up to Rs20 lakh.
But the task of promoting entrepreneurship among Dalits is easier said than done. “Trade and enterprise have never been part of our tradition,” says Dalit scholar Chandrabhan Prasad.
In fact, the only trade traditionally linked with Dalits is leather work.
Those behind the initiative say Dalits are not discriminated against in business, but they need a leg up in terms of training and financial help. “I have never faced any handicap in my construction business, though my name advertises my caste,” says Kamble, proprietor of the Rs5 crore Milind Kamble Civil Engineers and Contractors.
Arun Kumar Chaudhary, DVWA president, seconds that. He owns an advertising services agency. “There are no problems peculiar to the Dalits once they get to the market. But reaching there is a problem, given that they are educationally and economically backward.”
To address this, DICCI and DVWA give entrepreneurs counselling and support. The first step is to convince people that entrepreneurship is a better option. They are also seeking reservation of government and public-sector contracts. “If the government can’t do this, it has no business compelling the private sector to reserve jobs,” says Chaudhary.
Interview with Chandrabhan Prasad
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