ABOUT THE BOOK

The present book 'Dalits-Economy and Society: A Study of Tamil Nadu' is the research report submitted to the ICSSR for the award of ICSSR- Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship (1st July 2014 to 30th June 2016). It is an unprecedented Scholarly work by the author at the Department of Economics, University of Madras. This is the pioneering research work conducted by the author and he took pains to collect the data for Tamil Nadu. It is hoped that this study will pave the way for conducting similar studies in future by Scholars belonging to different states in India. This study attempts to examine the core issues relating the Dalits (Scheduled Castes) on socio-economic problems and how far they are able to come up in the socio-economic ladder despite the fact that several crores of rupees have been spent for the past seven decades of independence. The important issues addressed to in this work are: 1. Land, caste and gender, 2. Occupational diversification, 3. Educational Status, 4. Health and consumption expenditure, 5. Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and 6. Atrocities on Scheduled Castes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. M. Thangaraj, M.A., M. Phil., Ph.D., was Professor and Head, Department of Economics (2012-14) and was also Professor and Head, Dr. Ambedkar Centre for Economic Studies (2004–2008) instituted by Dr. Ambedkar Foundation (as Chair Professor in Economics), University of Madras. Soon after his retirement from the Department of Economics in June 2014, he was awarded ICSSR Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship for two years. He has been Dean, School of Management Studies, Dr. Ambedkar University of Social Sciences, MHOW, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, for about six months until 31st March 2017. He is now Visiting Professor, Department of Economics, Raiganj University, Raiganj, West Bengal. Before coming to the University of Madras, he was serving as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor in the Madras Institute of Development Studies. His thrust areas are Land Economics, Development Economics, Dalit Studies and Dr. Ambedkar Thought and Philosophy. He has seven books to his credit and contributed articles to the academic journals, edited volumes and leading news papers. His earlier works include: “Land Reforms in India–Tamil Nadu: An Unfinished Task” (2003), edited volume brought by Sage Publications” and “Dalit Movements in South India” (2007), Edited volume, University of Madras, Chennai, 2007. The present volume is an outcome of the research report submitted to the ICSSR for National Fellowship. The author may be contacted at his email: mthangaraj05@gmail.com

CONTENTS

Foreword......................................................................................................... 7

Acknowledgements......................................................................................... 11

1. Introduction................................................................................................. 13

2. Land, Caste and Gender in Tamil Nadu...................................................... 19

3. Occupational Diversification in Tamil Nadu.............................................. 63

4. Entrepreneurship Development Programmes in Tamil Nadu........................ 81

5. Educational Status in Tamil Nadu....................................................... ....... 137

6. Health and Consumption Expenditure in Tamil Nadu.................................. 199

7. Scheduled Caste Sub-plan in Tamil Nadu.................................................... 217

8. Atrocities on Scheduled Castes in Tamil Nadu 233

9. Summary and Conclusion............................................................................ 283

Bibliography................................................................................................... 293

Index.............................................................................................................. 299