‘Dalit’ is the name which the people belonging to those castes at the very bottom of India’s caste hierarchy have given themselves. The civil, political, religious, socioeconomic and cultural rights of dalits are being violated for centuries only on the basis of caste system. The experience of dalits shows that apartheid-like conditions can be imposed upon people who are marked by history, not appearance. The government of India has undertaken many programmes and policies for the empowerment of dalits and enacted a numbr of laws to protect their rights. Many national and international organizations are also working to uplift living standard of the dalits. In spite of all these massive efforts, dalits still face an uphill struggle against starkly unequal conditions and not fully entered the political, economic and social mainstream. The present status of dalits, their human rights and security issues, alternative measures against discrimination and strategies to mainstream them are some of the major themes discussed in this book. It is hoped that this work would be immensely useful not only for the academia, the government, NGOs and researchers, but also the layman who are concerned about the issues of caste-based discrimination and empowerment of dalits.
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