Entrepreneurial Development among Dalits: A Mixture of State Interventions and Personal Capabilities

Abstract

Equal development of every section of society is essential for the overall prosperity of any nation. But inequality exists in every society and things get worse when inequality of any group is caused by social discrimination. In India historically ‘Dalits’ were subject to social exclusion but emerging market opportunities are opening avenues for Dalits as well to achieve equal economic status. Due to Constitutional obligations, various Dalit empowerment schemes have also been introduced by the State. These State interventions have developed a negative sense against Dalits that they are surviving in business just because of State support system and they lack capabilities. Therefore, this study has been carried out with the objective to determine whether Dalits are in business just because of State interventions or whether they possess any individual attributes to perform on their own. The study uses a purposive sampling method for the collection of primary data and standard deviation based test of hypothesis. We conclude that Dalit entrepreneurship needs both State interventions through supportive policies and development programs. Individual entrepreneurial attributes of Dalits should also be acknowledged and their capabilities are required to sharpen thorough State-supported entrepreneurial framework.

Keywords: Dalits, Entrepreneurship, Social exclusion, State intervention, Attributes

JEL Classification: L26, J71