THE BOTTOMLINE Defying Manu: rise of the Dalit capitalist

Recently, a group of 30 Dalit entrepreneurs, many of whom are manufacturers, visited the Planning Commission at the invitation of its deputy chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The meet was unstructured; the hosts content to watch the new phenomenon —the Dalit, quintessential underdog, embracing entrepreneurship and becoming a capitalist or at least, setting up small-scale industries. Meanwhile, the Dalit visitors were elated at the reception they got.
    Almost all of them are first-generation entrepreneurs. Just a couple of decades ago, they were neither well-endowed nor well educated. Only a few had benefited from government schemes. Each one had a rags-to-riches story. 

SPIRIT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

    Three decades ago, Rajendra Gaikwad was a fogger in a pesticide company. Today, he has an ISO-certified company —G T Pest Control Pvt Ltd., which operates in Punjab, Maharashtra, Goa and Delhi and employs 400 people. Further afield, it also operates in Singapore and has plans to enter Malaysia and Thailand. 

    Then there is Kalpana Saroj, who made headlines a few years ago when she took over Kamani Tubes Ltd. Right now, she is in the process of putting the company back on the rails.
    Ratibhai Makwana’s Gujarat Pickers is a large polymer distributor. His nephew, Jeetu Makwana produces monofilament and multifilament yarn twine tape.
    The 30-strong group’s activities are strikingly diverse. Their range of products includes hi-fi sound systems and home theatre, sugar, spirit and ethanol, cement products, automobile parts, garments and knitted garments, printing machines. Some others are in construction, the services sector, garment export and handicrafts, etc. Their visit to the Planning Commission was a message to the power elite that they exist. Before leaving Delhi, they threw a party that became a media event.
    What next? Milind Kamble, chairman of the Pune-based Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), says the 1,000-member body is largely confined to western India but plans are afoot to open chapters in other states. DICCI’s Punjab chapter is to be inaugurated in March.
    Two inferences are inescapable. First, the development is nothing short of a minor revolution. That these entrepreneurs are a microscopic minority in a community known its poverty and deprivation cannot diminish their significance. They have proved that India now offers enough opportunities, irrespective of caste and creed, to make it in life with hard work. The Dalit entrepreneurs appear to have understood and grabbed the new opportunities offered by economic reform since 1991.
    Second, Dalit capitalism —a term coined by activist Chandra Bhan Prasad —is no transient phenomenon. The spirit of entrepreneurship —initiative, hard work, ambition, etc —is well-entrenched in the Dalit community. There is increasing evidence of this from a survey carried out by Devesh Kapur of Pennsylvania University’s Centre for the Advanced Study of India.
    Too often do policymakers treat capitalism as a system of economics and finance. Too often do they ignore its potential for social transformation. The truth is the tenets of the market and Manu Smriti cannot coexist. When the market’s influence increased after 1991, the Dalits did not wait for the state to guide them towards entrepreneurship.
    Dalit capitalism today is akin to the origins of a mighty river. The spirit of adventure will find its own course, the journey will take a long time and it will be turbulent. What is certain is this - the Dalit capitalist will be an effective catalyst in ending the community’s mental bondage —that is the belief they are inferior, their plight is linked to birth and that the government alone can raise them up.
    The author is a fellow at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies

Source: The Times of India dated 30.01.2011