Dalit leaders are increasingly recognising the limitations of merely calling out oppression and are now looking beyond cultural inequality, to wealth inequality. For years, dalit intellectuals and political leaders have been preoccupied with educating the upper castes about the continued existence of caste discrimination. However, this has failed to bring about any radical change, and dalit politics has largely remained symbolic. Appointing a dalit president, naming an airport after Dr Ambedkar, or erecting his statues are seen as token gestures rather than substantive empowerment.
In rural India, most dalits are landless agricultural labourers dependent on upper caste landlords for employment, while in urban areas, they are part of the vast informal economy―both of which are exploitative. “Unlike the upper castes, dalits did not pay attention to the emergence of a new corporate economy. It is time to address issues of wealth inequality and the exploitation of dalit labour,” said Rahul Sonpimple, president of the All India Independent Scheduled Castes Association. “We should raise the material question―why, despite forming the majority of the labour class, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and landless Other Backward Classes (OBCs) remain economically marginalised.” He said India’s third-world capitalism was dependent on the informal economy, relying heavily on surplus labour from the lower caste working population. “This cheap labour stems from structural caste-based inequality.”
The movement towards economic empowerment among dalits began two decades ago. In 2005, Milind Kamble, a Padma Shri winning civil engineer and entrepreneur from Pune, founded the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) based on Dr Ambedkar’s principles of economic self-sufficiency. DICCI, which now has 30 state chapters, seven international chapters and over 12,000 members across diverse sectors, established India’s first social impact fund to support dalit entrepreneurs.
Ashok Prakash, a mechanical engineer with 15 years of experience in the aerospace and defence industry, transitioned into entrepreneurship in 2023. “I noticed a significant gap in surface finishing for aerospace applications. Given my domain expertise, I applied to start my own company in January 2023,” said Prakash, CEO and director of Kun Scalexuss Innovations Pvt Ltd, based in Devanahalli Aerospace Park, Bengaluru. The approval process for the project took six months, construction took a year and it required an investment of Rs12 crore. “Unlike other businesses that allow gradual investment as demand grows, my sector required substantial upfront capital,” he said.
The ongoing conflict in Israel has led to a surge in bulk orders from bombshell manufacturers, prompting Prakash to expand his facility. “I had not anticipated such high demand. Within 15 months, I employed 90 people. In the past year, our turnover reached Rs9 crore,” he said. His company now boasts an impressive clientele, including Boeing, Airbus, Collins, Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney.
Girish Babu, a former senior engineer at Toyota, founded Gutslane Precitech, an aerospace component manufacturing firm in Bengaluru, four years ago. “After leaving my job, I worked with young people to bridge the gap between education and industry. Inspired by entrepreneurs around me, I invested Rs8.5 crore over two years. Our annual turnover has now reached Rs3 crore,” said Girish, acknowledging the biases against dalit entrepreneurs.
When Girish applied for land, he was allotted only 0.7 acres instead of the two acres he requested. “Officials assume dalits lack business acumen. Thankfully, our clients evaluate us based on merit and professionalism, not caste,” he said. However, he encountered significant hurdles in securing loans. “Funding agencies assume we are seeking loans only for interest subsidies. Caste bias is prevalent among bankers, bureaucrats and politicians.”
Dalit entrepreneurs face systemic challenges, including inequitable land allocation and stringent financial scrutiny. The upfront cost is burdensome, as it reduces working capital. Prakash said working capital was the biggest challenge. “We need government support because the first six months involve sustaining operations without income while paying employees.”
State governments are considering reclaiming land from SC/ST allottees who have not started industries, citing wastage of subsidies. “We demand that land be repossessed from all defaulters, not just SC/ST allottees, and reallocated to genuine entrepreneurs,” said Girish. Entrepreneurs also face excessive scrutiny compared to their general category counterparts.
Adarsh Yellappa, a hotel management graduate, had plans to launch a food business. However, after securing land at Narsapura Industrial Area in Karnataka’s Kolar district, he pivoted to logistics. Partnering with friends, he launched a last-mile delivery and inventory management startup. “As first-generation entrepreneurs, we lack social capital and face systemic biases. Funding agencies demand excessive collateral and scrutinise our projects more rigorously than necessary. But what is a startup without risk?” he asked.
Despite a mandate by the Karnataka government to allocate 24.1 per cent of industrial land to SC/ST entrepreneurs, bulk allotments to MNCs often reduce actual allocations to dalits. Financial aid is also inadequate. Schemes like MUDRA and Stand-Up India charge high interest rates―up to 8 per cent―making them unattractive to SC/ST entrepreneurs.
Historically, government jobs provided a sense of security for dalits, but with privatisation and shrinking public sector employment, joblessness among dalit graduates has surged, encouraging them to turn entrepreneurs, notwithstanding the challenges.