While tracing back Dalit politics in Uttar Pradesh, one often finds it marked by perpetual monetary handouts before elections, announcements for beneficial schemes particular to the lower strata, incitement against the so-called upper castes to mobilize the Dalits and so on. The race among politicians to call themselves to real ‘Masiha’ of Dalits continued – much vociferously after the Mandal Commission reports of 1980. But one would rather argue that today, Dalit Politics – much like the society – is going through a churn.
In the book ‘Makers of Modern Dalit History’ authored by BJP leader Guru Prakash Paswan and Sudarshan Ramabadran, while discussing Dalit assertion to seek representation, they write, “(Dalit Youths) are silently striving to be something big that really helps people, and not just of their own community but of their entire nation.” Instead of playing the cards of Identity politics, UP CM Yogi Aditynath is walking the talk for Dalit representation in commerce and industry.
Association with DICCI
The Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry – a group of entrepreneurs committed to becoming ‘Job-givers’ – has patterned with Yogi Adityanath-led UP Government on many levels. In an interview with Prof. Abhinav Prakash on his youtube channel, Shashank Kunwar, Director of DICCI Uttar Pradesh talked in length about the steps taken by Yogi Adityanath for the overall upliftment of the community. The BJP Government in Uttar Pradesh has not only charted out successful welfare programmes that benefit Dalits directly but have come up with inventive ways to encourage youth and women to take up entrepreneurship and employment on policy levels.
Kunwar mentions the One-Table policy charted out on an administerial level when Dalit youths approach the government for assistance in businesses. As India’s overall position in ease of doing business improves, a decrease in bureaucratic hassles helps in overall economic upliftment. Kunwar highlights that the partnership of DICCI with the UP govt is based on affirmative action. Being a successful entrepreneur himself, he is also part of the three-member committee formed in 2020 formed to draft policies to promote SC/ST entrepreneurs.
Center-State Colloboration
The effective rollout of Central govt. policies in Uttar Pradesh has been the hallmark of Yogi in giving a development-led administration. The Stand-Up India scheme intended to boast SC/ST and Female participation in Commerce has seen much success in UP. Alone in 2021, the credit requirement increased 29% in terms of applications, despite the pandemic. The Stand-Up India scheme enables banks to grant credit from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore to at least one SC/ST borrower and at least one woman borrower for setting up their ventures.
Shashank Kunwar, in the interview, talked of travelling to at least 55 districts across UP to encourage youths to take entrepreneurship. Out of a select 200 beneficiaries, 50% were women. While launching the ‘Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Swarojgar Yojana’ in June 2020, the CM transferred Rs. 17.42 Crore to 3,484 people as assistance money to set up local businesses. Apart from this, collaborations with the Central MSME ministry under the SCs/STs Hub Scheme have brought breakthrough results.
Welfare schemes as a foundational block
Welfare schemes are a feature of holistic social upliftment in the Modi-Era, while Yogi Adityanth is championing the same in his own state. A big chunk of beneficiaries of these schemes is SCs and STs since Dalits accord to nearly 20% of UP’s overall population. From 2014-2019 alone, 9.16 crore toilets had been built under the Swacch Bharat Yojana. The effective rollout of PMJAY and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana continued to the overall socio-economic upheaval. Out of 8.85 crore homes built, 6.5 crores alone were built for Dalits. It is important to note that social development carved out by welfare schemes will serve as a foundational block for entrepreneurial aspiration among the lower rungs of society.
Important to highlight is the feeling of ownership for Public infrastructure cultivated among the Dalits. Much work has been done for increasing the participation of Dalits in the process of development as they get direct recruitment as contractors, labour, etc. Recently, An Exhibition-cum-trade-fair was organised by the UP govt. in Varanasi with support of DICCI, Department of MSME and National SC/ST Hub.
“Economic equality becomes the basis of social equality. “The society with one of its sections becoming strong while another remaining weak will not be able to become self-reliant. It is necessary that there is a balance in the society and this balance should be at the economic level” said Yogi Adityanath while launching employment schemes for SC/ST in 2019. The commitment for social progress to be crafted through economic empowerment is equally clear through his thoughts and actions.
