Abstract
Four waves of the COVID-19 pandemic have come and gone, and we are still not sure whether we have seen the end of it all. For quite some time, unemployment figures have been steadily rising in India, as in many other countries. While India’s employment problem pre-dates COVID, the situation has worsened with COVID, which has adversely affected the labour market worldwide.
As India grapples with the problems of high unemployment, under-employment and rapidly rising inflation, it is important to remember that in the present scenario the already socio-economically marginalized Dalit castes are amongst the worst sufferers. Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, as per official data from the National Sample Survey- Periodic Labour Force (NSS-PLF) Survey for 2018–2019 on employment, in 2018–2019, there was a higher percentage of unemployment amongst Scheduled Caste workers (6.4%) as compared to the national average (5.8%). The pandemic worsened the situation, as the impact of COVID was not uniform across population groups and, in fact, existing inequalities aggravated. The unorganized sector, which has a high concentration of Dalit workers, has been hard hit. There, as it is, Dalits have been working in conditions where jobs are extremely insecure and social security covers are almost absent. Given the nature of the work, collective bargaining for rights have always remained difficult for them. With successive waves of the pandefmic, the precariousness of this vulnerable section has increased manifold as job losses have been high and earnings have plummeted.
Under the given circumstances, urgent corrective measures are called for. These should include policy decisions to focus on employment generation schemes, special attention to the needs of the informal sector workers, expanding social security covers to include all sections of the marginalized population, and tough measures against discrimination in employment and reservation in both private and public sector jobs. It is pertinent to recognize in this effort that Dalit women’s problems pose special challenges as they have had to bear a disproportionate brunt of the livelihood struggles of low-income Dalit families in the wake of the pandemic. Most importantly, the COVID effect needs to be understood in terms of caste and gender in order to address the problems meaningfully. It is indeed ironic that the problem of Dalit marginality persists to plague India’s development agenda even as the 75th year of her independence is celebrated.
In this issue of the journal, we bring for the readers articles focusing on issues of Dalit identity, assertion and expression. Alongside an analysis of Ambedkar’s thoughts on an inclusive Indian nation, there can be found articles on the creation of Dalit histories, expression of the subaltern voice, and Dalit identity and concerns regarding the sexuality and reproductive health of Dalit women.
Last but not least, we wish to remind our readers that the views expressed in the articles are those of the respective authors, and the Editorial Board is in no way accountable for them.