‘Dalits turning entrepreneurs against odds is a miracle’

Dalits turning entrepreneurs against odds is a ‘miracle’, said Chandrabhan Prasad, mentor to the Dalit India Chamber of Commerce and Industry, at the LitFest discussion on Dalit entrepreneurship moderated by acclaimed India expert Robin Jeffrey.
Chandrabhan has coauthored a book on Dalit entrepreneurship with Shyam Babu, senior fellow at the Centre for Policy.Prasad recalled how he’s often asked if the rise of Dalit entrepreneurs means all Dalits have turned millionaires. His rebuttal — Are all banias millionaires? Are all Americans capitalists? “The message in our book is that when Dalits get equal opportunity and rules are applied to them equally, they can succeed on their own,” Babu said.
Jodhka said it’s important not to presume all Dalits are poor or stay on outskirts of villages. “Those from lower castes who’ve done well have often had their castes re-designated.”
The other participant in the discussion, liberal economist Swaminathan Aiyar spoke of the rise of Dalit millionaires without government subsidies. “The Economic Times ran 11 articles on Dalit capitalism,” said Aiyar, who spoke of how capitalism helped erode the caste system and produced dollar millionaires.