Inspired by the message of Dr. BR Ambedkar, these sons, and daughters of cobblers, daily wage workers, and police constables from the Dalit community, who have lived in slums and experienced poverty, are now multi-millionaire entrepreneurs paving the way for others.

When we talk about ‘rags-to-riches’ stories in India, one hurdle that does not often get a mention is caste. For Dalits, particularly, the role caste plays in upward economic mobility is significant. At every stage of their lives, Dalits are met with structural discrimination from accessing health, education to economic opportunities. While reservations have given them a shot in the arm for upward social mobility via government jobs, many are still left behind doing menial jobs and remain shackled to their caste-based occupation. Another avenue of upward social mobility is self-employment, but that has its challenges such as lack of access to formal capital.

Aditi Narayani Paswan, an assistant professor at the University of Delhi, writes for The Indian Express: “As per the reports by the MSME ministry, Dalit-owned ventures are still minimal in terms of numbers as well as revenue. Micro studies conducted all over India show that Dalits are still indentured to their traditional caste-assigned occupations, which are usually manual and low-paying. Those Dalits who consider taking up self-employment are hindered by the fear of social discord and losing any potential subcaste networks that might provide them with mutual insurance.”

Despite these circumstances, there have been Dalit entrepreneurs who have overcome incredible odds to run successful enterprises. In addition to their own resilience and acumen, they stand on the shoulders of giants like Dr. BR Ambedkar, who made “several attempts to remove the evils associated with caste and purity that create restricted circumstances for entrepreneurship development”, notes Dr. Chakradhar Baldeo Indurkar, in a 2017 paper.

Source Credit: The Better India