ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the relationships between women from different castes, and especially between Dalit and Non-Dalit women. It founds that the gross essentialisms which characterize everyday development practices are not solely related to misogyny and bias in favour of males but as in case studied here, of women's microcredit self-help groups in rural Tamil Nadu are profoundly connected with caste bias, which implies class bias as well, given that caste and class remain so closely correlated in rural Tamil Nadu. The chapter looks at how women in SHGs themselves experience and understand caste differences. It seeks to do here is to highlight the profound mutual distrust that prevails on both sides, between Dalit women and non-Dalit women, even if there are occasional cases of friendship or closeness. The NGO suggested that she should start this business without bothering about any feasibility study, arguing that it was listed among the so-called innovative activities of the Self-Help Groups (SHG) government scheme.
