ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 by M. V. Nadkarni focuses on the changing social, political and economic status of Dalits. Indicators like poverty ratios, literacy rates, employment status, wage ratios and proportion of graduates in the population show that Dalits still lag behind the general population, though they show significant improvements in absolute terms. Dalits now are definitely a part of the mainstream of the polity and society, though less so of the economy. They cannot any longer be taken for granted. Though atrocities still take place against Dalits, they generate instant and widely publicised protests, and their incidence is lower than the general crime rate. The chapter concludes that Broad-Basing has been having a tough fight with the forces of marginalisation even with state help for the former. It is evident that the long-term tendency has been for Broad-Basing definitely to win, but its victory is rather slow even if significant, and yet to show results adequate enough to end social disparities.
