ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to examine the change in the structure of the workforce with reference to Scheduled Castes (SCs) agricultural workers at the micro level during 1964–1994 and at the national level from 1971 to 2011 in the context of agricultural growth to understand the linkages between caste, land and the violation of human rights in the case of Dalits. Dalits were subject to social stigma of untouchability and were denied the right to education and the right to owning land. Ambedkar observed that untouchability was not only a system of social discrimination against but a system of uncontrolled and unmitigated economic exploitation. There was a steady increase in the number of atrocities on SCs/STs from 1981 to 2014 at the all-India level. According to the Report of Commissioner for SCs and STs, disputes over wages and unresolved land disputes are the main reasons for the commitment of atrocities on SC/STs. The iniquitous distribution pattern of land and the associated system of feudalism were mostly responsible for the frequent physical attacks on Dalits (agricultural labourers) in rural India. The problems of social tensions and the violation of human rights recur as long as the agrarian structure remains iniquitous in the rural economy and agricultural labourers continue to depend on landlords for their livelihood.
