Authors

• Prashant Bansode, Associate Professor, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economic, Pune, India

The paper documents the precarious living conditions of Dalits in the city compared to that of the general population. The paper points out that Dalits comprise a major section of those who live in informal settlements with few or even lack of basic amenities. The paper documents that the development of an inclusive agenda in the form of schemes and programmes for the urban poor in general, and Dalits in particular was an outcome of the critical engagement of the Dalit movement with the ‘state’ since Independence. The paper argues that the Dalit movement raises the important right to city housing issue in the context of an urbanisation that seeks the displacement of slums or poor neighbourhoods from the city. In the context of the high proportion of Dalits still living in informal settlements with lack of basic amenities, the politics of their inclusion-though fraught with factionalism and their being considered an appendage to mainstream political parties-is critical for accruing benefits for the community.