Caste connections and government transfers- The Mahadalits of Bihar

Hemanshu Kumar and Rohini Somanathan

No 270, Working papers from Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics

Abstract: The category of Scheduled Castes, created for the purpose of affirmative action in India, is large, heterogeneous and unequal. In 2007, the state of Bihar classified the most disadvantaged among this group as ‘Mahadalits,’ to better target government transfers to them. A ‘Vikas Mitra’ (‘development friend’) was recruited from the most populous Mahadalit caste in each panchayat and had the task of connecting households to government officials administering social welfare programmes. We use household survey data from 48 panchayats across four districts of Bihar to ask whether households that belonged to the same caste as the Vikas Mitra had a significantly higher chance of getting programme benefits, as compared to Mahadalit households of other castes. We find this to be true for programmes with large one-time transfers such as the Indira Awas Yojana but not for more regular transfers, such as subsidized food grains. Our results suggest that jati identity remains salient within the Scheduled Castes of India. Classification-H53, I38, J15, J71

Keywords: affirmative action; caste; welfare programs; poverty targeting; networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2017-02
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Working Paper: Caste Connections and Government Transfers: The Mahadalits of Bihar (2017)
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