Is Caste Destiny? Occupational Diversification among Dalits in Rural India

Among the most distinctive features of Indian caste system is the close link between castes and occupations, especially in rural India, with Dalits or Scheduled Castes (SC) clustered in the least well paid and most socially degrading occupations. We use several rounds of quinquennial surveys from the National Sample Survey Organisation to assess whether the historic relationship between caste status and occupational segregation has been weakened. We find that the occupational structure of the SC households is converging to that of the non-scheduled households. However, we do not find a similar occupational convergence for the Scheduled Tribes households.