CITIZENSHIPAND CAST BASED DISCRIMINATION A STUDY OF DALIT COMMUNITIES : Case studies from Western Nepal

The primary concern of the research was to describe different aspects of fulfillment of modern full-fledged citizenship of Dalit people in Nepal. The study is focused on ‘citizenship’ as a unified bond of civil, political and social elements. It is expected that the study will have an importance to offer proper justice to these vulnerable groups. The study was mainly based on qualitative research methodologies. It involves thematic analysis of participant and non-participant observation, semi-structured focus group interviews and a few case studies for an in-depth study of exclusionary practices and redefining gender relations. The quantitative data or statistics were taken only from standard and recognized sources to make the research reliable and therefore the analysis would be trustworthy as well. Both quantitative and qualitative data collected through ‘data triangulation’ process were carefully analyzed in descriptive and qualitative manner. The findings indicate the political citizenship of Dalit people is improved better during the recent few years in comparison to social and economic aspect. Majority of the Dalits do not have an access to health and education. The Dalits are the poorest amongst the different caste groups in Nepal. Dalit women are the most vulnerable group. They suffer from alcoholism related family violence, have no right on reproductive health and encounter extreme discrimination in everyday social and economic life. Deep rooted Hindu cultural practices, inter-cast discrimination within Dalits themselves, illiteracy, lack of proper awareness among the people and ineffective Dalit leadership are major challenges towards providing full-fledged citizenship status to Dalit people in Nepal. In conclusion the policies that are designed in central level without participation of the target group cannot prepare people for overcoming challenges in real life situations. It requires planning, resourcing the community to meet needs, increasing people’s skills and capabilities, building community networks and providing support through social action groups in order to lead improving life quality of Dalit people. These all can be achieved by empowering individuals and more importantly women in the Dalit communities. Reforms in bureaucracy and more effective awareness campaigns are needed against discriminatory practices guided by culture and as a form of social system