Research Data for 'A Study of Factors Influencing Educational Achievement of Chamar and Balmiki in Rural Haryana' by Smriti in Journal of Social Inclusion Studies

In the contemporary period, one finds tremendous self-awareness and assertion among the Scheduled Castes (S.C.). One also witnesses progressive legislation to extend material support to the Dalits through ‘positive discrimination policy’ of India which provides reservation quota to them in government jobs and educational institutions funded by the state and the central government. The Prevention of Atrocities (PoA) Act, 1989 has also been enacted to extend social justice to the S.C. population against their historical exploitation that is still evident in the society. However, all these measures have failed to bring in the desired effect. Statistics show that even after the existence of ‘positive discrimination policy’, S.C.s still lag behind the general population and in the SC quota, all the castes are not able to reap its benefit equally. The inequality can be seen among different SCs, for example, Chamars or Ad-Dharmis in Punjab, Jatavs in Uttar Pradesh, Malas and Madigas in Andhra Pradesh and Mahars in Maharashtra, among S.C. have taken more benefit from the ‘positive discrimination policy’ of India than the other small castes such as Balmiki and Dhanank, who are still deprived from its benefits.In the backdrop of this problem, two caste groups among S.C. were selected for this study. These two caste groups are Chamar and Balmiki from Nigana village of Rohtak district in Haryana. Nigana is a medium size village with 5000 persons. It is a S.C. dominant village where the population of S.C. is above 40 per cent and in this village, the households of Chamars are more than the households of Balmikis. The main objective of the study was to assess the level of education of Chamar and Balmiki and to comprehend what factors influence the educational achievement, more specifically to understand the reason behind the difference in the educational achievement of the Balmikis and the Chamars of Nigana village. The study also aimed to comprehend how education helps in empowering the two castes inhabiting rural Haryana.