While DFID was “very proud” that 38% of the population covered by the PACS Programme was dalits and 21% adivasis, it cannot be forgotten that dalits and women continue to get lower wages, and that dalit children are made to perform menial tasks in schools, she said.

These are issues that would have to be addressed in the second phase of the programme (PACS-II), she added.

Describing social exclusion as a “burden” on the Indian economy, which impedes the realisation of Government of India development goals, Sushila Zeitlyn outlined how CSOs could address the issue at the ground level.

First, CSOs have to recognise and acknowledge discrimination. Then, disaggregated data should be built to measure the progress of different groups in different spheres. For example, research in the UK showed how girls performed poorly in schools, and recent research in India has shown how dalit candidates suffer discrimination when they apply for jobs even in new economy areas like the IT industry.

CSOs will have to work to rectify such “unconscious biases”. For example, in the UK, girls were moved to the front benches of classrooms.

It is important to remember that an inclusive society is not just one that includes all groups regardless of class, caste or gender. All groups should also enjoy the power and freedom to negotiate on equitable terms. Thus, CSOs cannot stop at ensuring NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) job entitlements for dalits and women; they have to also ensure that these groups get equal wages.

One way of addressing this challenge is by building “alliances of excluded groups,” Sushila Zeitlyn suggested. She also said that CSOs should identify “what has worked” and build on it. For instance, the Sachar Committee report shows that dalits and adivasis have fared better than Muslims in some respects, which shows that, over time, the policy of reservation works.

As a first step, CSOs would have to practise inclusiveness in their own organisations, she said. Dalits, women, Muslims and people with disability are under-represented in CSOs. Few people from these groups had leadership positions in CSOs; they were also not well represented on management boards and staff.

This under-representation seriously inhibits the “legitimacy and effectiveness” of CSOs in addressing the issue of poverty that is closely related to social exclusion, she explained. CSOs should, in fact, do more than what the government prescribes in their own institutions to ensure representation for dalits, minorities and people with disability, she added.

Sushila Zeitlyn’s opinions and the theme of the session evoked much debate. D Mardi, Secretary General of the All-India Santal Welfare and Cultural Society, representing the “largest homogenous tribal community of India,” said that the term “social inclusion” was “derogatory”. According to Mardi, use of the term suggests, to the so-called excluded groups, that “your society is below ours, and we are trying to make you become part of us”.

In the context of adivasis, this means inclusion into a society based on principles of conflict, competition, exploitation and unchecked consumption. While adivasis constitute a “primitive communist society” that is not divided by gender or class, the talk of social inclusion seeks to bring them into the fold of a society that has fundamentally different values.

As a result, the adivasi way of life and management of natural resources will be destroyed, as also the adivasi right to self-determination and self-governance, Mardi said.

Hence, instead of talking about “inclusion,” one should talk about “coexistence of human societies with different lifestyles, based on recognition of different values,” he said.

A CSO representative from Jharkhand added that adivasi groups in the state live in such remote areas that social inclusion is “irrelevant”. What is required is political empowerment.

Other participants highlighted the risks involved in adopting a socially-targeted approach, against the background of PACS Programme experiences with excluded groups like the Musahars and changing political dynamics like dalit-agenda-based leaders shifting to broadbased alliances.

Responding to these concerns, Sushila Zeitlyn said that working for social inclusion was undoubtedly extremely challenging, but there were many good available opportunities.

For instance, in the National Rural Health Mission, CSOs could engage with government as agencies monitoring coverage of all groups, rather than merely as service-providers. They could perform a similar role in the mid-day meal scheme and in ensuring statutory wages and facilities for women at NREGS work sites, she suggested.