"Dalits in India: Search for a Common Destiny explores the status of Dalits in the country by presenting all-India and state-level analysis of various human development and related social and economic indicators. It provides a comprehensive understanding of the processes and dynamics that exclude them from mainstream development and are causative of their relative peripheral position." "The first of its-kind study examines dimensions such as demography, gender, levels and patterns of urbanisation, occupational patterns, ownership of income earning assets like agricultural land and business, situation of rural labour, employment and unemployment, employment under reservations in the public sector, incidence of poverty, literacy and education levels, health status and access to healthcare facilities, access to civil amenities like housing and the status of civil rights, with a particular emphasis on the practice of untouchability, social discrimination and atrocities."--Jacket.