The Role of Civil Society for Community Development in Contemporary India: A Case of an NGO for the Sweeper Caste in Rajasthan

This study clarifies the role of an NGO in transforming the discriminatory social status of the Dalits (Untouchables), and its implications for sustainable community development. Subduing the discriminatory relationship between Dalits and other local people will not only uplift them socioeconomically, but also expand their opportunity for communication, enabling the construction of inter-personal relationships between the discriminating and the discriminated against. The NGO plays an important role in facilitating this communication and implementing national and global level sanitation. This study illustrates the dynamic process of transforming discriminatory social relationships and the complicated mechanism of Dalit discrimination in contemporary India.