Caste, Gender and the Development Interface: A Study of Vikas Mitra Scheme Among Musahar Women in Bihar

In an effort to develop the disadvantaged dalit population, the Bihar Government introduced a category called ‘Mahadalit’. Under the rubric of this nomenclature, many schemes have been introduced to uplift the Mahadalits, including the Musahars, often described as ‘dalit among dalits’. One such scheme is the Vikas Mitras scheme, which aims to appoint people from the Mahadalit population to the lowest position in the bureaucracy, envisioning them to emerge as ‘change agents’. In this scheme, fifty per cent of the positions are reserved for the Mahadalit women. The article presents an ethnographic study of the experiences of Musahar women navigating through the bureaucracy as Vikas Mitras while engaging with their intersectional identities related to caste, class and gender. The reflexive engagement with the scheme’s intent and reality on the field raises critical questions about the broader categories of development, empowerment, intersectionality and depoliticisation.