Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions.

There are many different names proposed for defining this group of people including Panchamas ("fifth" varna), and Asprushya ("untouchables").^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, the proportion of Dalit population was 16.2 percent of India's total population. The Dalit population is broadly distributed across Indian states and districts. In 2001, the state of Punjab had the highest proportion of its population as Dalit, at about 29 percent, and the state of Mizoram had the lowest at nearly zero. The government of India recognises and protects them as Scheduled Castes. The term Dalit has been interchangeably used with term Scheduled Castes, and these terms include all historically discriminated lowest castes of India such as Shudras and Untouchables.

While discrimination based on caste has been prohibited and untouchability abolished under the Constitution of India, discrimination and prejudice against Dalits in South Asia remains. Since 1947 - its independence - India has implemented a policy of positive discrimination, the scope of which was further expanded in 1974, to set aside and provide jobs and education opportunities to Dalits. By 1995, of all jobs in India, 17.2 percent of the jobs were held by Dalits, greater than their proportion in Indian population. In 1997, India democratically elected K. R. Narayanan, a Dalit, as the nation's President. Many social organisations too have proactively promoted better conditions for Dalits through improved education, health and employment.

Rahul Gandhi ([ˈraːɦʊl ˈɡaːnd̪ʱiː]; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician and member of the Parliament of India, representing the Amethi constituency. Gandhi is the general-secretary of the Indian National Congress. He is the grandson of Feroze Gandhi and Indira (née Nehru) Gandhi, and fourth-generation scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Rahul Gandhi was born in Delhi on 19 June 1970 as the first of the two children of Rajiv Gandhi, who later became the Prime Minister of India and Sonia Gandhi, who later became President of Indian National Congress, and as the grandson of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He is also the great-grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Priyanka Vadra is his younger sister.

Rahul Gandhi attended St. Columba's School, Delhi before entering The Doon School in Dehradun (Uttarakhand), also his father's alma mater, from 1981–83. Meanwhile, his father had joined politics and became the Prime Minister on October 31, 1984 when Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Due to the security threats faced by Indira Gandhi's family from Sikh extremists, Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka were home-schooled since then. Rahul Gandhi joined St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 1989 for his undergraduate education but moved to Harvard University after he completed the first year examinations. In 1991, after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE during an election rally, he shifted to Rollins College due to security concerns and completed his B.A. in 1994. During this period, he assumed the pseudonym Raul Vinci and his identity was known only to the university officials and security agencies. He further went on to obtain a M.Phil from Trinity College, Cambridge University in 1995. After graduation, Rahul Gandhi worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm, in London. In 2002 he was one of the directors of Mumbai-based technology outsourcing firm Backops Services Private Ltd.

Kumar Vishwas' (डॉ. कुमार विश्वास ) (also spelt as Vishvas or Vishwas) (born 10 February 1970) is a renowned Hindi Poet and a professor of Hindi Literature from Pilkhuwa[1], Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Kumar Vishwas was born on 10 February 1970, in Pilkhuwa, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh in a Gaur Brahmin family. He is the youngest among four brothers and a sister. He started his schooling from Lala Ganga Sahay School, Pilkhuwa where he spent a part of his childhood. His father Dr. Chandra Pal Sharma was Lecturer in R.S.S. Degree College, Pilkhuwa affiliated to Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut and his mother Smt. Rama Sharma is a home maker. After completing his intermediate from Rajputana Regiment Inter College, Pilkhuwa, his father wanted him to be an Engineer, but he had a passion for Poetry right from the childhood. He took no interest in engineering and decided to make career in the field of Poetry. He did Post Graduation in Hindi Literature.

Vishvas started his career as a professor in the year 1994 from Rajasthan. He has been teaching Hindi Literature to higher class students of Lala Lajpat Rai College for the last sixteen years.

Ashis Nandy (Bengali: আশীষ নন্দী) (born 1937) is an Indian political psychologist, a social theorist, and a contemporary cultural and political critic. A trained sociologist and clinical psychologist, his body of work covers a variety of topics, including public conscience, mass violence, and dialogues of civilizations.

He was Senior Fellow and Director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) for several years. Today, he is a Senior Honorary Fellow at the institute and apart from being the Chairperson of the Committee for Cultural Choices and Global Futures, also in New Delhi.

Nandy had received the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2007. In 2008 he appeared on the list of the Top 100 Public Intellectuals Poll of the Foreign Policy magazine, published by The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Nandy was born in a Bengali Christian family at Bhagalpur, Bihar, in 1937. He is the eldest of three sons of Satish Chandra Nandy and Prafulla Nalini Nandy, and brother of Pritish Nandy. Later, his family moved to Calcutta. Nandy's mother was a teacher at La Martiniere School, Calcutta and subsequently became the school's first Indian vice principal. When he was 10, British India was partitioned into two sovereign countries - India and Pakistan. He witnessed the time of conflicts and atrocities that followed.