This Bitcoin Mining Program Bids to Abolish Caste Discrimination in India
A non-profit organization in India has announced a new cryptocurrency-mining program aimed at the rural youth. More specifically, the initiative is aiming to empower the country’s most impoverished, a demographic that mostly consists of a particular caste known as ‘Dalits’. Individuals belonging the Dalit community are often subjected to extreme discrimination from the moment they are born, leaving them with no choice but to lead a life of poverty.
The Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI ) is spearheading the program with the help of a cryptocurrency-related platform, Mahabfic, and social entrepreneur, Dr. Tausif Malik. According to DICCI and Mahabfic, the collaboration will result in the ‘world’s first and largest Bitcoin Mining Training Program (BMTP) for self-employment.’
DICCI founder, Shri Milind Kamble, stated that the main objective of the program is to “empower the rural population especially the youth from the farming community to earn income from their hometown or villages, this would create new economic development in these areas.’
Cryptocurrencies have been a saving grace for several such communities, including some African countries where the trend of crypto mining and entrepreneurship is emerging rapidly. Increased adoption rates in these regions have also driven up the viability of such occupations.
Kamble added,
“The new blockchain technology is the future of technology development and taking the world by storm and bitcoin-cryptocurrency mining is a must for blockchain platform to operate. Hence, we felt the need to offer bitcoin-cryptocurrency mining training program (BMTP) to our youth on a nationwide scale for self-employment.”
While the problem of caste disparity is on the decline, especially in the more affluent regions of India, there is no doubt that a sizeable segment of the population continues to be affected by the practice. A Dalit farmer in the state of Gujarat, for instance, was reportedly beaten to death by extremists as recently as last week. The local police not only confirmed that the attack was caste-motivated, but also said that it was in retaliation to the individual owning livestock, a symbol of prestige for the farming folk.
The issue of untouchability is a major problem for India, a country that has boldly announced its plans to be a superpower within the next few decades. Several Bollywood films have also touched on the topic in some way or another in a bid to encourage social reform among the masses. For a country with a population of well over one billion though, changing public perception about the Dalit class and giving them equal opportunities might as well partially happen through the cryptocurrency asset class.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
