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Synopsis Essays in this festschrift, brought out in honour of Professor K.S. Chalam, are highly specialized, covering the four states of Southern India. These are the analytical essays on the history and socio-economic transformation of the marginal communities or disprivileged groups, i.e., Dalits, tribes and other occupational communities. The essays focus on these social categories and reflect on economic development, and the process of social change. Professor Chalam is a trained economist, specialized in broader themes like economics of education, political economy, public economics and Dravidian studies. Perhaps he is one of the few economists, who has widely written, over four decades, on education and the disprivileged - an issue that has re-emerged and has been intensely debated in recent years. He has pioneered some innovative ideas in his interdisciplinary studies like 'Education and Weaker Sections' two decades ago when there were very few serious works drawing from history, economics, education, sociology and related disciplines. Therefore, this volume has been planned in such a way that the essays incorporate all his cherished ideas.