The lack of knowledge on the various dimensions of social exclusion, particularly, those associated with the institutions of caste and untouchability, ethnicity, other cultural and religious identities, and the need to help strengthen the civil society organizations, NGOs and the government in their efforts through knowledge empowerment led to the establishment of the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies. The need for the Institute was also felt as an important component of the Dalit movement. The experiential learning gained through both, working at the grass root, as well as, the advocacy platform to address the issue of caste-based discrimination at regional, national and international levels strengthened the need for such an Institute. The developments revolving around the advocacy of the Dalits in the international sphere, particularly, the UN bodies made the need for the Institute more relevant. The following learning is, therefore, basic to the Institute

Visibility about the core concerns of an issue is an essential pre-condition to effectively address it. The civil society organizations face immense difficulties in their mission to make the national and international community aware about the seriousness of the issue of caste-based and other forms of discriminations. Therefore, even though caste and descent-based discrimination is a grave human rights concern, it has failed to register the consciousness of the global human rights community, including institutions such as the United Nation's Human Rights Commission.

The grass root action and community mobilization seeking social change, particularly, ending caste discrimination, require strong national support, global linkages and also the recognition of the issue. Today, it has become necessary to use both the existing regional, national and international space and to create a new space, to highlight institutional mechanisms that can correspond to these needs. This is in consonance to the growing international co-operation on human rights.

In the context where global economic and political co-operation is accepted as a necessity, it is the need of the hour to ensure that the Dalit issue is understood as a global human rights concern calling for global attention. This important shift, both in terms of focus and strategy, requires molding of opinions, even of those who are active partners of this struggle in various fields.

The problem of social exclusion and discrimination associated with social origin, race, colour, nationalities under the overall rubric of work and descent-based discrimination is also prevalent in other countries. Some of these countries have developed policies for socially inclusive development, including affirmative action policies to overcome such disadvantages. To learn from the international experiences and to develop interlinkages with research and other organizations is equally necessary. Positively, there is also a need to undertake comparative studies to understand the nature of political mobilization processes and also the draft policies against discrimination.

Within the purview of the Dalits, little attention is given to studies focusing on the most vulnerable groups within the Dalits, such as Dalit women, children, and scavengers. The information is necessary to raise awareness about the dimensions and nature of exclusion and discrimination faced by these groups.