A year had passed since I launched my own business venture, I was perplexed with two questions- first, I wondered as to why India Inc needs organizations like FICCI and CII. In my own thought basket, I saw Indian business houses strong enough to influence political leaders, Government policies and guard their own individual interests.

I found the answers. Things are complex and not as simple as I thought them to be. To magnify the power of influence, a collection of individuals into an organization is a better way than individually

addressing the issues. India Inc, I thought was on the right path by setting up their own business bodies.

Why shouldn’t Dalits follow the same path, was my next thought! I kept thinking for a couple of additional reasons. As Dalits, with no previous history of Business and Trade and situated outside India’s social fabric, Dalit Business persons need a business body more than the India Inc. Plus, when Dalits have so many organizations in so many fields- from student bodies to political, why not a Business

of our own?

With this flash point, DICCI was born. It was born in my mind a year before the actual foundation day of April 14, 2005.

If I had to set up a business body like DICCI. I realized that I must have a collection of Dalit Business persons in the first place. My search yielded results as I was able to identify a few dozen Dalit Businesses in Pune, Mumbai and Aurangabad.

As a series of meetings followed, we kept deliberating the principles DICCI must adopt. Things got simpler as me and my colleagues began thinking like business persons. We did undertake some study of the history and organizational set ups of FICCI and CII. As we understood, FICCI and CII function with one core goal in their minds- to advance the business interests of their fellow members.