Abstract
The paper examines whether the dalit castes are adequately represented in the health service system in rural India in the context of the already established caste based discrimination in service delivery. Drawing from official data, the paper shows an overall domination of non-dalits in healthcare services. The paper presents two scenarios to understand it further. Fist is the similarities in health disparities between SCs and non-SC/STs of Bihar and Tamil Nadu, which have huge presence of non SC/STs in significant positions of healthcare delivery. Second is the case of Andhra Pradesh (undivided), which has less intergroup disparities and better distribution of health personnel from dalit castes at all levels of health services. These cases confirm the persistence of unfavourable environments for dalits with the domination of non-dalits in health services.