Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) are historically disadvantaged communities that face discrimination on the grounds of their lower social positioning in society. This dissertation comprises 5 Chapters. Chapter 1 provides a brief outline regarding the stratification in India based on Caste and illustrates the importance of studying the economic consequences of caste-based discrimination in India. Chapter 2 analyses the effect of caste-based residential segregation in rural India and its effect on marginalized children's education outcomes. The results show that caste residential segregation dampens the education outcomes for children belonging to SC/ST communities with no discernable effects on students belonging to high castes. Chapter 3 analyses how a woman belonging to a marginalized community marrying a high-caste man, i.e., Hypergamy, affects her well-being. More particularly, I investigated how hypergamy affects domestic violence and subsequent health injuries. The results show that hypergamy significantly increases the incidence of domestic violence and subsequent health injuries. Chapter 4 is the continuation of Chapter 3, where I investigated how hypergamy affects healthcare utilization and analyzed how this effect is mediated by women's autonomy or involvement in decision-making. The results show that hypergamy significantly reduces healthcare utilization, and this effect is significantly mediated by a reduction in her autonomy or involvement in the decision-making process. Chapter 5 summarizes the results of Chapters 2, 3, and 4 and provides policy input. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]