From: Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC <pmarc2008@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, May 29, 2010 at 6:20 PM
Subject: [PMARC] Dalits Media Watch - News Updates 29.05.10
To: Dalits Media Watch <PMARC@dgroups.org>
Dalits Media watch
News Updates 29.05.10
Chief Secretary Arrest Warrant: Parties Trade Charges - Out Look India
http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?683504
BSP leader gets 5-year jail for abusing Dalit cop - Express India
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/bsp-leader-gets-5year-jail-for-abusing-dalit-cop/624827/
SCs/STs qualifying against open seats to be treated as general category - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052960210400.htm
Dalit woman files complaint - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052959780300.htm
Act fast on atrocity cases: Collector - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052953590300.htm
Dalit boy cracks IIT entrance test - Zee News
http://www.zeenews.com/news629449.html
Court notice to Rajasthan Govt. over death of Dalit - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052960660700.htm
Body for action against untouchability sought - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052951170700.htm
Caste no bar - The Times of India
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052951170700.htm
Out Look India
Chief Secretary Arrest Warrant: Parties Trade Charges
http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?683504
Though Madhya Pradesh High Court has stayed the arrest warrant issued against the State Chief Secretary Avani Vaish by the National Commission for SC, the issue has snowballed into a major controversy in the state with both BJP and Congress trading charges against each other.
Perhaps, it was for the first time that the arrest warrant was issued against the State's topmost officer, Chief Secretary by the NCSC on the issue of promoting officers of general category against the reserved posts.
"The decision of the High Court on the issue of NCSC warrant has made things crystal clear," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra said.
However, the NCSC Member Mahendra Boudh while talking to PTI defended the Commission's decision on the issue saying that it has followed all legal procedures before issuing the arrest warrant with the permission of the Chairman.
Taking the issue further, Boudh said that the Commission has recommended to the Union Home Ministry to probe the issue through any independent agency as the State Government has violated the laws of reservation twice in the year 2006 and 2008 respectively.
Criticizing the Congress for using constitutional bodies for settling political scores, Narottam said, "in politics there is always a scope for differences and opposition, but such attempts will damage the federal structure of the country."
Congress should not use constitutional bodies as a weapon for settling political scores and because of such growing practices independent institutions like CBI are being called as 'Central Bureau of Congress', the Minister said.
However, defending the Congress, State Congress spokesman K K Mishra said "since BJP leaders and its ministers have created a record of corruption and are fully aware that their future will be spent in courts and jail, they are levelling baseless allegations at an independent, impartial and honest agency like CBI and NCSC."
Mishra alleged that in order to hide the atrocities on Dalits in none other than the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's village, Jait, the ruling party has staged a 'full drama' by allowing Dalit women to sing bhajans in a temple, when the NCSC team went there to probe reports in this regard.
"I bet that this drama must have got over soon after the visit of NCSC team to the Jait village as everybody knows what is the real situation in villages specially in the BJP-ruled states," he said.
"They are free to say anything about the independent agencies of the country, but people of the state are fully aware of their designs," Mishra added.
Express India
BSP leader gets 5-year jail for abusing Dalit cop
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/bsp-leader-gets-5year-jail-for-abusing-dalit-cop/624827/
Express News Service
Posted: May 28, 2010 at 0241 hrs IST
Lucknow The special SC/ST court of Bahraich convicted a BSP leader and a lawyer on Thursday in a case registered under the Arms Act, the SC/ST Act and criminal intimidation in 1995.
The court of Special Judge Anand Kumar Upadhyay announced five-year rigorous imprisonment for Dilip Verma and lawyer Kuldip Verma. They were also asked to pay a penalty of Rs 25,000 each.
Dilip Verma had been a Samajwadi Party MLA from Bahraich's Mahsi constituency thrice. In the 2007 Assembly elections, he, however, contested on a Samajwadi Kranti Dal ticket and lost. Following this, he joined the BSP. His wife Madhuri Verma is at present an MLC from the BSP.
In November 14, 1995, Shiv Sahai, a Dalit police constable, had lodged an FIR against Dilip and an unidentified person at the Dargah Sharif police station accusing them of attempt to murder (Section 307-IPC), intentional insult to provoke breach of peace and criminal intimidation (Sections 504 & 506 of IPC), misuse of licenced weapon (2/27 Arms Act) and humiliating him by referring his caste (SC/ST Act).
Recalling the incident, Station Officer of the Dargah Sharif police station, D P Singh, said that on that day, Shiv Sahai had stopped Kuldip's vehicle and asked for its papers. This led to an altercation between the two. Kuldip left the place only to return with Dilip. At that time too, Dilip was a former MLA.
Dilip reportedly hurled abuses at the constable referring to his caste and also threatened to kill him with his licenced rifle, added Singh.
The Hindu
SCs/STs qualifying against open seats to be treated as general category
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052960210400.htm
New Delhi: Candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes who qualify against open seats for promotion cannot be adjusted against vacancies earmarked for the SC/ST quota, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has held while giving relief to a Delhi Police woman constable.
"The official memorandum dated July 2, 1997, has to be applied to SC/ST category candidates who achieve merit of general category. They have to be deemed as general category candidates and this quota would not be counted towards reservation. If it is so because of non-following of the aforesaid (memorandum) the fundamental right of the applicant to be considered as a SC category candidate fairly and equitably for promotion has been applied. The action of the respondents cannot be countenanced," the Tribunal bench comprising Members Shanker Raju and S. P. Singh said.
Petition to CAT
The CAT passed the order on a petition by Constable Krishna Kumari seeking direction to the Delhi Government to consider her candidature for promotion to the post of Head Constable. She submitted that she was eligible for consideration as she held the eighth position against 15 vacancies earmarked for the category.
Accepting her plea, the Tribunal said the government wrongly applied the instructions laid down in the official memorandum. "In our considered view, the government has misapplied the instructions to fill up the quota of SC/ST from the candidates belonging to that respective category even if they have achieved the merit at par with general category candidates," it said.
Earlier, the government contended that the vacancies meant for SC/ST had been utilised by those obtaining merit at par with the general category. –PTI
The Hindu
Dalit woman files complaint
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052959780300.htm
Special Correspondent
| Seeks compensation of Rs. 5 lakh |
THANJAVUR: A 30-year-old Dalit woman from Mattankal village in Gandharvakottai taluk in Pudukottai district has complained to Thanjavur Medical College Police that she was allegedly raped by Senthil of the same village.
In her complaint, she said that she was going to a private college at Thanjavur where she was working as a librarian after alighting from bus on May 24, when some persons who came in a Tata Sumo forced her into the car and sped away.
Later, she said that she was allegedly raped by Senthil, a youth from her village who used to follow her on previous occasions. Two other persons stood guard, she alleged.
Based on her complaint, the Medical College police filed the first information report.
Meanwhile, Evidence, a Madurai-based voluntary organisation which conducted a fact-finding visit to the village, appealed to the Government to arrest Senthil and others. It also demanded payment of Rs 5 lakh to the victim and police protection for her.
It wanted the case to be handled by a woman Superintendent of Police.
The Hindu
Act fast on atrocity cases: Collector
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052953590300.htm
Correspondent
VIZIANAGARAM: Cases registered under the Protection of Civil Rights Act and Prevention of Atrocities Act must be disposed of at the earliest, said in-charge Collector H. Arun Kumar.
At a meeting of Vigilance and Monitoring Committee on Friday, Mr. Arun Kumar said that seven cases under POA Act were registered in Vizianagaram division, five in Bobbili and one in Parvathipuram, but not a case under PCR was registered.
Zee News
Dalit boy cracks IIT entrance test
http://www.zeenews.com/news629449.html
Updated on Wednesday, May 26, 2010, 18:34 IST
Patna: The socio-economic deprivation did not come in the way of realizing his cherished dream as a bright youth from the Mahadalit communities Anand Kishore, a native Nawada district, did himself and his family proud by cracking the prestigious joint entrance test of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
The son of a father engaged in tapping palm juice for livelihood, the 18 year-old boy lived upto the expectation of his guru Anand Kumar, the mathematics wizard and founder of the prestigious coaching institute, 'Super 30' to secure 1190th position in the joint entrance test for IIT this year.
Basking in the glory of his newly found achievement, Kishore, who studied upto Class XII from a non-descript school in Nawada district, passed on the credit of his success to the Super 30 and its co-founder Kumar.
"I studies in a dedicated and disciplined manner on the advice of Kumar Sir," he said.
My family members too stood like a rock by my side and prayed for my success, Kishore, who belongs to the Pasi caste of the larger social conglomerate called Mahadalit, said. PTI
The Hindu
Court notice to Rajasthan Govt. over death of Dalit
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052960660700.htm
Special Correspondent
Son of deceased seeks impartial inquiry
JAIPUR (Rajasthan): The Rajasthan High Court on Friday issued a notice to the State Government asking as to why an enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should not be ordered into the circumstances under which a Dalit died in the chamber of the Rajasthan Assembly Speaker on May 15 last year. The notice from the court of Justice N.K Jain follows a prayer from the deceased's son requesting an impartial enquiry into the matter.
The complaint from Balram, son of the deceased Raghunath Guwaria of Sri Madhopur in Sikar district, said that in May 2009 his father was forcibly brought to the chamber of Speaker Deependra Singh Shekhawat by the latter's supporters to pressurise him to change a statement he had made sometime back as a witness in a case of corruption. It was due to the torture, carried out in the presence of Mr. Shekhawat, that his father died, his complaint said.
The issue was taken up sometime back by Kirorilal Meena MP, husband of Independent MLA and State Minister Golma Devi, seeking an impartial enquiry into the matter. Dr. Meena then had alleged the role of Mr. Shekhawat in case a on which Guwaria had testified.
The Assembly doctor who examined Guwaria had testified that the death was due to a cardiac arrest. His body was later taken to the village without a post-mortem. Though an FIR was lodged in the Sri Madhopur police station there had been no follow up action and later the police closed the case with an FR(final report) , the prayer pointed out.
The Speaker had "used his political influence" to shield those accused of misuse of public funds, the complaint said.
The Hindu
Body for action against untouchability sought
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052951170700.htm
Staff Reporter
| Convention of Untouchability Eradication Front begins |
PUDUKOTTAI (Tamil Nadu): The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front has urged the State Government to constitute a statutory body for taking stringent action against untouchability.
A resolution adopted at its first three-day state convention, inaugurated here on Friday, said that Tamil Nadu was one of the states prone to atrocities and offences of untouchability. The constitution of a body with statutory powers would go a long way in resolving the issues pertaining to the offences. Although the Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had assured to constitute a legal body during the course of the Dalit convention at Chennai in October last year, no follow-up action was initiated so far in this regard, the resolution pointed out.
It also pleaded for inclusion of secular experts and representatives of anti-atrocity organisations in the district-level awareness-cum-vigilance committees.
Another resolution pleaded for reservation for Dalits in the private sector and sought immediate filling up of posts in the government and public sector undertakings.
It said that globalisation had resulted in 'injustice' for Dalits especially in the absence of reservation in private job opportunities. The Central government too had 'yielded' to pressure from big industrialists in this regard.
The fact that the regional parties including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which formed part of the Central Government, had not voiced their concern had led to denial of social justice.
Further, non-filling up of vacant posts had also deprived the Dalits of their employment opportunities.
For instance, in Railways alone, as many as 1.70 lakh posts were yet to be filled up.
Similarly, a large number of posts were lying vacant in various departments of State Government.
The convention, through another resolution, wanted stern action against officials not implementing the Prevention of Atrocities Act. Allocation of adequate funds for the effective implementation of the Act; periodical convening of the state and district-level committees; expeditious disposal of cases pertaining to atrocities and untouchability offences and awarding due punishment to the accused were also sought.
A large number of volunteers from different parts of the state and leaders, including N.Varadharajan, senior CPI (M) leader, are participating in the conference.
The Times of India
Caste no bar
http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/29/stories/2010052951170700.htm
ARATI R JERATH , TNN, May 29, 2010, 10.59am IST
In 2008, Nandan Nilekani, then co-chairman of Infosys, had lamented to an audience at the Washington-based Peterson Institute of Economics , "There is not a single Dalit who has become an entrepreneur.'' He was wrong, and he was right. He was wrong because two decades of economic reforms have unleashed entrepreneurial skills across the country, spawning businessmen and women from castes and groups that traditionally never ventured into the risky world of finance and enterprise. Constitutional measures for their political and social empowerment ensured that Dalits were not insulated from the changes taking place around them. While an Ambani or a Tata equivalent is a distant dream, some had the audacity of hope and have managed to build small business empires for themselves in sectors as diverse as manufacturing, hospitality and real estate.
But Nilekani was also right. Success stories from Dalit communities and groups are few and far between. For every Dalit who has crashed through the barriers of social discrimination and poverty to join the ever-growing tribe of entrepreneurs, there are lakhs who still bear the cross of their history. According to government figures, nearly two-thirds of the 16 per cent Dalits in the country are landless or own such small holdings that it makes them as good as landless. They neither have meaningful employment , nor income generating assets of their own.
Shrinking rural space is depriving them of their traditional caste occupations, while by the government's own admission, as stated in the Eleventh Five Year Plan, the urban labour market offers little relief because of the "prevalence of discrimination by caste'' .
The achievements of those who have clawed their way out of these grim statistics are, therefore , remarkable. Few as they may be, there are Dalit entrepreneurs who today boast of annual turnovers of over Rs 50 crore. Some are expanding rapidly and expect to generate between Rs 100-200 crore over the next couple of years, once their new projects are up and running. Like others in business, they too own expensive cars, party at five-star hotels and rub shoulders with a Birla or a Munjal on occasion. If Mayawati is a symbol of Dalit political empowerment , these entrepreneurs are aspirational figures of economic mobility far removed from the fractious world of quotas and reservations.
It was not easy to locate them. Given their small numbers and with no readily available database to consult, despite a plethora of activist organisations and a full-fledged National SC/ST Commission, finding Dalit entrepreneurs was like looking for a needle in the proverbial haystack. Some, like Kamalakar Mukund, proprietor of the Pune-based Suryatech Solar System that manufactures and supplies solar water heating system parts, have dropped their caste name to avoid identification. Others prefer to remain invisible, like their forefathers. The owner of a Rs 50 crore-plus food and packaged drinking water business in Uttar Pradesh, for instance, keeps a low profile, fearing perhaps that his products will be shunned because of his caste, though his drinking water carries a certificate of purity from the World Health Organisation . Scars left by centuries of social prejudice run deep and just one generation of wealth and success cannot erase them.
Like first generation entrepreneurs of other castes, Dalits are dabbling in all kinds of nontraditional businesses far removed from historical occupations like leather tanning and shoe making. Hari Kishan Pippal may have started out life as a cobbler, but today he also runs a swank multi-speciality hospital in Agra that employs 175 doctors. Two others, 33-year old Harsh Bhasker and 26-year old Mohan Pradeep, have ventured to shatter another glass ceiling by moving into education They run coaching institutes for engineering and science subjects in the Taj Mahal town, and Bhasker has plans to set up an engineering college in Meerut. Perhaps because this is Mayawati country or perhaps because they belong to a new generation of educated, upwardly mobile Dalits, neither is apologetic about his background. "I never thought of myself as inferior to anyone. I compete in the open market,'' Bhasker says. Pradeep echoes his sentiment: "I don't hide my caste. If somebody asks, I have no hesitation in revealing my identity.''
The process may be slow and scattered, but the social and economic profile of Dalits, particularly those in urban areas, is changing . The 61st round of the National Sample Survey in 2004-05 found that as many as 29 per cent of urban SC households were selfemployed . That's not an insignificant number , points out Surinder S Jodhka, professor of sociology in Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Sadly, no organisation in India has cared to fully map the winds of change blowing through these communities. It is ironic that an American university should be the first to commission a detailed research on the growth of Dalit entrepreneurship in India. Social psychologist and Dalit activist Chandra Bhan Prasad is carrying out the survey
on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania's Centre for the Advanced Study of India. He has already dug out 100-odd crorepati entrepreneurs in the four states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab, and is now travelling in south India to locate others who have taken advantage of the new economy to dump dead-end menial jobs and wipe out the quota stigma. Says Prasad, "They are all doing well. Each one is worth at least Rs 1 crore and some much more than that.''
Yet, these fragments of good news should not in any way introduce a sense of complacency . Behind every successful Dalit entrepreneur is a poignant story of hardship and struggle common to all members of marginalised communities. Jodhka, who produced a paper on the experiences of Dalit entrepreneurs in Panipat (Haryana), and Saharanpur (UP), for the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies , says the two biggest hurdles for an enterprising businessman from these groups are the lack of financial resources and the absence of community networks through which they can operate and grow.
"In our country, business has traditionally been controlled by certain communities . They help each other access capital, supplies and markets. Marginalised groups do not have this kind of support system. They also don't have collateral, like land, that can help them raise money to start a business,'' he says.
D Shyam Babu, who specialises in Dalit issues and is a fellow at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, concurs . "Traditional business communities not only have assets, they also inherit entrepreneurial knowledge and culture accumulated over generations,'' he says, adding that he firmly believes entrepreneurship is the way forward for Dalits in a market in which the private sector is growing rapidly while government jobs, with their constitutionally defined quotas for SCs, expand at a much slower rate.
It's certainly a way of moving up the socio-economic ladder. As Jodhka pointed out, reservations have performed their role by producing a Dalit middle class. "Now we have a large mass of people who are agitated , restless and aspirational. They are no longer competing within their community. They measure themselves against other caste groups,'' he says.
Parallely, even as opportunities are opening up for them, the experience of discrimination is probably becoming sharper as they compete for a share of the pie. Consequently, they still need government assistance, but of a different kind. Jodhka feels that the government must recast its policies to address the changing aspirations of Dalits by encouraging entrepreneurship. His suggestions: easier access to capital through state support, a quota for government purchases so that Dalit entrepreneurs have a ready market and identification of sectors they can enter and flourish without hindrance.
However, the government can help only up to a point. Shyam Babu maintains that, ultimately, the initiative to encourage Dalits to go into business must come from within the community itself, from the many self-help and activists groups that have sprung up as awareness has grown. "Once Dalits realise that they can do business , a mental block will have been removed. Attitudinal change is very important ,'' he emphasised.
Pune-based builder Milind Kamble is perhaps the first person to take a step in this direction. In 2005, he set up the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce to provide a platform for Dalit entrepreneurs in Maharashtra . It already boasts of 200 members and is hoping to set up associate chapters in other states. On June 4 this year, the DICCI will hold in Pune the first-ever expo to showcase businesses run by Dalits and their products. "We are also arranging interactions with leading non-Dalit businessmen and representatives from the banking sector and the government. I hope this will help develop confidence among Dalit businessmen ,'' Kamble says.
Babu is confident it will. "The expo will be an eye-opener . People will see what Dalits are capable of,'' he declares. (WITH INPUTS FROM AVIJIT GHOSH)
--
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
..................................................................
Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.
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