From: Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC <pmarc2008@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jan 16, 2010 at 2:44 PM
Subject: [PMARC] Dalits Media Watch - News Update 16.01.10
To: Dalits Media Watch <PMARC@dgroups.org>
Dalits Media Watch
News Update 16.01.10
http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/16/stories/2010011654230500.htm
Accused of molestation bid held - The Times Of India
Row over Dalit burial ground resented - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/16/stories/2010011654300500.htm
Bid to bury caste row - Telegraph
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100116/jsp/nation/story_11990205.jsp
SC to hear petition on Jan 22 - Deccan Herald
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/47091/sc-hear-petition-jan-22.html
Plan panel highlights problems in NREGA - Live Mint
http://www.livemint.com/2010/01/15233544/Plan-panel-highlights-problems.html
The Hindu
Dalit youth allegedly made to eat human excreta
http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/16/stories/2010011654230500.htm
D. Karthikeyan
MADURAI: A 24-year-old Dalit youth was allegedly made to eat human excreta at Melakoilpatti village coming under Nilakottai circle and Batlagundu police station limits in Dindigul district.
P. Sadaiyandi, in his complaint to the police, has said that on January 7 a group of Thevar Christian youth stopped him near the village salon and abused him by his caste name for daring to defy the ban on Dalits wearing footwear in the streets where upper castes live. The group comprising Arockiasamy, David, Selvendran, Kennedy, Kannadasan, Peter and Anbu beat him up. Two of them then forced his mouth open and thrust excrement down his throat. The Dalits of Indira Nagar in his village came to his rescue and took him to the hospital where he underwent treatment.
The Batlagundu police on Friday, filed a case against Arockiasamy and 20 others under Sections 147, 148, 341, 323, 355, 324, 506 (2) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3(1) (10) and 3(1)(3) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act),1989.
The Times Of India
Accused of molestation bid held
TNN, 14 January 2010, 11:14pm IST
VARANASI: While the Mirzamurad police succeeded in arresting the accused of a molestation bid on Thursday, the Lohta police failed to trace another
accused who tried to molest his neighbour in Bharthara village on Wednesday night.
According to reports, a 22-year-old girl of Mirzamurad Harijan Basti under the same police station was cornered by her neighbour Laxmi on Thursday morning who tried to molest her. The girl tried to offer resistance and raised an alarm. On hearing her screams, her family members and other neighbours arrived there and beat up Laxmi. Later, on the complaint of the girl's mother, the police arrested him.
Meanwhile, finding Rekha alone at her residence, her neighbour Sunil Maurya entered her house and tried to molest her. The incident took place when Rekha's husband had gone somewhere. Hearing the cries of Rekha, her family members and neighbours arrived at the incident site but Sunil managed to escape. Despite conducting raids, the Lohta police failed to arrest Sunil till Thursday evening.
The Hindu
Row over Dalit burial ground resented
http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/16/stories/2010011654300500.htm
Special Correspondent.
TIRUPATI: A section of Dalits belonging to the Thummalagunta village have taken exception to another section of them for trying to kick up a controversy over a Dalit burial ground issue.
In a signed statement, the MPP of the Tirupati (Rural) mandal, M. Thirumaliah, and other Dalit leaders alleged that the other section, by playing into the hands of some 'vested interests', were creating a controversy over the burial ground and the Ambedkar statue although issue was already 'amicably settled'.
The section gave a 'clean chit' to TUDA Chairman Chevireddi Bhsakar Reddy and criticised the members of the other section for putting spokes in the development works he was initiating .
Telegraph
Bid to bury caste row
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100116/jsp/nation/story_11990205.jsp
NALIN VERMA
Patna, Jan. 15: Even as state Congress leaders are gearing up for Rahul Gandhi's visit later this month, the controversy over its executive committee list refuses to die.
The AICC general secretary and in-charge of Bihar affairs, Jagdish Tytler, landed here this afternoon apparently to step up the damage-control exercise caused by the state leaders in releasing the list of over 500 executive committee members which had Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and her caste, Chamar, mentioned against her name.
With a Dalit association lodging an FIR against Tytler and state Congress president, Anil Sharma, for "hurting" the sentiment of the Dalits by referring the caste of their community leaders, the Congress strategists are learnt to be finding out the ways to "disassociate" the leadership from the list.
Sources close to Tytler revealed that the party in the event of inquiry from the investigating agencies would simply disown the controversial list.
The sources also said that the party might dismiss the list as "not an authoritative one" and issue a fresh list of its executive committee members.
The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, who has already disassociated herself from the list and who reportedly "admonished" Tytler and Sharma for the "foul play", is learnt to have asked Tytler to prepare the list of BPCC office-bearers afresh "befitting to the ethics and constitution of the party".
In fact, Tytler, working hard to balance all ends, is understood to have won over some dissident leaders who were so far gunning for his (Tytler's) and Sharma's head.
It became evident when a senior dissident leader, Premchand Mishra, sided with Tytler when the latter arrived here today and told The Telegraph: "The controversy should be given a rest and concentration should be to ensure the successful visit of Rahul."
Mishra said that the Nehru-Gandhi scion was scheduled to visit the state in the last week of the month. "The date and time of his arrival here is being worked out," he said.
Rahul is said to be visiting Bihar to strengthen the Youth Congress and revive the party's strength in the run-up to the Assembly polls due in later this year.
Deccan Herald
SC to hear petition on Jan 22
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/47091/sc-hear-petition-jan-22.html
New Delhi, Jan 15, DHNS:
The Supreme Court on Friday fixed January 22 as the date for hearing applications from two Bangalore-based petitioners seeking direction for staying the BBMP elections.
A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said it would hear the application on January 22. Senior advocate Shanti Bhushan and advocate E C Vidyasagar appearing for M Ramesh, former president of Yelahanka CMC and K Devan submitted that the corporation election should be stayed as it "violates the constitutional provisions."
On January 6, the apex court allowed the Karnataka government and State Election Commission to conduct the election in accordance with the government notification by staying a double-bench order of the Karnataka High Court.
Ramesh, who belongs to SC/ST category, will be deprived from contesting from his constituency if the order of the division bench of the Karnataka HC is implemented. "The applicant had filed petition praying for quashing of the notification of November 30, 2009. By this notification, the state government made reservations for various categories in 198 wards for the BBMP elections,'' said Ramesh in the application.
As per provisions of the KMC Act, the reservation of seats should be based on the population of the SC/STs in the municipal area as per the last census. In the present case the state government has ignored this aspect and reserved the seats based on SC/ST population in the Assembly segments of the BBMP. "This is totally illegal and unconstitutional,'' said the application.
The election to the BBMP is scheduled for February 2010 in accordance with the ruling of the division bench of the High Court on September 17, 2009.
Live Mint
Plan panel highlights problems in NREGA
http://www.livemint.com/2010/01/15233544/Plan-panel-highlights-problems.html
Most of the jobs created under the Act are in the area of water conservation, land development and drought proofing
Sangeeta Singh
New Delhi: A Planning Commission evaluation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has questioned the effectiveness of projects implemented under the Act in boosting productivity and creating assets.
NREGA, the Union government's flagship anti-poverty programme that promises 100 days of employment every year to the rural poor, is partly credited with driving the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to victory in the April-May general election.
In a presentation made at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office (PMO) on Wednesday, the Planning Commission highlights the dearth of technical and professional support for implementing projects under NREGA, delays in payments to workers, and issues of corruption and leakages. Mint has reviewed part of this report.
Most of the jobs created under the Act are in the area of water conservation, land development and drought proofing. While NREGA is implemented by the ministry of rural development, its progress is also monitored by the Planning Commission.
"The report has also found out poor implementation in states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The idea of the meeting was to appraise officials at PMO on the problems arising in the implementation of the programme," said a government official. He did want to be identified or divulge more details of the report.
NREGA, now re-christened Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act, came into being in 2005.
The commission says in the report that payments to workers are being delayed as there is a late measurement of work. It also says only 19% of the 850,000 differently abled people registered for the scheme have got work under NREGA.
Another issue is that of fake muster rolls and bills being generated, the commission says.
It adds that so-called elite groups within the workers capture most of the job cards.
Jobs cards are given to workers to enrol them for projects under NREGA.
The report is based on feedback from the Planning Commission's advisers who toured the villages to study the implementation of UPA's flagship programmes.
One such official said workers were moving away from their main activity, agriculture, and "are digging pits in the name of ponds under NREGA... Water from these pits evaporate very fast".
The official, who didn't want to be named, said there was corruption in implementing the programmes and no real asset was being created.
The Planning Commission, however, lauds NREGA's achievements in some respects. It says the scheme created three billion person-days of work in 2009-10 against 86 million person-days in 2003-04 through other programmes such as food for work.
The report also says 50 million families are likely to get work in 2009-10 with an expenditure of Rs40,000 crore.
S.L. Rao, former director general of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, who recently visited Bihar to have a feel of NREGA, says the figures have to be impressive as it is a vast and innovative programme.
"But then, it is also one of the most abused programmes, where everybody who is getting the chance to make money is making (it)...there are long- and short-term solutions to make NREGA more effective," he said.
In the short run, the government can start some policing by creating a roving team of, say, retired police officers to ensure that the needy get the job cards, the workers are paid fully, substantial asset is created and no particular group is favoured, said Rao.
In the long run, he suggests the panchayats (local self-government bodies) should be empowered to create capacity and train officials to implement the programme.
"In Bihar, I observed that it was people of the dominant caste who got the job cards whereas the Dalits (members of a socially and economically backward caste) have been denied participation," said Rao. "It's not a surprise that Bihar has lagged behind in implementation."
--
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
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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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