Monday, June 6, 2011

[ZESTCaste] Nepal: PM calls for doing away untouchability for good

http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=PM+calls+for+doing+away+untouchability+for+good&NewsID=290525

PM calls for doing away untouchability for good

Added At: 2011-06-04 11:56 AM

Last Updated At: 2011-06-04 12:06 PM

THT ONLINE

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal hailed the cabinet
decision on June 1 to celebrate the 'Untouchability Eradication Day'
as a national day and appealed to all Nepalis to join their hands in
abolishing untouchability from the country.

Issuing a press statement, PM Khanal described the decision as a major
political step towards the eradication of the social evil and
expressed his hope that the age-old ill-practice would soon be
abolished.

Though the government through the introduction of the Caste
Discrimination and Untouchability (Crime and Punishment) Act 2068 has
forbidden the practice, the Dalit communities have still been facing
social discrimination due to poor ratification of the law.

PM Khanal also stressed on the need for launching broader social and
political campaigns to make people aware the social issue and further
asked the Dalit communities to cooperate in completing the remaining
tasks of peace and constitution and secure their rights in the new
statute.


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[ZESTCaste] Muslim leader seeks caste-based reservation

 

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-04/india/29620103_1_muslims-caste-reservation

Muslim leader seeks caste-based reservation
PTI, Jun 4, 2011, 08.37pm IST

MUMBAI: A senior official of National Commission for Scheduled Castes
(NCSC) today demanded reservation for Muslims on the basis of caste.

"I don't say that reservations should be given on the religious lines,
but at least by considering the caste," National Coordinator of NCSC
Dr Tajuddin Ansari said here.

He also asked people from the Other Backward Caste ( OBC) category to
participate enthusiastically in the Census.

"There is no need to hide the caste... this will benefit the future
generations," he said.

It would help government in formulating policies for the OBC's and the
occupations they are into, he said.

Referring to Sachar Commitee report, Ansari said the condition of
Muslims was worse than that of dalits.

"Upliftment of dalits was possible because of the reservations," he added.

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[ZESTCaste] Who will clean up the lives of manual scavengers?

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-05/special-report/29622535_1_manual-scavengers-excreta-bhangis

Who will clean up the lives of manual scavengers?
Nandita Sengupta, TNN, Jun 5, 2011, 04.21am IST

It's six months since India missed its last deadline to abolish manual
scavenging since the practice was outlawed in 1993. For many, it may
be difficult to believe that manual scavenging continues to this day,
but even in Delhi, say activists, you only have to travel to a
far-flung area such as Maujpur or Nandnagri to find the practice
continuing.

It's not that there has been no attempt at change. In Haridwar, women
who make up 80% of the manual scavenger population, burnt their
baskets — symbolic of the headload of human excreta they lug. In other
regions, they loudly demonstrated in front of the district
magistrate's office, took out protest marches, organized meetings
among communities. In a spectacle that should make the nation squirm,
a group smeared their bodies with human excreta in public in front of
the municipal office in Karnataka's Savanur town last July.

Yet, officials have routinely turned a deaf ear and blind eye to the
protests, says Safai Karamchari Andolan's Bezwada Wilson. The most
marginalized of Dalit groupings such as Doms, Balmikis and Bhangis
have been tasked with manual scavenging and sewer-line cleaning for
many long years, down generations. Those who work in manual
scavenging, and by extension, safai karamcharis (or sanitation
workers) belong to a motley group of Dalits, different clusters in
different states — but in each state condemned by their name and
nature of work that invariably falls in their lap by virtue of their
caste identity. For instance, bhangi, that roughly means 'broken
spirit' make up the dominant 'most-disadvantaged' Dalit group in
Delhi. Mostly safai karamcharis, even after 'rehabilitation', their
identity is stamped such that they are usually handed sewer or railway
track cleaning work.

The dehumanizing practice of cleaning human excreta with bare hands,
armed with a basket and tin plate exists to this day across the
country — from Jammu & Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, from West Bengal to
Rajasthan. As per Delhi government's Samajik Suvidha Sangam, more than
37% total human excreta generated in urban India is 'unsafely
disposed' and 12.5 million households do not have access to any
drainage network. Dalit activist Rajni Tilak points out that "in
Delhi's outer areas, they have toilet bowls but no drainage system. So
the excreta is simply pushed out into an open drain right outside the
house. "


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[ZESTCaste] High cut-offs worry college admission seekers

 

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-05/jaipur/29622990_1_high-cut-offs-first-cut-off-list-cut-off-marks

High cut-offs worry college admission seekers
TNN, Jun 5, 2011, 12.06am IST

JAIPUR: Thousands of the recent senior secondary school examination
pass-outs are a worried lot as they are unsure if they can get
admissions to good colleges of the Rajasthan University this session.

Their concern lies in the fact that the cut-off marks for some
colleges of their choice were very high last year.

Cut-off marks last year for colleges like Maharaja's, Maharani's and
Commerce colleges were well above 80% for general category students
and ranges between 60 and high 70% for SC/ST and OBC candidates.

These high cut-off marks were the result of the huge number of
students seeking admissions as against the limited numbers of seats in
these colleges.

The first cut-off list for 400 seats for B Com course in the Commerce
College was 85.80%, while for the OBC, SC and ST categories, it was
78.70%, 71.23% and 69.69% respectively.

Maharani's College was even higher with the first cut-off list for
admission to 240 seats in B Com was 90% for the general category,
while for SC, OBC and ST categories it was 72.6%, 80.8%, 70.46%
respectively. Altogether 3,500 students applied for the 240 seats in
the college.

Also, the first cut-off list in the Maharaja's College for admission
to BSc maths was 79.54% for general category and 76.77%, 68.40% and
69.85% for OBC, SC and ST candidates. For BSc biology course in the
college, the cut-off was 72% for general, 68.77% for OBC, 65.38% for
SC and 63.54% for ST candidates.

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[ZESTCaste] Vigilance panel for SCs, STs to be formed soon

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/Vigilance-panel-for-SCs-STs-to-be-formed-soon/articleshow/8739027.cms

Vigilance panel for SCs, STs to be formed soon
TNN | Jun 5, 2011, 11.00pm IST

MANGALORE: A state-level monitoring wing under the ministry of social
welfare to analyze the proceedings and decisions taken at the
district-level review meetings of vigilance committees on SCs and STs
will be constituted soon, said A Narayanaswamy, minister for social
welfare. The wing will also assiduously follow up on actions initiated
by officials in implementing various welfare measures and schemes for
the benefit of the community, he noted.

Chairing a review meeting of social welfare departments of Dakshina
Kannada and Udupi districts here on Saturday, the minister expressed
displeasure at below par progress achieved by various government
agencies in implementing schemes and utilizing funds meant for welfare
of dalits and backward classes. Officials not measuring up to the task
will be disciplined. Each district has to send committee meeting
proceedings to the wing, he said.

Officials of civil rights enforcement squad have been vested with
powers to visit all those government departments that have a statutory
obligation to spend 22.75% of their income on welfare of SC/STs.
Disciplinary action will be initiated against those who have failed to
utilize more than 50% of funds allocated for welfare of SC/ST
community and those who have neglected or ignored the well-being of
the communities, the minister said.

Taking note of the failure on part of urban local bodies and
panchayati raj bodies in the two districts to utilize funds set aside
for the upliftment of weaker sections of society, Narayanaswamy
instructed officials to ensure that the funds are utilized within the
given fiscal year. It has become a norm for most officials to carry
over the amount to the next fiscal without making any serious efforts
to identify beneficiaries for scheme and this will not be tolerated,
he warned.

The government will shortly introduce biometric system in Moraji Desai
and Kittur Rani Channamma residential schools. "This system will be
made compulsory to the staff in these institutions as well as senior
officials including DC, CEO and Social Welfare Officials who are
required to visit the institutions periodically. Details such as time
of entry and exit will be registered. It will help us in observe the
movement of officials and staff," he added.

Irked by the apparent negligence of Damodhar Naik, the in-charge
district manager of Dr B R Ambedkar SC/ST Development Corporation,
Narayanaswamy directed the managing director of the corporation to
submit a report and placed the official under immediate suspension. He
also directed police to arrest S R Patalappa, ITDP district
coordinator, since suspended and on the run, for allegedly
misappropriating Rs 86 lakh of government funds.

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[ZESTCaste] Fwd: Dr. Ambedkar on Satyagraha [1 Attachment]

<*>[Attachment(s) from Siddhartha Kumar included below]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: kumarv nangal <kumarv.nangal@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jun 4, 2011 at 4:31 AM
Subject: Dr. Ambedkar on Satyagraha
To:
Cc: mailsiddhartha.k@gmail.com


Dear Sir/ Madam,

One cannot stop wondering as to how, the Chief Architect of
Constitution of India, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar could foresee - with
precision - the dangers that the newly independent country, INDIA, may
encounter.

Dr. Ambedkar, in his speech, while presenting the Draft Constitution
before the Constituent Assembly, on 25th November, 1949, for voting,
warned people of India of such dangers.

Here are some excerpts from the same speech.

The link to this speech is at the bottom:

"…..I feel, however good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out
bad because those who are called to work it, happen to be a bad lot.
However bad a Constitution may be, it may turn out to be good if those
who are called to work it, happen to be a good lot. The working of a
Constitution does not depend wholly upon the nature of the
Constitution. The Constitution can provide only the organs of State
such as the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. The factors
on which the workings of those organs of the State depend are the
people and the political parties they will set up as their instruments
to carry out their wishes and their politics.

….But it is quite possible in a country like India – where democracy
from its long disuse must be regarded as something quite new – there
is danger of democracy giving place to dictatorship. It is quite
possible for this new born democracy to retain its form but give place
to dictatorship in fact.

 ……If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in
fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgment we must do is to
hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and
economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of
revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil
disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way
left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social
objectives, there was a great deal of justification for
unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open,
there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods.
These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner
they are abandoned, the better for us.

….One of these is equality. On the social plane, we have in India a
society based on the principle of graded inequality which we have a
society in which there are some who have immense wealth as against
many who live in abject poverty. On the 26th of January 1950, we are
going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have
equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In
politics we will be recognizing the principle of one man one vote and
one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall, by
reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the
principle of one man one value. How long shall we continue to live
this life of contradictions? How long shall we continue to deny
equality in our social and economic life? If we continue to deny it
for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in
peril. We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible
moment or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the
structure of political democracy which is Assembly has to laboriously
built up.

…..Independence is no doubt a matter of joy. But let us not forget
that this independence has thrown on us great responsibilities. By
independence, we have lost the excuse of blaming the British for
anything going wrong. If hereafter things go wrong, we will have
nobody to blame except ourselves. There is great danger of things
going wrong. Times are fast changing. People including our own are
being moved by new ideologies. They are getting tired of Government by
the people. They are prepared to have Governments for the people and
are indifferent whether it is Government of the people and by the
people. If we wish to preserve the Constitution in which we have
sought to enshrine the principle of Government of the people, for the
people and by the people, let us resolve not to be tardy in the
recognition of the evils that lie across our path and which induce
people to prefer Government for the people to Government by the
people, nor to be weak in our initiative to remove them. That is the
only way to serve the country. I know of no better. "

The link to this speech:

www.parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol11p11.htm


<*>Attachment(s) from Siddhartha Kumar:


<*> 1 of 1 File(s) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/attachments/folder/559237269/item/list
<*> Dr. Ambedkar on SATYAGRAHA.doc

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