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Thursday, April 15, 2010

[ZESTCaste] SC/ST Federation demands Act for reservation of jobs in private cos

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/SC/ST-Federation-demands-Act-for-reservation-of-jobs-in-private-cos/articleshow/5813085.cms

SC/ST Federation demands Act for reservation of jobs in private cos
15 Apr 2010, 2006 hrs IST,Nageshwar Patnaik,ET Bureau

BHUBANESWAR: President of All India Confederation of Scheduled
Caste/Scheduled Tribes Organisations, Udit Raj, on Thursday sought an
Act by the
parliament to ensure mandatory reservation of jobs for scheduled caste
and scheduled tribe candidates in private firms.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the state
chapter of the confederation, Raj said although a bill seeking
reservation in private was tabled in the Rajya Sabha in 2004, it could
not be debated for years. In 2009, the same bill was tabled in Lok
Sabha, but the UPA government withdrew it assuring that a revised
version of the document will be placed in House.

"It's surprising that nothing has been done in this respect so far,"
he observed.

Talking on the Right to Information Act, he said the legislation could
not bring desired results "since it does not make it mandatory for the
government servants to send their children to government-run schools."

"Political leaders, bureaucrats and industrialists are sending their
children to private English medium schools since the government-run
schools are not properly managed. The Right to Education Act should
have made it mandatory for all government employees to send their
children to government schools that the standard of such institutes
would have improved," he said.

Criticising Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati for
not agreeing to implement the RTI Act on the ground that it would
require huge fund, Raj said, "As she claims to represent the Ambedkar
legacy, she should have told like this."

"B R Ambedkar stood for education for all. But Maywati does not seem
sincere to follow this guiding principle of the great soul," he said.

Stating that the present state government was not properly
implementing the Orissa Reservation of Vacancies in Posts & Services
(for SCs & STs) Act (ORV Act), he said the confederation would soon
launch agitations in the state to put pressure on the government for
strict adherence of the law.

"We would not tolerate any attempt at dereservation of the jobs for SC
and STs in government establishments. We would protest it tooth and
knell," he said.

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[ZESTCaste] Paswan marches to protest 'atrocities' against dalits

http://www.ptinews.com/news/611452_Paswan-marches-to-protest--atrocities--against-dalits

Paswan marches to protest 'atrocities' against dalits

STAFF WRITER 20:23 HRS IST
Banthal (Gujarat), Apr 15 (PTI) Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram
Vilas Paswan today undertook a march here, demanding "justice" for
dalits who reportedly left this village after alleged harassment by
upper caste people.

The party said hundreds of Dalits participated in the rally and
alleged that more a thousand people of the community had left the
village in last one year due to atrocities against them.

"The population of this village is around 3,500 and nearly 50 per cent
of them are from Dalit communities. The Dalits were subjected to a
number of atrocities as they were denied access to water from tanks
and not allowed to take ration from shops," Paswan said.

He alleged their efforts to get support of the police proved futile
and they had to leave the village.

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[ZESTCaste] Woman of the people

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/36/2010041520100415183549839f211ddb2/Woman-of-the-people.html

Woman of the people

Priya Chetty-Rajagopal, an Executive Search Consultant is a long term
Bangalorean with a wry take on life and living

Priya Chetty-Rajagopal
Posted On Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 06:35:49 PM

I am trying to be honest about why I so dislike Mayawati. Why my lip
curls in increasingly automatic nausea. By doing so, I am perhaps
exposing my biases and the disgust that urban middle class
professionals feel for politicians like her. Darn, but there it is.

And *shrug*, I'm okay with it.

Mayawati came to power in UP with a remarkable majority. Apparently,
it is just insensitive, ill-informed people like us with a misplaced
sense of what is right, that have become completely apoplectic about
her.

Completely misplaced?

Of course. And, please don't play the Dalit card. She's gender and
caste neutral on crass quotient.

When the Women's Reservation bill was being debated, she stood out as
a proud example of women in high political office and the corruption
that they too succumb to.

We needed women role models in politics and we got Mayawati. She was a
seemingly simple Ms Every Woman who had worked hard, and admirably
moved up the political system to be the CM of India's most populous
state. Comparisons, then hopeful, were made about her and US President
Barack Obama. However, she sold her people, and to a lesser extent,
folks like us, down the river in the megalomania that followed her
meteoric rise.

She has undoubtedly done some good work. Yet, the image that will stay
with me is the smug, chapathi-like countenance looking matter-of-fact
and stately while huge, obscene money garlands were placed around that
short neck.

There was some talk about how poor Mayawati was being unnecessarily
targeted and vilified by the media and the middle class...because she
was a Dalit.

It had not even entered my mind, except to hope that she would do her
bit to help the same voluminous and troubled vote bank that got her
elected. She hardly did. Unless, of course, the people of UP had a
burning desire to eat the dust off the many statues she constructed,
and bask in the heady (albeit non-nutritious) aroma of freshly minted
Rs 1,000 notes fluttering crisply in the summer breeze.

Adding a contemptuous slap to the face of her critics, aides asserted
that garlanding her with currency notes would now be a regular
practice.

Her supporters say others have done gross stuff like this — weighed
themselves in silver, gold, ghee, whatever. So why pick on her?

I despise all of them. But why am I even more dismissive of this one?

Because she is a woman? Because she could have been a beacon to women
in politics? Because, once long ago, I do believe she had dreams for
her people? Because she proved right the adage that 'power corrupts
and absolute power corrupts absolutely'?

In her quest for absolute power, she became blind and deaf to the
impact of her actions. What perhaps irritates me in all this is her
contempt for people like me.

While she is admittedly no Miss Universe, the sheer gumption of
installing paeans of praise to yourself in your own lifetime stinks of
excessive, ultimate egotism. Defying courts, she sanguinely spends
lakhs, even crores on large, ghastly and unwieldy statues of her and
her mentor in every nook and cranny, and, adding insult to injury,
serenely installs legions of cops to guard them. Presumably from
pigeons and bees that she sees as Enemies of the State. The pigeons —
if you excuse my politically incorrect comparison — are doing to her
statue exactly what we feel they should do to the original.
Is the anger I have because I feel that little upstart got a chance,
blew it, and blew it publicly? Because she was too thick-skinned to
even fathom how much beyond the pale she had gone? While I work hard
and pay my taxes, this silly twit holds the people of UP to ransom,
with her expectation of large monetary gifts, yet ensures she honestly
pays her taxes — ironically, she is allegedly one of the highest tax
payers we have.

And pray, where does she get the darn money? A law unto herself, the
illusionary Mayawati like her name, locked away in an ivory tower of
her own making, has lost the ability to listen to her people (until
the next elections, naturally) and work for their welfare, toiling
instead on more pressing items like putting up umbrellas to protect
her colossal statues from pigeon poop.

------------------------------------

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[ZESTCaste] Rahul talks development, Maya sticks to caste

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Rahul-talks-development--Maya-sticks-to-caste/606612

Rahul talks development, Maya sticks to caste

Sanjay Singh Posted online: Thursday , Apr 15, 2010 at 0348 hrs
Ambedkarnagar/Lucknow : The decade's biggest Congress show in Uttar
Pradesh — 10 rath yatras over 403 constituencies for 103 days — was
flagged off on Wednesday with party general secretary Rahul Gandhi's
promise of "politcs of youth, employment and development."
In his 25-minute speech, Gandhi steered clear of any reference to
Chief Minister Mayawati or her memorials. Instead, the focus was on
her government's failure to deliver development and welfare despite
Central assistance.

"There is no crisis of funds," he pointed out. "We have given tools
like MNREGA, RTI, RTE to state governments. But UP does not use the
money properly. Because of this attitude, while other more backward
states have come forward, UP is at the same place."

Laying the blame for migration squarely at the state government's
door, he said: "When we ask the BSP government to implement a scheme
which will benefit the Dalits and poor, they tell us it is hardly
benefiting anyone. When we ask them to ensure proper education of
children, they tell us that the state does not need such education.
But if they do not need these things, then why are people from UP
still moving to places like Mumbai in search of work?" The Centre, he
said, had given a special Bundelkhand package, but there was no
implementation at the ground level. "Money meant for development
reaches Lucknow, but not Ambedkarnagar," he said.

Barely 200 yards away, the BSP organised its protest against the
Women's Reservation Bill, in the process scuttling the Congress plan
to garland the statue of Ambedkar. The statue was hemmed in by BSP
pandals and the district magistrate said he had told the Congress to
garland it after the BSP programme.

While it gave rise to a volley of protests in the Congress camp, in
Lucknow, Mayawati declared that over the years, the Congress, the BJP
and the other parties had ignored Ambedkar because of their "casteist
mentality". "In particular, the role of Congress was despicable. That
is why our government decided to build parks and memorials dedicated
to Ambedkar and other great men who were born in Dalits and backward
communities," she said.

Addressing BSP workers after offering flowers at Ambedkar's statue at
the Bhim Rao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal, she said Ambedkar was
conferred Bharat Ratna in 1990 when a non-Congress government was in
power at the Centre. She said her government would not bow down under
pressure from the Opposition parties and continue to honour such great
men.

Regarding the Women's Reservation Bill — which was the focus of the
BSP's parallel rally in Ambedkarnagar — Mayawati said it was against
the thoughts of Ambedkar. Also, the Bill was unfair to women from
Dalit, backward, minority communities and the poor from the upper
castes as it had no reservation for them.

The Lucknow unit of the party held a demonstration against the Bill on
the Gomti embankment. Later, the BSP issued a statement, saying
Ambedkar wanted women to progress in every field. That is why he tried
to get the Hindu Code Bill passed by the Parliament, but the Congress
betrayed him and Ambedkar had to resign from the post of the Union Law
Minister. They also alleged that the Congress also made unsuccessful
attempts to prevent Ambedkar from being elected to the Constituent
Assembly and later tried to stop his entry into Parliament. In
Ambedkarnagar, her ministers Lalji Verma and Ram Achal Rajbhar blamed
the Congress for the bad condition of Dalits and poor across the
country. They said the only way to ensure justice for these sections
was to make Mayawati the prime minister.

------------------------------------

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[ZESTCaste] In Mayawati's bastion, Rahul bhaiyya steals show

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/in-mayawatis-bastion-rahul-bhaiyya-steals-show-20031.php

In Mayawati's bastion, Rahul bhaiyya steals show

Indo-Asian News Service, Thursday April 15, 2010, Ambedkar Nagar

If sheer attendance at their respective rallies were to be the
criterion, Rahul Gandhi clearly stole the show over the Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) in this Dalit bastion Wednesday.

The Congress rally convened in Ambedkar Nagar, about 180 km from
Lucknow, to mark the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar as well as 125
years of the party, drew a far bigger crowd as compared to the BSP
rally held at a ground just a stone's throw away.

The packed venue of the Congress rally was twice the size of the
ground where Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's close aide and
state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Lalji Verma was leading the party
show. Verma's influence as party legislator from this district failed
to make much impact in the face of Gandhi, who had visited the place
just once earlier.

Cutting across age, caste and creed, the crowds cheered Gandhi each
time he promised to alleviate their miseries.

"Rahul bhaiyya appears to be sincere in whatever he says; he somehow
forces you to believe that he means business and will not betray the
poor," said 85-year-old Vishwanath, who reached here by bus from
neighbouring Siddharth Nagar district. "I belong to a backward caste
and have only seen discrimination; but Rahul Gandhi lends hope," he
said.

Said Siya Ram, 45, who was doing good business by selling eatables
outside the Congress rally venue: "I have never seen such a crowd at
any political rally here in many years; Rahul Gandhi has somehow won
the hearts of the people."

Siya Ram, a Dalit, was among those who claimed to have been a staunch
BSP supporter until recently. "I did support BSP in the hope that it
would bring an end to the woes of my deprived community; but the party
seems to be taking us for granted."

Apart from addressing the rally, Gandhi also flagged off 10 "chetna
yatras" (awakening marches) as a part of his mission to revive the
Congress in the state.

Initially, the local administration refused allotment of a particular
ground sought by the Congress for the Gandhi rally on the plea that it
was already blocked for the BSP rally. Later, the administration also
came in the way when Gandhi's desire to garland Ambedkar's statue was
conveyed to them.

"The administration claimed that since Ambedkar's statue happened to
be on the ground where the BSP rally was proposed, it would not have
been practically possible to take Rahul Gandhi to that crowded spot;
hence he had no option but to garland Ambedkar's portrait that was
kept on the dais," state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi told
mediapersons.

"The ruling party had by design allotted the bigger ground to the
Congress so as to embarrass us if the rally did not attract enough
crowd; but that plan too proved counter-productive as Rahul Gandhi was
a huge draw with the crowds," she added.

What added strength to Gandhi's show was the participation by all
sections of the Congress leadership.

"This was the first time in many years that such a large galaxy of
Congress leaders converged at any single occasion, sending the message
that we stand unitedly behind our young leader whose mission is to
re-establish the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh," said Joshi.