Latest News Update: Nov 30, 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

[ZESTCaste] Dalit boy set on fire in Madhya Pradesh

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/dalit-boy-set-on-fire-in-madhya-pradesh_100282104.html

Dalit boy set on fire in Madhya Pradesh

November 30th, 2009 - 5:09 pm ICT by IANS -
Bhopal, Nov 30 (IANS) A 12-year-old Dalit boy was set on fire by four
people in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district over reported family
rivalry, police said Monday. The child is said to be in a critical
condition.
The incident took place Sunday evening in Madiyakala village in
Vidisha when four people beat up the boy, Maharaj Singh, sprinkled
kerosene on him and then set him on fire.

He was admitted to the district hospital where his condition is said
to be critical.

The accused have been identified as Raju Khangar, Prakash Khangar,
Pradeep Maina and Ramkaran Maina and they reportedly had a
long-standing dispute with the victim's father Bharat Singh Ahirwar,
Superintendent of Police (Vidisha) I.S. Sansanwal told IANS.

The police have registered a case against the accused who are absconding.

"We have sent teams to different locations to arrest them," the police
official said.

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[ZESTCaste] 101 couples enter wedlock at Amritsar mass marriage

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/101-couples-enter-wedlock-at-amritsar-mass-marriage_100281967.html

101 couples enter wedlock at Amritsar mass marriage

November 30th, 2009 - 2:10 pm ICT by ANI -
Amritsar, Nov 30 (ANI): An NGO named the 'Indian Dalit Social Morcha'
solemnized the mass marriage of 101 underprivileged couples here on
Sunday.

Both birdie grooms and brides, dressed in traditional clothes, were
wedded according to Sikh rites.

The couples thanked the organisers for helping them to get married.

Mass marriages are in the vogue across the country, as traditional
marriages are a costly affair. (ANI)

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[ZESTCaste] Saving for that rainy day

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Saving-for-that-rainy-day/547482

Saving for that rainy day

Tarannum Manjul Posted online: Sunday , Nov 29, 2009 at 2324 hrs

Lucknow : This year, as drought cast its shadow across Bundelkhand, no
one in Chandauli village in Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh went
hungry. Instead, they turned to the grain banks that the women of the
village had set up a year ago.
Chandauli, like the rest of the villages in Bundelkhand, has been
under a spell of drought for the last five years. Villagers of this
Dalit-dominated village usually bought grains from local landholders
at hefty prices or promised to pay back with interest. But that
changed in 2008, when late but abundant rainfall in Bundelkhand
allowed a good harvest of the rabi crop. That's when the women of
Chandauli decided to save for bad times. The plan was that every
household would save at least a basketful of grains.

Pankunwar, a member of the Mahila Ekta Sangh who was among those who
set up the grain bank, says, "We always save some grain in our houses
if we managed to get something beyond our regular supply. But this
time, during a meeting of our Sangh, we decided that we should be
doing something to help the entire village."

Pankunwar and five other women met Manoj Kumar of Kriti Shodh
Sansthan, an organisation that helped the villagers create a village
disaster management committee. Together, they decided that with the
extra grain, they would set up a grain bank and each household would
be asked to contribute as much as they could.

"Manoj bhai told us that we should ensure that a minimum of 20 kg is
collected from each household. As we met in a small room, we decided
to start off the grain bank immediately—ten women in our group donated
20 kg each. And with this, we started our grain bank," says Pankunwar.
Manoj's organisation, with support from international support agency
ActionAid, pitched in with two quintals of wheat.

And so, every month, women of the group donated some grain to the
bank, even if they couldn't donate 20 kg. Bharti Devi, treasurer of
the grain bank, says they drew up a plan to distribute the grains in
times of emergency. "Families that have 2 to 5 acres will be given
grain on interest. Families who owned less than two acres will pay
back the principle amount. And those who did not have any land would
be given free grain," she says.

Soon, the grain bank started giving grain on interest. Since the last
one year, around 1 quintal and 60 kg of grains have already been
loaned out. One of the recipients, Rampyari, took 40 kg of grain and
gave back 50 kg. Similarly, Rajabai took 20 kg of grain and gave back
25 kg. Rekha, the sister of a debt-ridden villager who had committed
suicide, was given 20 kg of grain for free.

ActionAid's Utkarsh Kumar Sinha, who has been monitoring these grain
banks, says, "Women always have the habit of saving for tough days.
After the success of the Chandauli grain bank, other neighbouring
villages too set up their own banks."

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[ZESTCaste] Bhujbal bats for expansion of Phule Wada

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Bhujbal-bats-for-expansion-of-Phule-Wada/547732/

Bhujbal bats for expansion of Phule Wada

Express News Service Posted online: Monday , Nov 30, 2009 at 2331 hrs

Pune : On the occasion of the death anniversary of Jyotiba Phule,
deputy chief Minister and founder chairman of Samta Parishad Chaggan
Bhujbal said that Pune Municipal Corporation should to take steps to
expand Phule Wada to make it a cultural centre. "The state
administration will extend all help needed for the same," he said.
"Mahatma Jyotiba Phule spread the message of equality and always stood
against castism Phule's wada in the city is an insipiration to the
people who work for the causse of equality in society," said Bhujbal,
who is also the founder chairman of Samta Parishad.

State assembly speaker Dilip Walse Patil, minister of state for home
Ramesh Bagwe, MP Sameer Bhujbal, MHADA chairman Ankush Kakde and
Pimpri Chinchwad mayor Aparna Doke were present on the occasion.

Raosaheb Kasbe, writer and thinker, was awarded the Mahatma Phule
Samta Puruskar on the occasion. He said,"Today's politics is revolving
around issues like caste, language and smacks of regionalism. Politics
of division would affect the smooth functioning of our democracy and
targets to be achieved like equality for all would take a backseat. It
is the duty of every citizen to preserve democratic values of the
country,"

Speaking on the occasion Dilip Walse Patil said, "Nowadays issues like
empowering women in the society are being discussed in open. Mahatma
Phule had put forward these issues in the pre independence era by
starting a school for women."

Bhujbal also evaded on a question pertaining to the book written by
Vinita Kamte, wife of slain ACP Ashok Kamte saying that Home Minister
R R Patil is looking into thew issue.

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[ZESTCaste] YC demands inquiry

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/YC-demands-inquiry/articleshow/5277157.cms

YC demands inquiry
TNN 28 November 2009, 07:12am IST

ALLAHABAD: The district Youth Congress has demanded an inquiry into
the death of a Dalit, Rakesh Pasi of Hathigawan village under Soraon
tehsil.

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They have also sought action against the Naib tehsildar and station
officer of Soraon police station for harassing his family.

District Youth Congress president Abhishek Shukla said the land
belonging to Rakesh was forcibly occupied by some persons who were
given patta of the said land. When these persons started some
construction on the said land, the YC workers gheraoed the district
magistrate (DM) over the issue few days back.

On his part, the DM ordered an inquiry into the matter and asked the
officials concerned to stop the construction on the said land. But,
the SO and naib tehsildar delayed taking action and instead
reprimanded the aggrieved party, Shukla said.

Demanding compensation for the family of the deceased, YC secretary
Ajit Bhaskar said that the state government is not paying heed to the
grievances of the poor and Dalits which is resulting in their
exploitation.

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[ZESTCaste] School makes kids CRY

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_school-makes-kids-cry_1317490

School makes kids CRY
Rashmi Belur / DNA
Saturday, November 28, 2009 9:04 IST

Bangalore: It was an event that brought to the fore the problems of
the state's poor children. At a forum in the city, many were
incredulous that the children could articulate their problems with
such clarity.

The children at the public hearing were brought to Bangalore from
across the state. They were at the hearing organized by the NGO, Child
Rights and You (CRY) on Friday.

Most of the children were dropouts from school, who wished to continue studying.
Rekha, 14, from Hassan district said, "I have studied till class 9. My
teacher used to compare me with students from the upper castes, and
ask me not to come to school at all.
Not just that, the school had no toilet or drinking water, and roof
was the sort that might just cave in. I would like to study, but not
at that school, not with that teacher."

Lakshmi, 15, from Bijapur said, "I am physically challenged. It was
difficult for me even to reach school. I was regular in my attendance,
however, but my teachers told me that I am a 'dalit and handicapped',
and that I need not come to school. I studied till class 7. I would
like to continue studying further. But I would like to go to a school
where I'm not treated any differently."

Kavya, 12, came to Bangalore from Ramanagar. "There is one anganawadi
in my village. The teachers there do not allow us, dalits, to sit with
the other children. My brother was going to that anganawadi, but my
parents stopped sending him there because they would not let him mix
with the other children. My brother was told not to touch upper caste
children."

These are just examples. There were at least 200 children at the
public hearing, who poured out their complaints to a panel comprising
CS Dwarkanath, chairperson, Karnataka State Commission for Backward
Classes, Mathew Philips, director, South India Cell for Human Rights
Education and Monitoring, (SICHREM), education activist Nandini and
High Court advocate BT Venkatesh. The panel submitted its
recommendations to CRY.

"We came to the conclusion that the state is guilty of denying the
right to quality education to a majority of the children in Karnataka,
despite 62 years of independence.

Discrimination on the basis of caste, gender and disability exist at
all levels in the education system. Dalit children are humiliated by
the practice of untouchability within schools and anganwadis. And it
is not only other children, but even teachers who mete out such unfair
treatment to lower caste children," said Dwarkanath.

Three recommendations

The right of children to free and compulsory education should be
extended to cover all children in the age group 0 - 8. Every
habitation should have a school within one km.

Eduction is the responsibility of the state, and all children between
0-18 years should be able to avail it.

All schools should have teachers trained to teach children with
disability. And all disabled children too should have easy access to
schools. All children should be treated equally at school; stringent
action should be initiated against school authorities found violating
the provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989.

Allocate minimum of 10% of GDP to school education alone (10+2) Make
human rights and gender education compulsory in school curriculum.

Making the case in a democratic way

As part of the campaign to exert public pressure on the government to
effect changes in the Right to Education Act, 2009, CRY will submit a
memorandum to the state governor by next week, with a copy of the
panel recommendations. On December 11, CRY is will meet president
Pratibha Patil to hand over a charter with the demands and signatures.

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[ZESTCaste] Panel highlights discrimination in schools

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Panel-highlights-discrimination-in-schools/articleshow/5277044.cms

Panel highlights discrimination in schools
TNN 28 November 2009, 05:26am IST

Panel highlights discrimination in schools

BANGALORE: Kavya aspires to become a teacher. But she may change her
mind, given the dismal condition of schools. She's from Kelagere
village in Channapatna taluk of Ramanagaram district, which has had
one Anganwadi teacher for the past eight years. "Dalit children also
come to the school, but they face discrimination. They're made to sit
in separate rows and not allowed to mix freely with children of other
communities. Food is served separately to other children and they're
not allowed to touch upper caste children," Kavya said.

Another issue is bad eyesight which forces children like 17-year-old
Roopini to drop out from school. "My father sold land for the
treatment. The teachers and students would tease me. The teacher
wouldn't give me textbooks and notebooks. My parents would buy them.
Other children wouldn't allow me to play and I wasn't included in
cultural events," she said.

Dalit children are humiliated not only by children but by teachers
too. This was one of the observations of the jury panel for public
hearing on the right to education organized by Child Rights and You
(CRY). The panel comprised C S Dwarkanath, chairperson, Karnataka
State Commission for Backward Classes, Mathew Philips, director,
Sichrem, Nandini, ActionAid and B T Venkatesh, human rights activist.

The panel said due to verbal abuse, a large number of Dalit children
drop out. "They (Dalit children) are discriminated in the mid-day meal
and are not permitted to eat with other children. In many schools,
Dalit children are not permitted to cook," panel said.

Besides bad quality of the food, the jury said they were shocked to
find the anganwadi functioning in the toilet area. Also, many schools
have one teacher for several classes and absenteeism among teachers is
a big problem, they said.

Dwarakanath said casteism is playing a big role in education,
especially when it comes to Dalit children. "The children are deployed
to clean toilets. No one is interested in Dalit children. The state
government should come up with clear guidelines that anyone below 18
years should be given education," he added.

Panel's recommendations

* Extend free and compulsory education to all children up to 18 years

* Provide school within 1 km of any habitation

* Single, uniform curriculum for all children

* All schools should have trained teachers for children with
disability, physical accessibility and access to information

* Ensure non-discrimination and stringent violation of rights and
registration of complaints

* Allocate minimum of 10% of GDP to school education

* Make compulsory human rights and gender education

toiblr.reporter@timesgroup.com