Latest News Update: Mar 18, 2010

Thursday, March 18, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Stung by negative publicity, Maya removes top official

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Stung-by-negative-publicity--Maya-removes-top-official/592606

Stung by negative publicity, Maya removes top official

Express news service Posted online: Thursday , Mar 18, 2010 at 1617 hrs
Stung by the negative publicity over March 15 Lucknow rally, UP Chief
Minister Mayawati on Thursday removed additional Cabinet Secretary and
Principal Secretary (Information) Vijay Shanker Pandey, a 1979 batch
IAS officer, and shunted him to vocational education.
Pandey's removal is seen as victory for Cabinet Secretary Shashank
Shekhar Singh after a long tussle in the Chief Minister's Office.

Pandey, said to be an honest and upright officer, was told to move out
of the two powerful jobs by Mayawati herself this afternoon as the BSP
government found conspiracy behind the so called bee attack during the
Mahadalit rally.

Although Pandey was handling the state information department, the
rally was handled by the BSP party and section of influential
bureaucrats in the UP CMO.

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[ZESTCaste] Lathicharge on Dalit protesters

http://www.ptinews.com/news/571156_Lathicharge-on-Dalit-protesters

Lathicharge on Dalit protesters

STAFF WRITER 18:51 HRS IST
Mandya (Karnataka), Mar 18 (PTI) Police used canes to disperse a group
of Dalits today when they turned violent on allegedly being refused
entry into a nearby temple.

Three policemen were injured in the clash, police said.

Ten persons have been arrested in this connection and prohibitory
orders under section 144 CrPC have been clamped for three days in
Kannali village, 20 km from here and its surroundings from today,
Additional Superintendent of Police Rajanna said.

The problem arose when some Dalits protested against the closure of
temple door when they wanted to perform worship, he said.

When the situation turned violent, police made lathicharge to control
the situation, he said.

Security has been beefed up in the village to prevent any untoward
incidents and the situation was now under control.

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[ZESTCaste] It’s still touch and go for SC/ST in Tamil Nadu

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=It%E2%80%99s+still+touch+and+go+for+SC/ST+in+Tamil+Nadu&artid=O1hWAPowSYQ=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&SEO=Scheduled+Castes+Special+Component+Plan+(SCSP)&SectionName=rSY%7C6QYp3kQ=

It's still touch and go for SC/ST in Tamil Nadu

C Shivakumar
First Published : 18 Mar 2010 02:58:00 AM ISTLast Updated : 18 Mar
2010 06:15:50 AM IST

CHENNAI: Periyar would perhaps turn in his grave if he were to look at
Tamil Nadu's annual plan for 2009- 10, which violates the guidelines
of the Planning Commission on the Scheduled Castes Special Component
Plan (SCSP) and the tribal sub-plan (TSP).

In a letter to the State Chief Secretary, Planning Commission's State
plans division's joint secretary T K Pandey said Rs 2,721.62 crore
allocated by the State in its 2009-10 annual plan for the SCSP and Rs
36.36 crore for the TSP did not conform with the guidelines of the
Commission.

"The proportion of SC population is 19 per cent and of ST is one per
cent as per the 2001 census.

Based on this, the government should have earmarked Rs 3,250 crore for
SCSP and Rs 175 crore for TSP," the letter argued.

However, this seems feasible only on paper and things hardly go by the
rule book. Funds either lapse or are diverted for other developmental
schemes, says Father Irudaya Kumar, research consultant of Social
Watch, Tamil Nadu.

In 2005, Rs 500 crore was spent under the SCSP plan. Over the years,
the State claims to have spent over Rs 2,500 crore on welfare schemes
for SC. But, budget analysts say this is more an act of jugglery than
a real expansion in fund flow.

The State's annual plans of 1996-2009 show that Rs 14,224 crore has
been denied to Dalits. Several SC suspect that funds were diverted for
purchasing TVs and for building the new Secretariat complex.

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[ZESTCaste] Upper caste Hindus lock temple after Dalit entry

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Upper+caste+Hindus+lock+temple+after+Dalit+entry&artid=Hgb%7CFSmIrJY=&SectionID=7GUA38txp3s=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=zkvyRoWGpmWSxZV2TGM5XQ==&SEO=

Upper caste Hindus lock temple after Dalit entry

Express News ServiceFirst Published : 18 Mar 2010 04:56:00 AM ISTLast
Updated : 18 Mar 2010 06:50:12 AM IST

MANDYA: Tension gripped Kanahalli village in Mandya taluk, a day after
Dalits entered Chanakeshva Temple to participate in the Ugadi festival
on Tuesday.

Upper caste Hindus have reportedly locked the temple.

Dalits have been denied entry into Chanakeshva Temple — which falls
under the Endowment Department of the state government — for
generations.

On Tuesday, a few people from Dalit communities entered the temple and
offered prayers to the local deity.

A Few hours later, upper caste Hindus locked the temple.

Their representatives stated that Dalits had 'defied the sanctity of
the temple'.

Recently, in a peace meeting chaired by Mandya MLA M Srinivas,
upper-caste Hindus had agreed to allow Dalits into the temple. In
turn, the Dalits had agreed to withdraw a police complaint against
members of the upper castes who had assaulted Chandru, a Dalit, for
touching an idol during a procession on March 13.

Incensed by the attack, Dalits had 'threatened' to enter the temple.
They had also launched a protest against caste discrimination in
hotels and lodges in Mandya district. With the temple locked and amid
preparations for an elaborate 'cleansing' of the temple, threat of a
caste clash looms large over Kanahalli village.

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[ZESTCaste] Defiant BSP gifts yet another currency garland to Mayawati

http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/17220357/Defiant-BSP-gifts-yet-another.html

Posted: Wed, Mar 17 2010. 10:03 PM IST
Economy and Politics

Defiant BSP gifts yet another currency garland to Mayawati

On Monday, a garland of Rs1,000 notes had been put around the Uttar
Pradesh chief minister at a rally organized to mark 25 years of the
foundation of the BSP, sparking outcry from opposition parties

Santosh K. Joy
New Delhi: Snubbing criticism of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief
Mayawati wearing a garland of currency notes at a public rally two
days ago, the party gifted her another garland of notes it said was
worth Rs18 lakh at a Lucknow news conference on Wednesday.

"Wherever she goes, she will henceforth be greeted with garlands of
notes and not with garlands of flowers," party leader and state public
works minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui told reporters.

Undeterred by criticism: BSP chief Mayawati being presented a garland
of currency notes, which the party said was worth Rs18 lakh, in
Lucknow on Wednesday. Nand Kumar/PTI

On Monday, a garland of Rs1,000 notes had been put around the Uttar
Pradesh chief minister at a rally organized to mark 25 years of the
foundation of the BSP, sparking outcry from opposition parties. The
garland's worth was variously estimated from Rs21 lakh to Rs5 crore.

"It was a vulgar display of money," Congress spokesperson Shakeel
Ahmed said. The Samajwadi Party demanded a probe into the source of
the money. The two parties also stalled Parliament on Tuesday over the
issue.

Analysts said such public displays of vast sums of money is the BSP
leader's way of driving a wedge between her opponents and the Dalit
voters they are trying to woo away from her.

The Congress, in particular, has been courting Dalits, who comprise
one-fifth of the state's population. Before last year's general
election, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi visited Dalit homes
and staged a series of public meetings.

The impact showed, and the Congress won 22 of Uttar Pradesh's 80 Lok
Sabha seats, up from nine in the previous elections. The BSP, which
had been hoping to go past the 40-mark, won only 20.

Now, with assembly elections two years away, Mayawati is hitting
back—with currency garlands, as well as tens of costly statues of hers
and past Dalit leaders in parks around the state.

Criticism of Mayawati's showing off money allows her to expose the
claim of her opponents that they want to improve the lot of Dalits as
a sham, an expert said.

"The message that would ultimately be conveyed to the BSP cadre is
that while Congress and the media managed by them exalt Rahul Gandhi's
move to picture Dalit homes suffering from poverty and paucity; it
does not take it well when a Dalit lady is pictured as rich," said
Vivek Kumar, associate professor at the Centre for the Study of Social
Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Badri Narayan, senior faculty member at GB Pant Social Science
Institute, Allahabad, said a hostile media always worked in favour of
Mayawati.

"She and her cadre is convinced that the media and the centres of
power are controlled by the upper caste," he said. "Every bit of
criticism against Mayawati translates into a new loyal vote for the
BSP."

PTI contributed to this story.

santosh.j@livemint.com

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[ZESTCaste] Congress should reject Mayawati’s support to UPA govt: BJP

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/article253652.ece

Published: March 17, 2010
Updated: March 17, 2010 16:40 IST New Delhi, March 17, 2010

Congress should reject Mayawati's support to UPA govt: BJP
PTI

Accusing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of violating basic
democratic norms by accepting currency garlands, the BJP said that if
the Congress was serious in its criticism of the BSP chief, then it
should refuse the support extended by her to the UPA Government.

"On the one hand the state government has said it has no money to pay
as compensation to the next of kin of those killed in the stampede at
Kripalu Maharaj's ashram, and on the other, several crores are being
spent to organise rallies to mark BSP's 25 years," BJP chief
spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.

If the Congress was serious in its criticism of the BSP chief, then it
should announce that it did not require the support extended by the
BSP to the ruling alliance at the Centre, he said.

"Today, once again Mayawati received a garland with currency worth Rs.
18 lakh, and said she would continue to receive such gifts. This is a
violation of basic norms of democracy where accountability is an
important feature. If she really cares for the Dalits, then the money
should be spent on their education, health and development. UP is one
of the states where the condition of Dalits is very bad," he said.

Taking a dig at the BSP leader, Prasad charged that besides dethroned
Iraq President Saddam Hussein, Mayawati was the only living leader
with her "life size statues" installed at various places.

In a show of defiance ignoring all criticism, Mayawati on Wednesday
got herself garlanded with currency notes said to be of the value of
Rs. 18 lakh. On Monday, a garland made out of currency notes of value
estimated in crores was presented to her at a massive rally in
Lucknow.

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