Thursday, September 9, 2010

[ZESTCaste] SC, ST, OBC data collection by CDPR comes to a halt

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/SC-ST-OBC-data-collection-by-CDPR-comes-to-a-halt/articleshow/6522348.cms

SC, ST, OBC data collection by CDPR comes to a halt
TNN, Sep 9, 2010, 05.37am IST

MARGAO: While the state government is drawing flak from various
quarters for the non-availability of authentic data pertaining to the
population of SC,ST and OBC in the state, it has now come to light
that the Pune-based organization, centre of development planning and
research (CDPR), that was commissioned by the state government to
conduct a survey of SC/ST/OBC/disabled population has stopped further
work on the project on account of the failure of the government to pay
its dues.

Confirming this, chairman of Goa state commission for backward classes
(GSCBC) Satyawan Palkar informed TOI that while the exercise of
collecting the data has been completed, the work of verification of
the data has been grounded.

"The data collected by the CDPR contained a lot of errors and
therefore it was decided that we invite objections, if any, from the
public, and revise the list. However, CDPR has decided against going a
head with the exercise insisting that the previous bills be paid
first," Palkar said, adding that the bills are pending as the
development officers have refused to certify the payments owing to the
errors contained in the data.

The state government has already paid Rs 16 lakhs to CDPR so far, it
was informed.

Director of social welfare, N B Narvekar, when contacted, said that
the GSCBC was yet to submit any report to his department and therefore
he was unable to comment on the issue.

"The survey is being conducted under the aegis of the GSCBC. We are
only facilitating the payment for the exercise," Narvekar said.

President of united tribal associations' alliance (UTAA) Prakash
Velip, speaking to TOI, confirmed that the data collected by the CDPR
was "full of errors" and needed exhaustive verification.

"As part of the verification exercise, the list of the
SC/ST/OBC/disabled population registered during the survey was
displayed at all the panchayats and municipalities for public
scrutiny. However, the data made available to the people contained
only the names of the head of the families and the number of people in
each household. We had demanded that the list of all the people
included in these categories, apart from the head of the families, be
displayed, so that errors, if any, could have been pointed out. The
entire data, however, is yet to be furnished," Velip informed.

Nevertheless, UTAA has demanded that the government notify the
reserved wards for SC/ST/OBC/women based on whatever available data
with the government within one week.

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[ZESTCaste] Cabinet likely to take final view on caste census today

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cabinet-likely-to-take-final-view-on-caste-census-today/articleshow/6521050.cms

Cabinet likely to take final view on caste census today

Rajeev Deshpande & Mahendra Kumar Singh, TNN, Sep 9, 2010, 01.28am IST

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet on Thursday is set to take a final view on
enumeration of caste -- most probably as a separate headcount in
June-September 2011 -- while the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure
will review key infrastructure targets in terms of implementation,
expenditure and award of contracts.

The report of the group of ministers on a caste census outlines two
options -- enumerating caste as part of biometric data collection or a
separate headcount to be conducted from mid-2011. The biometric stage,
where iris and fingerprints will be recorded, begins in November 2010.

The biometric stage was initially preferred for the caste count with
officials expected to ask respondents what their caste was with an
option to not declare it as well. It was felt that separating
biometric and headcount stages would protect integrity of enumerating
population.

But protests by OBC leaders who felt social conditions could
intimidate backward castes from approaching camps outside their
localities led to the GoM considering another possibility. This option
proposes a separate headcount for caste enumeration which would be
done after the national population register -- linked to the headcount
-- is complete.

A group of eminent persons including former registrar general M
Vijayanunni, Justice M N Rao, Sukhdeo Thorat, Satish Deshpande and
Yogendra Yadav have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
expressing apprehensions over the move for a separate headcount, as
the June-September period concides with the summer and monsoon. They
have also objected to the Rs 2,000 crore price tag.

But the government argues that the NPR would be complete by then and
these households will be visited by caste enumerators. The fear of
population numbers being vitiated -- expressed by BJP and shared by
many in Congress -- would be addressed. Government is tilting in
favour of a separate caste headcount.

In the infrastructure review to be carried out by CCI, targets and
glitches are to be discussed threadbare. The ministry's targets are a
total road length of 3,670 km, tolling on 2,870 km and an expenditure
of Rs 35,680 crore of which Rs 25,155 crore is on central sector
projects.

The PM will review progress of infrastructure sectors in the
April-June quarter against monitorable targets fixed by Planning
Commission. The CCI is expected to discuss the Plan panel's report on
roads, railways, airports and power, according to sources.

Despite resistance from implementing ministries, the Plan panel in May
had set up a mechanism for quarterly monitoring to facilitate
corrective steps to expedite implementation.

In the first quarter, 508.93 km road was constructed against the
target of 764.91 km, 263.50 km of tolled highways was constructed
against targeted 809.27 km, railways laid 59 km of new lines against
the targeted 42 km and doubled 31 km against target of 34 km.

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[ZESTCaste] Iconoclast Periyar's heir now temple patron

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6521768.cms

9 Sep, 2010, 01.42

AM IST, Sangeetha Kandavel & V Balasubramanian,ET Bureau

Iconoclast Periyar's heir now temple patron

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu's Dravidian movement, built on the foundation of
atheism and rationalism, is beginning to shake at its roots with
founding member and chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi lavishing
funds on temple renovation in a way not seen in at least a century.

The movement — reformist for the untouchables and ruinous for the
Brahmins — has come a full circle from the days of breaking idols of
Hindu deities, especially the ubiquitous Ganpathy, to spending
hundreds of crores renovating temples and encouraging its members to
participate in them.

Karunanidhi, 87, is the last of the atheist politicians left of the
Dravidian crop who have ruled the state for 33 of the last 43 years.
His predecessors, the late friend-turned-rival MG Ramachandran, and J
Jayalalithaa, discarded the 'rationalist' plank decades ago.

This Friday will mark the Kumbabishekam, or the consecration, of the
centuries-old Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple in Sholinghur, about
100 kilometres north west of Chennai. Mr Karunanidhi has deputed
colleagues to supervise the work.

"Till date we have spent Rs 420 crore on temple renovation and this is
a clear evidence to show the amount of interest that Kalaignar has
shown in promoting temples in the state," says KR Periakaruppan,
minister for Hindu religious and charitable endowments.

Spending on temple renovation, praying or even cozying up to religious
leaders is hardly surprising for anyone in a country where prime
ministers and presidents often disturb the silent prayers of the
common man with their presence at prominent temples. But when Mr
Karunanidhi, a self-proclaimed atheist who has been living next door
to a Krishna temple for decades, attends to temple renovation, it is
an irony.

This change of heart can be attributed to several factors. A strategy
to get votes as people throng temples and religious gurus to seek
solace in a fast-paced material life. Or, a genuine desire on the part
of someone in the evening of his life and worried about his legacy to
connect with God.

"Spending money on temple renovation would not help the DMK government
fetch any votes," says Cho Ramaswamy, political commentator and editor
of Tamil magazine Thuglaq.

Part of the change can be attributed to the state's political
landscape, which has transformed beyond recognition. The Congress is
no longer the dominant party, many of the Dravida movement's cherished
goals, such as higher reservation for backward castes, have been met,
and the beneficiaries have not only become prosperous, but have also
started courting God and religion in a big way.

Also, to be fair, the Dravida movement never tried to project itself
as a comprehensive atheist party. While the anti-Brahmin rhetoric was
strong, it took care to ensure that it did not hurt the religious
beliefs and traditions of many of the state's people, including their
myriad gods and goddesses. So, while Karunanidhi would take time out
and attack the Ramayana, he never spoke ill of Murugan, who was
recognised and promoted as a 'Tamil god'.

Since Karunanidhi's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam returned to power in May
2006, it has spent around Rs 420 crore on temple renovations. This is
a near threefold jump over Rs 147 crore spent in the five-year rule of
rival All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, or AIADMK, led by
believer J Jayalalithaa. There are 38,481 temples, mutts and trusts
under state control.

Karunanidhi, Jayalalithaa and Ramachandran have their roots in the
Dravidian Movement. The seeds of the movement were sown in 1925 when
EV Ramasamy Naicker, known as Periyar, or the elder, walked out of the
Indian National Congress convention after the then Brahmin-dominated
party refused to consider a resolution seeking proportional
representation.

Periyar's reasons for seeking change were strong. In 1914, of the of
the 650 graduates in then Madras Province, 452 were from the Brahmin
community. Of the 15 elected for the All India Congress Committee, 14
were Brahmins.

Periyar led the Self-Respect and the Anti-Hindi movements of the
aristocrats-led Justice Party formed to further the non-Brahmin
interests in the four southern states. The party was renamed Dravidar
Kazhagam in 1944 with rationalism and atheism as its main planks and
Karunanidhi and his mentor CN Annadurai among the top leadership.

"The assets of a temple — land, buildings, jewelry, utensils, cash —
should be used for the welfare of the people," said its first
manifesto, quoted in the book A History of the Dravidian Movement by
another founding member, VR Neduncheziyan.

Karunanidhi is not only devoting his energies to temples, but also to
refurbishing their dilapidated cars, which are used during festivals
and vital for the rural economy.

"The main purpose of this is to promote temple tourism and portray
Tamil Nadu as a temple tourist destination," says Periakaruppan. "By
doing such renovation works, local economic activity also gets a
boost. The areas surrounding the temple area also grow and get to do
good business."

The state government, which has the famous Srivilliputtur temple tower
as its emblem, has ordered the repairing of 225 temple cars at an
estimated cost of Rs 10.84 crore. Of the 960 wooden cars, some 16 have
been rebuilt for Rs 83.85 lakh.

"We have now started identifying temples which are 1,000 years old and
renovating it," says N Thirumagal, joint commissioner of the Hindu
religious board. Government grants have been raised more than 200
times in the last two decades to Rs 9.75 crore from Rs 45 lakh a year
in 1998-99.

The DMK, which gained huge popularity in its early years by
discrediting religious heads and priests through street protests and
film dialogues, has been getting closer to them, though for the
economic uplift of the poor.

Karunanidhi, known as Kalaignar to followers, rubbed shoulders with
Satya Sai Baba of Puttaparti a few years ago, when the latter donated
funds to build irrigation projects in the state. He has also started
taking up yoga, ostensibly for health reasons.

Despite this marked shift in attitude, many doubt whether he is
actually turning a believer, or just playing to the gallery.

"Karunanidhi will not change himself from being an atheist," said
Hindu Munnani leader Rama Gopalan. "His actions are to deceive
gullible people like us. Has he ever expressed his belief in God in
the open? No. He is practising yoga due to health concerns and not out
of any belief."

Rival Ramachandran set the tone for the Dravidian leaders' acceptance
of God nearly two decades ago. He created a stir in the early 80s when
he visited the Mookambika temple at Kollur in Karnataka. His
successor, Jayalalithaa in the AIADMK, an offshoot of the Dravida
Kazhagam like the DMK, publicly displayed her belief by visiting
temples.

In one such visit to Kumbakonam during Maha Maham, a holy day in the
Tamil calendar, a stampede led to scores of deaths. But her belief in
seeking divine intervention did not change.

Karunanidhi's long-term associate K Veeramani, president of the
Dravida Kazhagam, who blows hot and cold on his policies, believes
that the actions may give a feeling that he is a believer now, but he
is not. "Two days ago when we celebrated Krishna Jayanthi, the CM did
not issue any statement wishing people and he has never done it for
any festival for that matter," says Veeramani.

"This is a clear indication that he is strongly sticking to his
atheist principles." But the funds spent on temples, "can be diverted
for better purposes like education and hospitals."

(With inputs from S Sujatha in Coimbatore)


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