Friday, December 17, 2010

[ZESTCaste] RE: [ambedkarscholarship] Ambedkar Award proposal to Dadaji Khobragade, Forbe list illiterate scientist but unable to feed family

 

Bro.Ben
If this scitist has children who are graduates, Wyvil India a Dalit owned company is more than happy to help his family to learn SAP at no cost at Hyderabad, with a free accomodation & food. Once he is up to speed on SAP tool.
Wyvil India will hire him. This way insted of giving a fish to this dalit scientist Wyvil India can teach his family how to fish. Then no one needs to beg.
Dr.Ambedkar gave us education. As a result I am in a position to fish my self in USA, Canada & India. Also I am teaching lots of dalit students to learn how to fish.
regards
Raj (Vasant Raj) Cherukonda
Chairman & Managing Director
Wyvil Systems Inc, USA, India & Canada
3033 Ogden Avenue. Ste # 302
Lisle, IL 60532; Ph:630-666-5466
www.wyvilsystems.com USA
(SAP Channel Partner & VAR For Business One and Business Objects Solution Provider Partner & VAR )
www.wyvilsystems-canada.com CANADA
www.wyvilinfotech.com INDIA
visit our foundation at www.cherukonda.com, USA, INDIA & CANADA
________________________________________
From: ambedkarscholarship@yahoogroups.com [ambedkarscholarship@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Benjamin Kaila [benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2010 8:42 AM
To: humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk
Cc: Dalit Group; Dalit-international; DalitCOnference; OfficersForum; Human Horizons; ZestCaste; AmbedkarScholarshipGroup
Subject: [ambedkarscholarship] Ambedkar Award proposal to Dadaji Khobragade, Forbe list illiterate scientist but unable to feed family

Special request to bureaucrats:
Sirs, is there any way you can help Mr Dadaji though government funds? If so, can someone take initiative on this to alert relevant authorities? He is a Forbe list scientist but struggling to feed his family. Please read the story to understand.

Dear friends,

Sorry for bugging you again? You must be wondering to see my email – again this fellow asking for money.

Yes, I am. This time to help this remarkable personality Dadaji Khobragade (can I call him Dr, why not for his achievements though he is semi-literate?) of Maharashtra.

Please read the story: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Farmer-named-by-Forbes-is-landless-today/articleshow/6933299.cms

I am proposing Ambedkar Award to this remarkable scientist. He is the enventory of the best yielding rice, but still living in penury, unable to feed his family and educate his children. He feeding us with his remarkable discoveries.

If others do not recognize him, why not us, in our small way? FFEI is ready to honor him with Rs. 10,000. That amount is a disgrace for a person of his stature. So, if more donors join us, we may present him a bigger purse.

So, again I am coming to you with a begging bowl. Please let me know.
I am working with Mr Lalith Kandhare of Human Horizons group to help this great personality.

Please come forward with your contribution.

With regards
Benjamin Paul Kaila
----------------------------------------------------------
An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society.
-Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar
Please visit www.friendsforeducation.org<http://www.friendsforeducation.org>

________________________________
From: Benjamin Kaila <benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com>
To: humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk
Cc: Dalit Group <dalit@yahoogroups.com>; Dalit-international <dalits-international@yahoogroups.com>; DalitCOnference <dalitconference@googlegroups.com>; OfficersForum <officersforum@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, November 29, 2010 10:34:35 AM
Subject: Re: D R Khobragade in Forbes list, but facing discrimination

Dear Lalit and others,
I am thinking of the same after reading great news about Mr Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade. It is sad he is in India. Otherwise, he would be a rich man and a celebrity by now.

I will do my bit to raise funds, however small it may be.

We can atleast provide him some financial help, if not provide him a lab for his research which needs lot of money.

Are we Dalits ready for such a big task? Sorry to say, we are the most misers in the world when it comes to charity. Our begging habit did not go away even after occupying high positions and earning good. We only wish to take from others, never give.

Angry with me for saying so. But, unfortunately, that is my experience.

Every good project (small or big) is a big challenge for us for want of funds as none interested, even the rich among us.

Brother Lalit, take the task. I am with you and I will do whatever I can in this venture.

With regards
Ben Kaila
----------------------------------------------------------
An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society.
-Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar
Please visit www.friendsforeducation.org<http://www.friendsforeducation.org/>


________________________________
From: lalit <lalitkhandare@yahoo.co.uk>
To: humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk
Sent: Mon, November 29, 2010 10:11:21 AM
Subject: [HumanHorizons] Re: D R Khobragade in Forbes list, but facing discrimination



Do you have his contacts, we can help raise funding to develop his research lab?

--- In humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk<mailto:humanhorizons%40yahoogroups.co.uk>, harishandra khobragade <hdkhobragade@...> wrote:
>
> Dear all,
> Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â JAI_BHIM!
> I have made a mention of Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade's research in my thesis for Ph. D. entitled " Botanical Studies in the Early Buddhist Literature" after interviewing him at his hut and taking necessary photographs. It is as follows:
> Â
> "In 1983 Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade noticed a rice plant in his field that had yellow coloured rice in the three spikes (inflorescence). He preserved the yellow grains and grew them and the subsequent seeds till 1989. The varieties discovered by him are known as HMT, DRK and Nanded. Second prize in National Innovation Foundation's Third Grassroot Award was conferred on him by the Honourable President of India, AVul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam on January 5, 2005."
> Â
> Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade's is a victim of caste discimination. Had he been born in upper caste he would have been given all facilities for research. Now he is handicapped for want of infrastructure like land etc.. Our nation is not utilizing his latent talent.   Â
>
> With Metta,
> Dr. H. D. Khobragade
> --- On Mon, 11/29/10, Pravin Khobragade <pkhobragade@...> wrote:
>
>
> From: Pravin Khobragade <pkhobragade@...>
> Subject: [HumanHorizons] D R Khobragade in Forbes list, but facing discrimination
> To: "humanhorizons" <humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk<mailto:humanhorizons%40yahoogroups.co.uk>>, "Dr.Deepak Raut" <drdeepakraut@...>, tembhurnes@...
> Date: Monday, November 29, 2010, 10:01 AM
>
>
> Â
>
>
>
> Dear all,
>
>
> JAI BHIM,
>
>
> Copied below are two articles:Â
>
>
> (1) from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Farmer-named-by-Forbes-is-landless-today/articleshow/6933299.cms
>
>
>
> Farmer named by Forbes is landless todayMazhar Ali, TNN, Nov 16, 2010, 06.01am IST
>
>
> CHANDRAPUR: Forbes' lists evoke awe. Those who figure in the publication's pantheon are super achievers, and, more often than not, super rich.Â
>
> Dadaji Khobragade has made it to a Forbes' list. The magazine recently named him as one of the seven most powerful rural Indian entrepreneurs, whose "inventions are changing lives" of people across the country. For good reason too: Khobragade revolutionised paddy farming by developing the highly successful variety of paddy â€" HMT rice â€" that gives 80% more yield than conventional varieties and has become a household name.Â
>
> But Khobragade is hardly your run-of-the-mill Forbes' millionaire. He is a landless labourer fighting poverty in the remote Nanded (Fakir) village in Nagbhid tehsil. Seventy and struggling, he can barely make ends meet.Â
>
> The irony couldn't be more acute: Although the variety invented by him is cultivated over lakhs of hectares across the country, Khobragade doesn't even have an inch of land in his own name. HMT rice is sold at around Rs 3200 a quintal, but Khobragade had to sell his three-acre land because he didn't have money to fund his son's hospitalisation. Khobragade has a rack full of awards but his grandson could not pursue his polytechnic course because the family couldn't afford the modest fees.Â
>
> Khobragade is barely literate but was always gifted when it came to farming. Despite no formal education in agriculture â€" he has studied only until Class III â€" Khobragade began experimental breeding of a new variety of rice. After years of trial and error, his variety gave him a much higher yield compared to that of conventional one. In 1989, the yield with the newly developed variety was so astounding that, the demand for his variety skyrocketed in no time.Â
>
> "I began my experiments with the conventional 'Patel 3' variety of rice. After five years of continuous study and research, I succeeded in developing the one that is now known as HMT rice," Khobragade said, evidently recalling the story with mechanical ease.Â
>
> However, the name of the variety â€" HMT â€" happened quite by accident. While people took their bumper paddy harvest from the seeds given by Khobragade for sale in the APMC market yard, the authorities asked for the name of the variety.Â
>
> One of Khobragade's companions suggested the name of HMT, the brand of wrist watch he was wearing at the time, and the farmer innocently accepted it. The demand for HMT variety skyrocketed. In 1997, Khobragade alleged that the Panjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth (PKV) was commercialising his variety and had started selling it with the name of PKV HMT rice. The agriculture university had claimed that it had 'purified' Khobragade's variety.Â
>
> Nevertheless, Khobragade got several awards, including the Rastrapati award, state government's Krishi Bhushan award and the award given by National Innovative Foundation for his contribution in the field of agriculture.Â
>
> However, despite the fame and awards, Khobragade's financial condition continued to deteriorate. He lives an impoverished life with his wife, son, daughterin-law and three grandsons with his small earnings.Â
>
> "I had to sell my land for the treatment of my son. The small and only help came from the father-in-law of my son, who bought 1.5 acres of land in the name of his daughter. At present, I carry out my research work in this small piece of land owned by my daughter-in-law," Khobragade said.Â
>
> Khobragade had asked 10 acres of land on lease from the district administration and had forwarded application in 2008, but he says nothing has come of it so far.Â
>
> He said he had come to know about the Forbes' list only through scribes."I'm happy that my efforts have been recognised," he said. Tehsil agriculture officer, Nagbhid, DV Wahane said,"His request for 10 acres of land on lease has been approved. But the allotment is withheld due some procedural reasons. I would soon take up the issue with the tehsildar" said Wahane.Â
>
> Khobragade hopes that this promise isn't hollow. But he has every reason to be skeptical of the government's intentions: the gold medal he had received as part of the Krishi Bhushan award had turned out to be made of silver.
>
>
>
>
> (2) from http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2007/01/05/indian-dr-carver-khobragade-facing-discrimination-caste-virus-001mh2007/
>
>
>
>
> Indian Dr Carver, Khobragade : facing discrimination, Caste-virus 001MH2007
> 05jan07
>
> Khobragade’s story parallels Dr. Goerge Washington Carver of the U.S.A who had done a staggering amount of work on agricultural plants but had to face a lot of discrimination because he happened to be black.  D R Khobragade is a Buddhist ( ex-Untouchable who got converted to Buddhism after Dr Ambedkar) and inventor of High yielding rice variety HMT which Indian is proud of internationally. Following is the news piece from The Hindu published in 2004.
> SIXTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade is a farmer with a grouse. He is a celebrity in Vidarbha for developing a variety of rice called HMT, which is now grown over a large part of the region. A native of Nanded village in Nagbid tehsil of Chandrapur district in Maharashtra, a decade ago, he selected and bred a variety of rice, mystifyingly named HMT, which has become popular in neighbouring States as well.
> However, his efforts have gone largely unnoticed by the agriculture research establishment. He is a man with little means and has to work for daily wages to support his seven-member family. He sold his two acres after his son fell ill and now cultivates three acres given to his son by a relative.
> In 1994, a rice breeder from the nearby Sindewahi rice station, a part of the Punjabarao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth at Akola, took five kg of HMT seeds from Khobragade saying that the rice station wanted to experiment with it. In 1998, a new variety was released in the State called PKV HMT after the researchers “purifiedâ€� the seed they had obtained from Khobragade. “Now these new seeds are sold for Rs. 1,200 a quintal. What have I got out of all this? The government wants to deprive me of any credit and the variety they claim to have released is exactly like mine â€" I don’t think there is a difference,â€� said Khobragade.
>
>
> Pic1: The inventor of High yeilding HMT rice D. R. Khrobragade from Nagbhid
> Â
> When it first hit the market, HMT fetched double the price of other varieties on sale, farmers said. Its popularity prompted the scientists at the University to release PKV HMT after pressure from the farmers who wanted the seeds. It fetches a higher price than most other rice varieties due to its short grain and good eating and cooking qualities.
> Khobragade is undeterred by this lack of respect for his work and continues to make new selections and breed them. So far, he has developed six new varieties of rice. He proudly displays each variety which he has carefully framed and labelled. One variety is mildly scented and he has named another DRK after himself. The average yield of all the new varieties is about 15-16 quintals per acre.
> Activists working on preserving farmers’ rights said that the establishment did not want to recognise the farmer as a breeder. In 1983, Khobragade noticed a variation in the paddy growing in his field, which was planted with Patel 3, a popular variety at that time. He started collecting the seeds of the plants which were different and kept those seeds aside. Soon, he began distributing this new variety to other farmers.
> Bhimrao Shinde, a large landowner in Nanded village, was the first to take one quintal of seeds from Khobragade and grow this variety which did not even have a name. “I got 90 bags from four acres, and when I took this variety of rice to the market, the dealers said they had not seen it before. They asked me the name and I did not know what to say,� said Mr. Shinde. “At that time HMT watches were very popular and suddenly someone decided to call it HMT and the name stuck,� he added.
> The village of Nanded has many brick and tile houses, an improvement over thatched huts. This prosperity is due to HMT rice, local villagers claimed. It is the top variety in the region, according to Shinde, who has been growing it every year since 1990. Its popularity has spread to Andhra Pradesh and even other States like Madhya Pradesh.
> The officials at the Sindewahi rice station which is part of the Punjarbrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth at Akola, claim that they have purified the local HMT variety and released it under its new avatar called PKV HMT. The samples of this new variety are proudly displayed in the small office of the rice station. G. R. Shyamkuwar, a junior plant breeder, said that the PKV HMT selection gave a yield of 40-45 quintals per hectare â€" much more than the local HMT variety. “I don’t know the origin of HMT but we got the seeds from a local farmer,â€� he said. He refused to admit that the farmer could have selected and bred this variety.
> Jacob Nellithanam, an activist with Kisani Samvardhan Kendra, an Indore-based organisation, which has been campaigning for the conservation of indigenous genetic resources, said, “Farmers have been selecting varieties that are promising and adapted to the local climate and soil conditions for several years. That is how there is so much diversity. In this case, the farmer has selected a variation of Patel 3 and it became popular because it had certain qualities. The new variety â€" PKV HMT â€" released by the University, is from the same seed that was selected by Khobragade who also observed it for a few generations and checked for stability of characteristics.â€�
> He said this had to be seen in the light of Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Bill, 2000, which creates monopoly property rights on plant varieties by establishing breeder’s rights which is legally protected and equivalent to patents. The main opposition to the WTO agreement is the patent on plant varieties. It can become a property right which can be used by seed companies, and plant breeding will move from the farmers domain to the property of companies through various mechanisms, he added.
> A. D. Bhombe, Assistant Professor, Botany, at the Punjabrao Deshmukh college of Agriculture at Nagpur, who was earlier a senior rice breeder at the Sindewahi rice station, said the original selection of HMT was made by the farmer. “We felt that this HMT was mixture and it needed to be purified. The seeds were collected from this farmer and we purified it. Farmers cannot maintain individual plant selections over the years. In the farmer’s method, there is some chance of natural crossing.�
> In eastern Vidarbha, HMT is a popular variety and improved varieties occupy almost 80 per cent of the total area. In 1999- 2000, the Nagpur division comprising Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli accounted for 6,88,000 hectares of rice area. Maharashtra has a total of 14.8 lakh hectares under rice, according to the economic survey, 2000-2001. The division accounts for the second largest rice are in the State after the Konkan region.
> Ashish Kothari, Coordinator of the Technical and Policy Core Group to formulate the government’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and founder-member of Kalpavriksh, a 20- year-old environmental action group, said that India was signatory to the Biological Diversity Convention in 1993 which commits it to protect indigenous resources and knowledge. In this case, the University should have sought the consent of the farmer â€" it is not merely enough to give him a letter, it has to be informed consent â€" and the benefits, if any, from the variety should also accrue to him.
> A revised version of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Bill, 2000, is now before Parliament. A new section on farmers’ rights has been added but activists feel that instead of simplifying the issues, the bill complicates them. It is still not clear how a farmer’s variety will be registered, according to a report by the Public Interest Legal Support and Research Centre (PILSARC), New Delhi.
> The bill has laid down what developed countries and breeders want. Khobragade, among the many farmers who have not even heard of the Bill, then is no exception in this scheme of things.
> He may select and breed a million varieties but they will remain “impure� selections in the eyes of scientists. He may also not be in a position to claim his rights. Unless there is a radical change in thinking, protection of farmers’ rights will remain merely on paper.
>
> --
> Thanks and Regards,
>
> Dr. Pravin H Khobragade
>



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[ZESTCaste] Ambedkar Award proposal to Dadaji Khobragade, Forbe list illiterate scientist but unable to feed family

 

Special request to bureaucrats:

Sirs, is there any way you can help Mr Dadaji though government funds? If so, can someone take initiative on this to alert relevant authorities? He is a Forbe list scientist but struggling to feed his family. Please read the story to understand.

 

Dear friends,

 

Sorry for bugging you again? You must be wondering to see my email – again this fellow asking for money.

 

Yes, I am. This time to help this remarkable personality Dadaji Khobragade (can I call him Dr, why not for his achievements though he is semi-literate?) of Maharashtra.

 

Please read the story: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Farmer-named-by-Forbes-is-landless-today/articleshow/6933299.cms

 

I am proposing Ambedkar Award to this remarkable scientist. He is the enventory of the best yielding rice, but still living in penury, unable to feed his family and educate his children.  He feeding us with his remarkable discoveries.

 

If others do not recognize him, why not us, in our small way? FFEI is ready to honor him with Rs. 10,000. That amount is a disgrace for a person of his stature. So, if more donors join us, we may present him a bigger purse.

 

So, again I am coming to you with a begging bowl. Please let me know.

I am working with Mr Lalith Kandhare of Human Horizons group to help this great personality.

 

Please come forward with your contribution.

 

With regards

Benjamin Paul Kaila

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society.
-Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar


From: Benjamin Kaila <benjamin_kaila@yahoo.com>
To: humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk
Cc: Dalit Group <dalit@yahoogroups.com>; Dalit-international <dalits-international@yahoogroups.com>; DalitCOnference <dalitconference@googlegroups.com>; OfficersForum <officersforum@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, November 29, 2010 10:34:35 AM
Subject: Re: D R Khobragade in Forbes list, but facing discrimination

Dear Lalit and others,
I am thinking of the same after reading great news about Mr Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade. It is sad he is in India. Otherwise, he would be a rich man and a celebrity by now.
 
I will do my bit to raise funds, however small it may be.
 
We can atleast provide him some financial help, if not provide him a lab for his research which needs lot of money.
 
Are we Dalits ready for such a big task? Sorry to say, we are the most misers in the world when it comes to charity. Our begging habit did not go away even after occupying high positions and earning good. We only wish to take from others, never give.
 
Angry with me for saying so. But, unfortunately, that is my experience.
 
Every good project (small or big) is a big challenge for us for want of funds as none interested, even the rich among us.
 
Brother Lalit, take the task. I am with you and I will do whatever I can in this venture.
 
With regards
Ben Kaila
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society.
-Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar



From: lalit <lalitkhandare@yahoo.co.uk>
To: humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk
Sent: Mon, November 29, 2010 10:11:21 AM
Subject: [HumanHorizons] Re: D R Khobragade in Forbes list, but facing discrimination

 

Do you have his contacts, we can help raise funding to develop his research lab?

--- In humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk, harishandra khobragade <hdkhobragade@...> wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>           JAI_BHIM!
> I have made a mention of  Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade's research in my thesis for Ph. D. entitled " Botanical Studies in the Early Buddhist Literature" after interviewing him at his hut and taking necessary photographs.  It is as follows:
>  
> "In 1983 Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade noticed a rice plant in his field that had yellow coloured rice in the three spikes (inflorescence). He preserved the yellow grains and grew them and the subsequent seeds till 1989. The varieties discovered by him are known as HMT, DRK and Nanded. Second prize in National Innovation Foundation's Third Grassroot Award was conferred on him by the Honourable President of India, AVul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam on January 5, 2005."
>  
> Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade's is a victim of caste discimination. Had he been born in upper caste he would have been given all facilities for research. Now he is handicapped for want of infrastructure like land etc.. Our nation is not utilizing his latent talent.    
>
> With Metta,
> Dr. H. D. Khobragade
> --- On Mon, 11/29/10, Pravin Khobragade <pkhobragade@...> wrote:
>
>
> From: Pravin Khobragade <pkhobragade@...>
> Subject: [HumanHorizons] D R Khobragade in Forbes list, but facing discrimination
> To: "humanhorizons" <humanhorizons@yahoogroups.co.uk>, "Dr.Deepak Raut" <drdeepakraut@...>, tembhurnes@...
> Date: Monday, November 29, 2010, 10:01 AM
>
>
>  
>
>
>
> Dear all,
>
>
> JAI BHIM,
>
>
> Copied below are two articles: 
>
>
> (1) from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Farmer-named-by-Forbes-is-landless-today/articleshow/6933299.cms
>
>
>
> Farmer named by Forbes is landless todayMazhar Ali, TNN, Nov 16, 2010, 06.01am IST
>
>
> CHANDRAPUR: Forbes' lists evoke awe. Those who figure in the publication's pantheon are super achievers, and, more often than not, super rich. 
>
> Dadaji Khobragade has made it to a Forbes' list. The magazine recently named him as one of the seven most powerful rural Indian entrepreneurs, whose "inventions are changing lives" of people across the country. For good reason too: Khobragade revolutionised paddy farming by developing the highly successful variety of paddy â€" HMT rice â€" that gives 80% more yield than conventional varieties and has become a household name. 
>
> But Khobragade is hardly your run-of-the-mill Forbes' millionaire. He is a landless labourer fighting poverty in the remote Nanded (Fakir) village in Nagbhid tehsil. Seventy and struggling, he can barely make ends meet. 
>
> The irony couldn't be more acute: Although the variety invented by him is cultivated over lakhs of hectares across the country, Khobragade doesn't even have an inch of land in his own name. HMT rice is sold at around Rs 3200 a quintal, but Khobragade had to sell his three-acre land because he didn't have money to fund his son's hospitalisation. Khobragade has a rack full of awards but his grandson could not pursue his polytechnic course because the family couldn't afford the modest fees. 
>
> Khobragade is barely literate but was always gifted when it came to farming. Despite no formal education in agriculture â€" he has studied only until Class III â€" Khobragade began experimental breeding of a new variety of rice. After years of trial and error, his variety gave him a much higher yield compared to that of conventional one. In 1989, the yield with the newly developed variety was so astounding that, the demand for his variety skyrocketed in no time. 
>
> "I began my experiments with the conventional 'Patel 3' variety of rice. After five years of continuous study and research, I succeeded in developing the one that is now known as HMT rice," Khobragade said, evidently recalling the story with mechanical ease. 
>
> However, the name of the variety â€" HMT â€" happened quite by accident. While people took their bumper paddy harvest from the seeds given by Khobragade for sale in the APMC market yard, the authorities asked for the name of the variety. 
>
> One of Khobragade's companions suggested the name of HMT, the brand of wrist watch he was wearing at the time, and the farmer innocently accepted it. The demand for HMT variety skyrocketed. In 1997, Khobragade alleged that the Panjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth (PKV) was commercialising his variety and had started selling it with the name of PKV HMT rice. The agriculture university had claimed that it had 'purified' Khobragade's variety. 
>
> Nevertheless, Khobragade got several awards, including the Rastrapati award, state government's Krishi Bhushan award and the award given by National Innovative Foundation for his contribution in the field of agriculture. 
>
> However, despite the fame and awards, Khobragade's financial condition continued to deteriorate. He lives an impoverished life with his wife, son, daughterin-law and three grandsons with his small earnings. 
>
> "I had to sell my land for the treatment of my son. The small and only help came from the father-in-law of my son, who bought 1.5 acres of land in the name of his daughter. At present, I carry out my research work in this small piece of land owned by my daughter-in-law," Khobragade said. 
>
> Khobragade had asked 10 acres of land on lease from the district administration and had forwarded application in 2008, but he says nothing has come of it so far. 
>
> He said he had come to know about the Forbes' list only through scribes."I'm happy that my efforts have been recognised," he said. Tehsil agriculture officer, Nagbhid, DV Wahane said,"His request for 10 acres of land on lease has been approved. But the allotment is withheld due some procedural reasons. I would soon take up the issue with the tehsildar" said Wahane. 
>
> Khobragade hopes that this promise isn't hollow. But he has every reason to be skeptical of the government's intentions: the gold medal he had received as part of the Krishi Bhushan award had turned out to be made of silver.
>
>
>
>
> (2) from http://atrocitynews.wordpress.com/2007/01/05/indian-dr-carver-khobragade-facing-discrimination-caste-virus-001mh2007/
>
>
>
>
> Indian Dr Carver, Khobragade : facing discrimination, Caste-virus 001MH2007
> 05jan07
>
> Khobragade’s story parallels Dr. Goerge Washington Carver of the U.S.A who had done a staggering amount of work on agricultural plants but had to face a lot of discrimination because he happened to be black.  D R Khobragade is a Buddhist ( ex-Untouchable who got converted to Buddhism after Dr Ambedkar) and inventor of High yielding rice variety HMT which Indian is proud of internationally. Following is the news piece from The Hindu published in 2004.
> SIXTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD Dadaji Ramaji Khobragade is a farmer with a grouse. He is a celebrity in Vidarbha for developing a variety of rice called HMT, which is now grown over a large part of the region. A native of Nanded village in Nagbid tehsil of Chandrapur district in Maharashtra, a decade ago, he selected and bred a variety of rice, mystifyingly named HMT, which has become popular in neighbouring States as well.
> However, his efforts have gone largely unnoticed by the agriculture research establishment. He is a man with little means and has to work for daily wages to support his seven-member family. He sold his two acres after his son fell ill and now cultivates three acres given to his son by a relative.
> In 1994, a rice breeder from the nearby Sindewahi rice station, a part of the Punjabarao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth at Akola, took five kg of HMT seeds from Khobragade saying that the rice station wanted to experiment with it. In 1998, a new variety was released in the State called PKV HMT after the researchers “purifiedâ€� the seed they had obtained from Khobragade. “Now these new seeds are sold for Rs. 1,200 a quintal. What have I got out of all this? The government wants to deprive me of any credit and the variety they claim to have released is exactly like mine â€" I don’t think there is a difference,â€� said Khobragade.
>
>
> Pic1: The inventor of High yeilding HMT rice  D. R. Khrobragade from Nagbhid
>  
> When it first hit the market, HMT fetched double the price of other varieties on sale, farmers said. Its popularity prompted the scientists at the University to release PKV HMT after pressure from the farmers who wanted the seeds. It fetches a higher price than most other rice varieties due to its short grain and good eating and cooking qualities.
> Khobragade is undeterred by this lack of respect for his work and continues to make new selections and breed them. So far, he has developed six new varieties of rice. He proudly displays each variety which he has carefully framed and labelled. One variety is mildly scented and he has named another DRK after himself. The average yield of all the new varieties is about 15-16 quintals per acre.
> Activists working on preserving farmers’ rights said that the establishment did not want to recognise the farmer as a breeder. In 1983, Khobragade noticed a variation in the paddy growing in his field, which was planted with Patel 3, a popular variety at that time. He started collecting the seeds of the plants which were different and kept those seeds aside. Soon, he began distributing this new variety to other farmers.
> Bhimrao Shinde, a large landowner in Nanded village, was the first to take one quintal of seeds from Khobragade and grow this variety which did not even have a name. “I got 90 bags from four acres, and when I took this variety of rice to the market, the dealers said they had not seen it before. They asked me the name and I did not know what to say,� said Mr. Shinde. “At that time HMT watches were very popular and suddenly someone decided to call it HMT and the name stuck,� he added.
> The village of Nanded has many brick and tile houses, an improvement over thatched huts. This prosperity is due to HMT rice, local villagers claimed. It is the top variety in the region, according to Shinde, who has been growing it every year since 1990. Its popularity has spread to Andhra Pradesh and even other States like Madhya Pradesh.
> The officials at the Sindewahi rice station which is part of the Punjarbrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth at Akola, claim that they have purified the local HMT variety and released it under its new avatar called PKV HMT. The samples of this new variety are proudly displayed in the small office of the rice station. G. R. Shyamkuwar, a junior plant breeder, said that the PKV HMT selection gave a yield of 40-45 quintals per hectare â€" much more than the local HMT variety. “I don’t know the origin of HMT but we got the seeds from a local farmer,â€� he said. He refused to admit that the farmer could have selected and bred this variety.
> Jacob Nellithanam, an activist with Kisani Samvardhan Kendra, an Indore-based organisation, which has been campaigning for the conservation of indigenous genetic resources, said, “Farmers have been selecting varieties that are promising and adapted to the local climate and soil conditions for several years. That is how there is so much diversity. In this case, the farmer has selected a variation of Patel 3 and it became popular because it had certain qualities. The new variety â€" PKV HMT â€" released by the University, is from the same seed that was selected by Khobragade who also observed it for a few generations and checked for stability of characteristics.â€�
> He said this had to be seen in the light of Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Bill, 2000, which creates monopoly property rights on plant varieties by establishing breeder’s rights which is legally protected and equivalent to patents. The main opposition to the WTO agreement is the patent on plant varieties. It can become a property right which can be used by seed companies, and plant breeding will move from the farmers domain to the property of companies through various mechanisms, he added.
> A. D. Bhombe, Assistant Professor, Botany, at the Punjabrao Deshmukh college of Agriculture at Nagpur, who was earlier a senior rice breeder at the Sindewahi rice station, said the original selection of HMT was made by the farmer. “We felt that this HMT was mixture and it needed to be purified. The seeds were collected from this farmer and we purified it. Farmers cannot maintain individual plant selections over the years. In the farmer’s method, there is some chance of natural crossing.�
> In eastern Vidarbha, HMT is a popular variety and improved varieties occupy almost 80 per cent of the total area. In 1999- 2000, the Nagpur division comprising Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli accounted for 6,88,000 hectares of rice area. Maharashtra has a total of 14.8 lakh hectares under rice, according to the economic survey, 2000-2001. The division accounts for the second largest rice are in the State after the Konkan region.
> Ashish Kothari, Coordinator of the Technical and Policy Core Group to formulate the government’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan and founder-member of Kalpavriksh, a 20- year-old environmental action group, said that India was signatory to the Biological Diversity Convention in 1993 which commits it to protect indigenous resources and knowledge. In this case, the University should have sought the consent of the farmer â€" it is not merely enough to give him a letter, it has to be informed consent â€" and the benefits, if any, from the variety should also accrue to him.
> A revised version of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Bill, 2000, is now before Parliament. A new section on farmers’ rights has been added but activists feel that instead of simplifying the issues, the bill complicates them. It is still not clear how a farmer’s variety will be registered, according to a report by the Public Interest Legal Support and Research Centre (PILSARC), New Delhi.
> The bill has laid down what developed countries and breeders want. Khobragade, among the many farmers who have not even heard of the Bill, then is no exception in this scheme of things.
> He may select and breed a million varieties but they will remain “impure� selections in the eyes of scientists. He may also not be in a position to claim his rights. Unless there is a radical change in thinking, protection of farmers’ rights will remain merely on paper.
>
> --
> Thanks and Regards,
>
> Dr. Pravin H Khobragade
>

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[ZESTCaste] Bihar Leads the Way (Pratap Bhanu Mehta)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704828104576020832230655302.html

OPINION ASIA
DECEMBER 16, 2010

Bihar Leads the Way
Nitish Kumar has been rewarded for effecting his state's dramatic turnaround.
By PRATAP BHANU MEHTA

For decades, Indian voters were unwilling to reward success in their
politicians—more than 80% of incumbent state governments used to lose
elections. While many Indian elected officials were incompetent,
surely some warranted re-election. So the anti-incumbency phenomenon
skewed incentives for politicians at the state level: If voters
weren't going to reward them with re-election for being good at their
jobs, why try?

This is finally starting to change. The rate of incumbents voted out
has fallen to approximately 50% over the past five years. Nowhere is
the trend more evident than in the northern state of Bihar, which in
late November re-elected Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Until the mid-2000s, Bihar held the reputation as India's
worst-performing state, where law and order had broken down and
kidnapping was the most vibrant industry. All the economic and social
indicators were at rock bottom and corruption was rampant. The state
government was so close to collapse that it was routinely unable to
spend the grants it received from the central government.

The state, and its reputation, have changed profoundly since Mr. Kumar
took over as chief minister in November 2005. His first victory was a
crackdown on crime. In the first year alone, his government secured
around 20,000 convictions for offenses ranging from kidnapping to
extortion, compared to fewer than 3,000 the year before. He made clear
that even members of his political party wouldn't be spared.

Mr. Kumar pushed the government to successfully prosecute marauding
caste militias that routinely terrorized lower-caste peasants.
Residents in Patna, the state capital, used to be afraid to leave
their homes after dark. Today there's a thriving nightlife.

Mr. Kumar also turned his attention to primary health care. An able
administrator, he revived Bihar's decrepit, primary health-care
centers by developing innovative contracting methods to secure
supplies—ensuring that at least some basic medicines were available in
rural areas. He also improved school administration; more teachers
were hired during his first five years in office than in the 20 years
previously. And Mr. Kumar improved the state's woeful infrastructure,
launching a rural roads program of an unprecedented scale—last year,
Bihar outspent all other states on rural road construction.

View Full Image
mehta
Associated Press

Nitish Kumar has been rewarded for effecting his state's dramatic turnaround.
mehta
mehta

A lot of this was accomplished by decentralizing power and
responsibility, something most politicians in India's state capitals
(and in New Delhi) are loath to do. Mr. Kumar re-energized local
governments in the form of panchayats or assemblies, by giving them
more responsibility for areas such as education.

All of this has translated into growth: In 2009, Bihar's GDP grew
faster than any other Indian state. Though a lot was due to increased
government spending—public works projects helped boost construction by
rates of more than 50% annually in the initial years of the regime—the
construction boom is helping Bihar's economy by connecting rural and
urban areas. While there have been allegations of graft in some
schemes, Mr. Kumar has acted swiftly to signal that he is serious
about combatting corruption. In a dramatic move this month, he used
existing laws to take over the property of civil servants convicted of
corruption.

None of this was easy. Bihar has an intensely competitive political
culture. And Mr. Kumar had to contend with three sources of
opposition: Lalu Prasad Yadav, the former chief minister and leader of
a rival party; members of his own party who often felt cut out from
influencing government; and his coalition partners who were sometimes
reluctant to go along with his more radical proposals.

Of course, Mr. Kumar played politics too. He may have pushed for an
end to violence along caste lines, but he extended affirmative action
to some caste groups to garner their votes. Still, much of his
political maneuvering—such as an alliance with the center-right
Bharatiya Janata Party that is seen as upper-caste—actually ensured
that Bihar, for once, avoided polarization between upper and lower
castes.

Along the way, the alliance may have even showed the BJP, a party that
is often run along Hindu fundamentalist lines, that a moderate party
that stresses development and governance has better electoral
prospects than one beholden to Hindu militants. Thanks to its part in
Mr. Kumar's governance record, the state BJP picked up many Muslim
votes this election.

Mr. Kumar's re-election victory could help re-align incentives in
India's political system. Few politicians would be willing to shoulder
the short-term risks that come from launching a reform program if they
believe voters will never reward them. To Mr. Kumar's credit he was
willing to take that risk in 2005. His re-election victory could
persuade Indian politicians to make hard political choices on good
governance and reform.

Attention will now shift to Mr. Kumar's new term, where he faces the
challenge of making growth and upward mobility a permanent feature.
The pressing issues include strengthening property rights for
dispossessed sharecroppers, attracting more private-sector investment
and building electricity infrastructure. Progress will require taking
on special interests just as entrenched as those he battled in his
first term. Politicians in other states will be watching to see what
he achieves and how.

But, in some sense, Mr. Kumar has already won one major battle. His
most enduring achievement has been to convince the voters that the
state can work when it focuses on the delivery of key public goods and
services. By doing so, he has unleashed a politics of aspiration in a
state that missed out on the "Incredible India" hype of the last
decade. One program, distributing bicycles to female school students,
became his most popular because it gave girls a sense of empowerment
in a state where they are otherwise shunned. There is now anecdotal
evidence that people who left Bihar in despair in past decades are
returning.

The voters will now hold any future government in Bihar to higher
standards. Just that prospect gives reason for hope, not just for this
state, but for state politics all over the country.

Mr. Mehta is president of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi.


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[ZESTCaste] How Bollywood is starting to deal with India's caste system

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/dec/16/bollywood-india-caste-system

How Bollywood is starting to deal with India's caste system

Caste is a contentious issue in India, and one rarely commented on in
Bollywood films. But political change is on the way, and Indian cinema
will have to reflect that

Nirpal Dhaliwal
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 December 2010 22.30 GMT

Caste is a contentious issue in India, but not a predictable one. In
2008, I watched television footage of violent protests in Rajasthan,
as rioters clashed with the police in battles that cost dozens of
lives. Their outrage was driven by the government's refusal to
categorise their caste as one of the lowest. They were fighting to be
relegated to a lower social rank. India has the most comprehensive
affirmative action programme in the world and downgrading would have
qualified the protestors for valuable quota schemes in welfare,
education and government jobs.

As with so much in India, caste is an ancient institution that
pervades everyday life, the mechanics of which remain a convoluted
mystery. There was a buzz in 2007, when a dalit (the caste formerly
known as "untouchables") was Bollywood's first-ever lead character in
Eklavya: The Royal Guard, but the character was played by Sanjay Dutt,
a scion of one of India's leading film dynasties – his father Sunil
was a brahmin and his mother Nargis a descendant of a "tawaif", an
aristocratic courtesan. Despite there being more than 150 million
dalits in India, not one has made a major dent in Bollywood.

Still, Bollywood is one of the most campaigning and progressive forces
in Indian society. Stars such as Amitabh Bachchan are outspoken in
their opposition to casteism, and most major figures are associated
with some humanitarian activism. Preity Zinta, for instance, sponsors
an entire school of lower-caste girls.

However, discussing caste is hampered by official taboos. One cannot
refer to anyone as an "untouchable" in India, the term being analogous
to "nigger" in the west. But while "nigger" can be employed in western
cinema to make a social point, "untouchable" will be edited out by the
censors there.

Its not surprising that India's cinema has been so reluctant to tackle
it. The first major attempt to deal with the subject was Achhut Kanya
(Untouchable Maiden) in 1936. Like most films that have dealt with
caste since, it framed the topic in a Romeo-and-Juliet tale of
star-crossed lovers, undone by the gossip and intolerance of their
families and surrounding community.

The brutal realities of caste, its violence and sustaining context of
superstition, ignorance and social neurosis have rarely been addressed
head-on. The 2006 Bollywood movie Omkara, again borrowing from
Shakespeare, remade Othello in the frontier regions of northern India,
with a lower-caste political gangster substituted for the Moorish
general. The theme remains that of a powerful outsider, paranoid about
his status and manipulated because of it, rather than the banal
cruelties and thoughtless traditions that blight everyday life across
India.

India's own political correctness also stifles the debate. In the
mid-90s, the novelist Arundhati Roy vilified the makers of Bandit
Queen, the most realistic and politically challenging film ever made
about caste. The heroine was the real-life Phoolan Devi, whose
gang-rape by the men of a higher-caste village turned her into a
mass-murdering vigilante. Roy objected to Devi's sexual abuse being
shown (albeit very inexplicitly) on screen while Devi was alive –
despite the fact that Devi had given her express consent. Roy's
hyper-sensitive Indian sexual mores dominated the larger debate on
caste.

"But gender and caste could not be separated," says Farrukh Dhondy,
who wrote the film. "The fact is that Devi was raped because she was
lower caste and those men thought they could get away with it. A
woman's life in India is very much defined by caste."

After 60 years of Indian democracy, lower castes have now established
themselves as powerful voting blocs, leading to the rise of Mayawati,
the first dalit woman to be elected to India's parliament and chief
minister of its largest state, Uttar Pradesh – one of the most
powerful figures in the country, able to make or break a government.

Dhondy is currently working on a treatment for her biopic. "I want to
show how she and her ancestry were treated and how, under democracy,
she has galvanised the dalit vote to become such a political
phenomenon," he says. "She is empowering them and radically
transforming society."

Caste will become an even bigger issue in India as the historically
downtrodden consolidate themselves and take power from traditional
elites. Even the habitual timidity of Bollywood will have to change as
it is forced to address a subject it has previously kept to one side.


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[ZESTCaste] President asks Orissa to act against ‘casteist’ principal

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/President-asks-Orissa-to-act-against--casteist--principal/725815

President asks Orissa to act against 'casteist' principal

Debabrata Mohanty Posted online: Fri Dec 17 2010, 00:25 hrs
Bhubaneswar : President Pratibha Patil's secretariat has written to
Orissa Chief Secretary B K Patnaik asking about action taken against
the principal of a government college who has been accused of passing
casteist remarks against a Dalit woman lecturer and mentally harassing
her. The letter from the President's Secretariat was sent to the Chief
Secretary recently. The Dalit woman, an English lecturer at FM College
in Balasore district, had accused the principal of the institution,
Gyana Ranjan Panda, of verbally abusing her and passing casteist
remark in April 2009, a day after she finished her class 15 minutes
before the scheduled time. Panda, when contacted, denied the
allegations saying he was trying to "discipline the staff". "There
have been seven inquiries in this regard. I fail to understand how the
eighth probe found me guilty," he said.Higher Education Secretary
Madhusudan Padhi said departmental proceedings will be against Panda.


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[ZESTCaste] Maya ropes in ex-babu to push development agenda

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Maya-ropes-in-ex-babu-to-push-development-agenda/articleshow/7115040.cms

Maya ropes in ex-babu to push development agenda
Mahendra Kumar Singh, TNN, Dec 17, 2010, 04.07am IST

NEW DELHI: With Nitish Kumar's return to power in Bihar on development
plank, UP chief minister Mayawati, too, is keen to recast her image in
a similar mould ahead of the assembly polls in 2012.

The BSP supremo has roped in former IAS officer M Ramachandran as
adviser (infrastructure) to accelerate various infrastructure projects
and development works in the state.

The state government's brief suggests that Ramchandran, an ex-Union
urban development secretary, will advise and monitor ongoing projects
related to metro rail, airport, expressways and those under
consideration in Noida and Greater Noida —- these areas are developing
at a breakneck speed, thanks to their close proximity to the national
Capital.

The former IAS officer, who has been offered the rank of a Cabinet
minister, will advise the government for effective and timely
implementation of these major projects, along with chalking out a
roadmap to raise resources by encouraging private sector's
participation. Having served in UP — coupled with his tenure as an UD
secretary where he was instrumental in framing many key urban
development policies — perhaps, led the Mayawati government to zero in
on Ramachandran.

For instance, as UD secretary, he played a key role in formulating the
Master Plan for Delhi, implemented the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal
Mission (JNNURM) for revamping urban infrastructure in 63 cities,
handled Metro rail projects, including the Delhi Metro, and made the
National Capital Region authorities to agree to a common transport
agreement for free movement of autos, buses and taxis to and from
Delhi.

Talking to ToI about his new assignment, the ex-UP cadre officer said,
he is keen to work for UP's development. "My first priority will be to
prepare a comprehensive roadmap for urban development for the state,"
Ramachandran said.
He added, "The focus will also be on advising the state government to
expedite various ongoing and new infrastructure projects to push the
state's economy on high growth trajectory."


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[ZESTCaste] Manual scavengers in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh

http://swachchakar.blogspot.com/2010/12/manual-scavengers-in-vidisha-madhya.html

Thursday, December 16, 2010
Manual scavengers in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh

Enslaved by tradition: the manual scavengers of Vidisha

MAHIM PRATAP SINGH
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THE HINDU FAILED BY MODERNITY: Basanti Bai, a manual scavenger, with
her "tools" - a metal scraper and wicker basket. Photo: Mahim Pratap
Singh
Over 200 families in this district of Madhya Pradesh continue to bear
the brunt of caste discrimination.

Vidisha, a thriving trade centre of ancient India, finds glorious
mention variously for Emperor Ashoka's governorship, for featuring in
Pali scriptures and Kalidasa's romantic epic Meghdoot, as a premier
tourist destination in glossy brochures of Madhya Pradesh Tourism and
as the parliamentary constituency of Sushma Swaraj, the Leader of the
Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

That the banned practice of manual scavenging is still a forced
occupation for several Dalit families here is seldom written about.

According to unofficial estimates, over 200 families in the district
continue to bear the brunt of caste discrimination primarily through
the practice of manual scavenging.

"Every morning, I go to eight to ten households, collect the garbage
in a straw basket and dump it a mile away from the village. When it
rains, the waste oozes through the basket over to my hair," says Guddi
Bai (38) of Nateran tehsil.

The waste she is talking about is human excreta, euphemistically
called "night soil". Guddi belongs to the Valmiki community, relegated
by the caste system to practise manual scavenging as their traditional
occupation.

Ironically, Guddi, who goes from house to house collecting human
faeces every morning, has a water-seal latrine at her house.

Nateran, the tehsil visited by this correspondent, has eight families
that practise manual scavenging in its headquarters alone, and in all
cases it is the women who do the job while the men work as
agricultural or construction labour.

While the practice was banned by law in 1993 with the passage of The
Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines
(Prohibition) Act, it still continues in several parts of India. The
deadline for the eradication of manual scavenging from the country,
after having been revised thrice (December 2007, March 2009 and March
2010), was recently set for 2012-end by the National Advisory Council,
headed by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Following its last meeting on
the issue in October, the NAC noted that it was, "deeply distressed to
observe that the shameful practice of manual scavenging persists in
India, despite being outlawed".

OFFICIAL DENIAL

An important reason for the failure of the Centre and the State
government in eradicating this dehumanising practice seems to be
consistent official denial.

In 2006, the Madhya Pradesh government, along with some other State
governments, filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court claiming the
practice had ceased to exist in the State. However, a
counter-affidavit was filed by 17 organisations from all over India
along with photographs and video clippings of manual scavenging,
proving the official affidavits wrong.

While Vidisha District Collector Yogendra Sharma accepts that the
practice still continues, he does not find economic deprivation to be
a reason.

"All these families have alternative livelihood options; most of them
have BPL and Antyodaya ration cards, cattle etc. The only reason, I
understand, they are still doing it is because they have been doing it
for generations and because it is easy money for them compared to jobs
that require hard work like agriculture," says Mr. Sharma.

"We are now making efforts to motivate them to abandon this practice
willingly," he adds.

THE DILEMMAS OF REHABILITATION

During the five-year period of the 10th Plan, Madhya Pradesh received
Rs.2.9 crore under the Centrally-sponsored Pre-Matric Scholarship
scheme for the children of those engaged in "unclean occupations".

However, people in the occupation note the scholarship requires
getting a 100-day "unclean work certificate" from the authorities,
which is almost impossible since issuing the certificate would mean
the legally abolished practice is still going on — a fact the
authorities do not want to admit.

According to the Ministry of Social Justice figures, out of a total
scavenger population of 81,307 in the State, 77,512 have been
rehabilitated under the Centrally-funded Self-Employment Scheme for
the Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) and only 3,795 remain.

Unofficial sources put this figure at around 8,000 to 10,000.

The SRMS, formulated in 2007, envisaged the rehabilitation of manual
scavengers — in a phased manner, by the end of 2009 — by assisting
them in finding alternative employment through term loans (up to Rs.5
lakh) and micro financing (up to Rs.25,000).

However, the rehabilitation schemes concentrated only on the financial
aspect and ignored the social aspect, causing several "rehabilitated"
people to eventually fall back to the practice. The financial
rehabilitation programmes were male-centric, while it is the women who
make up the largest chunk of those engaged in this occupation.

"Firstly, the programme does not have any specific provisions
targeting women and secondly, most of the projects for which loans are
provided are not women-friendly," says Asif Sheikh of Garima Abiyaan,
a Dewas-based NGO.

PATRON-CLIENT RELATIONS

Another important reason for the practice continuing even after 63
years of independence and 17 years after a law was passed by
Parliament banning it, is that it derives a "traditional legitimacy"
from the patron-client system, which is firmly entrenched in the
psyche of those who perform this degrading job.

The families in Nateran note that scavenging is not a means of
sustenance and they make ends meet by doing other jobs like
agricultural labour.

"All I get for working everyday is around 20 to 50 kilos of grain
annually and a few old clothes on occasion," says Basanti Bai (40) who
has been scavenging ever since she was handed the job by her
sister-in-law after her marriage.

Why doesn't she quit then?

"If we quit, the upper caste women ridicule us. 'Tum to panditaain ho
gayi ho' [You seem to act like a Brahmin woman], they say. Moreover,
that is the way it has always been going on," she says.

"The patron-client system, in a strange way, provides security of
employment and, given the nature of this job, it basically is secure
as there is no one to compete with and hence it will require
determined social, political and economic rehabilitation measures on
the part of the government if this dehumanising practice is to end,"
says Professor Nandu Ram, director of the Ambedkar Chair at the Centre
for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The Valmikis, and other scavenging communities, also face
discrimination from other Dalit communities such as the Jatavs and the
Ahirwars and are relegated to the lowest levels of the caste hierarchy
among Dalits.


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[ZESTCaste] CM unhappy over delay in dev projects

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/CM-unhappy-over-delay-in-dev-projects/articleshow/7114418.cms

CM unhappy over delay in dev projects
TNN, Dec 17, 2010, 05.18am IST

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Mayawati has expressed disappointment over the
delay in the development works in different cities and warned the
officials that deterrent action would be taken against those found lax
on this count.

At a review meeting held at her residence here, the CM said that there
is no dearth of money and the work should not suffer due to delay in
the release of funds in any manner.

Taking stock of various development works, she said that in all, 358
projects had been sanctioned for different districts. She said that
spot inspection has revealed that 23 out of 28 projects could be
completed in Varanasi, and 10 out of 31 projects in Allahabad.

These are most polluted cities which have been identified on a
priority basis for various development programmes, she said.

In Varanasi, the projects were sanctioned for the disposal of garbage
and augmenting drinking water supply. Likewise, in Allahabad, the
emphasis had been laid on the construction of an overbridge and
flyovers to mitigate congestion, besides improvement of sewer and
garbage disposal system.

Apart from this, similar works related to 53 schemes have been delayed
in Lucknow. Similarly, work on 28 projects is getting delayed in
Faizabad, 31 in Kannauj, 23 in Kanpur-Bithoor, 47 in Meerut and 26 in
Mathura-Vrindavan.

She said all these works should be completed by the end of May 2011.
She warned that she would take stringent action if slackness is found
on the part of officials.

She also asked divisional commissioners to send their reports to her
office at a periodical interval.

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