Latest News Update: Apr 3, 2011

Sunday, April 3, 2011

[ZESTCaste] How Dalit politics in Tamil Nadu lost track

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/article1592230.ece

How Dalit politics in Tamil Nadu lost track
D. Karthikeyan

Twenty per cent of the State's population, too many parties and too
little unity. The Dalit politics in Tamil Nadu emerged as an
alternative in the early and mid-1990s opposing the Dravidian politics
in the State.

Close to two decades down the lane many Dalit intellectuals and social
scientists feel that it has lost track.

In fact, the history of Dalit movement actually precedes the Dravidian
movement to the colonial era in which Dalit intellectuals and leaders
Ayothidas Pandithar and Rettaimalai Srinivasan made interventions at
various levels espousing the cause of the depressed classes with the
Britishers.

Victim of Dravidian hegemony

Dalit electorate, an important decisive factor in any elections in the
State, has over the years been with the Congress, the Left, the
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam. It was during the early 1990s, following Dr. Ambedkar
centenary and high-level of caste atrocities at the hands of
intermediate castes, Puthiya Tamilagam and Vidhuthalai Chiruthaigal
Katchi emerged originally as social organisations and later entered
electoral politics.

Dalit intellectuals in the State feel that the Dalit movements have
not only lost momentum but also fallen prey to the hegemonising
control tactics of the Dravidian parties. Ten seats allocated for the
VCK in the DMK alliance and the fact that the PT could not get more
than two seats indicated the sorry state of affairs of Dalit politics
in the State.

Dalit intellectual and writer Stalin Rajangam says, "If Pattali Makkal
Katchi, which drew a blank in the Lok Sabha elections could get a
maximum of 31 seats and a Rajya Sabha seat despite the fact of being a
troublesome partner in alliance, the VCK which has a clout in the
northern districts and also a reasonable presence across the State has
failed completely in the art of lobbying and politicking."

The Dalit discourse which emerged as a counter-hegemonic discourse
questioning the Dravidian ideology as being non-inclusive and one
which failed to mainstream the subalterns has become diluted and
fallen easy prey to the compulsions of electoral politics. Dalit
parties in the State lack a particular agenda or framework. Rather
than tackling and lobbying with a concrete strategy they only wish to
play second fiddle to the Dravidian parties.

The VCK's emergence in the political scenario is an interesting one.
The party, which was against the idea of electoral politics and later
decided to contest elections, was offered eight seats in 2001, along
with 10 for the PT by the DMK. In 2006, they were offered nine seats
by the AIADMK and in 2011 they are given 10. The growth rate is
abysmally low and during the last ten years they were able to get just
two seats more.

Mr. Stalin Rajangam further said that the compromises that the VCK had
made during the last five years anticipating the electoral gains as a
passive partner not voicing the major issues that affected the Dalits
to appease the DMK showed the intricate workings of political
hegemony.

Case of PT

The case of PT is much more disturbing as the party, which grew as a
militant organisation following the caste conflicts that rocked the
southern districts in the early and mid-1990s, has completely lost
ground and has reached a level of accepting a couple of seats from the
AIADMK. Feeling betrayed by the Dravidian parties and also Dalit
parties who have failed to give adequate representation for
Arunthathiyar Dalits, Adi Tamizhar Peravai has fielded candidates in
21 constituencies.

In the 2006 Assembly elections, the VCK contesting in nine
constituencies won in Kattumannarkoil and Mangalore and despite losing
did well in Sirkazhi, Chengam and Harur. K. Krishnasamy of Puthiya
Tamilagam, contesting on BSP symbol, lost at Ottapidaram by a margin
of 10,000 votes. The VCK has attracted members of the minority
community and various castes into its fold in the recent years. But
the party's poor bargaining and lobbying efforts in the alliance could
be a big setback, feel experts. Thol. Thirumavalavan was expecting to
field a rainbow of candidates cutting across various castes but now
has settled with one Muslim and one Vanniyar candidate, says a close
aide of the former.

C. Lakshmanan of Madras Institute of Development Studies feels that
the overarching domain of identity politics is its emancipatory
potential. However, over a course of time, it loses that potential and
enters a vicious circle. Dalit politics has entered that phase here.
"They started highlighting the significant differences in the Dalit
struggles to that of non-Dalits, but once they got consolidated they
are compromising themselves and their community for narrow individual
interests."

"The DMK's offer of 10 seats to the VCK does not indicate growth, as 8
out of the 10 are reserved seats. So, it has actually got only two
seats from the DMK."

Most of them also feel that the coming together of the VCK and the PMK
is just part of an electoral strategy and not a result of any real
effort to bring together the two communities.

To expect that this coming together would go beyond electoral politics
and have a significant impact on the functioning of caste dynamics is
just an illusion, feel Dalit intellectuals.

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[ZESTCaste] ‘Dalit women sarpanches a harassed lot'

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/article1589919.ece

JAIPUR, April 1, 2011
'Dalit women sarpanches a harassed lot'
Special Correspondent

A State-level consultation on empowerment of Dalit women elected
representatives in progress in Jaipur on Thursday. Photo Rohit Jain
Paras
A State-level consultation on empowerment of Dalit women elected
representatives in progress in Jaipur on Thursday. Photo Rohit Jain
Paras

Speakers at a State-level consultation on empowerment of Dalit women
elected representatives here on Thursday expressed concern over the
women sarpanches belonging to Dalit communities being harassed,
intimidated and even subjected to violence and not being allowed to
perform their duties by influential people in villages.

Dalit campaigners, women activists, academicians, legislators and
lawyers taking part in the consultation said the panchayat secretaries
and staff often do not cooperate with Dalit sarpanches in the
execution of development works because of caste prejudices. This
attitude defeats the spirit of Panchayati Raj implemented with "much
fanfare" in Rajasthan, they said.

The consultation was organised jointly by the National Campaign on
Dalit Human Rights and the Jaipur-based Centre for Dalit Rights at
Kisan Bhavan here. The participants noted that the violence against
women made up 14.8 per cent of the crimes against Dalits registered
under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Minister of State for Revenue Murarilal Meena, releasing a report
prepared by Dalit groups on the completion of 20 years of the SC/ST
(PoA) Act, said the budget sanctioned for development of the Dalits
was generally spent on other heads in several States: "This situation
calls for immediate intervention by civil society and elected
representatives".

National Dalit Movement for Justice general secretary Sirivella Prasad
in his keynote address said despite the SC/ST (PoA) Act completing
over 20 years of existence, the police in the atrocity-prone States
like Rajasthan are not trained to register the cases under correct
penal provisions. Consequently, the perpetrators of crimes against
Dalits are not brought to justice.

Providing the figures of cases registered under the Act in 2007-08 as
an illustration, Dr. Prasad said 24.7 per cent of the 2,307 cases
booked during the year pertained to untouchability, 18.8 per cent were
land disputes and 13 per cent were about the mob violence against
Dalits and tribals.

"It is the [collective] responsibility of civil society to end
discrimination against the Dalits," he said.

While CDR patron P. L. Mimroth said the prejudices prevailing against
the Dalits in Rajasthan had their roots in the State's "feudal past",
CDR chairman R. K. Ankodia said the protest by Dalits against
discrimination was often given a political twist to either force the
victims to remain silent or drive them away from their native
villages.

Kathumar MLA Babulal Bairwa, former civil servant Satyanarain Singh,
former Inspector-General of Prisons Radhakant Saxena, woman activist
Nishat Hussain and representatives of United Nations Development
Programme were among those who addressed the consultation.

The demands raised at the end of the consultation included regular
meetings of the Monitoring and Vigilance Committees at the district
and State levels, stringent action on the complaints of violence
against Dalit women elected representatives, initiation of land
reforms to give land rights to Dalits and prompt utilisation of budget
earmarked for welfare and development of the Dalits.

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

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[ZESTCaste] Uttar Pradesh: Dalits face ire of Mayawati's policemen

http://www.indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/134018/india/uttar-pradesh-dalits-face-ire-of-mayawatis-policemen.html

Uttar Pradesh: Dalits face ire of Mayawati's policemen
Piyush Srivastava | Lucknow, April 1, 2011 | Updated 13:46 IST
Utilities

Mayawati and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) rode on Dalit power to
storm the 2007 elections in Uttar Pradesh. However, a year before the
state goes to polls, Dalits seem to be at the receiving end.

In a recent incident, a Dalit village came under attack from
policemen, and a pregnant woman, who was severely beaten up, suffered
a miscarriage.

All this was because of 'mistaken identity'! On Wednesday night, about
three dozen policemen armed with rifles and batons swooped on
Kunwarpur village under Jafirnagar police station in Badaun district
of Uttar Pradesh.

They first entered the house of Morshree Valmiki and started beating
her up. When her daughter Sangeeta tried to flee, they attacked her as
well. Twenty-six-year old Sangeeta was three months pregnant and
suffered a miscarriage because of the severe beating.

The police then entered the house of Brajpal Valimiki and hit him with
the butt of a rifle. When the neighbours questioned, the police
attacked them as well. They also dragged Pappu Valmiki and his brother
Bhai Pratap, alias Munna, out into the streets before detaining them
at the police station for two hours.

But just as the assault had begun all of a sudden, it also came to an
abrupt end.

"All of a sudden, one of the policemen told us to get lost. When we
asked why they had attacked us and kept us in custody, they told us
that they were
looking for a youth named Munna, who belongs to Kunwanpur village
under Atrauli police station in Aligarh district," Pappu said.

Munna had apparently eloped with the daughter of a policeman posted in
Madhya Pradesh. The policeman had then called up the police in Badaun
and asked them to catch hold of Munna, which triggered the police
backlash.

Subhash Tiwari, station officer of Jafirnagar, admitted they had
raided a wrong village.

"When we tried to talk to Munna of Badaun, he was drunk and didn't
reply to our questions. So we thought he was the culprit. But we
released them as soon as we realised our mistake," Tiwari said.

Morshree, though, refuted Tiwari's claim. "They attacked us without
asking any question. At least four villagers have sustained serious
injuries. We couldn't take them to the hospital as it is far off. The
police should have apologised to us and taken the injured to the
hospital for treatment."

Senior superintendent of police V.K. Chaudhary said an inquiry has
been launched into the incident.

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[ZESTCaste] 10 injured in Dalit-Nayaka clash

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/150478/10-injured-dalit-nayaka-clash.html

10 injured in Dalit-Nayaka clash
Mysore, March 31, DHNS :

As many as 10 people including cops suffered injuries in a group clash
between two communities at Algud in T Narsipura taluk in the district
on Thursday.

A tractor was set on fire in a group clash between dalits and Nayakas
at Algud in T Narasipur taluk on Thursday. DH PhotoThe trouble began
around 5 pm, when a dalit youth allegedly in an inebriated condition
came near Maramma Temple in the village. The village was in a festive
mood with Deviyamma Jathre and bullock cart race was on.

The youth was reportedly wearing footwear and abused people belonging
to Nayaka community. This triggered the clash, with the Nayaka people
chasing the youth to his house. The mob barged into the youth's house,
ransacked the property and assaulted him. They also set the house on
afire, besides a tractor and an autorickshaw parked outside.

The T Narsipur Police who had by then arrived at the village lathi
charged the mob. But the mob didn't relent, instead started pelting
stones at the cops injuring In-charge Inspector Ashok Kumar, a few
constables and also three citizens. The injured have been rushed to K
R Hospital in Mysore for treatment. The situation came under control
when the prominent leaders of both the communities called for peace.

However, as a precautionary measure extra forces have been summoned
with District Armed Reserve (DAR) and Karnataka State Reserve Police
(KSRP) personnel deputed at the
village.

The village has a large population of Nayaka community with about
2,500 members, with SC totalling about 100. However, no arrests have
been made so far and the youth, the cause behind the whole incident is
yet to be identified, said a police.

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[ZESTCaste] No Alphabet in Sight

http://www.hindu.com/lr/2011/04/03/stories/2011040350230600.htm

EXCERPTS

No Alphabet in Sight

Exclusive excerpts from the recently released No Alphabet in Sight,
edited by Susie Tharu and K. Satyanarayana, that brings together
contemporary dalit voices …

No Alphabet in Sight: New Dalit Writing from South India, Dossier I:
Tamil and Malayalam, edited and introduced by Susie Tharu and K.
Satyanarayana, Principal Advisors: Ravikumar (Tamil), T.M. Yesudasan
(Malayalam), Penguin, 2011, p. 643.

In my student days

a girl came laughing.

Our hands met mixing

her rice and fish curry.

On a bench we became

a Hindu-Christian family.

I whiled away my time

reading Neruda's poetry;

and meanwhile I misplaced

my Identity Card.

She said,

returning my card:

'the account of your stipend

is entered there in red.'

These days I never look at

a boy and a girl lost in themselves.

They will depart after a while.

I won't be surprised even if they unite.

Their Identity Cards

will have no markings in red.

"Identity Card" by S. Joseph

Backdrop: daily life in a college in Kerala — a state renowned for its
achievements in education, its development model and a score on the
quality of life index which matches that of many countries in the
West. Bubbling through the restrained reportage is the headiness of
youth, of college life and its promises of freedom and equality: a
girl's inviting laughter, a bench on the grounds, the intimacy of
shared food, the thrill of touch. Poetry. Revolution. A world opening
up. In the happy, secular lighting of this theatre, the dark age of
religious difference has long been left behind. Enter accidentally: an
identity card bearing the official record of his Scheduled Caste
stipend. She must leave, and does so feeling deceived. He remains —
numbed, holding what he now knows as the dark secret of this
modernity; and the beginnings of a sensibility and an assertion that
enables this dalit poem.

The title poem of S. Joseph's 2006 collection Identity Card opens onto
a number of the themes and concerns in this volume. For the one who
assumes that a secular modernity may be taken at its face value, that
he can be a world citizen, aspire to poetry and to love, the real
betrayal is not singular or by an individual; it is a many-layered
betrayal by a politics, a government, an era. What he encounters is
not a traditional taboo, but a modern stigma. It is assigned by modern
means in a modern institution. Ironically, it is precisely that which
offers possibility of escape — state stipend, higher education,
reservations — that also stigmatises him, mocks at his aspirations,
returns him to his place, exposed, humiliated, externed from the world
of those 'normal' others who can love and unite. For the other, whose
liberation appears total — she came laughing, shares a bench and lunch
box, brushes aside belief — caste turns out to be the line that cannot
be spoken or crossed. The account of their parting cited in the poem
is hers. It is the upper-caste story. She speaks; her point of view
has public legitimacy. She leaves, returning to her kind. A readymade
sensibility allows the common reader to consider her action 'only
natural, understandable'. He remains silent, immobilised, alone.

So much for the story. We turn now to the poem. The point of view and
the experience that it reframes direct us to the two stories that
comprise the poem. One is relatively familiar and focused on love in
the localities of caste and the pain of parting. The other records the
modern protagonist's journey from innocence into [a dalit] maturity,
from a desire limited to individual fulfilment, into a desire that
involves a painful turn away from that scheme, towards his communal
identity — and, equally significantly here, towards poetry. The first
story constitutes the plot — it tells us what happened. The second
directs us to the poem itself as a happening, a critical event. It is
the poem that directs our attention to the setting, to the silencing
and to the turning away from the bright air of the campus to a darker
region in which the poet must encounter his difference and explore its
meaning for himself.

Subtle shifts enable a reader to first notice the poetic persona; then
slowly to see his silence, to acknowledge a disagreement that deserves
full hearing; and finally, to endorse the human right, not simply to
recompense or welfare, but to love. In the process it is not only her
story that is reframed, but also older ethnological-humanist
formulations of the untouchability question as well as the statist
mode in which 'historical wrong' and its official remedy have been
configured in modern Indian history.

The poem puts the identity card into unprecedented play.

The moves made here are indicative of the complex,
late-twentieth-century shift in conceptualizing the dalit question
that this collection attempts to document. We have chosen the dossier
mode for the documentation because it creates room for the variety of
themes and concerns, the cross-cutting connections as well as the
divergences, arguments and tensions that comprise this productive
conjuncture. The poised control of writing, the self-possession, is
evidence of a break with earlier modes of thinking about the dalit
question and of the creative opening up of the field in recent times.
When dalits themselves formulate the dalit question they bring
innerness to the enquiry, but that is not all. This dossier is
evidence of the new issues, settings, figures, experiences, analyses
and propositions that have emerged...

Caste Reconfigured

The theorisation of caste undergoes transformation in the 1990s. It
takes several turns in rapid succession. The commonly held idea that
caste is a remnant of a pre-modern, hierarchical, purity-pollution
formation specific to Hindu religion is criticised and rejected.
Caste, the new theorists point out, is a live force in modern Indian
culture and politics. The remnant-of-the-past thesis transforms what
is actually a contemporary form of power into an outmoded religious
practice that disadvantages those subjected to social stigma and
geographical or social segregation. In other words, the caste issue is
morphed into a problem of the social and economic marginalisation of
one section of society, and the caste problem is seen as a problem
only for the lower castes who 'suffer from it'. The social and
political dominance of brahmins and other upper castes, their role in
perpetuating and extending caste discrimination, the benefits they
derive from the formation and the role of caste in modern culture and
modern institutions — all remains uninvestigated. This dominant view
of caste underlies the well-known and largely ineffective moral
campaigns to change traditional mindsets, legislations to 'abolish'
caste, initiatives to uplift and modernise the lower castes and see to
their welfare.

It is important to note that when dalit and other subordinated castes
describe existing theory as upper-caste or brahminical, the criticism
is not only directed at the academy that produced this theory, but
also at the efforts of the Indian state to address caste inequities
based on such theory. In fact, the anthropological notion of caste as
a religious hierarchy has informed state action. Thus, the Nehruvian
consensus was to eliminate, through planning, education and
administrative action, anomalies like caste in order to make India
modern and secular. The state designed developmental programmes to
address ' disabilities' such as bonded labour, untouchability, manual
scavenging and atrocities through rural development, poverty
alleviation, land reforms, the Anti-Untouchability Act and so on. In
this scheme, reservations were considered compensation for past wrongs
and not as remedy for current suppression and marginalisation. The
Scheduled Castes and other oppressed caste groups are regarded as
suffering from known injuries, caused by residual pre-modern
formations. Further, they are merely 'target groups' for welfare
programmes extended by the state.

The contemporaneity of caste

Relocated thus in the domain of modernity, caste is reconfigured as a
contemporary form of power. It structures social relations and
therefore also state action. It works in renewed and updated forms in
modern contexts and institutions. This history of caste is part of the
history of modern India. The experience of the dominant castes — their
authority, visibility, power, economic presence — as well that of the
lower castes — their subordination, oppression, invisibility, and
economic and political marginalisation — is a modern phenomenon.

A second important line of critique is that of the norm of the secular
citizen. This normative figure, and the assumed neutrality with which
it occupies the public domain, is shown up as marked by caste and as
reaping the benefits of caste power and privilege. Since this figure
is foundational for modern institutions — law, education, knowledge
forms, the arts, public culture — it is also the principal modality
through which these institutions practise caste. Third, caste is
re-conceptualised as institutionalised in the modern state as a form
of power and as a source of privilege.

(From the Introduction to the volume.)

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

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[ZESTCaste] Kerala: A spirited fightback from the margins

http://expressbuzz.com/polls2011/keralam/kerala-a-spirited-fightback-from-the-margins/261918.html

Kerala: A spirited fightback from the margins

Sabloo Thomas
Express News Service
First Published : 02 Apr 2011 03:36:31 AM IST
Last Updated : 02 Apr 2011 01:35:15 PM IST

THIRUVANATHAPURAM: For decades, dalits in Kerala had been a trusted
vote bank of the Communists. Things began to change by the end of the
previous century when the dalits began demanding their pie in power in
lieu of the votes cast.

From the 1958 EMS Ministry, dalits had a representation in the
government. A dalit minister was included in the Cabinet by both the
LDF and the UDF. But there was no growth in the representation or the
power enjoyed by the dalits over these years.

Reserved constituencies continued to be the only options for dalits to
enter the Assembly. In 2006, the CPM fielded a dalit candidate in the
general constituency. But C K P Padmanabhan, who won with a thumping
majority from Talimparamba, was denied ticket this time.

It is the Muslim League which sprang a surprise this time. It fielded
a dalit, U C Raman, in the Kunnanmangalam general constituency. But
none of these gimmicks seem to have impressed the dalit voters in
Kerala.

For the last few years, the search of the dalit voter for his identity
has been intensified and the Assembly election is just another
occasion to assert his existence.

If Muthanga riots and the police firing that killed one tribal was a
major campaign issue in 2006, the current election does not have such
a posterissue. The split in KPMS and the emergence of the Dalit Human
Rights Movement and the Sadhu Jana Vimochana Samithi are the major
incidents that happened in the last five years.

The split in the Kerala Pulayar Mahasabha (KPMS), one of the largest
dalit organisations, was an aftermath of a section openly aligning
with the UDF. Following the decision by the leadership to support
Congress in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, a few leaders of the
organisation, including V Sasi, who is now contesting the elections as
the CPI candidate from the Chirayankeezhu constituency, had left the
organisation.

Later, the KPMS had officially split following the expulsion of
Punnala Sreekumar, who was the then general secretary, from the
organisation. Punnala was expelled following his proUDF stand which
was unacceptable to others in the leadership. Traditionally, the KPMS
has been a strong supporter of the Left.

Punnala attempted a 360 degree and had to pay the price.

But the Punnala faction of the KPMS also withdrew its unconditional
support to the UDF following differences of opinion over the selection
of candidate in Mavelikkara. The Congress had given seats to KPMS
nominees in Kunathoor and Vaikom but failed to give a seat to their
nominee in Mavelikkara. This has made them declare only a conditional
support to the UDF.

Punnala Sreekumar told Express that the KPMS would decide on its stand
in each constituency depending on the candidate. According to
Thuravoor Suresh, the organising secretary of the other faction, KPMS
would support candidates who have supported them.

"We would support those candidates who have promised to support our
causes,'' he said.

Rasthriya Mahasabha, the political wing of the Adivasi Mahasabha, is
also not giving a blanket support to any front. Adivasi Mahasabha
general secretary M Geethanandan said it had not fielded any candidate
for elections.

In places where other Adivasi organisations have fielded their
candidates, the Sabha will support them. ''By and large, in other
constituencies we will be supporting UDF candidates. However, this
does not apply to Wayanad, where UDF is much antiAdivasi as LDF,'' he
said.

Sadhu Jana Vimochana Samyuktha Vedi, which has been in the forefront
of the land agitation against the LDF in places including Chengara,
has also not finalised its political stand for the elections.

Vimochana Vedi president Laha Gopalan said its political stand will be
decided by April 10. But it is learnt that the Vedi support will be
for the UDF. Dalit Human Rights Movement (DHRM), which is in the news
for the Varkala murder, has decided to field candidates to 28 seats
spread across seven districts. DHRM South Kerala Organiser Varkala Das
said the stand in other constituencies would be taken after assessing
the political situation in each place.

Mayawati's BSP, which is boasting of a significant growth in the
state, has fielded 124 candidates this time. Mayawati herself will
reach here for campaign. But indications are that they are not going
to improve their vote share. Why the dalit voter, who is fed up with
Congress and CPM, is not turning to the BSP still remains an
unanswered question.

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[ZESTCaste] 2 arrested for raping dalit girl in Uttar Pradesh

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_2-arrested-for-raping-dalit-girl-in-uttar-pradesh_1527444

2 arrested for raping dalit girl in Uttar Pradesh
Published: Saturday, Apr 2, 2011, 15:16 IST
Place: Bulandshahr | Agency: PTI

Two persons were arrested for allegedly raping a 15-year-old dalit
girl, police said today.

Chokhey Lal, 60, former chairman of City Board of Khurja, called the
victim to his house on Thursday on the pretext of cooking meals and
allegedly raped her along with two accomplices, SP (rural) Baburam
said.

Chokhey was arrested last night while Vinay was nabbed today and the
third accused is absconding, the SP said.

The girl has been sent for a medical check-up and an FIR was lodged by
victim's uncle, he said.

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[ZESTCaste] Handle quota disputes with a clear mechanism (Yogendra Yadav)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/special-report/Handle-quota-disputes-with-a-clear-mechanism/articleshow/7854798.cms

Handle quota disputes with a clear mechanism

Yogendra Yadav | Apr 3, 2011, 06.33am IST
Earlier it was the Gujjars, now it is the Jats. Before that it was the
Mala-Madiga dispute in Andhra Pradesh. And one often hears about
reservation for all Marathas in Maharashtra. The names keep changing,
the pattern does not. Neither does our response.

The script is familiar. Caste groups like Jats and Marathas,
land-owning communities with some numeric strength and political
clout, lay claim to backwardness. Those below them in the social
order, like the Gujjars in Rajasthan, resent this intrusion and want
special protection to safeguard their benefits. Or those communities
among the SC or OBC who have not benefited much from reservations want
a sub-quota . Agitators take to the streets, often blocking roads and
railways. Governments do not want to take a decision and resort to
soft-pedaling , delay tactics and collusion, hoping that that the
judiciary will step in to relieve them of the burden of
decision-making .

The national media responds with impatience , as if it is being
dragged into an alien land and a bygone era. Caste groups in question
are discussed as if these are unknown tribes from Africa. Editorials
deplore political motives behind such protests and call for strict
action to ensure smooth traffic. There is a clamour for judicial
intervention. Once some committee is formed, everyone forgets it like
a bad dream, till the next crisis erupts.

We do not stop to ask the hard questions. Why does this crisis erupt
so regularly? Why do these demands always turn into a street battle?
Why is every solution so transient? What is the way forward?

These questions force us to face an unpleasant truth: the policies of
social justice have reached a dead-end . For a country that has such a
vast and influential programme of affirmative action, we are
remarkably deficient in imaging mechanisms and designs of social
justice schemes. We have a maze of institutions to handle it but
simply do not have a system of processing competing claims to
affirmative action. This is a country famous for its statistical
system but has virtually no evidence for settling these claims. We do
not know, for example, if the proportion of graduates and professional
degree holders among Jats are more or less than other OBC communities
in Haryana and UP.

There is no need to start from scratch in the search for a way
forward. As often happens in India, the solution lies in the cupboards
of a ministry. The report of an expert committee headed by professor N
R Madhav Menon, "Equal Opportunity Commission: What, Why and How?" has
been in the public domain for two years. (Accessible at http://
minorityaffairs.gov.in/newsite/reports/ eoc_wwh/eoc_wwh.pdf). The
report suggests the formation of an equal opportunity commission (EOC)
as a long-term mechanism for dealing with disputes concerning social
justice. The proposed EOC would be a path-finding institution that
would help evolve and evaluate mechanisms for affirmative action,
using an evidence-based approach . It would gather data on the
socio-economic and educational status of various social groups and
communities. It would also monitor the social profile of higher
educational institutions and select sectors of employment. The EOC
would be open to any social group that perceives a denial of equal
opportunities. It would cover public and private sectors. Unlike the
existing commissions , the EOC will focus on advisory, advocacy and
auditing rather than individual grievance redressal.

An EOC was on the Congress manifesto in 2009. It was mentioned in the
president's address to Parliament. Yet the proposal is still doing the
rounds of the corridors of power, caught up in the turf-wars that
ministries and commissions play in New Delhi. If we had such an
institution by now, the Gujjar dispute, the Jat agitation, the
Mala-Madiga dispute and several others could have been resolved.
Protests may still occur but there would be a clear mechanism and some
solid evidence to resolve disputes.

The forthcoming caste census could help with some of the evidence
needed for a clear affirmative action policy. But it can do so, only
if the findings of the main census are linked to the caste census and
we get demographic , educational and economic data for each caste. The
preliminary figures of Census 2011 are out and we still do not know
the exact nature of the caste census that is to take place later this
year.

Perhaps we are waiting for another crisis . To borrow a Hindi proverb,
we believe in digging a well after we notice a fire.

The writer is senior fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing
Societies, Delhi

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[ZESTCaste] Affirmative action important for growth: PM’s Trade Council

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110402/biz.htm#1

Affirmative action important for growth: PM's Trade Council
Sanjeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 1
A sub-committee of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry
has recommended that as part of affirmative action and corporate
social responsibility, no SC/ST trainee should be turned away by any
skill development centre. In vendor development, preference should
also be given to SC/ST entrepreneurs.

The sub-committee on skill development, affirmative action and
corporate social responsibility also recommended that industrial
houses be encouraged to set up own training institutes or take up
existing centres under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

The sub-committees of the Council that had worked on five areas
presented their reports. These include financial inclusion, tribal
area development, public private partnerships in R&D, agricultural
production and food security and skill development, affirmative action
and corporate social responsibility.

On behalf of the sub-committees presentations were made by Ratan Tata,
Chanda Kochhar, Jamshed Godrej, AS Ganguly and Sunil Kant Munjal.

The Prime Minister said that the government would carefully study the
recommendations and ensure that public policies are suitably modified
wherever feasible. Some recommendations would be prioritised for
immediate focused attention.

The sub-committee on agriculture, food production and food security
recommended that a comprehensive package of initiatives and measures
should be implemented for meeting the envisaged demand for food in
2020. This includes liberalising procurement of agricultural
commodities, trading, storage and transportation, encouraging private
investment in agriculture value chain, reforming minimum support price
regime, developing the reach and effectiveness of rural credit,
agriculture insurance etc.

On PPPs especially in R&D, the sub-committee recommended establishment
of a public fund for investments into PPP projects for R&D in five
identified sectors for formulation and implementation.

On tribal area development, the subcommittee has, recommended that the
control of tribal people over Minor Forest Produce (MFP) should be
made effective by definition and notification of MFP by the state
governments, as per the Forest Rights Act; announcement of minimum
support prices (MSP) for MFPs and an effective mechanism for ensuring
fair prices to collectors of MFP.

On financial inclusion, the sub-committee has recommended allowing of
'for profit' entities to be business correspondents, allowing
low-value remittances by non-banking players and sharing of common
infrastructure.

In future, all government payments including subsidies can be paid
through such no-frills accounts.

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