Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Re: [ZESTCaste] Enforce SC/ST Act strictly, says MP

 

From:-
Manish K. Bainiwal
General Manager, PEC Ltd (A Government of India Enterprise, under Ministry of Commerce & Industry)
Age: 42 years
 
I am a victim of caste atrocities.
No action by any auhority till date to restraint the harassment, despite several complaints to National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Police, Courts, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Ministry of Personnel & Public Grivances etc.

Some of main incidents of continuing torture:-  
Repeated humiliation publicly & derogratory words & casteist remarks were said. Puja (Purifying Worship Ceramony) was also performed to purify the office hall/room in Delhi which was used by victim. 
Door of the victim's room was broken.
Victim was forced to sit in the office in a dangerous & dirty room where the heavy false ceiling was falling where ceiling fell twice & victim escaped only by luck .
 
Victim is suffering continued harassment, humiliation, harm repeatedly at the hands of perpetrators (group of high position holding government bureaucrats) who are highly encouraged under the continuing position of victim not getting justice from anywhere. Victim is working in the organisation's (PEC's)Hyderabad office where he was transferred arbitrarily in December,2009 to torture him & his family (due to domestic circumstance victim is compelled to seperate from his family, to work at Hyderabad (Transfer was effected illegally during NCSC investigations against oppressors).  Hyderabad office has no work; it is maintained only as a place for harassment only ; and only SC/ST/OBC people are posted there for harassment; also due to harassment purpose, it is maintained in shameful, bad appearing & humiliating conditions & without required facilities for work . 
 
 Mental, Financial & Physical harm and harm to career has been inflicted repeatedly.
 
Urgent Action is required (i) to restrain the repeated inhuman harassment ; (ii)to punish the perpetrators ; (iii) to ensure treatment of equality for victim ; (iv) to make perpetrators compensate the victim for the loss & damages inflicted upon him..  
 
DETAILS :- 
CASTE BASED HARASSMENT & DISCRIMINATION AT WORK PLACE (GOVERNMENT OFFICE) AGAINST M K BAINIWAL-

High Caste people's atrocities & discrimination is not only victimising rural & poor dalits (Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes); the unfortunate deeply rooted tendencies to treat the dalits as lower grade citizens are prevalent in highly advanced corporate & bureaucratic society also and equally serious & inhuman as against the rural & poor dalits.  

In my case severe harassment is being inflicted against me in the white collar high profile indian society emanating from these practices, where torture goes on unstopped; and my all complaints to various government authorities have so far gone unheard without action to restrain the continuing torture. Due to no action from anywhere on my complaints, conspired harassment & caste hatred & personal harm is being inflicted repeatedly and increasingly. 

Members of depressed castes (dalit communities) who come to senior positions in government & public sector organisations after great struggle, are made easy target by the high caste oppressors, like in my case.   The casteist elements dominating the bureaucracy at official positions make the life difficult for them and put all efforts to curb their growth through vicious tricks. This inhuman discrimination & harassment is horrible when someone (SC/ST executive) progresses to the senior position at an early age through his hard work, as in my case.
In my case, the torture goes on unstopped despite the case going upto Supreme Court of India & National Commission for Scheduled Castes & also to other government authorities (pending with NCSC since Sep,2008) ; and therefore casteist management led by Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the organisation enjoying full liberty & impunity to effect all sorts of atrocities against a dalit (Scheduled Caste) employee (me) who dared to complaint against the caste discrimination practiced by them.
 I work as a General Manager in a government of India  organisation & was posted at New Delhi head office till December,2009 and belong to Scheduled Caste category.  In my case, I am a victim of the caste based tendencies of the top officers of the organisation, who do not want any dalit (scheduled caste) officer, at any cost, at the controlling positions in the organisation. In fact, in this govt organisation, some high caste top officials are freely acting as the casteist criminals, misusing their high official positions for caste hatred & caste harassment, and therefore they do not allow any SC/ST senior official to work in controlling position at Delhi Head Office of this organisation (either they force such dalit official to sit idle without important work, or they transfer him outstation arbitrarily).  This company is in the business of international trade. Due to the influential positions of high casteist officials, there is no check or restraint over their caste harassment practice, by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, under whom this company operates. So, Ministry indirectly supports this caste harassments.

As I rose to senior levels at an early age and also became the senior most SC officer at the organisation's head quarters, I became the target of their caste hatred generated conspired actions aimed to harm my career. Since I belong to the most backward & helpless dalit community (Valmiki community or scavenger community), casteist oppressors have found me as easy target. People of such castes (considered to be most backward & weakest caste) who come to senior positions after great struggle, are made easy target by the high caste oppressors, like in my case.
 I have an excellent service record and also have all the required qualifications (Bachelor of Engineering - Mechanical & MBA) & job experience to handle any responsibility in the organisation. I have also served as I.E.S. (Indian Engineering Services) which is the highest ranked government service for engineers in India . It was due to my performance that in this organisation became General Manager at an early age of 39 years in 2008. Since I attained senior positions (since year 2003-2004), biased management started various mischievous tricks to keep me away from the responsible/controlling positions.  They comprise of some top officials of the organisation working like a communal gang or anti-SC/ST gang (led by CMD (Chairman-cum-Managing Director) of the organisation in these acts) and have been using various tricks to create fake & misrepresented grounds to discriminate against me and to cause torture (physically as well as mentally) and humiliations. Whenever I have questioned these mala-fide actions & plans, they have humiliated & threatened me also pointing out my caste & category; and also harmed me at every opportunity. For last few years, they have made me sit idle without work, in order to implement their caste based conspiracy to dissociate me from this organisation's business, treating me as untouchable in a government organisation.  Such tendencies are the violation of Constitution of India and also SC/ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act but these oppressors are freely carrying out these activities against me in open violation of all laws despite being government officials. They have no fear of any law or any government authority and carry out these inhuman misdeeds unabated. Even they forced me to sit/work in a room for many months in the office which was in dangerous working conditions (with seepage affected damaged ceiling / false ceiling) and also dirty & foul smelling due to severe seepage, where the false ceiling fell twice and I escaped only luckily on two occasions. On another occasion, in order to humiliate me and due to their caste hatred they performed "Puja" (religious worship ceremony, aimed to purify something/some place considered to be untouchable & hated) at the place (hall) in the office where I used to sit and to which they/their accomplice officials were shifting and the three high caste officials of perpetrators' gang were going to occupy the three rooms in that hall; therefore they purified that place by "Puja" because they considered that place as impure & untouchable due to having been used by a harassed victimized dalit officer.  On the same occasion to harass me in the worst way they shifted me from the bigger room in that hall to a smaller room to accommodate a high caste official (of same rank as mine) in the bigger room and also broke open my room to perform "puja" there too.  To further harass I was shifted to a room which was even smaller than the adjacent room of my junior.  Humiliating publicly and encouraging other employees to humiliate me has been a regular feature.  Discriminations & harassment in my official functioning and in my career development is a common thing for them.  Freely they have been flouting the rules/laws, misrepresenting the facts, concealing the facts, creating fake documents to create false grounds to harm me personally and to harm my official functioning at the workplace, misusing their influential official positions.   But no authority listens to my complaints against this torture & their misdeeds & crimes. This is further painful that the most important government authority in India responsible for protection against these atrocities - National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), has not given the justice despite time taking repeated correspondence with them and despite being reported about every misdeed of perpetrators. On repeated persuasions, one "Hearing" & further "Police (Vigilance) Inquiry" (by NCSC) have been conducted, but no justice inspite of this because under the unfair influence of perpetrators, NCSC & Police have been trying to twist the case in their favour, ignoring all the facts & evidences of their misdeeds/atrocities.  NCSC & Police also keep ignoring the complaints of our organisation's SC/ST Employees Welfare Association against the widespread caste harassment & discrimination by the said officials (oppressors). Despite directions by National Commission for SC, to (in the Hearing in Nov,2008)
to stop discrimination & to treat me fairly, oppressors did not stop; rather increasingly harassed me and NCSC did not hear & acted on my complaints of further increased harassment. Thereafter, National Commission unfairly tried to close the case, even before getting the Police Inquiry Report, in August,2009 by making unfair non-relevant basis that "there is no violation of reservation & service safeguard rules for scheduled castes" (although my complaint is against the torture, untouchability, harassment & discrimination; and does not pertain to reservation & service safeguard rules).  Also surprisingly, this letter NCSC issued through their SSW Wing which does not deal atrocities & harassment matters (hence stands invalid for my case), whereas my matter is being dealt by their other wing (APCR Wing) which deals with atrocities (and is still pending & being dealt without justice and any control on continuing harassment by oppressors). 
Against my application for information under RTI Act (Right To Information Act), NCSC & Police did not give  satisfactory replies and denied requested information on my case and therefore I had to appeal to CIC (Central Information Commission) to obtain the relevant information & documents from NCSC files.  However it clarifies how the protecter of dalits (NCSC) favour oppressors torturing innocent dalit officers and fools the victim by playing unfair tricks with him & twisting his case in oppressors' favour.   Also NCSC tried to endorse the false misrepresented statements against me by the accused people instead of considering the facts submitted by me. To my replies on such unfair dealings by NCSC and to my repeated requests to restrain the continuing atrocities, NCSC does not respond.  Due to such irresponsible & unfair approach of NCSC, the Vigilance Inquiry by Delhi Police on NCSC's order, to inquire the atrocities has been totally unfairly & one sided, conducted under connivance between police & oppressors. Like NCSC, Police has also tried to ignore, hide & twist the facts related to atrocities and to highlight the false misrepresented statements by the accused. The Police Inquiry was conducted completely according to wishes of the accused people. Police did not inquire on many incidents of hate & atrocities reported by me, like, oppressors unlawfully influencing the police inquiry by forcing the SC/ST/OBC employees to sign statements in their favour in the form of Commendation Certificates (I & also SC/ST Emplyees Association of our organization reported this incident to police alongwith the documentary evidences, but police unfairly ignored this every time). I have sent the appropriate reply (objections) to the NCSC exposing all this improperness & unfairness in the police inquiry & the oppressors misdeeds/atrocities left uninquired by the police, but police could not reply till date & misrepresent the facts repeatedly according to the wishes of perpetrators (police keep sending only false & divergent replies). Police has not filed the FIR till date. In fact Police is acting as one of the oppressors, instead of being inquiring or law enforcement agency. Matter is still with NCSC and investigations are in progress by NCSC's APCR Section, but no justice even after more than 2.5 years of my complaint. Encouraged by the situation of no justice from anywhere, management has issued transfer order for my transfer from Delhi to Hyderabad on 4.12.2009 ( Hyderabad is 1700 km away from Delhi with 28 hours rail journey). For the transfer they chose the occasion when my daughter & myself were ill and issued the transfer order without relieving order in violation of Government rules.  I had no option but to file a court case in Delhi High Court, with the hope that indian judiciary is free from bias and will get justice. However I faced indifferent attitudes there too.  I did not get Stay or Abeyance on harassment transfer. High Court rejected the stay on the basis of false grounds given by the management (oppressors) that I have been relieved (in fact I was not relieved which was informed to court under my writ petition but court did not notice this fact & also did not notice the facts of caste harassment & discrimination and the fact that I was transferred in total discrimination since other high caste officers of my rank are never transferred out of station & oppressors have been misusing the situation of the organization having no transfer policy to harass mostly SC/ST employees, by arbitrary transfers. Also High Court did not notice that I was transferred illegally during the pendency of the NCSC investigations against perpetrators). I joined the transfer in March,2010. Before that I was on medical leave since the transfer.Fearless of any law of the country, casteist management continue using the various harassment methods and tactics to spoil my record. In disregard to any law I am posted at Hyderabad branch without my requirement there since there is no work there & also adequate resources/staff/office items for the work are not intentionally provided by oppressors with the aim to harm my official functioning there too and hence to harm my service record. Also a senior officer of GM level is not required at all there but still I was transferred and court did not notice this fact too. Obviously that place (Hyderabad office) is maintained by the casteist management as a place, exclusively for harassment of dalits, as all employees posted there are dalits & OBC ( 3 are SC/ST and 1 is OBC); also that place being maintained in shameful conditions without basic facilities required for executives (due to perpetrator's intentions of harassment & humiliation).  I have also experienced the legal system of India and worried how legal system will help which has the highest responsibility to provide justice without any partiality and who are called "my lord" only because all should be equal for them............!!  One of the high court judge even resorted to biased discriminatory behaviour in the court hearings even made casteist remarks. So, the Judge himself acted as perpetrator.  I have complained against him in the Ministry of Law & Justice and action on the complaint is pending.  To know about the action taken on my complaint against the judge, I had to go upto CIC under the RTI Act, where CIC directed the CPIO (Central Public Information Officer) of the Ministry of Law & Justice, to forward my complaint to the concerned authorities.  Even after no action informed to me, after the CPIO/Deptt of Justice forwarded my complaint to Chief Justice of Delhi High Court for action.view by him; hence, I had to again send RTI Appeal to CIC against the public information authorities of both (Deptt of Justice & Delhi High Court).After I did not get the justice due to insensitiveness of judiciary at high court, I went to Supreme Court but did not get justice from there, where my grievances of discrimination & caste harassment remained unaddressed; and court did not notice arbitrariness and misuse of their official position in the Government by the oppressors. In the process and Supreme Court's decision not going in my favour, casteist management has got highly encouraged to take the revenge for court cases & complaints, by torturing me by all sorts of conspired harassment actions. They are bent upon to spoil my service record and to implicate me in false & fake charges ; and there is nobody whom I can complaint against this inhuman harassment & atrocities (atrocities - in return of my long dedicated performance for the organisation/government). Under the circumstances, I am forced to be kept transferred at the far-off place from my family, for the whole life, since there are no transfer rules / transfer policy in this organisation and casteist management misuse this position to victimise the selected employees (mostly SC/ST employees on proportional basis) to transfer them for their whole service period; and no court of law asked them on this irregularity & arbitrary functioning); and also I am exposed to further unlawful arbitrary revengeful torture under this situation. The Question is:-  When the qualified & well income people & high officials can not get justice from anywhere and casteists enjoy the full liberty to torture them even in the government organisations based in the Capital of India, how the poor & weak ordinary dalits will get justice and from where ?  
After Supreme Court decision on 5th July,2010 oppressors got highly emboldened and started repeated harassment actions like they have the license to harass me.  Repeated harassment, like, not sanctioning my medical leaves; withdrawing my statutory delegated powers for sanctioning my tours; causing heavy financial losses by reducing my PRP(performance related pay) by forcibly downgarading my performance by cutting off inputs required for work/performance (like - staff, office equipments, official tours, trainings, proper work allocation etc), denying the relevant trainings; denying the officially required information for my official functioning; making my subordinates work against me; unfairly not considering my claim for the vacant position recently created at my home town station (Delhi) & unfairly giving charge of that position to other high caste official unlawfully without any office order and also creation of fake documents for that purpose; creating fake documents to unfairly deny me the essentially required trainings; & serving the memo with fake charges ; not writing my CR for year 2009-10 till date (not sending to me self-appraisal form or such other part of CR to be filled/signed by me), denying the essential resources for my official functioning, like- staff, furniture, office equipment hence forcing to work in a shameful working conditions with rotten & broken furniture in insufficient quantity, despite being an international trade company requiring highest standard ambience / facilities / furniture which it is in fact maintaining in other office premises but denying to my office due to caste hatred; also forcing such sub-standard conditions for official dormitory in Hyderabad by denying facilities & upgradation.
 In fact oppressors maintain this branch office only for harassment of SC/ST/OBC employees posted here not for organisation's business/benefit, since all 4 employees posted here are only SC/ST/OBC; hence these casteist bureaucrats are practicing caste harassment by maintaining exclusive harassment/torture places using govt funds (all posted out of station with no limit specified for their transfer period in the absence of transfer policy/rules, hence harassment postings for all).
Ministry of Commerce & Industry, which is the controlling Ministry of this organization, has been regularly informed on the repeated caste harassment taking place but they have never exercised any restraint / check over the casteist oppressors. Ministry has the duty to check such inhuman caste discrimination in the organizations working under them, but in this case of caste harassment they only act as mute spectator, and hence indirectly support oppressors. 
Recently I filed the court cases in Delhi High Court against the casteist officials' extreme unlawful harassment action of making my medical leave unauthorised, deducting my salary on this false ground, stopping my due annual increment & serving memo with fake charges; Court has served notice to them and has asked them to submit their counter reply. (In the latest CIC order dt.31.12.10 against my RTI application dt.7.7.10 for knowing the reasons for delay in sanction of my medical leave, CIC has ordered the oppressors to allow me the inspection of their records because they were denying me the information sought under my RTI application) . Despitr CIC order,accused officials again denied the inspection of records requested by me during my leave in Delhi in 17-21 January,11, due to which I had to again send the RTI Appeal to CIC on 19.1.11. I could inspect the records during my leave but, in order to michievously deny inspection, oppressors asked me to inspect after this period and at the same time also sent some documents (stated to be information required under my RTI appeal/application), which were not complying to RTI requirements). Also in my RTI appeal dt.19.1.11 I have requested CIC to impose penalty on them for intentional harassment to me in RTI matter & for violation of RTI rules.

 I wait how court will decide this time ! I am fighting against the harassment in the court and hope one day I will get justice (though so far I have experienced that judiciary is insensitive in the caste atrocities matters and treats victim/complainant like culprit and oppressor like complainant).   The case given here is only in brief. In fact there is a long list of irregularities, misdeeds, falsifications, misrepresentation, inventions of false grounds, concealments committed by the oppressors (casteist management), from which courts, SC Commission & authorities have constantly turned a blind eye. This can be explained through detailed discussions or through documents.
This is an international trade company of Govt Of India where I work. And during my service there I gained expertise in handling the company's business (although always made to work with the minimum possible resources & facilities & support due to general attitude of caseist people against SC/ST) and therefore, was getting in the line to reach the controlling positions of the company in due course of time. This is the reason, conspiracies & harassment started by casteist CMD & his accomplices to prevent such prospects for a Dalit, at any cost.  
In this company no other high caste officer of my rank or above has been transferred outstation second time. In fact except some rare exceptions all of them are never transferred through out their service. But I have been transferred second time. Earlier I was transferred to Chennai (in 1998).  Only one other SC GM (now CGM) in this company was also transferred outside Delhi earlier. I have been the senior most SC (dalit) officer at Delhi HQ with further scope of growth which was not tolerable to casteist management officials, hence they conspired to harass & harm me.

In fact these casteist official's  approach of discrimination & harassment against me has now taken the form of my destruction, as nobody in the whole system checks these inhuman abuses.I need justice against the continuing unchecked inhuman caste hatred motivated torture & harassment; and waiting for hon'ble court's decision for which next date is fixed as 2.8.2011 in the last hearing of my writ petition on 21.1.11 in Delhi High Court. The accused people filed their counter reply very late, due to which the case extended to next date.

 MANISH K BAINIWAL, GENERAL MANAGER, PEC Ltd.(A Government of India Undertaking - under Ministry of Commerce), Ph. 91-9701698882, 011-65152998  ,   bainiwalm@yahoo.co.in


From: Siddhartha Kumar <mailsiddhartha.k@gmail.com>
To: zestcaste <zestcaste@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, 1 April 2011 3:16 PM
Subject: Re: [ZESTCaste] Enforce SC/ST Act strictly, says MP

http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/01/stories/2011040152000300.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Enforce SC/ST Act strictly, says MP

Staff Reporter

KAKINADA: Amalapuram MP G.V. Harsha Kumar on Thursday expressed
dissatisfaction over the implementation of the SC/ST (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act and said that he would not remain silent if the Act
was not implemented properly.

Addressing a review meeting of the district vigilance and monitoring
committee on SC/ST welfare here, Mr. Harsha Kumar referred to the
quashing of the case filed by Joint Collector K. Sasidhar under the
Act against an advocate by the High Court. "The government must
approach the Supreme Court to render justice to the official. The Act
is not being implemented properly due to lack of sincerity among those
who part and parcel of the administration," he said.

Members of the committee faulted the district tribal welfare officer
for not turning up at the meeting. They felt that absence of full-time
joint director for the Social Welfare Department was resulting in
delay in implementation of the welfare schemes. Elaborate discussion
took place on recruitment of staff for welfare hostels on outsourcing
basis and relief and rehabilitation to the victims of the atrocity
cases. Additional Joint Collector B. Rama Rao presided over the
meeting. Rajya Sabha member T. Ratna Bai, Superintendent of Police
(administration) S.J. Janardhan, and District Revenue Officer S.
Venkata Rao were present.


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[ZESTCaste] Ambedkar, Gandhi and Justice (not as yet published)

 

April is the month when Ambedkar was born, and it is time to revisit development paradigms from both Ambedkar (less known) and Gandhian lens (better known).

The UNDP web page on Millennium Development Goal states "Goal of cutting in half the proportion of people in the developing world living on less than $1 a day by 2015 remains within reach. However, this achievement will be due largely to extraordinary economic success in most of Asia. In contrast, previous estimates suggest that little progress was made in reducing extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. In Western Asia, poverty rates were relatively low but increasing. And the transition economies of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and South-Eastern Europe were still recovering from the rise in poverty in the early 1990s" (UNDP, nd. Are we on track to meet the MDGs by 2015?,http://www.undp.org/mdg/progress.shtml)

But are the path ways to growth followed by Asia just and sustainable across generations? China and India are growing fast, but as pointed out by Kemal Dervis (Dervis, nd. Unique Economic Growth in India and China, http://blip.tv/file/4652766) the pathways to growth adopted in China are leading to massive disparities between urban and rural sectors, and in India to a spate of farmer suicides (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers'_suicides_in_India). One could add suicides of weavers, dalits, landless households and poor women who have borrowed from profit oriented micro finance institutions (www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11997571). The phenomenon of increase in missing girls in both countries (with spread of dowry as a strategy for equalization and combating poverty by households with sons) needs to be looked in this larger context. The rate at which agriculture land is being converted for other purposes is high in both countries, as well as usurpation of nature for corporate interest and elite consumption. There is tremendous restlessness amongst the 36.3% in China living in less than $2 per day (PPP) and 75.6% Indians living with less than $2 per day as of 2005 (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.2DAY). The failure is not just of these two countries, but global neo-liberal model of development. One does not want a pathway of development where MDG 1 of Eradicating Poverty is achieved by eliminating the poor and socially marginalized groups and but by effective poverty reduction.

Post collapse of USSR there is a crisis in development theory. As observed by Dervis, one needs to go beyond unfettered capitalism and communism and look for non violent solutions to just poverty reduction. While Gandhi's concept of non violence, Swaraj (people's self rule) and trusteeship (people are trustees of what they own, and beyond that meet the needs of the poor) are globally relevant, history has proved that it needs to be combined with ideas of Ambedkar, wherein he asked for separate electorate for the marginalized so that they could constitute the majority in Parliament, land to be distributed to dalits, and other landless household (with equal rights to women), questioned casteism, patriarchy, and anti minority sentiments and converted to Budhism (not that it is fool proof today, but at that time looked just) and raised the concept of Dominion (see Penguin, 2010, Words of Freedom: ideas of a Nation B.R Ambedkar, Penguin, New Delhi). He observed that in a Dominion the government cannot step in when constitutional government has failed to maintain law and order. If he was alive today, probably he would say that the uprisings that we see in India and quelled in China are not just a result of state failure but inter-state institutional failure too (in particular the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, global public-private partnerships and and I would say even the UN for it has not put in place mechanisms to make these interstate organizations accountable). In fact, the UN Security Council structure itself would look different if low income and lower middle income countries had a greater say (in particular those who have followed just pathways to poverty reduction and eradicating injustices) and oppressed were called for UN-NG0 meetings in equal numbers with NGOs who represent them.

Ambedkar saw the inter-connection between the culture, economic and political subordination of dalits, tribals, women, minorities and laboring class in India. Let us combine his concept, with that of non-violence, Swaraj (self governance), and trusteeship of Gandhi and move development debates beyond capitalism and communism. Self governance without addressing the material and cultural basis of subordination of oppressed groups is pointless as was revealed in a public hearing of women and men local government leaders by a coalition of organizations in Tamil Nadu, wherein even when dalits were majority in self governance institutions, dalits were proxies for upper caste on whom they were dependent for livelihood, centuries of caste hierarchies prevailed and dalit women where proxies for dalit and upper caste men. At the same time Gandhi's concept of trusteeship is extremely relevant if the paths followed are not to be violent. Gandhi believed that those who own money now should behave like trustees holding their riches on behalf of the poor. As observed by the organization Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya trusteeship is not just a legal fiction. If rich people in the world meditate over it constantly and try to act up to it, then life on earth would be governed far more by love than it is at present (www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/gandhiphilosophy/philosophy_trusteeship.htm). One could add rich nations too. Are they acting non-violently, in trusteeship and following Ambedkar's paradigm? Are they leaving things for next generation not only in their own countries, but their investments and invasions on developing world?

Ranjani Kamala Murthy

PS my article on mental health is in public domain http://www.wgnrr.org/blog/361/improving-mental-health-missing-goal-mdgs

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[ZESTCaste] an unpublished letter- sent to economist

 

My article on mental health got published  http://www.wgnrr.org/blog/361/improving-mental-health-missing-goal-mdgs


Ambedkar, Gandhi and Justice

April is the month when Ambedkar was born, and it is time to revisit development paradigms from both Ambedkar (less known) and Gandhian lens (better known).

The UNDP web page on Millennium Development Goal states "Goal of cutting in half the proportion of people in the developing world living on less than $1 a day by 2015 remains within reach. However, this achievement will be due largely to extraordinary economic success in most of Asia. In contrast, previous estimates suggest that little progress was made in reducing extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. In Western Asia, poverty rates were relatively low but increasing. And the transition economies of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and South-Eastern Europe were still recovering from the rise in poverty in the early 1990s" (UNDP, nd. Are we on track to meet the MDGs by 2015?,http://www.undp.org/mdg/progress.shtml)

But are the path ways to growth followed by Asia just and sustainable across generations? China and India are growing fast, but as pointed out by Kemal Dervis (Dervis, nd. Unique Economic Growth in India and China, http://blip.tv/file/4652766) the pathways to growth adopted in China are leading to massive disparities between urban and rural sectors, and in India to a spate of farmer suicides (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers'_suicides_in_India). One could add suicides of weavers, dalits, landless households and poor women who have borrowed from profit oriented micro finance institutions (www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11997571).  The phenomenon of increase in missing girls in both countries (with spread of dowry as a strategy for equalization and combating poverty by households with sons) needs to be looked in this larger context.  The rate at which agriculture land is being converted for other purposes is high in both countries, as well as usurpation of nature for corporate interest and elite consumption. There is tremendous restlessness amongst the 36.3% in China living in less than $2 per day (PPP) and 75.6% Indians living with less than $2 per day as of 2005 (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.2DAY). The failure is not just of these two countries, but global neo-liberal model of development. One does not want a pathway of development where MDG 1 of Eradicating Poverty is achieved by eliminating the poor and socially marginalized groups and but by effective poverty reduction.    

Post collapse of USSR there is a crisis in development theory. As observed by Dervis, one needs to go beyond unfettered capitalism and communism and look for non violent solutions to just poverty reduction. While Gandhi's concept of non violence, Swaraj (people's self rule) and trusteeship (people are trustees of what they own, and beyond that meet the needs of the poor) are globally relevant, history has proved that it needs to be combined with ideas of Ambedkar, wherein he asked for separate electorate for the marginalized so that they could constitute the majority in Parliament, land to be distributed to dalits, and other landless household (with equal rights to women), questioned casteism, patriarchy, and anti minority sentiments and converted to Budhism (not that it is fool proof today, but at that time looked just) and raised the concept of Dominion (see Penguin, 2010, Words of Freedom: ideas of a Nation B.R Ambedkar, Penguin, New Delhi). He observed that in a Dominion the government cannot step in when constitutional government has failed to maintain law and order. If he was alive today, probably he would say that the uprisings that we see in India and quelled in China are not just a result of state failure but inter-state institutional failure too (in particular the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, global public-private partnerships and  and I would say even the UN for it has not put in place mechanisms to make these interstate organizations accountable). In fact, the UN Security Council structure itself would look different if low income and lower middle income countries had a greater say (in particular those who have followed just pathways to poverty reduction and eradicating injustices) and oppressed were called for UN-NG0 meetings in equal numbers with NGOs who represent them.

Ambedkar saw the inter-connection between the culture, economic and political subordination of dalits, tribals, women, minorities and laboring class in India. Let us combine his concept, with that of non-violence, Swaraj (self governance), and trusteeship of Gandhi and move development debates beyond capitalism and communism. Self governance without addressing the material and cultural basis of subordination of oppressed groups is pointless as was revealed in a public hearing of women and men local government leaders by a coalition of organizations in Tamil Nadu, wherein even when dalits were majority in self governance institutions, dalits were proxies for upper caste on whom they were dependent for livelihood, centuries of caste hierarchies prevailed and dalit women where proxies for dalit and upper caste men. At the same time Gandhi's concept of trusteeship is extremely relevant if the paths followed are not to be violent. Gandhi believed that those who own money now should behave like trustees holding their riches on behalf of the poor. As observed by the organization Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya trusteeship is not just a legal fiction. If rich people in the world  meditate over it constantly and try to act up to it, then life on earth would be governed far more by love than it is at present (www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/gandhiphilosophy/philosophy_trusteeship.htm). One could add rich nations too. Are they acting non-violently, in trusteeship and following Ambedkar's paradigm?  Are they leaving things for next generation not only in their own countries, but their investments and invasions on developing world?        


Ranjani Kamala murthy 

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