Latest News Update: Aug 1, 2011

Monday, August 1, 2011

[ZESTCaste] MU announces measures to help SC, ST students

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-30/lucknow/29832913_1_st-students-external-examiners-category-students

MU announces measures to help SC, ST students
TNN Jul 30, 2011, 05.44am IST

LUCKNOW: Caught in the cross fire between the Bahujan Samaj Party and
Congress, vice-chancellor of the Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical
University (CSMMU), Prof DK Gupta, on Friday announced series of
measures to help students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes in academics and stop all kinds of discrimination, if any,
against them.

The teaching fraternity comprising of all castes and class welcomed
the steps for SC/ST students, but slammed political parties for
undermining the autonomy of the university and making it a medium to
serve their political interests.

Prof Gupta directed the deans, faculty of medicine and dental
sciences, and heads of all the departments to arrange extra classes
for SC/ST students who find it difficult to keep up with the regular
studies. He said that he has already written to the Medical Council of
India (MCI) to reduce the pass percentage for reserved category
students, as they are selected at a reduced percentage.

The VC said that answer sheets in the examination are coded in such a
way that examiners cannot identify the student whose copy they have
been given to evaluate, hence there is no scope of discrimination. But
still, he said, will implement the policy of having external examiners
for all exams to avoid allegation of discrimination. Prof Gupta said
that that theory answer copy of a student will be checked by two
independent examiners and the mean of two will be awarded to the
student. He also said that university has suggested MCI to split five
grace marks in more than one subject to help SC/ST students pass the
exams. He said that university will also provide financial support to
the students.

The meeting assumes importance in the light of July 26 visit of
Congress MP and chairman of National SC/ST Commission, PL Punia to
CSMMU. Dalits form the core vote bank of the BSP government in UP.
Punia, who is also working to woo dalits in favour of Congress, has
been accusing the state government of not doing enough for dalits.
Punia came to CSMMU following complaints by a section of SC/ST
students that they were deliberately failed in the examinations by
teachers.

The CSMMU authorities requested Punia to defer his visit, as the
administration is overloaded with work due to ongoing admission
process. But, when Punia refused, CSMMU declared a holiday on July 26
after organising a function in the morning to celebrate 50 years of
affirmative action for SC/ST in India. The university said that the
notice of the holiday was circulated a week before Punia's visit.

Interestingly, instead of CSMMU, the state government and the BSP
issued press release in defence of the university administration and
blamed Punia for politicising academics.

However, Punia arrived as per the announcement and on finding
vice-chancellor's office locked, staged a demonstration and told
reporters that he will take action against the university authorities.

In a bid to save himself from the Commission's wrath, Vice Chancellor
called a meeting of SC/ST teachers, students and employees and heard
their problems.

However, teachers said that examination reforms are the need of the
hour, because students hailing from all the categories face threat of
discrimination. Hence, it would be inappropriate to divide students on
caste lines.

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[ZESTCaste] Delhi Govt replaces derogatory words from SC/ST certificates

http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-36734.html

Delhi Govt replaces derogatory words from SC/ST certificates

New Delhi, Jul 27 : The Delhi Government today informed the Delhi High
Court that it will withdraw 'unparliamentary' term 'chura' on the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes certificates issued by it
forthwith.

The move came after protests by a section of people at Rajghat that
earlier the term 'Valmiki'was being used on the certificates but
suddenly in 2010 it was replaced by the word "Chura" which is
considered to be a derogatory reference to the members of the
community.

Hearing a Public Interest Litigation(PIL) filed by an NGO, a bench
comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna
directed the Delhi Government to state their plea by way of an
affidavit.

The NGO contended that the revenue department of Delhi Government used
the word "Valmiki' till 2010 but the stand taken by the Government to
replace it with the derogatory word was quite shocking.

The usage of the derogatory words used against members of SC, ST
communities attracts legal penalties and the government itself using
it is illegal, the NGO said adding that many people of the community
have been hurt by this step.

Appearing for the Delhi government, standing counsel Najmi Waziri
assured the court that the government has decided to remove the
derogatory word from caste certificates.

The court directed the government to file their contention of their
stand taken by way of an affidavit.

--UNI

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[ZESTCaste] 4,311 cases pending in SC/ST police stations in Bihar

http://english.samaylive.com/regional-news/bihar-news/676491233/4-311-cases-pending-in-sc-st-police-stations-in-bihar.html

29 Jul 2011 11:16:55 AM IST
4,311 cases pending in SC/ST police stations in Bihar

Even as the Nitish Kumar government has laid thrust on justice for
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, cases relating to atrocities on
SC/ST are increasing and a good number of them are pending in police
stations.

''The cases are piling up because of the slow pace of their
disposal,'' officials claim. According to official records available
at the state police headquarters here, 4311 cases lodged under SC/ST
Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989 are still pending with different
SC/ST police stations up to May this year.

The then National SC/ST Commission chairman Buta Singh, during his
visit to Bihar on April 6, 2010, had expressed serious concern over
the growing number of cases of atrocities, noting that hardly two per
cent of them reach logical conclusion.

While the number of cases of atrocities and repression were reported
to be 3,723 in 2008, it rose to 5,129 in 2009 but then declined to
3,551 in 2010. State Additional Director-General of Police (Crime
Investigation Department) A S Nimbran said there are seven to eight
such districts where 50 per cent of cases of atrocities are pending
and these are normally the districts where very less number of cases
are registered every year.

Nimbran confided that there are 200 cases of atrocities and repression
being registered in Bihar every month.

There are 239, 196, 186, 180, 167, 141 and 121 cases pending in the
districts of Muzaffarpur, Saran, Begusarai, Motihari, Gaya, Patna and
Gopalganj districts, respectively, he said.

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[ZESTCaste] AP to launch scheme to irrigate 10 lakh acres of SC, ST land

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/ap-to-launch-scheme-to-irrigate-10-lakh-acres-of-sc-st-land/770197.html

AP to launch scheme to irrigate 10 lakh acres of SC, ST land
PTI | 07:07 PM,Jul 30,2011

Hyderabad, Jul 30(PTI)Andhra Pradesh government will launch an
ambitious scheme 'Indira Jala Prabha' on Gandhi Jayanthi day to bring
10 lakh acres of land belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes under irrigation. A sum of Rs 1,600 crore will be spent under
the new scheme that would benefit five lakh SC and ST families, the
government said today. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy discussed
modalities of the scheme with Finance Minister Aanam Ramanarayana
Reddy, Rural Development Minister D Manikya Varaprasad, Principal
Secretary (Rural Development) R Subrahmanyam and other senior
officials here today. The scheme would be integrated with the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme so as to draw 50
per cent of funds while the balance would be pooled from the National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, according to a press
release from the Chief Minister�s Office. Blocks of 10 acres would be
identified in each village and Common Interest Groups formed with land
owners to take up land development activity. So far, over 33,000 such
blocks have been identified in 16,742 villages, the CMO said. In all,
the state government intends to develop irrigation facilities for 50
lakh acres under the MGNREGP, including 10 lakh acres under Indira
Jala Prabha, so as to benefit 22 lakh families, it said.

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[ZESTCaste] Raj govt given 1 month to withdraw seniority benefit to SC/STs

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/raj-govt-given-1-month-to-withdraw-seniority-benefit-to-scsts/768763.html

Raj govt given 1 month to withdraw seniority benefit to SC/STs
PTI | 10:07 PM,Jul 28,2011

Jaipur, Jul 28 (PTI) The Rajasthan High Court today granted one month
time to the Ashok Gehlot government to comply with its order on
striking down the latter's decision to give more weightage to SC/ST
employees in promotion.In its order dated February 5, 2010, the court
had quashed the Rajasthan government's 2008 amendment which provided
"consequential seniority benefit" (reservation in promotion) to SC/ST
candidates.The division bench fixed August 23 as a deadline for the
government to comply with its directives to allow seniority benefit to
general employees.The junior SC/ST employees were promoted without
collecting quantifiable date regarding the inadequacy of
representation and professional efficiency, besides other parameters
fixed by the Supreme Court.The court has ruled that the seniority
benefit is not permissible unless the quantifiable data is collected.
PTI Corr

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[ZESTCaste] Dalits lodge complaint against land grabbing

http://news.chennaionline.com/chennai/Dalits-lodge-complaint-against-land-grabbing/74074fa1-4040-4942-924c-31e797373f5f.col

Dalits lodge complaint against land grabbing

Tiruchirapalli, Jul 26 : A section of dalits residing at Rajiv Gandhi
Nagar near suburb Edamalaipattipudur here have complained to the
District Revenue Officer (DRO) that one Ramesh, an aide of former
Chief Minister and DMK President M Karunanidhi's wife Rajathi Ammal
has demolished their huts and grabbed their land. In their petition to
Ms K Petchiammal, DRO, yesterday they pointed out that they were
residing in that area for more than 20 years.

They were paying corporation taxes regularly and enjoying all civic
amenities provided by the corporation and TNEB. They said on January
14, 2008, Mr Ramesh, accounantant of Ms Rajathi Ammal along with
Thambiraja, a real estate business man from Karaikudi, came to their
residential area and asked them to vacate their houses, claiming that
they had purchased the land, and demolished their houses.

From that day onwards, they were struggling for retrieving their land
by representing matter to the district administration, corporation and
police authorities but no one had come to their rescue, they said and
sought intervention of District administration in the matter. The DRO
had forwarded the petition to city Police Commissioner for further
action, sources added.

-Agencies
Jul 26, 2011

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[ZESTCaste] AIADMK to train dalit students

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/chennai/aiadmk-train-dalit-students-180

AIADMK to train dalit students

July 31, 2011
By Pramila Krishnan
DC
chennai

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the AIADMK government has decided
to train dalit students to work on ships.

Around 40 students will be trained this year in the first phase for
assisting captains and other officers on ships. This flagship training
programme of the state Adi Dravida department will begin in August at
the Tuticorin port and placements provided soon after completion of
the three-month course.

Sources said since the DMK government had failed to deliver on its
promise to train dalit girls as airhostesses, the AIADMK government
was keen on executing this project for training dalit students in jobs
on ship.

"We have reviewed the failure of the DMK government scheme to train
100 dalit girls as airhostesses and get them jobs. We have spotted the
drawbacks. CM has asked us to execute the shipping training programme
with much care. We must place all our students without fail", a source
said.

Initially, the scheme will have only boy cadets and could be extended
to girls "at a later stage, with modifications", another source said.
Adi Dravida department senior officials have been given training by
the National Institute of Rural Development to chart out innovative
methods to implement the government programmes, they said.

The government has decided to refurbish the Adi Dravida hostels in a big way.

"There are several hostels which do not have compound walls. Over 700
Adi Dravida schools which do not have basic facilities, like toilets,
will be improved. Libraries will be built in big hostels", a senior
official said.

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[ZESTCaste] Give Dalits their land, HC tells govt

http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/BAN-give-dalits-their-land-hc-tells-govt-2307799.html

Give Dalits their land, HC tells govt

Source: DNA | Last Updated 03:15(30/07/11)

Bangalore: The High Court on Friday directed the Karnataka government
to make sure that land acquired for the purpose of housing poor and
weaker sections of society is actually granted to them.

The direction came as the court was hearing a case filed by
Chandrashekar and others, claiming that land was identified for
providing sites to Dalits in Hosakere village, Amruthur hobli, Kunigal
taluk, Tumkur, in 1958. The state government acquired the land in
1961, but the sites have still to be allotted. The petitioners sought
that the land be denotified, as half a century had elapsed since the
land was acquired.

The court dismissed the writ petition, issuing orders to the state
government to give the land acquired for the layout in Hosakere
village to Dalits. Justice Nagarathna said that land acquired for the
purpose of providing housing to weaker sections of society should
reach intended beneficiaries.

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[ZESTCaste] Justice Dinakaran quits, says was denied ‘fair’ defence, could be because he was born Dalit

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/justice-dinakaran-quits-says-was-denied-fair-defence-could-be-because-he-was-born-dalit/824675/

Justice Dinakaran quits, says was denied 'fair' defence, could be
because he was born Dalit

Maneesh Chhibber Posted online: Sat Jul 30 2011, 04:05 hrs
New Delhi : Asserting that "in spite of my constitutional position, I
have been denied fair opportunity to defend myself and my reputation
by the Judges Inquiry Committee", Sikkim High Court Chief Justice P D
Dinakaran, who is facing probe on charges of corruption and
misconduct, today resigned from his post.

In a two-page resignation letter to Chief Justice of India S H
Kapadia, a copy of which is in the possession of The Indian Express, C
J Dinakaran has also said that he had the "sneaking suspicion that my
misfortune was because of circumstances of my birth in the socially
oppressed and underprivileged section of the society".

Sources in the apex court said his resignation would be forwarded to
the President through the Union Law Ministry for acceptance.
Dinakaran's lawyer Amit Anand Tiwari confirmed the development.

The controversial CJ, who had almost made it to the Supreme Court
after being cleared by the collegium, has also said that he was
resigning "in order to maintain the dignity of the office" and "to
prove that I do not have any lust for the office, position and the
power and to prove that I do not want to adopt any dilatory tactics".

On March 16, a three-member committee of jurists comprising Supreme
Court Judge Aftab Alam, Karnataka High Court CJ J S Khehar and eminent
jurist P P Rao had issued a chargesheet levelling 16 charges of
corruption and irregularities against Dinakaran. Later, based on
Dinakaran's appeal, Rao was replaced by jurist Mohan Gopal in the
panel.

The charges against Dinakaran include possession of wealth
disproportionate to his known sources of income, illegal encroachment
on public property and land belonging to Dalits and acquiring
agricultural holdings beyond ceiling.

Attempts by him to get the panel scrapped have proved futile, with a
SC Bench refusing to quash any of the charges against him.

In his resignation letter, Dinakaran accused "vested interests" of
unfairly targetting him. "On account of my firm views on social
justice, strong and independent judiciary and that politics should not
be permitted into the judiciary, nor the judiciary should enter
political thickets, I could not accommodate undesirable politically
motivated requests/ demands while upholding my oath of office to
render justice without fear or favour in the course of administration
of justice, I have been very calculatively targeted at the instance of
the vested interests," his letter says.

He has also questioned why Rao, a constitutional expert, had been in
the committee earlier, pointing out that he had to move the SC to get
him removed. "When this committee was constituted, it contained a
person who was biased against me. At the earliest opportunity given to
me, i.e after receiving the statutory notice, to raise my objection/
to file my statement, I knocked all the doors to see that this biased
person is removed from the committee. But to no avail. Orders were
passed by the Judge's Inquiry Committee, consisting of this biased
person, behind my back on Sunday. The committee recorded the evidence
behind my back. It appointed a lawyer to assist, but in fact to
prosecute me on behalf of the committee. The said lawyer collected
evidence for fourteen (14) months, compiled 6,300 pages of documents,
but I was asked to give a reply within 15 days. It is difficult to
comprehend as to how 6,300 pages could be read and answered within
such a short period of time," his letter says.

Saying he had no faith in the panel, Dinakaran says, "..It is also
obvious that hearing before the committee is just an empty formality.
Hence, I have lost confidence of getting fair hearing and justice even
before the reconstituted committee. In above factual background I am
unable to repose any faith and confidence in the committee and in the
procedure being adopted by them. I am, therefore, of the firm view
that there would not be any gainful purpose in appearing before the
committee in spite of my innocence."

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[ZESTCaste] Can anticipatory bail be granted in atrocity cases?

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-29/ahmedabad/29829067_1_gujarat-high-court-bench-justice-dave

Can anticipatory bail be granted in atrocity cases?
TNN Jul 29, 2011, 12.18am IST

AHMEDABAD: A division bench of the Gujarat high court (HC) is to
decide whether anticipatory bail can be granted to a person who is
accused of humiliating people belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC)
and Scheduled Tribe (ST) by either uttering cuss words against them or
by threatening them.

The question as to whether the courts should entertain anticipatory
bail applications in connection with the violation of Schedule Caste &
Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act arose after four persons
sought relief after an FIR was registered against them at the Shahpur
police station. Their counsel cited three judgments of single-judge
bench of this court including Harivallabh Parikh versus State of
Gujarat of 1997, in which the court had in the past protected the
accused from being arrested.

The petitioners' lawyer also argued that giving anticipatory bail for
violation of section 3(1)(10) of the Act is not completely barred.
However, during the proceedings, Justice A S Dave referred to Section
18 of the Atrocity Prevention Act which puts ban on exercising the
provisions of law in granting anticipatory bail in such cases. The HC
cited a full bench's decision of the Rajasthan HC and later an order
by the Supreme Court, wherein they have held that the provision in
special law should prevail over general law.

Justice Dave observed that the remedy for the case of false, frivolous
or vexatious complaint under the atrocity act is to get the FIR
quashed under section 482 of CrPC by filing a quashing petition in the
HC. But when a special statute is enacted for the protection of SC and
ST with historical background to remove, curtail and extinguish the
practice of "untouchability" and considering object and reasons of
special statute and specific bar imposed by Section 18 of the Act, the
law laid down by this court in Harivallabh Parikh's case is contrary
to the decisions of other courts' orders.

Justice Dave referred the case to a full bench with specific reference
that whether anticipatory bail can be granted in such cases. The chief
justice has asked a division bench headed by Justice A L Dave to
settle the issue.

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[ZESTCaste] How dalit entrepreneur Kalpana Saroj revived Kamani Tubes Ltd

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-29/news/29829281_1_dalit-kamani-tubes-ktl/3

How dalit entrepreneur Kalpana Saroj revived Kamani Tubes Ltd
Naren Karunakaran, ET Bureau Jul 29, 2011, 03.34am IST

Navinbhai Kamani doesn't betray any emotion over the fate that has
befallen him and his industrial empire. Now, in his eighties, he has
"detached" himself from the past; the glorious years when Ramjibhai
Kamani, his father, rubbed shoulders with Gandhiji and later Pandit
Nehru, paving the road for an industrial India, along with the Tatas,
Birlas, and the Bajajs. "Father even stepped out of business for a
while, taking to spinning khadi in rural Gujarat," he recalls.

Navin bhai now leads a spartan life in a rented house in Mumbai's
Worli amid constant threats of eviction. The fact that, in June 2011,
the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) released
Kamani Tubes Ltd (KTL), a group company comatose for decades, to chart
an independent course doesn't stir him at all. As chairman of KTL, he
had handed over his embattled company to workers in 1988, after a
prolonged spell of labour trouble.

A Supreme Court-directed move, it was then hailed as a bold experiment
in worker ownership and management. Unfortunately, KTL, which made
non-ferrous metal tubes and pipes, hit the rocks within a decade, with
the company retiring sick in 1995. Yet, when the stoic Navinbhai
learns that the current KTL chair, Kalpana Saroj, who bought the
company and nursed it back to health in a daring revival scheme,
starting 2006, is a dalit, he perks up and his brows rise.

"She is a dalit?" he whispers incredulously, and recounts how Saroj
visited him some time ago to write out a cheque for Rs 51 lakh — his
dues, including provident fund, as part of the KTL restructuring
exercise. "Navinbhai's financial condition was precarious; and I
presume the money did him some good," says Saroj, sitting in her
well-appointed office, once the boardroom of the Kamani group, at
Kamani Chambers, in Mumbai's Ballard Estate.

She, still immersed in the minutiae of blowing life into the company,
however, fails to comprehend the significance of the situation; a
dalit, once a denizen of the city's slums, bailing out the scion of a
once mighty industrial empire, and the recipient expressing silent
gratitude! Kalpana Saroj of Kalpana Saroj & Associates (KSA) has
indeed traversed quite a distance from Murtizapura, a hamlet in the
interiors of Maharashtra.

Today, she presides over varied businesses. The single factory Sai
Krupa Sakhar Karkhana in Ahmednagar, in which she holds a substantial
stake, is graduating to an integrated sugar complex.

How dalit entrepreneur Kalpana Saroj revived Kamani Tubes Ltd
Naren Karunakaran, ET Bureau Jul 29, 2011, 03.34am IST

Capacity has been enhanced to 7,500 TCD (tonnes of sugarcane crushed
per day), and a 60 KLD (kilo litres per day) distillery is coming up.
"We are also building a 35 MW co-generation power plant," she says.

A diversification into steel manufacturing and mining has come about
recently. Initial investments of Rs 10 crore for a 100 tonnes per day
steel plant has been made at Wada, on the outskirts of Mumbai. A
bauxite mining initiative across 1,230 acres in Udgir, along the
Maharashtra-Karnataka border, is being drawn out.

Meanwhile, she has also resurrected the Kamani brand in the Gulf
through Al Kamani in Kuwait and Kalpana Saroj LLC in Dubai to cater to
the huge demand for copper tubes, especially from the water and
sanitation sector. "The Arabs are familiar with the brand," recalls
Navinbhai. "They would, in my time, often pay a premium for our
products."

Daughter of a police constable, Saroj has had a troubled past. She was
married off at 12, and migrated to Mumbai's slums. A broken marriage
forced her to return to her village. She couldn't fit in, and
therefore, attempted suicide, and survived.

Determined to chart her own destiny, she returned to Mumbai and
laboured for Rs 2 a day at a hosiery unit, married again, took over a
steel almirah fabrication business on her husband's death, and
stumbled into the construction business. From then on, she rode the
realty wave.

Alongside, Saroj dabbled in social work, which brought her into close
proximity with politicians of all hues. It enabled her to climb the
social ladder quickly. Her critics view this as an opportunistic
trait, but it's also true that business easily cultivates friends and
patrons in high places.

"My capital has always been people," explains Saroj. Her tryst with
KTL was also thrown up by the ecosystem she was in. The company was
weighed down by a debt of Rs 116 crore, salary and provident fund dues
of over 500 workers, and over 170 court cases. "Takeover suitors would
appear, conduct a due diligence and flee for dear life," recalls
Ramesh Bondkar, general secretary of Kamani Kamgar Ekta, KTL's workers
union.

However, Saroj bid for the company when it was put up for sale by
IDBI, the operating agency of the BIFR. In March 2006, her scheme for
revival was accepted. She settled all claims by lenders. Workers dues
of over Rs 8.5 crore were cleared. "I paid Rs 90 lakh more than what
was due to workers as a gesture of goodwill," explains Saroj.

...And through it

The revival, though, wasn't easy. She has had to confront the old
Kamani Employees Union (KEU), which accuses Saroj of coming in merely
to strip KTL. D Thankappan, now with Delhi's New Trade Union
Initiative (NTUI), who earlier piloted the experiment in workers
management, has always maintained that Saroj is an interloper, with
political contacts; and that, as a builder, she is eying the company's
assets. Her counter: except for a 3.75 acre piece of land in
Bangalore, the company has no property whatsoever. Even the land on
which Kamani Chambers stands is on leasehold land of the Port Trust.
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"KEU wants liquidation of the company, and not revival of the company
and restoration of workers livelihoods," laments MK Gore, MD, KTL.
"It's inexplicable." Even the Bombay High Court, in an order of
October 2009, frowned upon the predatory petition-filing antics of the
KEU and opined: "...the whole purpose of filing the petition appears
to be to create hindrance in the implementation of the scheme..."

Govind Kharatmol and Ramchandra Kadam, workers who survived by driving
rickshaws all these years, accuse a ruling KEU clique for ending a
wonderful workers initiative by systematically siphoning out money.
"They tasted blood then, and now, they want more," says Kharatmol.
Saroj maintains this too shall pass. Only two of the KEU affiliated
workers now remain on her rolls, and they retire by the year-end. KTL
started commercial production in December 2010.

Sales are inching up; it stands at about Rs 1 crore or so. Three new
gas furnaces have been installed at KTL's new plant in Mumbai. The
company is quickly moving into newer areas of demand. "We are
developing cupro-nickel alloy tubes, required in large quantities by
power plants," reveals Ashish Deshpande, CEO, KTL. Also on the drawing
board are SBP brass wires for ball pen tips. It's powering along,
slowly. Few companies in India has had such a chequered history, and
fewer still have such a chairperson: a gutsy, at times reckless,
dalit; a school drop-out; child-bride; slum dweller; suicide survivor.

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

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[ZESTCaste] How dalit entrepreneur Swwapnil Bhingardevay is taking on powerful sugar lobby in Maharashtra

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-07-29/news/29829413_1_ethanol-canara-bank-dalits

How dalit entrepreneur Swwapnil Bhingardevay is taking on powerful
sugar lobby in Maharashtra
Priyanka Sangani, ET Bureau Jul 29, 2011, 03.47am IST

At the beginning of the millennium, Swwapnil Bhingardevay decided to
diversify his business interests. His Hindustan Petroleum LPG
distribution business, which he had since 1985, was doing well, and he
was ready for fresh challenges.

Only, the kind of challenges he faced were very different from what he
had in mind. He decided to set up an ethanol factory in his hometown
of Karad near Satara, Maharashtra, and a Rs 6 crore loan from Canara
Bank helped him get going. But, around the same time, the government
killed the business by making blending of ethanol in fuel, which was
earlier mandatory, optional.

Differential treatment

Bhingardevay decided to exit ethanol and enter rectified spirits. But
since the ethanol unit hadn't started operations, he was unable to
keep up with loan repayments. "When I asked the bank for further
funding assistance for the new business, they asked me to repay the Rs
42 lakh interest first," he says. "No sooner had I repaid them than
they did a U-turn." Later, another bank officer from the same caste
told Bhingardevay this kind of behaviour wasn't unusual.

"They never go out of their way to help our people." Eventually, he
managed to raise Rs 1.5 crore from the Karad Urban Co-operative Bank,
in a day, to repay Canara Bank. "This happened only because the MD of
the bank was from the same community and personally sanctioned this
loan," says Bhingardevay.

The resistance from banks doesn't surprise him. "Over the years, I
have faced a lot of problems because I belong to a certain community.
Banks look at us with past notions and prejudices," he says, adding
that the perception is that dalits cannot successfully run a business,
never mind what evidence you present.

When Bhingardevay pointed out he had successfully been running an LPG
distribution business for 15 years, it was insinuated that he had
managed to get that purely on account of reservation and, hence, it
didn't count for much. Neither did his qualifications.

A commerce graduate, Bhingardevay also studied law at ILS, Pune, one
of India's premier law colleges. That's also one reason why he moved
back to Pune from Satara once his children were born. "I don't want my
children to go through the trials that I have or suffer," he says.

"You don't face as much discrimination in a bigger city." Milind
Kamble, president, DICCI, who has known Bhingardevay for over a
decade, says he is as committed and professional as any other
businessman. "He has a fighting spirit, and no matter how many
problems he faces, his attitude hasn't changed," says Kamble.

Being discriminated against hasn't affected his belief in meritocracy.
He has restarted the ethanol business and employs about 125 people,
though he is pressed to estimate how many are dalits. "Ours is a
chemical industry and it is important to hire people on merit," he
says. There are some contract labourers as well, but again, there is
no conscious effort to select dalits over the others.
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Sweet and sour

Khandoba Prasanna Sakhar Karkhana posted a turnover of Rs 25 crore
last year, and Bhingardevay says this year's projection is Rs 40
crore. His LPG business continues on the side. Meanwhile, a decade and
one more successful business later, not much has changed.

Bhingardevay took the brave step of trying to set up a sugar factory
in the Maratha-dominated sugar belt. While he was arranging funding,
another local businessman started setting up a factory a few
kilometres away. The rules say there must be a minimum aerial distance
of 15 km between two factories. Bhingardevay registered his protest
and even went to the Bombay High Court, but it did not change
anything. Neither did a recent High Court ruling that increased the
distance to 25 km.

Sugar in Maharashtra is an industry where political connections and
caste play a role. The other person is a Maratha, and he also has also
been at the head of a sugar co-operative for 20 years and runs his own
medical college and hospital in the region. Bhingardevay tried to meet
Nationalist Congress Party leader and Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar,
who is highly influential in the sugar industry in Maharashtra, to
resolve the issue, but couldn't gain access.

From land problems to encroachment to electricity woes, the list of
obstacles is endless, says a confidante of Bhingardevay, on condition
of anonymity. "Often, when people from within the community approach
local politicians for assistance, they are promised help," he says.
"But as soon as they leave the room, the politicians ridicule them,
saying how can a 'mahar' dream of doing business." Bhingardevay does
more than dream: he is preparing to move the Supreme Court in the
sugar factory case.

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