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Ssc SOCIAL STUDY CIRCLE di (ESTD
1982) www.dalitindia.com dalitindia@rediffmail.com *********************************************************************** |
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AN APPROACH TO NEW MILLENNIUM
- A DALIT PERSPECTIVE
Only once
in a Millennium comes the Opportunity for the People to see together the dawn
of a New Year, a New Century, and a New Millennium. And We all did see this.
On the thityfirst of December 2000, as the Clock Struck Twelve in the
midnight hour, all of us stepped into the zero hour of First January in the New
Year 2001. That was incidentally the
birth of the Twenty First Century, and the World moved into the Third
Millennium! The whole World was happily
celebrating these! As the World was
welcoming the New Year 2001 to enter the Twenty First Century and move into the
Third Millennium, celebrating this triple birth, making merry and enjoying with
family and friends, here in this poor Country also, many many rich people were
waiting in select five star hotels and restaurants, to welcome celebrate and
make merry, like most of their fellow human beings in the richest parts of the
Western World! Their celebrations and
enjoyments were in no way less than in the rich west!!
As the
World and the rich in Our Nation were enjoying themselves with the choicest of
food sweets and drinks of the World, many millions of the Poor People all over
this Country, were shivering in the bitter cold around make shift Fires in
tattered clothes and hungry stomachs with worn-out tired sick faces, or were
already asleep or were trying to fond a wink of sleep in the cold with an hungy
half empty or empty stomach, and tattered sheets, old blankets and quilts that
should have been discarded long time back.
Yes, they were totally oblivious of, and or indifferent to the special
occassion the World was Celebrating.
Ninety Nine Percent of them were the SC&ST Dalits, the poor and the
unemployed. Some of them were in fact
educated, may be well educated graduates.
Even amongst other employed SCs&STs, many were also similarly
struggling and huddling together to find some sleep in the biting cold. They were all the poorly paid SCs&STs
employed in the lower rungs of Service in the Private Sector, Public Sector and
also in the Govt. And they also could
not really afford good warm clothing, sheets, blankets, quilts, woolens, or
heaters and blowers, and pay for the Power to heat the heaters and use the
blowers! And firewood and coal had all
vanished, long ago with the trees and forests greedily felled by the
Contractors and Forest Officials themselves, both in fair and unfair manners!
Whether We
like it or not, and whatever We may say in the Public or in the International
Fora, the SC&ST Dalits are very badly discriminated,and not allowed any
decent and respectable lives, even as the World is still Celebrating the Birth
of the New Year 2001, Twenty First Century and the Third Millennium! This had been their lot for many many
Millenniums. The only difference is
that We now talk about them, their sufferings, and some of us do recognise a
little about the need to do something in this respect, even as many of the
dominat caste hindus, somewhere in someplace, are silently scheming to
undermine the poor SCs&STs, either by way of some sudden attrocities, which
takes only the Press by Surprise, or silently and discreetly subvert the
educated amongst them. Special
attention is being given these days, to eliminate or at least damage, one by
one all the intelligent and Capable Dalits, who have managed to come up in life
or into good higher services. Yes, all
special attention is being given to ensure that the best of the SC&ST
Dalits do not come any where near the corridors of power and offices of
decision making and planning, in the Country.
Yes, today everything is being done to keep them out. That is the reason why we find the best of
the Capable Dalits outside the Govt, struggling to survive, make a living and
find some decent life. This, at a time,
when there are any number of useless third raters from the dominant caste hindu
communities occupying very many good positions in Govt. For example, there are many caste hindu
English Stenographers who do not know either shorthand or typing, what to say
of operating computers. And most of
them do not even know English! These
won't disturb us at all! After all it
is the most merritorious of the dominant caste hindu senior officers who have
selected, appointed, trained, posted, graded and promoted them to higher and
higher ranks. These all, of course for
various considerations, the most important of them being - caste, contacts and
money! Nor will we as a Nation be
worried! For, we have no sensibilities
left anymore, to be either surprised or shocked! After all, it is We Dalits who are feeling the pinch of the caste
hindu Victimisation, Discriminations, Oppressions, Denials, Suppressions etc,
every moment and every second of our existance in our lives!
We
therefore feel that, even if We can not yet say Enough is Enough, a NEW APPROACH FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM has to be
worked out, for the Dawn of Dalit Liberation, dreamt by our Great Messiah Baba
Saheb Dr BR Ambedkar. We strongly feel
that this NEW APPROACH should be around atleast the following Issues -
1. Land Reforms
and Distribution of all Cultivable Lands to the SC&ST Dalit Tillers of the
Land
2. Rural
Development
3. Right to
Work
4. Provision of
Jobs to every adult ST, SC and OBC Woman
5. Opening of
the Defence Forces to the SCs&STs particularly those living in the Rural
Areas to end the increasing Urbanisation of Army, Air-Force and Navy due to
silent inbreedings
6. Establishment
of Guided Cooperatives
7. Strengthening
of Public Distribution System in the Rural Areas, specifically in Scheduled
Caste Hamlets and Tribal Areas
8. Compulsory
Distribution of Food to all Landless Labourers in lieu of creation of Public
Assets
9. Increased
Allocations of Budgetary Support, and early Release of Finances right in the
beginning of the Financial Year, to Scheduled Tribes Area Development Plans and
Special Component Plans, in proportion to the ST and SC Population Percentages
in the Censuses, as on 2001 etc and projections every year thereafter
10. Law on
Reservations as an enforceable Fundamental Right under Art 16
11. Special Law
on Education for SCs&STs under Art
12. Reservations
in Educational Institutions, especially in all University Education and Super
Speciality Courses
13. Reservations
in all Public Limited Companies and also in the Private Sector, like the
Affirmative Action for the Blacks in USA
14. Reservations
must continue in all PSUs being Privatised, since they were funded and built up
with Public Investments from Govt Exchequer
15. Reservation
in Judiciary upto the Supreme Court of India, for SCs&STs, OBCs and Women
16. Judges posted
in every High Court should reflect the Percentages of SCs, STs and OBCs in that
State/UT
As every one knows, India Lives in the
Villages. Agriculture is the principle
activity in Indian Villages, and Cultivation of food crops is the main stay of
the Village People. But in the Caste
based Indian Society, Caste is rooted very deeply in the Viollages, in all its
evill form and cruel dimensions. Caste is the Culture of Indian Villages,
Caste is the Language of the Villages, Caste is the Principle of the Villages,
Caste is the Way of the Villages, Caste is the Basis of the Villages organised
distinctly seperate as caste hindu villages SC Dalit Villages ST Dalit
Villages! Caste is the Politics of the
Villages and Caste is the Life of the Villages! For, Caste is rooted not only in the thoughts and actions, but
also in the flesh bones and blood of
the People in the Villages! Caste has
become an integral part of their self and unconscious mind. And caste pops up automatically without
their knowledge and thinking, as caste is deeply ingrained in the sub-conscious
minds of all the People of India. Even those in India practicing Religions like Buddhism,
Christianity, Islam and Sikkhism that believe and preach in Universal Brotherhood are no
exceptions. And the SC&ST Dalits
who embraced these Reformative Faiths, to walk out of the control of
the feudal landlords and the brahmins, to liberate
themselves and find new ways of life, are no exception. Even though the discriminations within their
New Religions, with also some brahmin, kshatriya, baniya and many shudra
converts there in, may not be that bad or so sharp as to hurt them in their day
to day lives, they continue to suffer the pangs of caste discriminations in
many many ways.
The relief
gained by the SC&ST Dalits on Conversions to Universal Religions, is lost
many times over, when they come out into the brahmin influenced society. The SC&ST Converts are subjected to
Multiple Discriminations. They are
discriminated first as Minorities; second as SC&ST Dalits since most of
them in their social lives have to continue living along with their all other
SC&ST Dalit Relatives in the same SC&ST Dalit Colonies, or in adjucent
or seperate poor Dalit Peoples' Minority Colonies; third for having run away
from the miserable conditions in which they were all along kept deliberately by
the brahminic society; and finally are looked down and discriminated by their
own fellow SC Dalits and ST Dalits. The
dominant caste hindus, angry against the converted SC&ST Dalits for having
gone out of their spheres of influence and walked into the folds of new
religions as people liberated in many respects, and bitterly angry against the
Converting Religions for having taken out their cheap and unaccountable labour
force of SC&ST Dalits, have also brainwashed most of the non-converted
SC&ST Dalits and bound them literally with the dominant caste hindus.
They
dominat caste hindus, have turned the un-converted SC&ST Dalits in most
parts of the Country green with envy, with stories of the New Religions
showering the Converts with rich gifts, nutritious food, good education,
comfortable jobs, decent salaries, foreign visits, foreign jobs etc. Thus most of the times, the non-converts go
blue with envy, without even thinking a bit, whenever they talk or even think
of the Converted SC&ST Dalits! The
unconverted SC&ST Dalits, have totally and almost unconsciously, gone into
the fold, as also under the thinking and influence of the discriminating brahminic
society. They have no quarrel what so
ever, and have no personal problems with the converted SC&ST Dalits. Yet, they are angry with the converts, just
only for having embraced the New Religions, and for having found a little
better opportunities in their lives for some education, a little development,
may be a shade better employment at times, outside the influence of the
brahmanic feudal elements, and almost total freedom and dignity in saying their
prayers and worshipping freely! The
most important manner in which the Dalits are affected even after Conversions,
are in the Socio-Economic and Cultural aspects of life.
As per the norms of brahmin influenced
Village Society, tilling and mining the land, is considered by the brahmins as
violating goddess Mother Earth, the second most important of the Five
Elements. It is not only the
traditional vocation of the Ati-Shudra SC&ST Dalits, but is exclusively
confined and reserved only to the despised SC&ST Dalits. Though
it is now not openly accepted or spoken in public by the brahmins, a
caste hindu can own possess and control hundred and thousands of acres of land,
but is never allowed and should not cultivate any land, even his own! In fact, a caste hindu should not even hold
or touch a Plow. That would surely
ex-communicate and out-caste the person. Hence, Cultivation was left
only to the Ati-Shudra SC&ST Dalits, and in some far off extreme areas to
Dalit like lower poor Shudras.
Therefore almost all the Ati-Shudra SC&ST Dalits, including many of those
converted, remain wedded to their ancestoral lands due to their inherited
Native Intelligence, Knowledge of Husbanding the Land, and Skills of
Cultivation they had evolved developed practiced and adopted with changing
times seasons and crops, right from the times of pre-Harappan Times! With Agriculture as their main
vocation, and most other honest jobs kept out of bounds for them, their
principles in life and upbringing generally does not allow them to cheat
exploit and defraud others, or take to dishonest and unfair practices - the
SC&ST Dalits have been tied down to shrinking Land Available for
Cultivation to every Dalit, as their numbers increase with the years due to the
population growth.
Cultivation is the Job of despised
SC&ST Dalits! And historically it
was kept exclusively reserved for them!
These and the crude fact that education and sharing of knowledge are not
a way of life or accepted practice in the Indian Tradition, Developments
Discoveries Inventions and Improvements have not been a way of life in the
Indian Society for quite a long long time.
Hence, very little Development had taken place in the Agricultural
Sector over the ages! Therefore, definitely nothing new or radical
could come into Indian Agriculture at the common man's level, or to the small
poor farmers, and in labour intensive traditional Agriculture, even today. Hence in most parts of India, SC&ST
Dalits cultivate the land, almost in the same way and pattern their parents
did, grand parents did, great grand parents did, great great ..... grand
parents did, and as most of their ancient forefathers did! With increasing man-power drawn from the
traditional Ati-Shudra SC&ST Dalit Communities, and in some parts
additional influx of men and women from the poor Dalit like Shudra Communities,
Returns
for a full day's hard back-breaking Agricultural Labour, has not kept pace or
has not been allowed to keep pace with the developments elsewhere in the
economy, even when the land owners harvest a bumper crop. This even though, any harvest is mainly due
to the sincere hard work and skills of the Landless SC&ST Dalit
Agricultural Labourers!
LAND REFORMS
AND DISTRIBUTION OF ALL CUTIVABLE LANDS TO THE SC&ST DALIT TILLERS OF THE
LAND
In the early days of known history,
with the aryan anvasion into the Sub-Continental India, Land of SC&ST
Dalits, the Natives were enslaved. With the SC&ST Dalits, the traditional
owners and masters of the land enslaved, it was a naturally a matter of time
before all the land and fixed assets went into the hands of the invading
aryans, the dominant caste hindus, particularly the ruling kshatriyas, who held
them almost in trust for all the dominant caste hindus, sharing the spoils and
produce cultivated and harvested by SC&ST Dalits with their partners in
loot - the brahmins and baniyas. That
was another reason for the lack of innovations and development in the
agricultural sector. With education,
employment, economic growth, urbanisation, business and industrial development,
absentee landlordism has become a fact of Indian Villages. Hence there is no interest in Agriculture in
many areas. Thus, Cultivation,
Productivity and Agricultural Output suffers very badly in most parts of the
Country. And the pressure on the Land
and Economy due to Industrialisation, Employment Opportunities and Urbanisation
is increasing many folds. All these
make the Life in the Villages Difficult,
and the Life of the SC&ST Landless Agricultural Workers Miserable. Hence, the Universal Demand, Land for the Tillers is becoming
increasingly relevant! The most important and urgent need of the hour is Land
Reforms! No Country in the World, and No State or UT in the Country could
Develop, or Hope to Develop without Land Reforms.
Inview of
the above, WE DEMAND IMMEDIATE ACTION TO BRING IN A CENTRAL LAW, TO
UNDERTAKE COMPULSORY LAND REFORMS AND DISTRIBUTION OF ALL CULTIVABLE LANDS TO
SC&ST DALIT TILLERS OF THE LAND, EVERY FIFTY YEARS. The Aim of
this Law should be, to ENSURE LAND FOR THE TILLERS, and abolish all forms of
ABSENTEE LAND OWNERSHIP, and every type of BENAMI LAND HOLDING!
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
As Baba
Saheb Dr BR Ambedkar had insisted upon, LAND
REFORMS, and Distribution of the Land to the Tillers, should be the most important part of Rural Development in
this Country! Otherwise, Villages already withering now, would soon die. With the death of Villages, our Cities would
crumble, and the Country would die and pass away into oblivion! Therefore Land Reforms and Rural Development are the twin urgent necessities of the Country today!
In view of this, We demand that every step should be taken for bringing in
an holistic RURAL DEVELOPMENT.
RIGHT TO WORK
DEVELOPMENT
would remain only a distant mirrage without Employment and Regular Income! In the caste ridden Society of ours,
Employment is basically a fraudulent activity.
World over scholars thinkers politicians and social-leaders have
developed the concept of skill based employment, supported by adequate
education training and experience. And
to ensure this, as a bulwark, they had evolved the Concept of Public Service
Commissions, as independant bodies to facilitate an honest unbiased fair and
just recruitments, outside the influence of the mighty powerful and the
inflencial! And here in this Country,
our Messiah Baba Saheb Dr BR Ambedkar, had insisted upon various Public Service
Commissions at the Center, State Levels and for Specilised Recruitments. Instead of strengthening them, expanding
them and coming up with many more Public Service Commissions, we see with every
passing day these Public Service Commissions being weakened, many
responsibilities taken out of them, many recruitments and related issues out of
their control, and most of them being subverted from outside, and sadly enough
from even with-in. Under these
circumstances, the first victims are the SC&ST Dalits! Even those recruited after many attempts,
are subjected to innumerable trials and tribulations even to survive and retain
their positions! Therefore, We Demand the RIGHT TO WORK should be made a Fundamental
Right for SC&ST Dalits. The State should pay a minimum Compensation to
the Unemployed SC&ST Dalits, and those forced out of Jobs and deprived of
their Salaries and Income. This
Compensation should be reasonable and based on the Educational
Attainments!
PROVISION OF
JOBS TO EVERY ADULT SC&ST DALIT WOMEN
It is a
valuable most important adage, that means -
When a boy is educated, an individual is educated and gets
developed,
When a Girl is educated, a whole family and generation is
developed!
Similarly,
when a Woman is employed, a Whole Family and a Future Generation is
Developed. Everyone now know pretty
well that the sift under belly of the Country today is the miserable poverty of
the economicall underdeveloped poor ST&SC Dalits and OBCs. Therefore We
Demand Compulsory provision of Employment to every Adult Girl/Woman from ST, SC
and OBC Families!
OPENING OF
ARMED SERVICES AGAIN TO THE RURAL AREAS AND STs, SCs and OBCs
In this
caste influenced society, every activity and every aspect of life is based on
castes and are coloured by castes!
Therefore, hardly can anyone at anytime in any place can expect honesty,
truth, fair play and justice. No
decision is free from biases prejudices and caste considerations. Even the Armed Forces have not been spared
from these biases. While rustic rural
youth used to be recruited from the rural areas and urban slums, at least to
serve in the lower rungs as Soldiers and Equivalent Ratings, these days
in-breeding influences, favouritisms and corruption had resulted in the selection
of well connected rich urban based youth only.
This is an extremely sad development!
We therefore demand that there should be a complete ban on in-breeding
in the armed forces. Therefore the
Children and Family Members of those serving, or those who had served in the
Army, Navy and Air Force should be debarred from applying for recruitments into
any of the Armed Forces! This
incidentally would help broad base the involvement of the People and Society
associated with the Armed Forces!
The Armed
Forces, deliberately avoid recruiting SCs&STs, particularly into important
and prestigious Units. The Authorities
are so casteist, that the very mention of SCs&STs make them stiffen. Why then should the SC&ST Dalits as
Citizens of this Country, and Tax Payers to the Govt support and sustain the
dominant caste hindus in the Services?
Such stand off and strained feelings are not good for any Country, and
for the People. That would be
completely anti-democratic and anti-Civil Society. It would be an extremely a Racial and Aparthied Policy to say
SCs&STs are not suitable for recruitments into the Armed Forces or could
not be trained as Soldiers in the Army and Equivalent Ratings in other
Forces. Every Wing with in the Armed
Forces should have proportionate SCs and STs.
This will provide the urgently needed Employment Opportunities to the
People Of the Rural Areas, particularly to the STs, SCs and OBCs, who all need
them very badly.
In view of the above We Demand that Recruitments into the Armed Forces should
be mostly from the Rural Areas, at least upto 80% at par with the Rural
Population, with a minimum of 20% SCs and 10% STs, in every wing and branch of the Armed Forces.
GUIDED
COOPERATIVES
Anything
good in life comes out of Group Activities.
Whether it is an effective Govt, victorious Army, a profit making
Industry, a successful Business or even a good Foot Ball Team, everything are
Group Activities. Only by the willing
wholehearted fully motivated Cooperation are the People in the Group are able
to come out successfully and stay together to the mutual advantage of each one
in the Team. This irrespective of the
fact, whether it is old or new, Govt or Joint Sector, Public or Private
Enterprise! If this is the Truth, it is
all the more necessarry for the poor and the weak to come together for their
own betterment! The SCs&STs,
scattered and persecuted endlessly through out the history, right from the day
they finally lost their flourishing Indus Valley Settlements to the invading
crude nomadic Aryans, are highly emacipated, weak and personally helpless! The only advantages they have are their
Skilled Hands, Capacity to Work hard and long even in tiring sternous and
dangerous circumstances, Collective Emphirical Knowledge of their Lands Weather
Season Crops Agriculture Rivers Forests Hills and Valleys, Native Intelligence,
and most importantly their Innovative Capacities and large Numbers! If they are to be made full use of for their
own welfare, instead of being used by others for low wage labour, then they
have to come together, help each others and mutually support one another. This is possible only when they come
together on their own free volition, or are brought together and organised as
effevtive Cooperatives! In view of the
massive illiteracy, poverty and ignorance amongst the SC&ST Dalits
particularly in the Rural Areas, they are not united and hardly uderstand
Cooperatives to appreciate the full real and longtime benefits of the same, or
the way the dominant and organised caste hindus and business men take advantage
of Cooperatives for their personal benefits and mutual help, and often at the
cost of SC&ST Dalits and to block the benefits meant by the State to help
SC&ST Dalit Developments!
Inview of
the above there is an urgent necessity to organise the SC&ST Dalits into
various effective Cooperatives with full State Help, Guidanceand
Cooperation. Therefore, We Demand that the Government should Help SC&ST Dalits
and Organise them into Cooperatives with full Govt Assistance and Guidance of
honest Officials, right Experts, qualified Specilists and good Managers, and make them succeed to produce the desired results
early!
PUBLIC
DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
Agriculture
and Food Production in this Country have been sustained through out the known
history of the Nation, only by the SC&ST Dalits! With increasing monetarisation of every concievable things in
life including the wastes and discards, the Land Lords and other Feudal
Elements in this Country do no more leave anything for others! Even the wastes and discards are being
disposed off to convert them into money.
As a direct result of this, and the increasing commercialisation of
life, influence of the Media on the People, exposure to consumer goods required
and even unwanted or rarely used products, introduction of visible products
that are becoming status-symbols, every one needs more and more money these
days. Hence most of the people are
unwilling to part with any money. They
are also unwilling to throw away even totally sparable things that were either
purchased or produced earlier but in the course of time have become totally
useless and unwanted. They want to sell
them off as second hand objects, or as waste materials to get even a negligible
paltry sums! With the drying up of
local Ponds, Lakes and Rivers even fish in these water bodies and those
swimming into the fields with flowing the irrigation water is not available for
the poor. And the neighbourhood
Village Forests have all vanished long long ago. And with them have gone all the mushrooms, wild roots, jungle
fruits, small games, many fruits and other nutritious forest foods regularly
available, and which particularly sustained the poor SC&ST Dalits and OBCs
in times of failure of monsoons, drought and famine.
As a result
of these, the Landless SC&ST Dalit Agricultural Labourers have to rely and
live out of only the poor low labour wages which is often much below the Govt
fixed paltry Minimum Wages. This is the
main cause of hunger in the rural areas today and the severe malnutrition,
which even as per the Govt Figures has assumed very severe levels and moved up
to alarming proportions, affecting as much as one fourth of the Country's
Population. These in fact, is forcing
the people to leave the Villages, and Migrate into near by Towns, State
Capitals, Metropolitan Cities, the National Capital City of Delhi, and resort
to Seasonal Migrations to agriculturally rich States facing severe
shortages of man power. The situation is so severe that Rural India
may soon slip into sub-Saharan Situations.
This at a time when our godowns are full, markets are flooded with
grains, there are no buyers at the Minimum Support Price fixed by the Govt to
help the big rich farmers with large areas of lands and hence huge surpluses of
Grains. As the Govts are forced to buy
the Grains due to lobbying by well connected big powerful farmers, various
political reasons and compulsions on the Govts, there is no space to stock them
safely or even places to keep them properly, as the godowns are already
bursting at the seams from the procurement of the earlier years! Availability or shortage of Food Grains
therefore is now not a problem in this Country, for the hunger and malnutrition
of the SC&ST Dalits in the Country today!
Immediate
steps, therefore have to be taken urgently, to arrest these situations and
reverse such distrubbing trends. The
earlier Govts, having the right faith in Socialistic Methods of Governance,
could reasonably attend to many of the needs of Every Section of the Society
including the Weaker Sections, have established, evolved and developed a vey
good and fairly strong Public Distribution System all over the Country. This in fact is a big cause of envy of many
Countries of the World! This was
absolutely necessary in our highly stratified selfish internal looking Caste
Ridden Society controlled by dominant caste hindus, whose main and rather only
interest in life had been to retain perpetrate and perpituate their hold on the
Govt, influences in the Administration and control over the Society.
With
reduced Govt Responsibilities, its shrinking Soverign Areas of Influence,
Collapse of Rural Economy, entry of ruthless Foreign Multi-National Companies,
and all holds bared shameless cut throat competition amongst their compradore
agents in the Country - the Rural Poor including the much despised SC&ST
Dalits already suffering from massive discriminations both in life and death
would be left to suffer more and irreversably under the influence of Market
Forces whose agenda will be set by Individuals, Elements and Compulsions
outside the Nation. Already the
exploitative Indian Industry and Business, unable to face International
Competition both in variety quality and price, is seeking severe reductions in
the cost of labour and power. Yes,
those are the same baniyas who till the other day were singing the tune of
their International Partners and Masters, for Guarantees from the Central and
State Govts, to buy and take their Power at much higher prices! Such are their double standards in life and
business. But all these bode ill for
the Rural Poor. Hence the PDS should be
strengthened expanded and taken to all the Rural Areas. And We
Demand that the PDS be expanded all over Rural India and Strengthened, and
every SC&ST Dalit Family irrespective of their earnings should be assured
of Cereals Grains Pulses and Oil at controlled prices.
COMPULSORY
DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD GRAINS TO THE POOR UNDER A NEW PROGRAMME OF -
WORK FOR FOOD
At times of
Crises like failure of monsoons drought famine and other Natural Calamities,
except massive Flood and Earth Quake when large numbers of People are affected
Govts promptly come up with Food for Work Programmes. This means, that Govt takes up some Relief Works to create some
Public Facilities and Community Assets, engage the affected poor and helpless
in such works even with out any seperate or big budgetory allocations, and in
lieu of wages directly provide them food grains to eat. But this requires some Planning at the local
level, administrative works like approvals of these Plans. This, unless there are some committed
officials at the helm of affairs, or there are strong Political Pressures on
the State, or huge public outcry forcing the Govt and Administration to move
into action, or the problem is under media focus - takes time, and hence the
Food for Work Programmes generally do not take off immediately in the face of
any crisis.
The only
exceptions, to the above are in the case of massive floods, cyclones, earth
quakes etc, in which case food directly or grains etc are supplied almost
immediately after the tragedy free of any returns like Work and Creation of
Public Assets. Hence Planning and the
long lethargic wait for Projects and Relief Works to be identified, administrative
approvals are not required. These are
the times when massive bunglings and treacherous unaccountable swindling take
place, and many small and insignificant business men and politicians over night
become rich important and influential.
Even in such tragedies and calamity situations of sufferings, there had
been large number of complaints, reports and studies, as to how some poor
helpless neglected sections of the society have been further neglected, and
relief help and succour have not been provided to them.
In the
normal times, or in slightly bad times, when the poor SC&ST Dalits only are
affected, and the others do not suffer much or severely, no help forthcomes at
all. The affected poor SC&ST Dalits
have to find some relief through some training and employment under some of the
Community Development Programmes, renamed and modified from time to time under
various names such as Rozgar Yojna, and Food for Work Programmes. Oftentimes the much desired help and relief
do not reach the SCs&STs pushing them to sell even their fractional bits of
scrub land, homes, cattle, belongings, and into endless debts. Some even are known to have sold their
infants, young children. There are
cases where daughters have been forcibly taken away, and they have been forced
to sell their women, including at times part with their wives. So severe, ruthless, cruel and inhuman are
the Rural Land Lords and other Feudal Elements.
In view of
the above, and there are no takers for the food grains reaching the market after
the harvest now, and the already bursting godowns as there are no takers for
these, instead of forcing the farmers to resort to distress sale to the
baniyas, or allowing the grains to go waste, and to allow the already stored
stocks from the earlier years procurement, all Rural Officials must be asked to
compulsorily distribute the Food Grains to the Starving and the Hungry, and in
lieu take work from them to create assets.
Hence the priority shifts from Work Planning by the Officials, to
distribution of Food Grains to the Poor and Hungry! And also the onus to Create Assets and show Results shifts on to
the Officials in the Rural Areas! This
even if it does not all the Problems of Leakages of the Food Grains to the
Local Markets etc and other forms of corruption, will considerably improve the
availability of some relief to the poor and helpless SCs&STs. Also, this will be a very Productive Use of
the Food Grains locked up in the godowns for years, which otherwise would go
bad rot and become a sheer waste. This
incidentally will release in the already existing godowns itself some storage
space, which is now badly wanted, for stocking the fresh arrivals of Food
Grains in the market. This would be
thus beneficial to one and all in the society.
Hence, We Demand
Compulsory Distribution of Food Grains to the poor weak helpless SCs&STs,
and in return they be engaged in building the Social Infrastructures, Community
Assets and Public Facilities, UNDER A TOTALLY
NEW SC&ST DALIT PROGRAMME OF - WORK
FOR FOOD
INCREASED
BUDGETARY ALLOCATIONS TO TSP AND SCP ON THE BASIS OF THE CENSUSES LIKE 2001 AND
YEARLY PROJECTIONS THERE AFTER
The one
good beneficial Part of our Planning and Social Welfare Schemes is the Tribal
Areas Sub-Plan, to develop the Tribal Areas and improve the social
infrastructures, community assets and
public facilities available to the Tribals living there in. Similarly for the benefit of the Scheduled
Castes, there is the Special Component Plan all over the Country. In spite of the many weaknesses in the
system, delays, corruption etc, these two Schemes - TSP and SCP are of much
importance. However, the Results
achieved are not commensorate with the expectations, desires and what needs to
be done! Just look at the
Rehabilitation of the Refugees from Punjab and Sind who poured in like a
torrent in the early days of our Independence!
And see the Tibetan Refugees who came in like a flood! Many ofthem came with nothing more than the
clothes on them. And see how they are
today. Today they have become
employers, emmploying the same local people whose help they had taken for food
shelter survival and jobs when they came!
Don't tell us that they are all hardworking! There can be no one more hard working than the poor landless
agricultural and other manual SC&ST Dalit Labourers! How then these Dalits could not develop,
while all those West Pakistan and Tibetan Refugees have developed so fast to
become land owners, house owners, car owners and employers employing many of
the local people? We don't want to be
crude and say that these Refugees had taken many unfair and unpleasant short
cuts. But the fact is that the Govt was
serious in their Development, Administration took personal and active interest
in their Rehabilitation, Growth, Welfare and Total Wellbeing. Senior Officials involved themselves whole
heartedly, coordinating with various departments agencies authorities and
officials belonging to them, that concentrated and focussed attention, action,
monitoring, timely correction all were possible. Most importantly, things were not left to the whims and fancies
of the lower level functionaries like assistants clerks and peons. As a result many red tapism, unwanted
delays, petty corruption, loss of time, and leakage of funds etc could be checked
and arrested. Thus, great progress were
achieved, in short time, and with much less investment of funds, but in
required amount almost at the right times.
In the case
of STs and SCs huge amount of funds were spent during the last 50 years, though
not all of them were actually invested for the Development of the SC&ST
Communities, for whom they were meant!
The money spent were spread out so thinly over a wider area, that too
not in any way in proportion to the urgent needs and seriousness of the local
problems. There were also considerable
amount of loss of funds due to corruption, leakages and diversion of funds to
benefit the officials contractors etc!
More than these the Programmes were left to languish in the hands of
petty individuals in Govt!
The
evolution of Schemes like TSP and SCP, are a step or two forward in the right
direction. But these alone are not
sufficient to attend to the problems, sufferings and handicaps of the huge
number of 260 million plus SCs&STs in the Country. Even after 50 years of the establishment of
the Indian Republic, the SC&ST Dalits not only do not get the attention
they deserve, their problems require urgently, but also they do not get even
proportionate Allocation of Funds. The
Ministry looking after their interests are in the wrong hands! They are systematically divided both
vertically and horizontally, as SCs and STs, Buddhist Dalits, Christian Dalits,
Muslim Salits, Sikh Dalits, and Dalits who still foolishly do not believe in
any of these Liberating Religions, even after Baba Saheb Dr Ambedkar's Call and
personal Example to leave the caste dominated brahmin controlled feudal society
with archaic values. The Planning
Commission, the super specilised Govt within the Govt, to cut and prune the
Plans Proposals and Schemes of all the Ministries in the Govt, does not have a
Seperate Cell for SCs&STs. They had
a namesake Backward Classes Cell with hardly two or three Officers. Now with the recognition of Backward Classes
also, this Backward Class Cell looks after the Welfare, Interests and
Development of 260 plus million of SCs&STs, around 600 million Other
Backwad Classes of Mandal Commission, with just six or seven officers headed by
an officer of the rank of only a Joint Secretary. That now is a Woman, only a stenographer basically, and because
of her closeness and proximity and access to senior officials as a Steno, she
could worm her way up to the level of Joint Secretary to many people's
surprise, that too by-passing many, more qualified, eligible, better
experienced, capable, progressive, and dynamically thinking officials. And this Govt which divides and seperates
all SC&ST Departments, seperately into the ones for the SCs and STs, is
very comfortable with just, not even an handful of officials to deal with the
massive 860 plus million STs, SCs and OBCs.
Hence, at the present stage We hope not to get anything better from the
Govt. The minimum they could do is to
provide for Funds for both the TSP and SCP as per the current Population
Percentages of STs and SCs in different States and UTs, and Regions with in the
States, as per the updated projections every year of the latest available
Census like that of 1991, or the ongoing enumerations of 2001 when
completed. That is the Minimum that had
to be done to do some Justice to SCs&STs.
And the over all Budgeting at the National Level, should be as on date
10% for TSP, and 20% for SCP. In fact
the Fund Allocations should be much higher, weighted according to the
backwardness sufferings problems and handicaps of the STs and SCs in each
State/UT.
In view of the above, We
Demand Budgetary Provision of Minimum 10% and 20% of the Total Budget, for TSP
and SCP respectively, and priority Release of the Funds on the First April of
every year. We also Demand that the
Funds Budgeted for TSP and SCP, be utilised by the States and UTs, only for TSP
and SCP Works without any Diversion,
uniformly every twelve months from the 1st of April to the 31st of March
of the subsequent year, instead of the present trend of crowding the release of
Funds and utilisation in the last few months of the Financial Year.
LAW ON
RESERVATIONS AS AN ENFORCEABLE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT UNDER ART 16 OF THE
CONSTITUTION
There is
Total Confusion today on the Reservation Front in the Country everywhere. From Politicians to Bureaucrats and
Administraors, starting from the Cabinet Secretary to the lowly Assistants
Clerks and Peons, including the SC&ST Beneficiaries themselves, to the
Academicians Students and the coomon man, are all confused today. Much more than them, the Courts and Judges
from the lowest ones to the highest Apex Court in the Country - the Supreme
Court and the Judges there in are at sea, whenever any Case on Reservation come
up before them. Hence they are
personally influenced by factors not made known, vague personal information
they have or had heard somewhere sometime, than on facts, legal points, Law and
the Constitution, and the Spirit with which the Constitution was made! How on earth otherwise, can one now question
the Reservation Provision that came out of the Round Table Conferences upto
1932! After all, they were thread bare
discussed at the highest levels by legal luminaries, political leaders, and at
the very top by Gandhi with Baba Saheb Dr BR Ambedkar. The agreement reached after such detailed
vexed debates, were inked in 1932, as the Yerawada Agreement or the Poona
Pact. And these were finally
incorporated in the Govt of India Act 1935.
And these were some of the Basic Foundations of the Agreement with the
Imperial British Govt, that led to the Indian Independence Act. Now to question such an important issue is
much more than re-writing the History of the Nation. In fact it is nothing but trying to Reverse the History of the
People, and negating the very basis of our Independence and Freedom.
Apart from
the above, there is the sickening problem of the innumerable Lawyers from all
sides who want to fish out of the confused muddy situtaion, and fleece their
clients on either side. Unaware of even
the time tested centuries old minimum administrative procedures and rules
governing even a peon in Govt, these Lawyers and Judges cause so much of
confusion and disturbances, that a Total Administrative Collapse in this
Country is being hastened by the Courts by their super Judgements over and
above the Parliament, Constitution and Constituent Assembly! This they are ignorantly or merrily doing
these days, without either understanding the Rules and Procedures, or getting
appropriate advice specifically on them.
Even Parliament depends on Experts, Parliamentary Committees, Joint
Parliamentary Forums on important matters and issues that come up before them
after detailed debates and examinations by officials and experts. Even the Constituent Assembly had the
benefit of so many Committees and sub-Committes. Where as now the Courts, instead of referring back with their
observations, complex issues for time bound detailed examination comments and
advice by Govt, or real good honest independent Experts from different sections
of the society, or the Parliament which
is the Supreme Law Making Body in the Country today, make their own irrational
laws and pronounce Judgements of far reaching consequences, based on their
limited knowledge or facts brought before them, or the deliberate and
directionless stirrings and confusions by the Lawyers and their Clients. Thus the end result depends purely whatever
little the Judges make out of these confusions and on the basis of what little
part of the Administrative Law they know otherwise due to their limited
personal knowledge of casual exposure to the problems of their family members
relatives and friends.
It is as a
direct result of the above situtaions, the Supreme Court had decided and upheld
a totally wrong and new percept in the Ajit Singh I and II Judgements, to fix
the Seniority and Future promotions of SCs&STs at higher levels grades and
posts. An unique concept applicable to
only All India Services and Multi-Cadre Central Services in some Ministries,
not applicable or concerned at all even to other superior higher Services
recruited on an All India Competetive Examinations basis by the UPSC, has been
in an irresponsible manner and senseless way, imposed on all including the
lower class III and Class IV Employees.
The Pandora's Box they had opened up almost ignorantly is going to cause
serious problems, and throw up thousands of deliberate causes aimed at getting
something by stirring deliberately the already confused muddy situation. And the Lawyers and Courts would then create
much more complications, leading many appeals and further appeals endlessly!
The above
said Ajit Singh Cases had heavily relied on a similar totally confused and
wrong Decision and further Decisions by the Supreme Court. There, based on lack of clarification of the
right Procedures and Practices being followed in the lowest levels of
Promotions in Class IV and Class III Posts, and the Orders issued by the
Railways for Promotions of Lower Level Guards, the Supreme Court had enunciated
its own funny outlandish Principle on Seniority, and applying that Norm to even
higher Levels of Promotions of Senior Grade Guards. This, though the Procedures and Practices of Promotions at the
Lower Levels of Guards, are not applicable at the Higher Levels of Guards and
their Promotions, they being governed by seperate and distinct type of Rules,
Guidelines, Norms, Practices and Procedures.
Not only that this confused percept of lower level Class IV and Class
III Rules have been extended to all Posts, Grades, Levels even in the hihger
levels of Class III and CLass II Posts, right upto the Highest Posts in
Railways, but also all over in Govt of India and the States and UTs. These have turned topsy turvy every norm in
the Govts and the hitherto practiced time tested normal and rational
principles!.
Fifty Years
of existance as a big Republic, fifty three years of functioning as an
Idependent Nation, and sixty five years of operation of Reservations for the
Dalits right from Govt of India Act 1935, has not changed the minds and
attitudes of the dominant caste hindus, to behave honestly, responsibly, truly
and sincerely with unbiased fairness towards SCs&STs to render them Justice
as human beings! As a result, the Dalits
still feel unwated allienated and persecuted.
Not only they feel so, but suffer immensely and irreperably from various
forms discriminations and exploitations - sometimes open cruel and inhuman,
perpetrated in broad daylight in front of many people in crowded public places;
and at other times more subtle sophisticated and not quantifiable. Both of course, coming down heavily on the
Dalits, with out any little indication and almost as a sudden shock and
surprise. The Dalits, who were earlier
discriminated and kept aside as being unequal and even unfit to be even treated
as human beings due to the prevailing social outlook and community values and
hence not considered for any good position, are nowbeing deliberately rejected
and neglected without any consideration and accomodation, as being out of mark,
on the ground that the Constitution had declared every one including them as
Equal, and hence they should not be given or treated in any way special. The aim and attitude of the small number of
dominant people in the society are clear - Keep the SCs&STs still out at a
safe distance, on some consideration or the other, on some account or the
other, one way or the other and at any cost, least they also come up and prove
their metal capacity and usefulness. What
a State of Mind in the 21st Century of the Third Millennium? And look at the extent of their Fear of the
poor helpless resourceless powerless and weak SC&ST Dalits!
The
Arguments used by the dominant caste hindus discriminating and suppressing the
growth and development of SC&ST Dalits, are so skewed irrational and
inconsistant, that they are not worth mentioning documenting or answering!
1. Many of them now say, that the SC&ST
Dalits have to be carefully kept out as they are not capable and equal to them,
though the Constitution, Law, Courts and Govts have declared them otherwise
Equal. Being Equal, they should not be
given any consideration, or any special assistance. But they being otherwise unequal, they should be kept outside the
Govt, away from the Corridors of Power, and out of the Offices of
importance. Otherwise the performance
of the Govt will come down! But what
have been their Performance during the last fifty three and half years? Shameful to say the least! Look at the dirt, filth, neglect,
inefficiency, incompetance, corruption, nepotism, failures and collapse of the
System Govts and Govt machineries everywhere!
2. Some say, the SC&ST Dalits have to be
kept out at all costs, as otherwise the SCs&STs will overtake them soon and
move forward! Such is their fear of
SCs&STs whom they otherwise say are inefficient, incmpetant and unequal!
3. Some others say, that since Govts' Policy
is to help the SCs&STs, it becomes bounden duty and they have to
specifically discriminate and harass them, to keep them down and boud from
developing and growing, to keep up and maintain the Traditional Norms and
Social Equilibrium between the castes.
4. Most of them feel that if SC&ST
Dalits are allowed to develop, their hay days will be numbered, and their
future will be over.
In any case
the dominant castes have spread so much of venom distrust fear and confusion in
the society, official and acdemic circles, that people including Politicians,
Officials, Academicians and also the educated SC&ST themselves are totally
confused about the origin purpose thrust and extent of the Reservations! Many think that it is Concession. Others think it is a Compensation. Most of the People think it is an help to
the few educated SCs&STs to get education employment and good salaries and
also pro,otions for personal growth and development! Many consider it as a Fundamental Right conferred on the
SCs&STs by some specific Provisions in the Constitution. Well many adjectives, phrases etc can be
used by writers and speakers to figuratively simplify their explanation of the
Reservations and Reservation Policy of the Govt. The Concept of Reservations are much more deeper important and of
far reaching consequence. Its roots run
deeper into the Liberal Ideas of Society, State, Nation, Govt, Citizenship and
Human Rights! Can Reservations be
abolished by deleting those Provisions in the Constitution under which
Reservations are being made today by the Govt for the SCs&STs? Will Reservations then become illegal and
ultra-viros of the Constitution? Can
the SC&ST Dalits be denied Equality, Equal Opportunities, Equal Jobs, Equal
Promotions, Equal Wages etc? No! Never!
As long as the SC&ST Dalits are conscious, their thinkers teachers
and academicians keep their eyes open, their theoretians are conscious and their
politicians are awake, no body caan deny them equal jobs in equal number,
whether the Constitution says so or not, and the Reservation Rules exist or
not! Look at the way the Number of
certain Backward Classes in Power in Politics as Chief Ministers and Ministers
in the States/UTs and at the Center!
This when they have no Plitical Reservations today! Look at the manner in which they take away
for themselves the Posts of Governors, Vice Chancellors, CEOs of many
Organisations etc, with out Reservations!
That Vigilance, that Consciousness, that Lobbying, that Assertion, that
Claim and ultimately Realisation of their Share is all what Politics is all
about! That is the meaning of a
Republic! That is the way and reality
of Democracy! If a section of People
choose to remain as a Subject Citizens, the Society will treat them as
Untouchables, and the Govt will then neglect them playing to the tune of
dominant castes and groups of castes,
in power and influence!
Resrvation
is therefore No Concession! No body
gives any Concession to any one im the World, without strings! And no one has any power or authority and
competance to give any Concession to any People in a Democracy! May be to individuals, Yes! But not to any Group or Section of
People! Definitely not to a large
Continental Size Population of 260 plus million of SC&ST Dalits! Nor is this a Compensation! Who Compensates whom and what for? To what extent? If We have the Power we take something, our due proportions, or
even everything! It depends on how We
use our Power and Knowledge! No one
gives us omething which We do not deserve!
No one is going to agree to any of our placements for which We are not
Qualified! No one is going to give us
anything because our parents or our forefathers have suffered, or We ourselves
have suffered in our early days! If
nothing such happens, how then can anyone say that Reservation is a
Compensation? To get anything in life
one has to struggle! Raise voices
about the Problems! The People in the
Community have to raise themselves to the challenges. All have to fight collectively by themselves for their rights
when the occassion comes! This many of
us did under the Leadership of our Messiah, Baba Saheb Dr BR Ambedkar! And he could get us Political Educational
and Job Reservations! He who came into
the Constituent Assembly after great struggles facing endless trials
tribulations and oppositions, just to protect the interests of We the Dalits,
in the end was asked to frame the Constitution! And he did a fine jib, incorporating in it all the Noble
Principles of Liberal Thoughts, Civil Society and Civilised Nations believing
in Peace, Justice, Welfare of the People and Development.
Baba Saheb
had ensured that the Indian Constitution starts with a Public Declaration,
assuring all the People the Four Basic Principles of Liberty. Justice, Equality
and Fraternity, and a Proclamation that the Country will be a Democratic
Republic! That We have not realised
yet, inspite of fifty years, is our fault!
That We should have by now ensured a reality for us in our lives, by
ourselves! That failure still, is
equally our fault, as much as it is due to the hurdles and road blocks, and the
biases and prejudices of the dominant caste hindus, with vested interests in
our Backwardness, social bondage, sufferings backwardness, and ignorance!
Constitution
assures us Equality and Justice, not in an abstract sense, but in a practical
manner through the Constitutional Methods of Legal Percept and Practice! Hence he had bound the State to Provide
Equality, Prevent Discrimination, Ensure Equal Opportunity, vide Articles 14,
15 and 16. At the same time he had
qualified them by further binding the State to make Special Provisions for the
Advancement of all Backward Class of People.
And this Backward Class of People, in the mind of Baba Saheb, in the
Pages of the Constitution, and hence in the eyes of the Law, before the Govts
and for the Court, is clearly defined as those who are Educationally and
socially Backward. Not only that, they
specially are and like the SCs&STs of the Country! He had further qualified these by saying
that the Special Provisions should be made by the Govt for those Backward
Classes who are not Adequately Represented in the State! Otherwise, this Nation of historic
discriminations injustices and oppressions, would have further swallowed these
Special Provisions meant basically for the benefit of SCs&STs and for the
dominant caste hindus to change and end all their historic discriminatory practices. These therefore adequately prevent any
manipulative biased corrupt individuals and groups, from benefitting their own
poor people claiming them to be Backward, financially, economically,
physically, educationally, intellectually etc.
Thus, in these three basic Special Articles, adequately qualified to
prevent distortions, and in subsequent Articles at many other places in the
Constitution Baba Saheb had made it clear what the Direction of Development and
Growth of this Country should be!
It is under
the above considerations, Reservations are being made for We SCs&STs all
along in the Indian Republic! And now
for the OBCs also. But habbits and
prejudices die hard, and hardly ever vanish!
That is the main reason that now the Reservations are under severe
attack from all quarters, particularly from the biased prejudiced intollerant
dominant caste hindus in the society, in dominat advantageous and controlling
positions in the bureaucracy and Govt!
It appears that they have become more virulent after the acceptance of
the Mandal Commission! The inevitable
Reservations for OBCs provided for in the Constitution as adopted in 1949,
deferred some how or ther for more than four decades at the center, have shaken
them out, and they have become more jittery! But at the same time We must accept our own failures,
indifference, act in anticipation to pre-empt their attacks and manipulations,
or at least act collectively when under attack. We never seem to learn a lesson!
We often bark at the wrong trees.
We often presume that the dominant caste hindus are holy and reasonable
people! And it is because of the
implementation of one or two of the Mandal Commission's Recomendations the
dominant caste hindu controlled bureaucracy at the Center, and the Courts which
appear to be the last preserve and a strong bastion of the caste hindus, have
turned aggressively against us! Unable
to understand the social, political and legal dynamics of the caste hindus, We
appear to be taking or finding some comfort by blaming again and again the Govt
and Courts for accepting upholding and implementung Mandal Commission
Reservations for OBCs. We hardly
realise the basic features of Democracy, in which Baba Saheb had reposed so
much faith, expecting that it would be taken adavatage of by We his People, and
deliver ourselves with the healp of both the Constitution and Democracy, and if
necessary by using Law and the Courts!
While We are lax inspite of history, Baba Saheb's long struggles, Constitution
and Law on our side, the dominant caste hindus unable to digest our development
growth and welfare are making use of their vigilance, semantic manipulative
confusing arguments, representatives in Bureaucracy, Courts and Govts to defeat
us, water down Reservations and hold us back without any Legal and
Constitutional backing at all. Instead
of mobilising all our strength, collective wisdom etc, We are getting
demoralised saying that We can not help ourselves as the Judges are prejudiced
against us! If the Judges are
prejudiced, then it is all the more resaon why We should work more and hard,
and force the Judges to listen and do Justice to us. Otherwise We should embarass and shame them at the right
fora! Weeping won't do! Complaining in private will not help
us!
The basic
lacuna in the present time is the apparent Legal Vaccum! There is no Central Law passed by the
Parliament yet, Governing Reservations!
This inspite of fifty years of our existance as a Republic and the
hundreds of cases filed against SCs&STS, and against the Govts for
SC&ST appointments, promotions etc!
Therefore, We demand a
Central Law on Reservations under Article 16 of the Constitution. We also demand that all Reservation Cases
should be taken out of the perview of ordinary courts, and entrusted to Special
Courts established for this very purpose!
RESERVATIONS
IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, ESPECIALLY IN ALL UNIVERSITY EDUCATION AND SUPER
SPECIALITY COURSES
This Indian Sub-Continent is the Land of the SC&ST
Dalits! It is not inappropriate to call
this DALIT INDIA. Dalits are born in
this Land, Work with this Land, Grown with this Land, Live on this Land, and
Die in this Land! In fact originally
all the SC&ST Dalits on death go into the Land, as Sitha born to the Earth
as the Land opened up while King Janak was ploughing it ultimately went back
into it! Even after about 3000 years of
suffering under the domination ofthe caste hindus, SC&ST Dalits in most
parts of the Country, invariable bury their dead! Inspite of endless conquests by aggressive forces which came into
India through out the long history of this Nation, bringing in their own new
Cultures Customs Religions Work etc, Dalits are still wedded to the land. They still work the land, eat out of the land,
and feed the entire Nation, even as they are born grow live work struggle fight
and ultimately go back into the land on their death, inspite of their
denigration and condemnation by the scriptures of their main oppressors, the
caste hindus, who consider working the land - either by ploughing for
cultivation, or digging for mining - a sin, violating the health wholeness
sanctity and virginity of mother goddess Earth, one of the Five Most Important,
rather fundamental deities of the Aryans!
Shrewdly
enough, the exploitating caste hindus while on the one hand condemn the
SC&ST Dalits for Cultivation and Mining, have reserved these two jobs to
only SC&ST Dalits, so as to ensure uninterrupted Food Supply to themselves
and their own families! For SC&ST
Dalits, even when they are landless - almost all their land having been usurped
by the dominating caste hindus long long ago - and some amongst them have taken
to new occupations like leather works, sweeping others places offices etc,
agriculture happens to be their main vocation! We all know that world over, Cultivation of Land for Food Grains
is not a profitable business, unless the Govt intervenes for the big farmers to
make profits! At least it is the least
profitable business! So that determines
the life and status in society of the SC&ST Dalits, many of them
subsistance level cultivators of insignificant peace of land, or landless
agricultural labour cultivating leased lands or for daily wages! Therefore the SC&ST Dalits can never
develop. There is no hope of they ever
lifting their heads and coming up in life!
They can not move into business or self employment, overnight!
In view of
the above all SC&ST Dalits, have to have adequate and good education for
their development. Yes, all education
including formal education, deliberately denied to them over the millennium by
the dominant caste hindus, till today.
Education, was opened up to the SC&ST Dalits, first time by the
Muslims in their Mothersas! Next by the
Missionaries! Finally by the Colonial
Rulers, with the help of Muslim Teachers when the brahmin teachers tried to
threaten and blackmail the Colonial Indin Govts by boycotting teaching in the
schools in protest against the Govt Decisions to admit a SC Dalit Boy into a
Govt School! What they failed to
achieve then under the Colonial Regime, they are effectively doing now in
Independent India where they are in power these days! Yes, this is what they are doing, as the Govts refuses to provide
even a reasonably good building for the Schools for SC&ST Dalits. They even refuse to build proper schools for
them, even when funds for the school buildings are sanctioned! The dominant caste hindu dominated
merritorious Govt Officials even fail to repair and maintain the schools
already built long ago! We often
wonder, how the roofs of many poorly maintained old Govt School Buildings are
not regularly coming down, crashing on the heads of the teachers and the
children studying there, killing many of them in a routine manner. The conditions of the Govt School Buildings
are that bad and dangerous in many parts of the Country!
To rub salt
into the injury, the caste hindu techers today refuse to teach their students
in the class rooms of the school! They
only prefer to provide private tutions in their homes, after the school hours
in the evening or night, or in early morning hours. If in spite of these some rare SC&ST Dalits come up in
studies, they are not provided adequate foundations in Language particularly
English, are not taught necessary Grammer, leaving them also poor in Mathematics,
and rendering them weak in Science!
Thus, with the majority in the Country being illiterate, or otherwise
poor in Languages, English, Grammer, Maths and Science, Education has become
the Biggest Joke in this Country today!
Thanks to all the merritorious dominant caste hindu Teachers and
Administrators of the Education Departments!
Added to that, SC&ST Dalit Students are systematically pushed into
Arts streams without Mathematics and Science, to ensure that they do not aspire
and compete for Engineering, Computers, Mathematics, Agricultural Sciences,
Management etc! And on the top of that,
some Judges say that there should not be any Reservations for SC&ST Dalits
and OBCs in Engineering, Medicine, Science, Management, Research etc! In short any Education which can lead to
good jobs, provide decent salaries and assure a respectable status, are to be
kept out of the reach of SC&ST Dalits!
The Apex Court shamelessly and indiscreetly says that Reservations for
SC&ST Dalits and OBCs should not be provided in Masters Degree Courses,
Super-Speciality Levels, for Research and PhD Degrees in Engineering Medicine,
as the openings available in this Country in these spheres are limited! What a reasoning and what cunningness in the
Modern World!
The Judges
today are agreeable to Reservations, when there are large openings and
resultant unemployments! Otherwise, No
Reservations to SC&ST Dalits! The
Courts and the dominant caste hindu judges there in, have now come into the
open, to show their true colours and casteist mind! They, in the Modern World also, want to withhold all good
Education to SC&ST Dalits! Thus,
they are only restating the traditional caste hindu philosophy of No Formal
Education to SC&ST Dalits! And they
want to withhold all Knowledge from the SC&ST Dalits! For that, they want to use the Law and the
Courts, bound to Functon strictly with-in the limits of the four walls of the
Constitution that recognises SCs, STs and OBCs as special categories of people,
Promises them Education, Developments in every sphere, Provides for
Reservations, and all Justice! And the
Judges appointed under the Constitution, want to exactly deny these, and
particularly Justice to the SC&ST Dalits!
These type of Restrictions they want to impose on the SC&STDalits,
is not anywhere in the Constitution!
But they want to impose these on the Govt as a super law to Bind the
Constitution on their own, and blindfold the SC&ST Dalits into the future,
without any scope for Review! They are
recklessly making Case Laws of their own, as if they are above the
Constitution, and can go beyond the scope of the English Language and the
English Dictionaries that provide the exact meanings to every word in English
usage, with which the Constitution has been drafted. In a Democracy, they have no business to make their own laws,
nor deny a share in higher education to the large 860 million plus SCs&STs
and OBCs!
In view of
the above, We Deamnd RESERVATIONS IN ALL
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, ESPECIALLY IN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION AND SUPER
SPECIALITY COURSES.
Reservations
in all Public Limited Companies and also in the Private Sector, like the
Affirmative Action for the Blacks in USA
Reservations
must continue in all PSUs being Privatised, since they were funded and built up
with Public Investments from Govt Exchequer
RESERVATIONS
IN JUDICIARY UPTO THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FOR SC&ST DALITS, OBCs AND
WOMEN
The way Judges behave and deliver
Judgements against the SC&ST Dalits and OBCs, raise the Questions as to
whether the Courts, Judges and the whole Judiciary, are not accountable and
answerable to anyone today? Whether
they and the caste hindu Lawyers can, with total impunity, distort, flout, go
against and trample down the Constitution as they like? This are not just hypothetical Questions in
the air! They are actually doing these
now! Many of them, in the name of
interpretting the Constitution and the Laws, are attributing totally new and
allien unheard of meanings to the Constitution, and specific Constitutional Provisions. English, and Constitution today is becoming
a laughing stock in the hands of these Lawyers, Judges and Courts! It is high time that all of us sit up and
take note of these things, before it is too late. Here, we should recall the Prophetic Foresight and Warning of
Baba Saheb in the Constituent Assembly on 25th Nov 1949. Baba
Saheb, very rightly and appropriately quoted, in the course of building up his
logic and arguments for acceptance and adoption of the Constitution drafted by
the Constituent Assembly, delineated the Limits of the Courts, and the
Boundaries which the Judges Can Not Cross -
“Courts may modify, they cannot replace! They
can revise earlier interpretations - as new arguments, new points of view are
presented. They can shift the dividing
line in marginal cases, but there are
barriers they can not pass, definite assignments of power they can not
reallocate. They can give a broadening
construction of existing powers, but they cannot assign to one arbitrary
powers, explicitly granted to another.”
This Quotation by Honourable Baba Saheb Dr
BR Ambedkar himself in the Constituent Assembly on the 25th of November while
introducing his Motion for Adoption of our Constitution, is very relevant to us
today, as the intolerant reckless caste
hindu Judges are now showing signs of dictatorial tendencies, and are trying to
grab and centralise all Powers with them, by snatching them away from other
Independent Sovereign Institutions like the Parliament, and Authorities like
the Govt of India. The Judges, it appears are
definitely having much more dangerous, far deeper, clever and clear sinister
designs and plans! Perhaps, the Judges are planning a Coup to
subvert the Govt, Parliament and Democracy, and want to take over all Soverign
Powers! May be they want to create for
the future only puppet Govts, remote controlled by an oligarchy of old caste
hindu judges!
Whatever it may be, today the large number of SC&ST Dalits
and OBCs in the Country, are fast loosing faith in the caste hindu dominated
Courts! In any case, the SC&ST Dalits and OBCs, are today not
willing or ready to repose their faith and trust in the hands of a few old
judges, who refuse to be unbiased and function with complete neutrality, to
let their traditional historic biases against the SC&ST Dalits and also the
OBCs show up only too frequently, and that too openly. As a
Democracy, We just can not ever afford to, or be allowed to be dictated and
driven by a bunch of individuals, however great intelligent wise and
experienced they may be! We and our
SC&ST and OBC Members of Parliament,
should never pledge or surrender the rights dignity and future of 260 million
SC&ST Dalits, and the near 600 million OBCs of this Country, to the
biases prejudices intolerance and hatred of any of these great wise men and
women. Once again in this connection,
we can fall back on that famous Speech of 25th November 1949, and recall Baba
Saheb Dr BR Ambedkar, when he respectfully and in all humility, quoted John
Stuart’s caution -
....... all who are interested in the maintenance of
Democracy, namely, not “to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man,
or trust him with powers which enable him to subvert their institutions”
Honourable Baba Saheb’s Statement and Mill’s Quotation
here were of course directed at and towards powerful and charismatic Political
Personalities, and not to the Judges.
For, none even in their wildest of dreams ever thought that the Judges would
be so greedy of grabbing the rights, privileges and duties of the Govt, and the
privileges and powers of the Parliament.
Hence, it is a very very
sad day that, we had to now Quote, both of them in the context of the actions
of the Courts and Judges in this Country, vis-à-vis the large number of poor
and weak SC&ST Dalits and OBCs. Yes, it is really sad! And we feel extremely agitated, sad and
ashamed of the actions, doings and pronouncements of the Judges. They are trying to be the evil
incarnations of the old Manu, the dangerous and distorted law giver of the
ancient times, who basically had destroyed the Indian Society, and the Great
Indian Nation of the great native Indus Valley Civilisation People. Therefore
it is necessary to now rethink, and assert the Authority of the Parliament and
People before the Courts, least it be too late in the day.
The only pratical way is to make the
Courts representative of the Society. A
beginning should therefore be made by making Reservations in all the Courts
upto the Supreme Court of India, for SC&ST Dalits,OBCs and Women! Therefore, We Demand, RESERVATIONS IN
JUDICIARY UPTO THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA FOR SC&ST DALITS, OBCs AND WOMEN
Judges posted in every High Court should reflect the
Percentages of SCs, STs and OBCs in that State/UT
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