Thursday, March 11, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Please Attend a Meeting on Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub Plan on 17th March 2010, In Sundarayya Vignana Kendram, Baglingam Pally- Hyderabad [1 Attachment]

 
[Attachment(s) from Karthik Navayan included below]

Dear Friends in Hyderabad

National Dalit Forum is Organizing a meeting with all SC ST organizations and Leaders, Activists to discuss the implementation status of Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub Plan

Date: 17th March 2010
Venue: Sundarayya Vignana Kendram Mini Hall

Time: 5: 30 PM 

All of you are requested to be present in the meeting and share your views and suggestions towards pressurizing the governments for the proper implementation of Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub Plan

 A detailed Telugu pamphlet on the implementation status of SCP and TSP is attached with this mail with programme details  kindly go through it

 

Thanks and Regards

 

Karthik Navayan

Programme Officer

National Dalit Forum

--

--
B.Karthik Navayan,
Advocate,
H.No. 21-7-761,
Opp.High Court Post Office,
Gansi Bazar, Hyderabad,
PIN-500002, AP.
Cell:09346677007,Email:navayan@gmail.com
http://sites.google.com/site/karthiknavayan/home
http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Profile.aspx?uid=10379805095932756525

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Attachment(s) from Karthik Navayan

1 of 1 File(s)

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[ZESTCaste] Ex-minister joins Maoist party praising its work to uplift Dalits

 

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/news-archive/2-political/4657-ex-minister-joins-maoist-party-praising-its-work-to-uplift-dalits.html

Ex-minister joins Maoist party praising its work to uplift Dalits
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:29

A former assistant-minister and Nepali Congress central member Hari
Shanker Pariyar has joined the Unified CPN (Maoist) party on Thursday.

Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal welcomed the former assistant
minister including former District Education Officer Bal Bahadur
Pariyar, former regional member of Nepal Peasants' and Workers' Party
Chakraman Biswokarma and UML's Lal Bahadur Pariyar and Kamal Raj
Luintel into the party in a ceremony organized at the party
headquarters, Paris Danda today.

Dahal assured the new entrants that they will be given
responsibilities as per their capabilities inside the party. He also
praised the sacrifice made by the Dalit community during the
insurgency period.

"However, the Dalit community have still not been liberated from the
age-old oppression and the struggle (to free them) is still on," Dahal
said.

Speaking at the ceremony, former minister Pariyar recounted the bitter
experiences of the discriminations he faced in the village even though
he was a chairman of the District Development Committee.

"Not only are we poor, we have to bear the stigma of being
untouchables too," he said, and reminded everyone that it was because
of the Maoists that for the first time in Nepal's history 50 Dalits
became members of the Constituent Assembly. nepalnews.com

Readers are kindly requested to avoid using offensive language and
also refrain from issuing threats to others.

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[ZESTCaste] Govt succumbs to Yadav brigade

http://www.bloombergutv.com/news/latest-business-news-india/46776/govt-succumbs-to-yadav-brigade.html

Govt succumbs to Yadav brigade

Amritanshu Rai, Bloomberg UTV
Published on Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 20:44 IST

The FM assured the Lok Sabha that the Women's Bill will be introduced
in the house only after an all-party consultation


NEW DELHI: The opposition to the women's quota bill threatens to block
the passage of other bills in the Parliament. Now the govt has sought
a meeting with all political parties on the issue to break the
deadlock. Today, the Finance Minister Pranab Mukharjee assured the Lok
Sabha that the Women's Bill will be introduced in the house only after
a consultation with all political parties.

Normalcy returned to the Lok Sabha after four days of disruptions by
Samajwadi Party and the RJD which have been opposing the bill in the
present form and demanding quota for dalits and Muslims.

The breakthrough came after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.held
talks with SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD leader Lalu Prasad and
JD(U) President Sharad Yadav.

SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said, "Congress MPs are crying, they are
saying we have been forced to sign on our death warrant."

RJD leader Lalu Yadav concurred, "Till the time dalits and Muslims
don't get reservation we will oppose it.

The opponents appeared to be satisfied with the government assurance,
but this assurance has upset the supporters of the women's bill.

The resolution of the deadlock will allow the govt to complete its
budget related bussiness. The govt's target is to pass 3 finace bills
and the vote on account, before the parliament breaks for recess on
March 16.


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[ZESTCaste] Seema leaders prefer T to Andhra

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Seema+leaders+prefer+T+to+Andhra&artid=SRSLWFbc5R8=&SectionID=e7uPP4%7CpSiw=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=EH8HilNJ2uYAot5nzqumeA==&SEO=

Seema leaders prefer T to Andhra

Express News ServiceFirst Published : 11 Mar 2010 05:19:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 11 Mar 2010 09:03:31 AM IST

HYDERABAD: A considerable number of people's representatives from the
Rayalaseema region, belonging to the Congress and the Praja Rajyam,
prefer Telangana to Andhra in the event of bifurcation of the State.


This new twist to the Telangana tangle emerged at a meeting of
Congress and Praja Rajyam's Rayalaseema leaders at a hotel here on
Wednesday. They decided to submit their views to Justice Srikrishna
Committee and also agreed to ensure that all of them stick to the
stand.

Nonetheless, their first priority would be to build a strong case
against division of the State. Almost all the members favoured a
united Andhra Pradesh. But just in case, a Telangana State became a
reality, the leaders felt the region would be better off being with
Telangana.

''We have every right to press for our demands since we have lost
Kurnool as the State capital in the past,'' they reasoned.

Former minister and senior Congress leader JC Diwakar Reddy stressed
the need to highlight 'injustice' that would be meted out to
Rayalaseema region in case the State headed towards a split.
''Rayalaseema will stand to lose if the State is divided into two.
Therefore, we should make our preference for a united State very clear
to the Srikrishna committee. If Rayalaseema and Andhra regions were to
be together, we will stand to lose.

Rayalaseema people will suffer since they will not get a drop of river
waters without the permission of Telangana people. As there are no
resources in Rayalaseema, we should ask for merger of Rayalaseema with
Telangana if the State is bifurcated,'' he suggested.

Government whip and Singanamala MLA S Sailajanath pitched for more
budgetary allocations to Rayalaseema.

Except for ministers and MPs, about 30 MLAs and MLCs (of Congress and
PRP) from the region attended the meeting. They decided to meet again
on March 18 to finalise the report to be submitted to the Srikrishna
committee next month.

Telugu Desam leaders did not attend the meeting.


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[ZESTCaste] Quota puts power in women

 

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/quota-puts-power-in-women-17346.php

Quota puts power in women

NDTV Correspondent, Sunday March 7, 2010, Tornalli village (Karnataka)

While the debate on Women's Reservation Bill gets hotter, here is a
case from a Karnataka village, of why a special quota can actually
ignite the hidden leadership spark in women.

Watching Muniratnamma work on the sewing machine, you wouldn't guess
she is the Panchayat president of seven villages. But she didn't know
her own worth until that day in 2005 when villagers forced this shy
tailor, then 20, to stand for elections for the reserved seat.

Her track record today - as her own woman and not a rubber stamp -
speaks for itself. Her three brothers and her father keep away from
her workplace.

"I tell them that Panchayat work is mine, house work is yours. You
should not come to the office even if I face difficulty in my
Panchayat work," she said.
A 10th standard pass Dalit woman, she earned the respect of her
village for what she has done, and for not who she is.
"They are definitely not puppets, let's not generalise. I train women
Panchayat members and I can tell you that 75 per cent do good work.
How much they struggle," said P Shilpa, Panchayat trainer, Sugrama
Federation.

But success didn't come easy for Muniratnamma, she too had to
struggle. Nine months into her term, Muniratnamma's own colleagues in
the Panchayat brought a no-confidence motion against her and took her
to court. But villagers stood by her.
"It is not at all wrong in giving 33 per cent reservation because
women work as hard as men," said Muniraju, a villager.

Muniratnamma is all of 25, single woman and a Dalit. She had to fight
against all these odds, mindsets and even a court case to stay where
she is, and win people's hearts. But if it were not for that reserved
seat in her village elections, this leader would have been just
another small-time tailor.

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[ZESTCaste] No data since 1931, will 2011 Census be all-caste inclusive?

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/No-data-since-1931-will-2011-Census-be-all-caste-inclusive/articleshow/5669801.cms

No data since 1931, will 2011 Census be all-caste inclusive?
TNN, Mar 11, 2010, 04.01am IST

NEW DELHI: Should India, after a lapse of 80 years, not revive the
practice of collecting data on all castes in the ensuing 2011 Census?
The proposal of collecting caste-wise data beyond SCs and STs has been
made in order to provide similar empirical support to quotas for OBCs
in government jobs and educational institutions.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Telugu Desam leader and former
Union cabinet minister K Yerrannaidu said that opposition to OBC
census often came from the very people opposing reservations. "They
would first not let you count OBCs in the census and then cite absence
of latest of latest census data as ground to oppose quota for OBCs,"
Yerrannaidu said.

Describing the present census arrangement as a "double-tongued
logjam", he said "OBCs are not responsible for the decision to abolish
caste wise census and therefore cannot be sufferers for the absence of
such data since 1931."
Since NSSO, an organization run by the Ministry of Statistics, already
conducted a sample survey of OBCs to make an estimate of unemployment
among them, Yerrannaidu asserted that there could not be any reason
for rejecting their demand for caste-wise census.

Brushing aside the apprehension that conducting caste-wise enumeration
would trigger casteism, he said, "Non-collection of caste data since
Independence has not transformed the Indian society into a casteless
one nor had it reduced the practice of caste system."

Yerrannaidu pointed out that even the Supreme Court had, in the
context of the 2007 legislation extending OBC quota to educational
institutions, conceded the need for caste wise census.

The court said, "There is no doubt and in fact it was fairly accepted
by additional solicitor general that there is need for periodic
identification of the backward citizens and for this purpose the need
for survey of entire population on the basis of acceptable mechanism.
What might have been relevant in 1931census may have some relevance
but cannot be the determinative factor."

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[ZESTCaste] Mayawati announces relief for UP stampede victims

 

http://netindian.in/news/2010/03/10/0005710/mayawati-announces-relief-stampede-victims

Mayawati announces relief for UP stampede victims

Submitted by admin2 on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 23:54
in National
NetIndian News Network
New Delhi, March 10, 2010
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati today announced a compensation
of Rs 2.50 lakh each for the next of kin of those who were killed in
the stampede at the Kripalu Maharaj ashram at Kunda in Pratapgarh
district on March 4.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow today, Ms Mayawati said Rs
75,000 would be paid to each of those who suffered serious injuries in
the incident.

As many as 63 persons - all women and children - had died in the
stampede and about 70 had suffered injuries.

Ms Mayawati said she had directed the officials to ensure that the
amount was delivered to the victims or their families within two days.

She also announced that the manager of the ashram, Hiranmay
Chatterjee, and two of its employees, Shiv Kumar and Amit, had been
arrested in connection with the incident.

The Chief Minister had earlier said that, because of the acute
financial difficulties being faced by the State Government, it would
not be able to pay compensation to the victims.

Referring to the ex-gratia payment of Rs two lakh announced by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh for the next of kin of those killed and Rs
50,000 for the seriously injured, Ms Mayawati accused the Centre of
trying to gain political mileage out of the tragedy and said the
amount had not been received by the State Government so far.

She went on to give details about the steps taken by her government to
handle the crisis after the stampede had occurred. She said she had
immediately directed the officers concerned to initiate rescue and
relief operations and two senior Cabinet Ministers, Naseemuddin
Siddiqui and Swami Prasad Maurya, had been directed to visit the spot
and supervise the relief operations.

Those killed in the stampede included 37 women and 26 children. More
than 10,000 people had gathered at the temple in the ashram for a
function. Many of them were attracted to the event by the offer of a
free meal, some utensils and clothes.

The function had been organised to mark the anniversary of the death
of the wife of Kripalu Maharaj, a well-known religious leader.

The stampede occurred when a gate, that was under construction and was
holding back hundreds of people, gave way suddenly and people surged
forward in waves. Scores of people were trampled in the mad rush.

NNN

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[ZESTCaste] Punjab minister asks Mamata, Mayawati to quit politics

 

http://sify.com/news/punjab-minister-asks-mamata-mayawati-to-quit-politics-news-national-kdkvEedbgjd.html

Punjab minister asks Mamata, Mayawati to quit politics

2010-03-10 21:40:00

Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla Wednesday
asked Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Mayawati to quit politics for opposing the Women's
Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha.

'Both the leaders have no moral right to contest any election in the
future. At least women should be strong enough in showing them the
door. They should not be forgiven for harming the interest of the
whole nation and in particular of the women,' said Chawla.

Terming both these politicians as 'opportunists', Chawla said: 'After
remaining in politics for so many years and enjoying full power, they
do not want to share power with other women. I urge all women to
beware of the nefarious designs of such women who were constantly
harming the interests of their counterparts.'

'It is unfortunate and rather shameful that after attaining freedom
more than 60 years ago, the male-dominated society has not given
adequate dignity to women,' she said.

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[ZESTCaste] Brinda reels off statistics to show OBC women not disadvantaged

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Brinda-reels-off-statistics-to-show-OBC-women-not-disadvantaged/articleshow/5665412.cms

Brinda reels off statistics to show OBC women not disadvantaged

10 Mar 2010, 0325 hrs IST, ET Bureau

Topics:BJP Brinda Karat Left parties Women Reservation Bill
NEW DELHI: If the UPA government managed to pass the Women's
Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, it was thanks to the BJP and Left
parties. EUPHORIC: Brinda Karat & Sushma Swaraj celebrate. (PTI)


Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, while
initiating the discussion on the legislation, extended his party's
full backing to the move. "The myth is that reservations create a
privileged society. The truth is that nature created all of us as
equals, the Constitution also provided equality. However, aberrations
in the society translated some equals into unequals,'' he said.

"Reservation, therefore, is an affirmative action which is intended to
wash away the reality of inequality and translate it into a vision of
equality. Those who have been made unequal will today become equal
participants in decision-making. Reservation quotas for women,
therefore, become an essential instrument to jump-start the process of
equality,'' Mr Jaitley said while making out a strong case for
empowering women.

He trashed anti-rotation murmurs and the 'quota-within-quota' demand
put forward by social justice parties. "Rotation is the most suitable
principle for sex-based reservation. It will ensure that in the 15
years, the life of this amendment, each constituency in the country
sends, at least once, a woman representative to Parliament. This will
increase the horizontal spread of activism,'' he argued.

Citing the Constitution, Mr Jaitley said it provides for caste-based
reservations only for SCs and STs, and not for OBCs and minorities as
demanded by the critics of the bill. "When there is no reservation for
other communities, there is no reason why there must be quotas for
women belonging to these communities."

Additionally, most candidates selected by political parties will
mirror the social character of the constituencies.''

Jayanthi Natarajan, while participating in the discussion on behalf of
the Congress, thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and the UPA for getting the bill passed in the Rajya
Sabha. "No other party or government had the guts to take it forward
and ensure that it became a reality,'' she said.

Ms Natarajan's claim was contested later by CPM member Brinda Karat,
who frowned on attempts by the Congress to appropriate sole credit for
the bill. "Please don't forget the contributions made by women's
organisations and groups over the years. They were also responsible
for getting the move on track,'' she said, and hoped that the prime
minister would give due credit to them in his reply to the debate.

The CPM leader also rejected the demand for setting aside seats for
OBCs and minorities within the 33% quota. "It's not just for one
class,'' Ms Karat asserted, and cited statistics on female
representation from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh assemblies. "They show
that it's not a disadvantage to be an OBC woman. In Bihar, out of the
243 seats, 24 were represented in the Assembly by women. And within
this category, 70.8% of the seats were bagged by OBCs, SCs and
minorities. In UP, the figure was an impressive 65%,'' she argued.

BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra opposed the bill in its present form,
and said that the reservation quota for women should be fixed in
direct proportion to their population (50%). He also advocated
amending the bill to set aside separate seats for SC/ST women, and not
slicing it from the main quota.


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[ZESTCaste] School recognition for free Education to SC/ST

 

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=59455

Thursday, March 11, 2010
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment

School recognition for free Education to SC/ST

17:4 IST
RAJYA SABHA

185 proposals for ongoing non-residential and residential school
projects for Scheduled Castes, as recommended by the Grant-in-aid
Committee of the concerned State Government, have so far been received
during 2009-10, for release of grant-in-aid, under the Scheme of
grant-in-aid to voluntary organizations working for Scheduled Castes.

Wih regard to Scheduled Tribes, 171 such schools under the Scheme of
grant-in-aid to voluntary organizations working for Scheduled Tribes,
and 135 educational complexes under the Scheme of strengthening
education among ST girls in low literacy districts, are running
through Non Governmental Organizaitons/State Society, during 2009-10.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice
& Empowerment Shri. D. Napoleon, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha
today.

VBA/RS

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[ZESTCaste] The Naysayers

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/The-Naysayers/589295

The Naysayers
Express news service Posted online: Thursday , Mar 11, 2010 at 2340 hrs
Raise women's quota to 50%, don't cut into SC/ST reservation
Satish Chandra Misra, Bahujan samaj party, Uttar Pradesh


The national president of the BSP is a woman and the party is in
favour of reservation for women. But the BSP is of the opinion that if
women make up 50 per cent of the population, then why is 33 per cent
reservation being brought in? There should be 50 per cent reservation
for women. To bring in equality, there should be reservation according
to their proportion in the population. Apart from this, our national
president has written a letter to the PM, in which she has said that
there are some flaws in the Women's Reservation Bill. Those flaws
should first be rectified and only then the Bill should be put before
the House.

I would like to ask who are the women that reservation is being sought
for? Reservation should be provided to women who are socially,
educationally and economically backward, those

who have been denied the opportunity to come forward. Where are these
women? These women are present among the Dalits, SCs, STs, OBCs,
backward classes and minorities, and educationally backward as well as
economically backward women from the forward castes. Reservation
should be provided to these women.

The Bill seeks to cut into the existing quota for SCs and STs and
provide reservation for women, thereby taking away from the main
reservation provided to these communities. This is what we are
protesting against. We are of the opinion and our party demands...
that the reservation provided for women belonging to SCs, STs,
economically and socially backward classes and those from the upper
castes and minorities who fall under this category, should be separate
from the general reservation already provided for these communities as
a whole. If the women's quota cuts into the main reservation, it will
push these communities even further back...

According to the Bill, the reserved constituencies will be rotated
every five years. So, when a woman is given a chance to work in a
particular constituency, she will know from the first day itself that
she will not be in that constituency after five years. This will lead
to under-performance from the very start...

Instead of giving a filip to the reserved category women, the Bill
will provide opportunities to a limited section of women who do not
come under these categories. Therefore, we demand a re-look at the
Bill before it is passed.


Give 15-17% reservation to Muslims

Mohammed Adeeb, Independent, Uttar Pradesh


What I have witnessed in the House in the last two days has both
saddened me and made me feel sorry... What I have seen is deplorable
but I am happy that various leaders have decided to bring women from
rural areas and the fields to the greatest temple of India where laws
are enacted, and empower them. It is a different matter that women in
these areas are falling prey to dowry — our emphasis is not on that.
They are not getting employment or education, but we are extremely
keen on bringing them to Parliament...

I think it is time for our community to introspect. During
parliamentary and Assembly elections, I have seen the trend is that if
there are three lakh Thakurs and four lakh Muslims, the ticket is
given to a Thakur since it is assumed that Muslims have few capable
candidates so the community will have no choice but to vote for the
Thakur candidate. I do not know how, in the prevailing conditions, our
women will enter the electoral arena.

The honourable Prime Minister is present, and I want to narrate an
incident in his presence to illustrate what kind of atmosphere
prevails and what kind of society we have created for ourselves. My
mother's elder sister fought the 1936 elections against the Muslim
League from Lucknow on a Congress ticket wearing a burqa. Eighty years
later, is our society prepared for my daughter to stand for an
election wearing a burqa? What will she be termed — a terrorist,
backward, regressive? This is the society we have created. Our
representation in Parliament was 50 to 55 per cent. It has fallen to
27 per cent today...

We love this government, we love and trust the Congress, we support
the Congress, but we want to ask the Congress how long will we remain
just voting machines? If the Gill Commission's recommendation would
have been accepted, parties would have been asked to reserve 33 per
cent of the seats for women. But this was not done because women
cannot be candidates, they cannot win elections, and parties would
have been weakened. The aim is to not let the parties become weak,
never mind that Parliament becomes weak.

I want to request the PM, my Congress brethren and my brothers from
the Left to take back this Bill. We will remain with you but promise
us that when you are putting in place 33 per cent reservation, then
15-17 per cent reservation must be given to Muslims. If you do not do
this then you will definitely be doing us a grave injustice.


No to rotation and lottery system

Sharad Anantrao Joshi, Swatantra Bharat Paksh Party, Maharashtra


The position of my party can be very briefly summarised as follows.
Political empowerment for women: a thumping yes, yes, yes.
Reservation: a fairly big question mark. And rotation and lottery
system: an absolute no, no, no. It was in 1986 that the Shetakari
Mahila Aghadi of my party, the Rural Women's Organisation in
Maharasthra, decided for the first time to have 100 per cent women's
panel for contesting the Panchayati Raj elections. It was the Congress
party, under Shri Shankar Lal Chauhan in Maharashtra, who opposed that
idea and postponed all elections to the Pandhayati Raj for three years
running. And it was only after that that they accepted the concept of
33 per cent reservation.

Sir, Hon. Mishra of the BSP raised the question: where does this
reservation come from? This is the genesis of the 33 per cent. Now,
the question is: has the reservation actually ever given benefit to
any of the targeted communities? And our experience is not very happy.
The problem could have easily been solved by a system of proportional
representation rather than the party list system. That would take care
of the entire set of problems connected with reservation. And, the
scenes that we have witnessed in the last two days could have also
been avoided had we included proportional representation instead of
the party list system.

Lastly, coming to the lottery-cum-rotation system, this is not a minor
defect. I still insist that this is a fatal defect in the system.
Here, we choose a constituency list, and it is very likely that for
that constituency, there may not be an enthusiastic woman candidate.
On the other hand, it is likely that a man has nursed that
constituency for some time.

This will unnecessarily create bitterness against the women's
movement. Sir, secondly, it is also likely that this opportunity will
be used by established leaders for pushing the candidature of their
family members which is not the purpose of this Bill at all. Sir, once
a woman is elected, she would know that she does not stand a chance of
getting the "woman reserved constituency" again. Therefore, she would
not be equally enthusiastic about nursing the constituency. Similarly,
the men candidates who get elected would also have doubts about their
getting to contest that election once again from the constituency
because the chances that it will be available to them would be only
50:50. Under these circumstances, Sir, the major effect will be that
all the constituencies will be badly nursed.

And lastly, Sir, this kind of a reservation system will make it
impossible for any House to have more than 33 per cent repeaters at
any time. So, we will lack the experienced people in the Legislatures
and Parliament. That could prove to be fatal for the Indian democracy.


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[ZESTCaste] Youths try to gangrape Dalit woman, beat villagers

 

http://www.ptinews.com/news/558872_Youths-try-to-gangrape-Dalit-woman--beat-villagers

Youths try to gangrape Dalit woman, beat villagers

STAFF WRITER 14:29 HRS IST
Muzaffarnagar, Mar 11 (PTI) Six persons allegedly attempted to
gangrape a Dalit woman worker and beat some of the victim's colleagues
when they tried to stop them at Charthawal village in the district.

Some persons came to a sugar crushing unit, where the victim was
working and tried to rape her yesterday. They were opposed by the
woman's colleagues during which two workers were injured, police said.

A case has been registered against six persons and further
investigations are on.

A 30-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a youth at pistol point at
Shivnagar in the district here, police said today.

The incident occurred last night when the victim was alone in her
house, they said, adding no arrests have been made so far.

Meanwhile, 30-year-old Suman, wife of Rajesh Kumar, today allegedly
committed suicide by consuming poison in Sojhani village of the
district. She was upset over a family dispute.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit activists stage dharna

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/03/stories/2010030360250300.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

Dalit activists stage dharna

VIJAYAWADA: Dalit activists belonging to various organisations staged
a dharna demanding appointment of chairperson to the State SC and ST
Commission, in front of sub-collector's office here on Tuesday.

The activists that came together under the banner of the 'Kula
Vivaksha Vyatirekha Prachara Chaithanya Sangham' (organisation for
campaign against caste discrimination) staged a dharna demanding the
allocation of Rs. 6,530 crore, that is 16.2 per cent of the State
budget, exclusively for the development of dalits.

The other demands on the seven-point charter were proper
implementation of SC/ST Atrocities Act, allocation of funds for dalit
localities on the basis of population, payment of Rs. 1,200
scholarship to dalit students, disbursement of bank loans without
surety from SC Corporation and allocation of Rs. 866 crore, that is
16.2 per cent, for the development of dalit localities in the city.


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[ZESTCaste] Countering the critics

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Countering-the-critics/589440

Countering the critics
Subhashini Ali

Posted online: Thursday , Mar 11, 2010 at 0129 hrs
The Women's Reservation Bill, in its tumultuous life so far of nearly
14 years, has sparked off debates and reactions far beyond its limited
scope to reserve one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state
assemblies for women.
The political parties opposing the Bill have concentrated their fire
on the issue of "reservation within reservation" insisting that only
separate quotas for Dalit, OBC and minority women can ensure the entry
of poor and downtrodden women into Parliament. This argument has been
echoed in Jaithirth Rao's article ('Let's junk the hypocrisy', IE,
March 9), and finds resonance among many sections of society.

The truth, however, is that while in the present Lok Sabha there are
17 SC/ST women members, the enactment of the bill will ensure that
their number goes up to at least 42. Electoral results of recent years
have seen the numbers of elected OBC members climbing to over 30 per
cent of the total in most state assemblies and the Lok Sabha. The size
of the OBC population and its tremendous political mobilisation
ensures that OBC women candidates are also very successful. For
example, in the UP Vidhan Sabha, of a total of 28 women MLAs, between
eight to ten are OBCs. Once the bill is enacted, OBC women will
probably constitute the largest social bloc among the women MPs.

It is, however, a matter of concern that the numbers of Mulim elected
representatives has dwindled both in state assemblies and in
Parliament. This needs urgent attention and addressal but it is not a
problem that can be addressed or resolved within the parameters of the
Women's Reservation Bill.

The March 9 issue of The Indian Express also carries an article by
Madhu Purnima Kishwar who objects to the bill on three main counts: 1)
that the provision of rotation of seats in the bill will lead to
uprooting of legislators after every election and will make women
candidates even more dependent on the whims of their male, political
leaders and increase the numbers of the

"biwi-beti" brigade, exemplified by Rabri Devi; 2) biwi-beti brigade
members are bad role-models for Indian women; 3) they actually "block"
the way for other women to develop as leaders as has been done by the
likes of Pramila Dandavate, Ahilya Rangnekar and Brinda Karat who were
all promoted to heading the women's fronts of their parties by their
husbands who were party leaders.

The principle of rotation of seats has been included in the bill so
that in 15 years, the lifespan of the bill, the reservation enjoys a
horizontal spread across the country and is implemented in every
constituency. Uprooting of elected members is bound to result but
under the existing dispensation, it is certainly not a fact that all
elected representatives devote themselves to development work in their
constituencies or that those who do not are punished by their voters.
Electoral reality is far more complex. Uprooting may, in fact, force
political parties to become more responsive and responsible and
discourage personal fiefdoms

The domination of most political parties (and the Left has universally
been given grudging credit for being an honourable exception) one or
more by political families is certainly a development which is
undemocratic. It is astonishing, however, that Kishwar singles out the
dangers of the "biwi-beti" brigade, symbolised by Rabri Devi, and
bemoans the danger of assemblies and Parliament being invaded by this
brigade, but completely ignores the anointing of a long and unending
list of "sons" that includes Farooq Abdullah, Rajiv Gandhi, Ajit Singh
et al. Kishwar alleges that the foisting of the biwi-beti brigade is
done to safeguard family interests but the promotion of the sons has
been done for precisely the same reason. Clearly, the serious malaise
of political nepotism cannot be remedied by the scrapping of the
women's bill.

Kishwar goes on to blame "biwi-betification" for the problems that
women have in gaining admission to and promotion within party
structures by saying that wives of political leaders, who have been
made leaders of women's fronts of these parties are responsible for
the road blocks faced by other women and cites Pramila Dandavate,
Ahilya Rangnekar and Brinda Karat as examples. Pramila and Ahilya came
to politics through their militant participation in the freedom
struggle as young students. They later married political colleagues
but continued to be leaders of struggles for gender equality, for
Samyukta Maharashtra and for a host of other causes. To suggest that
either of them owed their positions as leaders of struggles and
movements, their elections to Parliament or their positions in
organisations and parties to their husbands is the most unforgivable
and unwarranted slur on their amazing achievements and to their
commitment to travel down a very hard and stony path. Neither of them
is with us today but that does not mean that such unnecessary and
uncalled-for slander will go unchallenged. Brinda Karat has been an
activist from her student days long before her marriage. She started
working in the All India Democratic Womens Association from its
inception, first as a district-level functionary and then, after five
years of hard work, became its general secretary. It was while she
occupied that post that she initiated a constitutional amendment that
has made it mandatory for the key office-bearers at district, state
and national levels to vacate their offices at the end of three terms.
This has ensured that women activists can develop as leaders and
occupy important posts without impediment.

The difficulties that women face in entering and advancing in the
decision-making bodies of political parties are tremendous and they
are being fought at all levels by indomitable women. Making false
accusations against those who are in no way responsible for this state
of affairs does nothing to help them in their struggle. Kishwar began
her article saying that any legislation that claims to favour women
sails easily through Parliament. This statement trivialises the
difficult, bitter and long drawn-out struggles that have had to be
waged for even the piecemeal passage of the Hindu Code Bill and the
partial passage of the Women's Reservation Bill. The path to gender
justice is an arduous one, marked by these and other significant
victories achieved through movements and collective action outside and
within Parliament.


The writer is president, All India Democratic Women's Association and
member of the CPM central committee


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