Wednesday, August 11, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Caste as social capital

 

Caste as social capital
http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/column_caste-as-social-capital_1387350

May 24, 2010, By R Vaidyanathan | Place: Mumbai

Caste is back. It is likely to be part of the 2011 census. It was part of the decennial censuses between 1881 and 1931.

Of the 1929 castes aggregated in the 1881 census, 1126 [58%] had population of less than 1000; 275 less than ten. A large number of them were single member castes. The British had created a social "hierarchy" on the basis of caste in that Census.

The alienated metropolitan rootless wonders (AMROWs) and other assorted experts are upset since they have concluded that caste is bad. They want to be counted in the censusas "Indian".

Every Indian is expected to feel guilty, whenever caste is mentioned and talked about. In international fora, caste is used as a stick to beat anything connected to Indian religions, customs, and culture. In other words, caste for Indians has been turned into what "holocaust" is for Germans and Austrians.

We have an uncanny ability for self-flagellation. But more tragic is our enthusiasm to convert all our strengths into weaknesses since some white men and missionaries started denigrating Indians on the issue of caste.

We fail to recognise that it is a valuable social capital, which provides cushion for individuals and families in dealing with society at large, and more particularly the State. The Anglo-Saxon model of atomised individuals in a contract-based system and forcing him to have a direct link with the State has had disastrous effects in the west where families have been destroyed and communities have been forgotten.

Every person is standing alone, stark naked with only rights as his imaginary clothes to deal directly with the State.

The State also does not have the benefit of concentric circles of cushions to deal with individuals. Caste has been made a curse by our intellectuals based on the half-baked knowledge and acceptance of the Euro-centric individual-based model, which is based on rights and contracts rather than relationships and duty.

At a basic level, caste promotes heterogeneity. Heterogeneous and distributive systems are more stable and long-lasting than homogeneous and centralised systems. Caste is a major bulwark against homogenisation tendencies of systems like Marxism, Maoism or Savarkarism or the Semitic faiths. We should realise that "our strength is our diversity" and acceptance of the "other". It is much more than "multicultural tolerance".

It is also assumed that caste is a rigid hierarchical system which is oppressive. But as observed by the renowned sociologist Dipankar Gupta that "In fact, it is more realistic to say that there are probably as many hierarchies as there are castes in India. To believe that there is a single caste order to which every caste, from Brahman to untouchable, acquiesce ideologically, is a gross misreading of facts on the ground" The truth is that no caste, howsoever lowly placed it may be, accepts the reason for its degradation"(Dipankar Gupta in Interrogating Caste; pp1; Penguin Books 2000)

History does not support the thesis of caste discrimination. If it were as oppressive as it is portrayed then there should have been massive and regular caste wars in the last thousand years. There have not been any. If it has survived thousands of years then there is some inherent strength in it. The renowned Gandhian, Dharampal has demonstrated that data for Madras, Punjab and Bengal Presidency for 1800 to 1830 shows that the majority enrolled in the schools were from OBC and SC categories.

Caste has played an important role in the consolidation of business and entrepreneurship particularly in the last fifty or so years. The World Bank suggests that the remarkable growth of Tirupur is due to the coordinated efforts of Gounders, many of whom not even matriculates. "(World Development report, 2002 pp175; The World Bank). In a financial sense caste provides the edge in being a risk taker since failure is recognised and condoned and sometimes even encouraged by the group.

We have the exhaustive Economic Census of 2005, conducted by the Central Statistical Organization (CSO) which covers 41.83 million enterprises engaged in different economic activities.The survey finds that more than 50 per cent of the enterprises are owned by SC/ST/OBC categories.

As MN Srinivas, doyen of sociologists, pointed out that "An important feature of social mobility in modern India is the manner in which the successful members of the backward castes work consistently for improving the economic and social condition of their caste-fellows. This is due to the sense of identification with one's own caste, and also a realisation that caste mobility is essential for individual or familial mobility"(Collected Essays; pp196-197, OUP2005).

Caste should be counted in 2011 census for all religions since every religion has caste even though we pretend it does not exist. It is required for policy planners and experts to work on a road map to calibrate changes based upon the census. We may have to enumerate a new caste called "Indian" consisting of the AMROWS mentioned above.

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[ZESTCaste] Laxman inaugurates 3-day convention of BJP SC/ST wing in MP

 

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/laxman-inaugurates-3day-convention-of-bjp-scst-wing-in-mp/218599.html

Laxman inaugurates 3-day convention of BJP SC/ST wing in MP

PTI
Mhow (MP), Aug 10 (PTI) Former BJP President Bangaru Laxman today
inaugurated a three-day convention of the BJP SC/ST wing in town hall
of Mhow cantonment.The Wing�s National President Dushyant Kumar
Gautam, National spokesperson Amarnath Kohvind and National General
Secretary Thawarchand Gehlot were among those present at the
inauguration.After lighting the candle, Laxman addressed the gathering
which included wing's office bearers of 27 states, Members of
Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies of these
states.Before the inauguration ceremony, Laxman and other leaders
reached the birthplace of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar situated in Kali
Paltan area of Mhow and garlanded Dr Ambedkar�s bust there.The third
phase will be completed soon in the leadership of Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, he told reporters here.

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[ZESTCaste] Support for Umashankar irks state

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/support-umashankar-irks-state-718

Support for Umashankar irks state

August 11th, 2010
DC Share Buzz up!Tags: fake dalit certificate, suspended IAS officer,
Umashankar Aug. 10: The growing support for suspended IAS officer C.
Umashankar from several dalit outfits and political parties, accusing
the DMK government of victimising an honest dalit officer for acting
against influential people, is causing huge discomfort for the ruling
party when elections are just round the corner. Dalits constitute over
20 per cent of the state electorate.

One after another, several dalit outfits and intelligentsia across
Tamil Nadu have been holding protest rallies in support of Mr
Umashankar and accusing the government of being vindictive because he
had openly challenged some corrupt practices of influential people.

Senior political leaders, including CPI veteran R. Nallakannu, CPI (M)
state secretary G. Ramakrishnan and veteran Gandhian Tamilaruvi Manian
will share a pro-Umashankar platform in Chennai on Thursday.

Ridiculing the government's justification for the suspension, former
IAS officer P. Sivakami, a popular dalit activist, said, "Umashankar's
father is a dalit pallar and all his siblings are dalits. Where does
the question of producing a false SC certificate arise? Did the
government suspend the many other officers against whom similar charge
of using fake SC certificate was levelled? Some of them are now in
prominent posts." VCK general secretary D. Ravikumar, MLA, demanded
that the suspension be revoked and Mr Umashankar reinstated.

AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa has slammed the government on
the Umashankar issue and demanded to know why the chief minister was
silent on some of the crucial allegations made by the officer, such as
the functioning of the joint-venture Elnet and the government cable TV
corporation. Literary magazine Dalit Murasu has come out with an
editorial accusing Karunanidhi of being 'a bundle of contradictions'
in punishing a dalit officer because he claimed SC reservation even
after conversion to Christianity, but at the same time demanding the
Centre to open SC quotas to dalit Christians .


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[ZESTCaste] Nepal: Dalit family fined for inter-caste marriage

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=22084

Dalit family fined for inter-caste marriage


PANITYANKI, Aug 10: Locals in Chhitaha VDC-5 of Sunsari district have
fined a Dalit family Rs 55,000 for marrying a girl from the non-Dalit
community.

Local administration, through a meeting of the villagers called by
Bhola Pal, who is from the so called upper caste family, slapped the
fine on the family of Ram Prasad Ram after his 18-year-old son Badri
Ram married 16-year-old Sonu Pal, according to a local Dalit activist
Bal Kumar Mundel.

He said the duo was in love for long and married a month ago and is
living separately from the family. The girl's side searched them and
forcefully separated the pair saying that the marriage was against the
law.

Later, Pal called a villagers' meeting which decided to fine the family.

Police said they are unaware of the incident.


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[ZESTCaste] Mayawati allocates Rs.500 crore more for parks, memorials

 

http://sify.com/news/mayawati-allocates-rs-500-crore-more-for-parks-memorials-news-national-kikw4bieejc.html

Mayawati allocates Rs.500 crore more for parks, memorials

2010-08-10 22:30:00

Unfazed by criticism against 'overspending' on parks and statues,
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati once again allocated nearly Rs.
500 crores towards her dream projects in the Rs.5,461 crore
supplementary budget tabled before the state assembly Tuesday.

While the larger chunk of the allocation (Rs.409 crore) was meant for
the sprawling 190-acre Kanshi Ram Eco Park coming up on the site of
the shifted Lucknow district jail, some funds were also earmarked for
three other projects underway to commemorate the contribution of the
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder and Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the
party's tallest icon.

On the contrary, the budget has an allocation of barely Rs.3.5 crore
for development of Amethi as a district, the political bastion of the
Congress represented by Rahul Gandhi.

Mayawati's declaration to upgrade Amethi and name it Chattrapati
Shahuji Maharaj district had come as a jolt for the Congress
leadership.

Prior to Rahul, the Amethi parliamentary constituency was represented
by his father Rajiv Gandhi and still earlier by his uncle Sanjay
Gandhi.

However, while tabling the budget, state Finance Minister Lalji Verma
did not focus at all on Amethi. In fact, apart from construction of a
few residential quarters for officials and a small building for the
treasury, only token allocations of Rs.1,000 were made against several
other heads including infrastructure.

Significantly, Rs.23.82 crore was earmarked as overhead charges to be
paid to the government agency engaged in the construction of the
Kanshiram memorial (Manyavar Shri Kanshiramji Samarak Sthal) while
Rs.48.22 crore was allocated for the Ambedkar memorial (Dr.Bhimrao
Amedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal).

Out of the latter sum, Rs.8.46 crore is for giving a facelift to the
exteriors of the Ambedkar memorial.

Mayawati, while justifying the allocation of more than Rs.6,000 crore
towards these memorials in successive budgets, had earlier asserted
that whatever she had spent each year towards commemoration of these
icons was not more than one percent of the state's annual budget.

In a statement issued here Tuesday evening, the state government
clarified that budget allocation towards the monuments was in no way
in 'violation of the Supreme Court order, suspending all construction
activity at the Ambedkar memorial'.

'The budget has been earmarked only for giving a facelift to the
exterior of the monument and not for carrying out any work inside the
premises,' an official spokesman claimed.

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[ZESTCaste] BSP hijacked Ambedkar: Gautam

 

http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=44279

BSP hijacked Ambedkar: Gautam

Category » Madhya Pradesh Posted On Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Chronicle News Service

Indore, Aug 10:
Bharatiya Janata Party's Scheduled Caste Front President Dushyant
Kumar Gautam today charged the Bahujan Samaj Party with hijacking
architect of Indian Constitution Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar.
Talking to reporters here, Mr Gautam, who is here to take part in the
executive meeting of the party's SC Front here on August 10-11, said
the BJP has been working in accordance with the concept of Ambedkar's
last man from beginning.
He said his party had no objection in caste-based census being carried
out by the Centre but it opposed the recommendations of the Rangnatha
Mishra committee report that had reduced reservation for SCs.
Describing 'Dalit-affection' of Congress General Secretary Rahul
Gandhi as a sham, he said dalits were still with the BJP.

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[ZESTCaste] Govt tells India Inc to fix 5% job quota for SC/STs

http://infochangeindia.org/201008048437/Human-Rights/News/Govt-tells-India-Inc-to-fix-5-job-quota-for-SC/STs.html

Govt tells India Inc to fix 5% job quota for SC/STs

With India Inc not being seen as having done enough about affirmative
action over the last five years, the government plans to insist on a
5% reservation in jobs by the private sector for disadvantaged
sections, particularly scheduled castes and scheduled tribes

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, has told the corporate
sector that companies benefiting from various government incentives
may be asked to reserve about 5% of their employment needs for
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC/STs).

"We have asked the industry chambers -- the Confederation of Indian
Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FICCI), and the Associated Chambers of Commerce -- to submit their
views on this suggestion," a DIPP official told the media.

In May this year, Social Justice Minister Mukul Wasnik wrote to the
prime minister seeking a review of the government's efforts to
persuade the private sector to take affirmative action. In his meeting
with the Trade and Industry Council, the prime minister asked the
corporate sector to chip in more to improve social inclusion.

"But their intervention is restricted to promoting employability
through vocational training," noted a government official. Ever since
the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the
Centre promised to introduce job reservations in the private sector
there have been negative reactions from some elite industry quarters.

The main intention of the job reservation policy is to assure
empowerment of dalits who constitute around 16% of India's population.

Clearly, none of the industry chambers want quota legislation although
all acknowledge much more can be done for disadvantaged sections. "We
reckon that the government is under political pressure to show
tangible results on the affirmative action front. But reservation will
endanger merit," said a senior chamber executive.

Top executives in the three chambers, who did not wish to be quoted,
said India Inc was better off without job quotas. "But we are not
opposed to the idea of affirmative action -- improving prospects for
disadvantaged sections in getting jobs," said a senior FICCI
executive.

Towards this end, each chamber adopted a district about six months ago
based on DIPP's recommendations. FICCI adopted Sonbhadra in Uttar
Pradesh, CII, Naushera in Punjab, and Assocham Cooch Behar in West
Bengal.

Incidentally, the Government of India made some attempt to get dalits
reservation facilities in the private sector in 1965. But the move did
not receive much support. The Indira Gandhi-led government also tried
to proceed with reservations in 1972, but failed.

Post-globalisation, the condition of dalits became worse as the role
of the public sector weakened. According to a report of the Working
Group (Tenth Five-Year Plan, Planning Commission) on Empowering of
SCs, 113,450 dalits lost their jobs, in 1992-97, in the central
government (public sector) alone.

Source: The Indian Express, August 3, 2010
countercurrents.org, July 24, 2010


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