15.02.2024.The Indian Untouchables ..news..collected by Sivaji and Team.
Dark city chief silent! PCC Chief attacked the government on the incident of beating up a tribal youth by hanging him upside down in Betul, said – CM should either leave the post of Home Minister or…
PCC Chief posted the video on his social media account X and wrote – Tribal youth beaten again in Betul! After taking off all his clothes, he was first hanged upside down from the ceiling and then beaten severely with belts and sticks. Tagging the Chief Minister, he said that this one incident alone is enough for his resignation as Home Minister! The ‘criminals’ who are fighting to get ahead of Jungle Raj are openly flouting the law! But, you are absolutely silent!
Courtesy: Hindi News
Can The State Discriminate Among Castes Within SCs and STs? Supreme Court Reserves Judgment
Those who favoured sub-classification within the SCs and STs to ensure adequate representation in services of the really backward among them relied on a textualist interpretation of the constitution, while those arguing against it doubted whether the states had the power to do so.
V. Venkatesan
New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s seven-judge Constitution Bench on February 8 (Thursday) concluded its three-day hearing on sub-classification of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to give reservations for more backward classes.
In State of Punjab v Davinder Singh, the issue before the top court bench was whether the Punjab Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006, which provided Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs with “first preference” reservation over 50% of the total seats reserved for the SC category, is valid.
The bench comprised Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud, and Justices B.R. Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela M. Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra, and Satish Chandra Sharma.
The CJI had to constitute a seven-judge bench, in view of the fact that a five-judge bench in 2020 had doubted the correctness of the decision in E.V. Chinnaiah v State of Andhra Pradesh (2004), where another five-judge bench had set aside a similar law in Andhra Pradesh which created sub-classifications within the SC category.
After the Chinnaiah ruling, Andhra Pradesh did not enact a fresh law and instead adopted a ‘wait and watch’ policy, considering the Punjab government’s appeal in the Supreme Court against the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s decision to strike down its 2006 Act in light of Chinnaiah.
The Punjab government argued before the apex court, saying that Chinnaiah wrongly interpreted SCs as a homogenous class.
The Union government, through the Attorney General for India R. Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, also supported the Punjab government’s stand, questioning the validity of the Chinnaiah judgment.
The respondents, however, had argued that sub-classification would be tantamount to tinkering within the SC/ST list, while the power to do so is, under Article 341, vested only with the President.
Senior counsel Kapil Sibal submitted that SCs are not homogenous, because there are varying levels of educational, economic and social development among the castes grouped under the SCs. Secondly, he argued that the 1950 presidential order, which lists state-wise SCs, is meant for identification, and not for extending reservation benefits. Therefore, he said that in Chinnaiah, the court wrongly concluded that sub-classification amounted to tinkering with the presidential list.
Sibal was representing Mazhabi Sikhs and Balmiki 12.5% Rakhvankaran Bachao Morcha.
Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing Madiga Jana Seva Samithi, an intervening party, questioned the practice of extending reservation benefits to castes within the SCs that are already adequately represented, because the State is helpless in identifying the most backward among them deserving more reservation within the quota.
Sub-classification, he felt, eventually would pave the way for doing away with the reservation altogether, because those castes which are forward enough could be deprived of excessive reservation.
Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, arguing for Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti, said, “When there is no sub-categorisation, the weakest of the weak will fall to the ground and the stronger ones therein will end up getting the lion’s share, thereby negating the entire reason why the reservation was there in the first place.”
He submitted that the State was bound to sub-classify in view of the constitutional mandate under Article 38(2), to eliminate inequalities in income and status amongst groups of people.
The Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyars Act, 2009, which allocated a certain number of seats in educational institutions and government services to the Arunthathiyar community within the SCs in the State, is also under challenge before the Supreme Court. Its counsel Shekhar Naphade submitted that if sub-classification is supported by empirical data, then it should be valid.
Arguments against sub-classification
The respondents, who submitted that Chinnaiah was correctly decided by the court, relied on the homogenous character of SCs, which shared the common stigma of ‘untouchability’.
Senior counsel Sanjay Hegde, for instance, argued that constitution-makers did not go into the question of the degree of suffering of ‘untouchability’ by these castes, to determine their inclusion in the SC category, and therefore, it is not permissible to bring in fresh criteria to differentiate among them to determine who among them deserve greater reservation benefits.
Hegde also argued against sub-classification of SCs on the apprehension that it could lead to balkanisation and pitting one SC against another after the violence witnessed in Manipur recently, which occurred after the high court’s directive to the state government to include the Meitei community in the ST list.
This pitted the Meiteis against the Kukis, who were already in the ST list, and who feared that Meiteis would be able to purchase land in the prohibited hilly areas, if included in the ST list. Inclusion and exclusion of castes from the SC and ST list should be done only by Parliament, and not by the state governments, he submitted.
Others among the respondents said that if sub-classification is permitted, it could lead to discrimination against certain castes within the SCs and STs, depriving their entitlement to the entire reservation quota meant for SCs and STs.
In response, the Punjab government submitted that both Articles 15(4) and 16(4) permitted greater discretion on behalf of the Union and state governments to identify backward classes among the SCs and STs.
The Punjab government submitted that the language of Article 15(4) suggests that the State can make any special provision for the “advancement” of any caste among the SCs and STs. However, CJI Chandrachud disagreed and told its Advocate General, Gurminder Singh, that the word “advancement of any ” used in this article pertained only to SEBCs [socially and educationally backward classes] and not for SCs and STs, as the latter has been conceived in a homogenous manner.
However, the CJI agreed with Singh regarding his interpretation of the language adopted in Article 16(4), which states that nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.
As the SCs and STs are included within the “backward class of citizens” in this Article, Singh contended that it conferred maximum discretion on the governments to identify those castes within the SC/ST fold who are not adequately represented, and confer greater reservation on them.
Courtesy : The Wire
‘Our Society Doesn’t Want the Dom Community to Stop Their Caste-Based Work’
In conversation with Radhika Iyengar, the author of ‘Fire on Ganges’, about her research into the Dom community and their daily lives and ambitions.
Meenakshi Tewari
New Delhi: Hindu rituals and beliefs say that on a person’s death, only someone from the Dom community can provide the cremation fire if salvation is to be achieved. The Dom caste comes under the Scheduled Caste list in India. Ironically, those whose ‘fire’ is said to be required for salvation are treated as ‘untouchables’ in society; any food and water they touch is avoided by those who follow the oppressive caste system.
Speaking politically, before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Varanasi to file his nomination papers for the second time, the late Dom raja Jagdish Chaudhary was with him and offered his support – though this did nothing to change the Dom community’s standard of living. The community continues to live on the margins of society, with basic facilities out of their reach. They are neither recognised socially nor represented politically.
In Varanasi, called the city of life and death, Hindu last rites are performed at two ghats, Manikarnika and Harishchandra. The Dom community lives near the Manikarnika Ghat. Journalist Radhika Iyengar has recorded their daily lives – laced as it is with death – in her book, Fire on the Ganges: Life among the Dead in Banaras. She spoke to The Wire about her research and writing.
Parts of this interview were conducted in Hindi and have been translated into English.
You do not have any special connection with Varanasi, you grew up in another state, studied abroad. Then why Varanasi? And you chose the Dom community as a subject of interest – what was the reason?
I was doing my Masters in Journalism at Columbia University when, as an assignment, we had to submit a thesis on a subject we wanted to report on. For that, I read an article about the Dom community and was interested in learning more about them. So, I started researching. However, whatever information I could find on them at that time was very limited—it only revolved around their work at the cremation grounds of Banaras. I wanted to know more about other aspects of their lives…For instance, what was it like for Dom men to work at a cremation ground as corpse-burners? How did they feel working there? You must realize that they have a dangerous and risky job—so, how did working close to the burning pyres and how did working with fire, affect them physically? How do they cope with these everyday problems?
Apart from this, I wanted to know about the children, whether they were going to schools and whether these schools offered a conducive studying environment; what dreams did the children nurture about their future and whether the internet was having any effect on them? And then, the women in the community – I wanted to know about them. What was their lives like, what were their dreams – did they have the freedom to go out of the house on their own or enjoy any kind of autonomy? I was curious to know all this, but as to my knowledge, there was nothing recorded about it anywhere. This is where my desire to research about the community was born.
Then, the book started taking shape. It took me eight years to write. I started in 2015 and completed it in early 2023.
Almost every aspect of Varanasi has been well documented – the ghats, the shops, the stories – it is and has been at the centre of attention for everything from tourism to politics. But there has not been enough talk about the Dom community. Are the writers indifferent or does it seem like a privileged gaze?
Academic work has been done on the Dom community but this too is limited to the crematory work done by the Doms at the cremation ground. There is no in-depth detail about the community at large or the lives led by the men, women and children who belong to it. I feel that the Doms are not visible because people belonging to dominant castes don’t want to know about them. It doesn’t matter much to them—as long as there is a Dom available to do the work at the cremation ground, everything is fine.
And it is a matter of living in a privileged bubble because it is convenient for people like us to remain indifferent towards the Doms’ existence. It is true that they have an important role in the funerary last rites, but apart from that, no one cares what life they are living, what conditions they are living in, what difficulties they are facing.
Nowadays it is often heard that discrimination doesn’t exist anymore, but you have mentioned in the book that even today, if women from the Dom community are touched by someone by mistake, then they have to face humiliation.
Even today, many people say that caste discrimination and untouchability no longer exist in the country. Listening to them, I wonder what imaginary world these people they are living in? Caste is the reality of our society, even in the 21st century.
I have seen this in my reporting experience as well. Not only do the Dom women face humiliation but the children as well. When I was reporting in Banaras, I had to travel between Chand Ghat and Manikarnika Ghat for field work. Many times, the children from the Dom community would accompany me. I noticed that they were always avoiding one particular bylane. I couldn’t understand why we were always taking a longer route and kids used to say, “Didi, we don’t like that gali.” Later one day, it came to light that there was a temple on this route, where the priest used to scold the Dom children and shoo them away as soon as he saw them anywhere near the temple. As a child, when you are constantly belittled, humiliated, called an ‘untouchable’, shooed away from the temple, what effect will this have on your mind?
Similarly, when I visited Chand Ghat during one of my early field trips in the beginning, I met an elderly couple, who greeted me with folded hands and bowed before me. This left me bewildered. I was old enough to be their granddaughter. This incident became even more relevant and poignant to me when recently I read in the news that two dominant caste men had beaten an elderly Dalit man because the latter did not greet them with folded hands. What I am trying to say through these examples is that caste atrocities continue to exist even today.
And perhaps this is where their identity crisis begins. They do not want anyone to know their identity; for example, Bhola in the book is portrayed as someone very particular about not revealing his caste and identity, especially in school and college, so that no one knows where he comes from. Why is it so?
Yes, and it’s not because he’s ashamed of who he is. He takes immense pride in being a Dom. But at the same time, he fears that if he tells anyone about his background, they will distance themselves from him, humiliate or ridicule him in some way. So, he feels he needs to protect himself. That’s why he hides his caste, his identity. He believes that this is the only way he can move ahead in life. Otherwise, society at large will not allow him to move forward. And we have many examples in our history to indicate that those who belong to oppressed castes are often, quite brutally discriminated against. If we talk about education alone, there are several examples in the last five-ten years only – Rohith Vemula, Muthukrishnan Jeevanantham, the young boy Indra Meghwal who got thrashed by his dominant caste teacher for accidentally drinking water from his earthen pot, and many like them. Discrimination is everywhere, in every field, in every corner.
So can we say that Doms are satisfied with their lives or they have no expectations from anyone, they just continue to live like this?
They are living like this because they have no other option. If you visit the basti where they live—you’ll realize that they are battling their everyday circumstances. Many families don’t have access to basic amenities. Several of them—some having 6-7 family members; some more—live in extremely cramped spaces. There is water shortage; electricity issues etc., and of course, there is crippling poverty. It’s a hand-to-mouth existence, where education isn’t a priority, earning is. This leads to many parents pulling their children out of the government schools and sending them off to work at the cremation ground, so that the young can support their family—‘nahi toh chulha kaise jalega? (How will the household run?).
So in a way, this vicious cycle is continuing. People from the Dom community, especially the labourers, are forced to live in poverty. Generations change but there is no change in their lives. Why do you think that is?
There are many reasons for this. Society at large plays a role. For instance, in my book, I talk about a generous, kind-hearted American man who took on the responsibility of sponsoring the education of four Dom boys. He once informed a local dominant caste man about his intentions of educating the community slowly – and the man turned around and asked the American, ‘Who will cremate the dead then?’ That question itself paints a stark picture of our reality, doesn’t it? This dominant caste man is society’s mouthpiece. We don’t want the powerless to progress because that would inconvenience people like us.
The second reason is that many of the Doms truly believe that they are fulfilling their God-given duty. That, only they can provide moksha (salvation) to the deceased’s soul; that Shiva has given the boon of the sacred fire only to them. One of them had told me, ‘Chahe raja ho ya fakeer, ant meh Chaudhary sahab ke pair pakadne hi pakadhne hai’ (Be it a king or a beggar, in the end, one has to fall at Chaudhary ji’s feet). The Chaudharys in this context, are of course, the Doms. So, there is a sense of pride attached to the work they do, and this is because they want to justify their existence in society—in a society which otherwise shuns them, keeps a distance from them, considers them untouchable and does not respect them. The ability to give moksha is their religious capital that makes them feel valued in a way.
Let’s talk about Dom women. Varanasi is transforming, moving on the path of ‘development’, but the women of Chand Ghat are left far behind, where they do not even have the freedom to go out without covering their heads.
See, this is an orthodox community, so there is severe patriarchy. On top of that, the women are living at the intersection of caste, gender and poverty. I met a woman while she was cooking in a small, one-room house without electricity during peak summer. When I told her that we could step out of her house for fresh air later, after she finished her work, she told me that she did not have ‘permission’ from her husband to do so. This meant that she could not even step out of the house on her own will.
In addition, if married Dom women have to go outside their basti somewhere, they have to drape a ‘chaddar’ over their faces. They don’t like this but they have to do it. Also, the women must always be accompanied by their husbands or a male relative whenever they are leaving their basti.
For some time now, caste has become an important part of political discourse. Where do you find the Dom community in this? There is no one to represent them politically, to ensure their participation in society, to talk about them or to raise their local issues.
A lot of development is taking place in Varanasi. Some locals are unhappy about it, some are happy, but they are accepting these infrastructural developments. When late Dom Raja Jagdish Choudhary was awarded the Padma Shri, his son Om Choudhary went to receive the award on his behalf and said that it was good that Doms were also getting some recognition on a national and political platform. When I asked a Dom woman about this, she said that, “All this is very good but the ‘development’ they are talking about has not reached us.”
I will talk about the bastis (settlements) that I have visited. As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of problems in the settlement, which is common in such areas, like water shortage, not enough space to live, poor sanitation etc. There are certainly government schemes but many Doms are not aware about them. And, even if they are, they do not always have the necessary documents required to apply for these schemes. I asked them if they had any activists or anyone who would fight for their cause, and the answer I got was that people are so involved with battling their everyday circumstances—that they really don’t have time to rally around for anything else. They are just trying to cope and survive.
In Hindu religion, women generally do not go to the cremation ground. You reported for such a long time, did your gender become any hindrance?
Yes, absolutely. Whoever has been to Manikarnika Ghat knows that there are mostly men there—the wood sellers, the corpse-burners, the samagri sellers, the shav yatris (relatives of the deceased who travel with the corpse), the tour guides. In such a situation, a woman holding a dictaphone in one hand and walking around with a camera around her neck, will naturally draw attention. In the beginning, I used to feel that all the eyes were constantly on me, and that’s a very discomfiting feeling, especially when you are trying to focus on doing your work. As a woman, I’m sure you know what I am talking about. So, it took me some time to come to terms with that, but I did.
When I tried to talk to the Dom men working at the ghat, they were a bit apprehensive in engaging with me. First, I was an outsider—they had no idea who I was. Second, I am a woman and they were not used to a woman coming up to them and requesting them to speak to her. It took a lot of hard work to have them take me seriously and eventually pull their guard down. When I kept returning to Manikarnika Ghat again and again, they started trusting me. But still (laughs), there was one person who thought that I was some undercover cop and mostly avoided me.
You come from a world very different from the challenges of this community, so while writing the book, how much did pay attention to not being judgmental about their situation, their lives, society?
As I have also written in the book, I am well aware of the fact that I come from a privileged class and caste, and I was mindful of this while I was reporting on the community and writing the book. I was careful not to let my own voice overshadow that of the Doms’. I also worked closely with a sensitivity editor for the book. My aim was to record the lives of the Doms – that was my priority. And I did so by doing solid field research, conducting countless interviews, listening to them carefully, spending long periods of time with them, and writing about them with sincerity and commitment. At the same time, I was aware that no matter how much intensive research was done, it could not replace the lived experiences of the Doms. However, I felt it was still important to record their lives and the brave decisions certain individuals in the community were making.
At some points, your book reminded me of the 2015 film Masaan. At the end of the book, you have thanked the actor who played the protagonist in the film. Is there any connection between the book and the film?
It is a very interesting thing that in public consciousness, whosoever has any memory related to the Dom community, it is from this film. Masaan is a very important film. During my reporting, I brought some children of Chand Ghat (who are mentioned in the book) to my guest house and showed them this film. I wanted them to watch it. Till that time, they didn’t even know that a feature film was made on their community, so they were very excited. But when they saw it, they said that the film is good, but that their life was very different from it.
They were young at that time and felt that their lives could never resemble that of Masaan’s lead character, Deepak. In hindsight, though, if you read the book, you will get to realize that in present, the lives of two of them have followed almost the same trajectory as that of Deepak. As part of my research, I interviewed actor Vicky Kaushal to find out what his experience was of working at Manikarnika Ghat. But that interview was a small part of the research. Apart from this, I had looked at various other sources for research purposes.
Courtesy : The Wire
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Dalit woman brutally beaten by bullies: Police did not register FIR, victim reached SP office pleading for justice
Datia: The case of beating of a tribal youth in Madhya Pradesh had not subsided but now the incident of beating of a Dalit woman has come to light in Datia. Bullies brutally beat a woman over a minor dispute.
The matter is of Satlon village of Basai police station. Where there was a dispute between the beneficiary and the president regarding depositing money in the women’s group. The President and his family member Tilak Singh Lodhi abused Dalit woman Varsha Vanshkar and beat her badly.
Police accused of not registering FIR
A video of the assault on the woman has also surfaced. After this the victim woman reached Datia and complained to the SP. The woman has also made serious allegations against the police. In the application given to the SP, the woman has said that the Basai police station did not file her report. That’s why she reached SP office. The police officer has instructed Basai police to investigate the matter and take action.
Courtesy: Hindi News
Attack of land mafia on Dalit family: The incident was carried out by beating in Kajalamani, the house was set on fire
In Kajalamani, Kishanganj, a Dalit family was attacked by land mafia over a land dispute. Deadly attack on Rohit Paswan. Also set fire to Rohit Paswan’s house.
Rohit Paswan told that we were sitting at the door of our house. Then suddenly Sunny Arya, Ali Jahangir, Mohammad Imtiaz, Khalid, Mudseer and Amit Aggarwal arrived and started asking to vacate this land. When we protested, they beat us up and set our house on fire.
As soon as information about the incident was received, the police of Town police station reached the spot. Applications have been filed in the town police station from both sides in the matter. The police have started investigating the matter and taking action. However, for the past few years, after earning crores of rupees from land brokerage and land mafia, such land brokers are busy grabbing the land of poor and weak people.
Ham Party District President Dr. Shahjahan has talked to former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi regarding the attack on Dalits and demanded justice. Town Police Station President Sandeep Kumar said that the matter has come to his notice. The case is being investigated.
Courtesy: Hindi News.
Four including woman arrested for murdering Dalit man in Mancherial
Mancherial: Four persons including a woman were arrested on charges of murdering a Dalit man at Kammaripelli village in Chennur mandal.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Sudhir Kekan said Batte Padma, her husband Shekhar, her parents Odelu and Sugunakka were arrested for their role in the murder of Ramagiri Mahender (30) from Ponnaram village in Chennur mandal on Tuesday night. The four were detained from Chennur.
On being interrogated, Shekhar confessed to killing Mahender for maintaining an illicit affair with his wife. He took assistance from Padma and her parents when she asked the youngster to meet her in their residence. He disclosed that they beat him to death with large sticks. Shekhar and Odelu told the police that they set Mahender’s body on fire in a forest near Kammaripelli to destroy evidence. However, friends who had earlier accompanied him alerted his parents who approached the police on Wednesday, after which the police had recovered the partially charred body from the spot of the offence.
Courtesy : Telangana Today
Tamil Nadu: Metrathi Dalits allege caste Hindus depriving them of drinking water
They said the caste Hindus draw drinking water illegally from the main pipe line that passes through there area.
Saravanan M P
TIRUPPUR: A section of SC families living in Metrathi at Madathukulam taluk allege that caste Hindus are depriving them of drinking water by drawing illegally from the main pipeline that passes through their area. The district administration has ordered an inquiry into the issue.
According to sources, more than 2,500 families live in Metrathi and the village is supplied water from the Thirumoorthi dam. Speaking to TNIE, Raja (name changed), a Dalit said, “More than 30 families live near Mettu Street (Mela Street) in Metrathi. The main water pipeline passes along Mela Street which is 200 metres away. Recently, the water flow in our taps got reduced. Though we lodged a complaint with panchayat officials, there was no response. Later, we found out that dominant community members in Mela Street had installed motor pumps to draw water from the pipeline. They do not just fill 10,000-litre sumps, but also fill the tanks in their terrace. Despite complaining to panchayat officials, no action was taken.”
Metrathi Panchayat President C Thangaraj said, “After complaints from SC villagers, I checked with the officials and also carried out an inspection. We found 50 families belonging to the dominant community have installed 2HP motor pumps in each to draw water from the main pipeline. I warned them to remove the pumps, but they did not pay heed. Last week, I organized a peace meeting, and we have decided to install two tanks in SC Colonies for storage. We are planning to serve notices to the caste Hindu families.”
RDO (Udumalaipet) Jaswant Kanna said a team of officials would be sent to the village soon to hold an inspection and action would be taken.
Courtesy : TNIE
Why Death Penalty Only To Persons Who Aren’t SC/ST? Supreme Court Questions Basis For Classification In SC/ST Act Provision
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 13) asked the Attorney General for India the basis for a provision in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which prescribes mandatory death penalty to a person who does not belong to SC/ST community for the offence of fabricating evidence in case resulting in the execution of an innocent SC/ST member.
Awstika Das
Pointing out that an SC/ST member committing the same offence is not awarded death penalty, the bench asked the basis for the classification.
The provision under scrutiny, Section 3(2)(i), mandates a death sentence only for individuals outside the scheduled caste or scheduled tribe community who falsely implicate a member of the community in a case that results in their execution.
The provision reads as follows :
(2) Whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe,–
(i) gives or fabricates false evidence intending thereby to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby cause, any member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe to be convicted of an offence which is capital by the law for the time being in force shall be punished with imprisonment for life and with fine; and if an innocent member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe be convicted and executed in consequence of such false or fabricated evidence, the person who gives or fabricates such false evidence, shall be punished with death; A bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan, hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Senior Advocate Rishi Malhotra, questioned the basis of classification.
“Suppose, false evidence is given by a SC/ST member which cause the execution of a SC/ST member? Then no death penalty. What is the reasonable classification here?,” Justice Surya Kant asked.
Justice Kant asked the Attorney General to give a note on “why there should a discrimination between SC/ST and non-SC/ST person under the legal person if the offence is the same” The top law officer said, “I am not talking about the merits of the matter today. Ultimately, when it comes to the death penalty, a very high level of scrutiny would be required. We are not talking about an ordinary penal provision.”
However, the bench pointed out that all cases of death penalty need not reach the Supreme Court. The bench asked the AG to find out how many prosecutions have happened under this provision.
The court also suggested that the Parliament could consider amending the provision to establish a fixed jail term instead. A longer jail term, as envisioned in the Supreme Court’s Swamy Shraddananda ruling, could be imposed beyond the usual 14-year limit for remission eligibility or even life imprisonment, the bench further suggested, urging the attorney-general to engage in consultations and gather statistics on whether any convictions had occurred under the contested provision.
“Alright, you prepare a note and we will take it up on another day,” Justice Kant told AttorneyGeneral Venkataramani, before directing the matter to be posted for further hearing after six weeks
Rishi Malhotra v. Union of India Ministry of Law and Justice Secretary | Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 103 of 2019
Courtesy : Live Law 10
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Institutional lethargy behind Kerala’s SC/ST students’ struggle for scholarship funds
Several students belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in Kerala have been running from pillar to post for the past two years to receive their scholarship money. While this would normally indicate a funds shortage, in Kerala’s case the problem stems from lethargy and indifference on the part of educational institutions. The computerisation of the entire scholarship process has ended up affecting the most marginalised students in the state, leaving them with no avenue to seek help.
Students, activists, and government officials that TNM spoke with said that failure on the part of educational institutions in claiming scholarships on time and the digital divide has left students in the lurch.
“Though the student allowance components [hostel fee, pocket money, etc] are transferred directly to their account as Direct Beneficiary Transfer (DBT), it is the responsibility of the educational institution to initiate the claim for the scholarship amount. The institution has to log in to the e-grantz portal and upload the attendance records of the students every month, following which it will be approved by the district-level offices and cleared by the directorate. Only after this will the allowance be credited to the student. The students do not have the option to raise claims,” a technical assistant from the SC directorate explained.
E-grantz is the state’s centralised distribution system for scholarship and grants. According to the SC and ST directorates, around 1.4 lakh SC students and 15,000 ST students were enrolled in e-grantz in 2022-23. The enrollment for the current year is still underway.
The official added that many institutions fail to claim the amount periodically and claim it all together only when a student approaches them or when they finish their education and leave the institution.
TNM spoke to a few colleges to understand why there was a delay in raising the claims for the students. Higher officials from the institutions admitted that there had been delayed claims earlier, but said that the claims were made on a regular basis since 2023.
“Several students belonging to SC/ST communities are on the verge of dropping out from various colleges across the state, solely because of the delay in the release of funds,” said M Geethanandan, state coordinator of Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha (AGMS), a contemporary social movement in Kerala.
On January 27, AGMS and Adi Shakthi Summer School, which is a collective of Adivasi and Dalit youths under the AGMS, held a convention in Ernakulam to discuss the issue. AGMS has been at the forefront of the fight to secure scholarships for the students. Over the past two years, they have conducted several protests, sent petitions, and met officials and ministers, but none of this has achieved any tangible result.
“It is not that the government did not allocate money. Last year, we had to start integration of e-grantz with the Union government’s Single Nodal Agency, the Public Finance Management System (PFMS). Since we were working on the integration, we did not receive the funds from the Union government, which is nearly Rs 16 crore. But the state government did allocate the money and we disbursed it. However, multiple arrear requests were coming up and as we cleared the arrears with the money we have, the funds got used up and we have been unable to pay the current students,” a senior official from the ST directorate said.
So why are there arrears? It again comes down to the failure of the educational institutions in making periodic claims. A senior official from the ST directorate said that though students can monitor if their claim has been raised, many are not aware of the option or do not have the necessary means to check, which delays the payment.
“We used some of the money allocated last year for paying the pending amount from 2019, which caused a delay in the current year. This will be rectified when we receive the next year’s budget amount,” said Sindhu Paramesh, joint director (education) at the SC directorate.
The Kerala government, in its budget announcement earlier this month, said that Rs 150 crore has been allocated for additional state expenses for post-matric scholarship of SC students and Rs 32.10 crore for ST students, which shall be utilised to clear the arrears. This is apart from the yearly allocation of funds for the next academic year.
Sindhu also said that the issue will be resolved from the upcoming year as the arrears would be cleared and payment will be made via a single DBT. In a government order (GO) of January 2023, the Kerala government announced that all the allowance that was provided to students on a monthly basis, including college fees, hostel fee, and pocket money, will be made as a one-time payment to the students’ accounts as soon as they enrol in the e-grantz system. They will then be responsible for making the payment to the college.
While this may streamline the process hereafter, it is demoralising for the students that their educational institutions have so far demonstrated only indifference and unreliability.
“The computerisation of the process has left us with no avenue to raise our grievances or check what is going on. Even if we go to the government offices, they tell us that there is an issue with the system or that the server is down or that there has been a technical mistake and the money has been deposited into my old account,” a student said. This is yet another hurdle faced by students who have had more than one bank account at some point. Officials from the SC and ST directorates said that the money gets deposited into an account which is linked to the student’s Aadhaar, which may not be the one that the student was currently using.
How e-grantz works
E-grantz 3.0 is used for disbursing all pre-matric and post-matric scholarships to students from SC, ST, and OBC communities in Kerala. 3.0 refers to the version that came out in 2018-19. All scholarships in the state have been distributed through e-grantz since 2009.
The Union government gives 60% of the scholarship for SC students, whose family income is below Rs 2.5 lakhs, and the remaining 40% comes from the state government. For ST students, 75% of the scholarship fund is provided by the Union and 25% by the state.
While other states have an income limit for SC students in order to be eligible for scholarships (Rs 2.5 lakh per annum in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka), Kerala funds the education of all its SC students with no income limit. “The Union government has an income limit of Rs 2.5 lakh for SC students. For those whose income is above this limit, 100% of the funding is done by the state government,” senior officials in the SC and ST directorates told TNM.
According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report 2020-21, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of SC students in Kerala in 2020-21 was 33.7% and 29.1% for ST students – both higher than the national average of 23.1% and 18.9%.
According to a technical support official from the SC directorate, the beneficiaries need to first register by giving their basic details, including name, address, bank account details, and Aadhaar number. “This can be done by the students themselves, their educational institution or through Akshaya e-centres [common service centres (CSC)]. Through a single registration, the system can uniquely identify a student, after which they will be provided educational assistance throughout the period of education under various schemes. The financial assistance reaches the students’ bank account through DBT,” he said.
The scholarship has two components: tuition and examination fees, which are paid directly to the educational institution; and academic allowance for the students, including lump sum grant, hostel fee, and pocket money, which is directly transferred to the students’ bank accounts. While the tuition fee is paid to the institution upon enrolment, for claiming the academic allowance the institution has to upload attendance records every month.
“The academic allowance for the students is grossly inadequate. Most colleges and private hostels charge anywhere between Rs 6,500 and Rs 8,000. Even with the government providing hostel fees, students will have to pay the rest from their own pocket. We have also put forth a demand to the government to increase this amount,” said Manikandan C, acting chairperson of Adishakthi Summer School.
On average, 1.5 lakh SC students enrol per year in e-grantz, with Rs 280 crore allocated for their scholarship. In the case of ST students, 18,000-19,000 students enrol and Rs 35 crore is the allocation. The funds are allocated on an average calculation and any shortage accrued is rectified the next year.
The casteist notion of ‘everything is handed to you on a plate’
Activists say that though the government allocates money, the inordinate delay nullifies its intended effect. Geethanandan explained why this delay mainly affects Dalit and tribal students, though there are students from all communities availing scholarships. “SC/ST students are predominantly affected because coming from poorer economic backgrounds, they are completely dependent on this money for education. Others have families that either own land or property, or run some business from which they can spend the money, and later compensate when they receive the scholarship. But our students or their families do not have the means to do that,” he added.
For several students associated with AGMS and Adishakthi Summer School, the latter helps by crowdfunding money. “Several students are pushed to the verge of dropping out, but we somehow manage to get the funds to help them. It is not as if they don’t have any other expenses. Students have projects to do, books to buy, they have to move between college and hostel, in addition to other personal expenses. We collect money from people and distribute it to the students in need,” Manikandan said.
“You have no problem in life. The government pays money for your education. All you have to do is to stay in college, but you people can’t even do that,” is something Anjana (name changed) often hears. Hailing from Wayanad and belonging to the Paniya community that comes under ST category, she is a second-year graduate student in a private college in Ernakulam. Stating that she didn’t want to disclose her identity, she narrated how she was repeatedly mocked and insulted because of her socio-economic background.
“When I go to the mess, sometimes they mock me for eating ‘free food’ before serving me. But I will in fact pay the fee when I receive the scholarship, so how is it ‘free food’? Whenever I go to the college admin office or the ST department office, they say that my tuition fee is cleared but the other funds are not cleared. It has been close to 1.5 years since I received any scholarship money,” Anjana said.
Reshma, also from the Paniya community, has completed her Bachelor’s degree and is studying for her Bachelor of Education (B.Ed). “I haven’t received my scholarship funds since the third year of my UG course. Now, with B.Ed, we have to spend a lot of money on materials like chart paper, stationery, and books. I don’t have that much money, nor does my family. This is in addition to hostel fee, mess fee, and daily travel expenses. I am not sure how long I can survive here with no scholarship,” she said.
Arjun (name changed), a UG student from the Chakkiliya community that falls under SC category, said, “People in my college have this idea that my life is very easy because my education is funded by the government for as long as I study. But that comes from a place of hatred and casteism. The government gives us money because our lives are really difficult, and I came here to study solely trusting the scholarship. Now when the same government doesn’t provide the funds, it is like a betrayal,” he said.
Education is sole means of escape for the students
“With no parenting care or economic background, the last vehicle of escape for these students is education. But the whole mess that is happening in the e-grantz system is pushing them out and forcing them to return to the plantations and wage labour,” said C Subramanian, a social activist. He also said that neither the college nor the government has any clue about how to streamline the process and ensure that the students are not affected.
“Late payment of the hostel fees puts pressure on these students, which is actually an act of discrimination and a violation of human rights. It is not that the government doesn’t want to pay, because it has actually set aside the funds for scholarships. Though there have been delays previously, such a prolonged delay is new,” Geethanandan said.
However, according to a performance audit report from 2016, instances of delay in the disbursement of financial assistance through e-grantz ranging up to six years have been noticed. It has also been recorded that several institutions failed to generate online statements for claiming academic allowance for their students.
When asked what steps have been taken to ensure that the institutions are working properly in this aspect, officials from both SC and ST directorates stated that periodic reminders are sent to the institutions and students are asked to keep a tab through the portal. Further, they stated that the one-time payment to students’ accounts will also streamline the process.
AK Vasu, a Dalit activist-writer, said, “The only area where there has been some upliftment for SC/ST students is education. There are some IAS, IPS, government officers, writers and others in the educational field. Except education, Dalits and tribals are backward in other socio-economic aspects, including owning land and property. And we got this education primarily because of scholarships. When this is also taken away from us or is delayed causing us to drop out from college, it further reduces our representation and pushes us backward, in addition to causing mental trauma” he said.
குஜராத்தில் காட்டுமிராண்டித்தனம்.. குதிரையில் தலித் ஏறக்கூடாதா? மாப்பிள்ளையை தாக்கிய சாதி வெறியர்கள்
காந்திநகர்: குஜராத் மாநிலத்தில் தலித் சமுதாயத்தை சேர்ந்த திருமண மாப்பிள்ளை குதிரையில் சென்றதை பொறுத்துக்கொள்ள முடியாமல் ஆதிக்க சாதி வெறியர்கள், மாப்பிள்ளையையும் அவரது நண்பர்கள் மற்றும் உறவினர்களையும் கொடூரமாக தாக்கிய சம்பவம் பெரும் பரபரப்பை ஏற்படுத்தி உள்ளது.
குஜராத் மாநிலத்தில் தொழில் வளர்ச்சி பெருகிவிட்டதாகவும், இந்தியாவில் அதிக வருவாய் ஈர்க்கும் மாநிலங்களில் இதுவும் ஒன்று எனவும் அதன் முன்னேற்ற புராணங்களை பலர் பாடி வருகிறார்கள். குஜராத் மாடலை நாடு முழுவதும் அமல்படுத்துவோம் என்று பாஜகவினர் தெரிவித்து வருகின்றனர். எவ்வளவுதான் பொருளாதாரத்தில் முன்னேறினாலும் அங்கு பிற்போக்குத்தனமும், சாதி மத வெறியும் ஊறிப்போய் கிடப்பதை பல்வேறு சம்பவங்களின் மூலம் பார்க்க முடிகிறது.
இந்தியா முழுவதும் ரத்தக் கரை ஏற்படுத்திய மதக் கலவரம் ஏற்பட்ட மாநிலம் என்ற பெயர் குஜராத்தை விட்டு 22 ஆண்டுகளாகியும் மறையாத நிலையில், அந்த பெயரை மீண்டும் மீண்டும் நினைவூட்டும் வகையில் சாதி, மதவெறி கொடூரங்கள் அங்கு அரங்கேறி வருகின்றன. அந்த வகையில்தான் குஜராத் மாநில தலைநகரான காந்திநகர் மாவட்டத்தில் உள்ள சதாசனா கிராமத்தில் ஒரு சாதிய கொடூரம் அரங்கேறி இருக்கிறது. ஆதிக்க சாதியினர் தலித் சமுதாயத்தை சேர்ந்த திருமண மாப்பிள்ளையையும், அவரது நண்பர்கள் மற்றும் உறவினர்களையும் கொடூரமாக தாக்கி இருக்கிறார்கள்.
இந்த கொடூர தாக்குதலை நடத்தும் அளவுக்கு அவர்கள் என்ன தவறு செய்துவிட்டார்கள் என்று தெரியுமா? மாப்பிள்ளை குதிரை மீது ஏறியதுதான். வட மாநிலங்களில் குதிரை மீது மாப்பிள்ளை ஏறுவது பாரம்பரியமான நடைமுறைதானே என்று நீங்கள் நினைக்கலாம். ஆனால், அது ஆதிக்க சாதியினருக்கு மட்டும்தான். கலாச்சாரம் பண்பாடு என்ற பெயரில் காலம் காலமாக காலணி அணிய அனுமதி மறுக்கப்பட்டு, ஆதிக்க சாதியினரின் தெருவுக்குள் நுழைய தடை செய்யப்பட்ட தலித்துகள் இன்று குதிரையில் ஏறி அமரும் அளவுக்கு வளர்ந்துவிட்டார்களே என்ற குரோதத்தில் சாதி வெறியர்கள் இத்தகைய கொடூரத்தை அரங்கேற்றி உள்ளார்கள்.
குதிரையில் அமர்ந்து திருமண ஊர்வலம் சென்ற மாப்பிள்ளை விகாஸ் சாவ்டாவை சாதி பெயர் சொல்லி இழிவுபடுத்தி தாக்கி இருக்கிறது சாதி வெறி கும்பல். குதிரை மீது அமர்ந்திருந்த மாப்பிள்ளை விகாஸை தாக்கி கீழே தள்ளிய அந்த கும்பல் கொலைவெறித் தாக்குதல் நடத்தி உள்ளது. இது தொடர்பாக பாதிக்கப்பட்ட திருமண மாப்பிள்ளையின் உறுவினர்கள் காவல் நிலையத்தில் புகார் அளித்து உள்ளனர். மாப்பிள்ளையின் உறவினர் சஞ்சை சாவ்டா காவல் நிலையத்தில் அளித்திருக்கும் புகாரில், “குதிரையில் இருந்து மாப்பிள்ளையை கீழே தள்ளி ஓங்கி அறைந்தார்கள்.” என்று குறிப்பிட்டு உள்ளார்.
“எங்கள் சாதியினர் மட்டுமே குதிரை ஓட்ட முடியும். நீங்கள் ஏறவே கூடாது என்று சொல்லி அவர்கள் தாக்கினார்கள். காரில் ஏறி செல்ல வற்புறுத்தினார்கள்.” என்று அவர் தெரிவித்து இருக்கிறார். இது தொடர்பாக அளிக்கப்பட்ட புகாரின் பேரில் சைலேஷ் தாக்கோர், ஜெயேஷ் தாக்கோர், சமிர் தாக்கோர், அஸ்வின் தாக்கோர் அகிய 4 பேரை போலீசார் கைது செய்து இருக்கிறார்கள். கைதான 4 பேரும் இதர பிற்படுத்தப்பட்ட சமுதாயத்தை சேர்ந்தவர்கள் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.
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