12.08.24.UT NEWS.with 27000 readers and 241 what's app members.
VCK to protest against SC’s creamy layer decision in TN on Aug 13.
CHENNAI: The VCK, a Dalit political party in Tamil Nadu, will hold a protest march here on August 13 against the sub-categorisation of communities within the Scheduled Caste fold.
In a statement on Sunday, the VCK founder leader and Member of Parliament from Chidambaram Lok Sabha seat, Thol Thirumavalavan said the Supreme Court verdict allowing sub-categorisation of communities within the SC list by the state government and comments on the creamy layer would ultimately lead to the end of reservations.
Thirumavalavan said he and VCK general secretary and Villupuram MP, D.Ravikumar met Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale, Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi and apprised them of the issue and also requested for their support.
Thirumavalavan said the Union government had “ensured that there was no way to enumerate the population of SC/STs by not conducting a census, and also was refusing to increase reservations based on 2011 census data”. The senior VCK leader said, “In Union government jobs, the 15 per cent reservations for SCs have not been implemented in any department. Similarly, 7.5 per cent reservations for STs also have not been ensured.”
He said that the state governments too have not filled the SC/ST vacancies and have kept them open without appointing anyone. The VCK founder leader said, “While lakhs of SC/ST youth are struggling to find jobs, a Judge has said that reservations should not be given to SC/ST persons if one generation has received its benefit.”
In the statement, the senior Dalit leader also said there were fears that the BJP government would implement a ‘creamy layer’ for SC/ST reservations after four out of seven judges in the Supreme Court said it. He called upon the Centre to file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict that allows states to sub-categorise SC communities and provide reservations. Thol Thirumalavan said that comments regarding the creamy layer should be retracted and proportional reservation to SC/ST provided based on their population.
Earlier this month, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud ruled in a 6:1 majority judgment that state governments were permitted to sub-classify communities within the SC list based on empirical data.
On Friday, the Union Cabinet turned it down, saying that there was no provision for a creamy layer in SC/ST reservation in the Constitution given by B R Ambedkar”.
Courtesy : Hindi News
.........
Dalit Business Owners Earn 15-18% Less Than Others Finds Study.
A key finding of the study suggests that ‘social capital’, widely regarded as a positive force in countering social stigma, did not help enhance the incomes of business owners belonging to Dalit communities.
New Delhi: Business owners from Dalit communities earn 16% less than other business owners, including those from other disadvantaged communities, a study on income patterns of different population groups has found.
A key finding of the study suggests that ‘social capital’, widely regarded as a positive force in countering social stigma, did not help enhance the incomes of business owners belonging to Dalit communities.
According to the study, social capital had a positive impact on other marginalised groups such as Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Muslims – the greater their social capital, the higher their income levels. However, for Dalit communities or Scheduled Castes (SCs), social capital helped much less, resulting in an income disadvantage compared to others with the same levels of social capital.
“This was a surprise, quite unexpected — it has been usually assumed that social capital helps all,” Prateek Raj, an assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and lead member of the study team, told the Telegraph.
“But our findings suggest that Dalits encounter disadvantages and stigma which is quite different from what other disadvantaged communities such as OBCs, Adivasis or Muslims face,” he added.
The study, tilled It’s not who you know, but who you are: Explaining income gaps of stigmatized-caste business owners in India, published in Plos One journal, is among the first to explore income patterns across population groups in the country using data from a pan-India survey and mathematical tools designed to cancel out effects of other factors that also influence income, the paper reported.
“We used three techniques to analyse the data. And each yielded similar results: an income gap between 15-18% between Dalit business owners and others that can only be attributed to caste and not other factors such as urban or rural location, education, family background, or land ownership.”
The survey data included information about households’ social capital, measured through their acquaintance with members of multiple professions such as elected officials, government employees, doctors, other healthcare workers, teachers or police officers.
In the absence of the 2021 census as well as an updated caste census, it is estimated that Dalits account for nearly 250-300 million of India’s 1.4 billion population.
“We believe this is because Dalits face a stigma that is attached to them as persons and is perpetuated in social interactions,” Hari Bapbuji, a professor of management at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and another member of the study team, told the Telegraph.
The study found that while social capital’s impact on marginalised groups varies, ‘human capital’ – education, measured through the number of years of school or college education – positively impacted the income of Dalit business owners as compared to others.
“What this implies is that having social capital, or a network, is not as effective as having an education to countering stigma,” said Thomas Roulet, an associate professor at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, the study’s third collaborator.
“Our research is among the first to quantify the impact of caste on business income. While we had expected the effect of social capital would limit stigmatisation, it actually makes stigmatisation even more damaging,” Roulet added.
Raj said that stigmatisation does not necessarily mean explicit discrimination but can manifest as a result of ingrained attitudes and possibly practised unconsciously.
Chandra Bhan Prasad, a political commentator who has been an adviser to the Dalit India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Dicci) who was not associated with the study, told the paper that the results appear to corroborate what is widely known. “Do we need research to establish the persistence of stigmatisation?” Prasad asked.
Milind Kamble, the founder-chairman of Dicci, said, “Things are changing. We cannot say that it [stigmatisation] is over, but it is weakening and many Dalit entrepreneurs are emerging and doing very well.”
Courtesy: The Wire
Farmers, Dalits suffering in BJP rule, says Selja
Lambasting the BJP government over the ‘poor condition’ of farmers and the working classes, Sirsa MP Kumari Selja alleged that the BJP was shedding crocodile tears on the issue of the farming community now when the Assembly elections are round the corner in the state.
Addressing a rally in Anaj Mandi in Narnaund town of Hisar today, she alleged that the Haryana Government did not even blink once when about 750 farmers sacrificed their lives while holding a dharna along the Delhi borders during the farmers’ agitation.
“Now, they claim to be the well-wishers of farmers, Dalits and working classes, when they are set to face the Assembly elections. Enough is enough. People are so dejected with the BJP that they are eager to kick the BJP out of power in Haryana,” she claimed.
Now, the BJP government was promising to provide MSP on all crops. “The BJP government is a government of slogans. We had never heard the word “jumla” in our lives, but we heard it for the first time under the BJP rule. the BJP stands for Bharatiya Jhooti Party (Indian Lying Party). Don’t fall for the deception again after 10 years,” she said.
“We need to change the government and the system. Corruption is rampant under the BJP government. People are being harassed in the name of PPP. They have trapped the people in a web, and only you can free them from it,” added Selja.
Former Haryana Minister Sampat Singh shared the stage with the Sirsa MP Kumari Selja in the rally held in Narnaund. Though he is known to be close to Hooda, his joining the rally addressed by Selja has surprised many in the Congress
Courtesy : The Tribune
SC sub-classification: Criminalising Dalit beneficiaries is not the way forward
It may be true that certain Scheduled Castes have benefitted more, but there are several problems with the usage of words such as ‘appropriation’ or ‘cornering’, because it criminalises those SCs who, despite various odds, managed to obtain visible benefits of reservation.
Written by:Sumeet Mhaskar
The recent Supreme Court judgement on the sub-classification of reservations is a turning point for the provisions meant for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). The judgement seeks to address the long-standing demand of those SCs who have been left behind or benefitted less from the reservation in higher education and public employment. As expected, SCs who have benefitted less have welcomed the decision. However, it is important to note that several anti-reservationists have also enthusiastically supported the judgement on social media, arguing that ‘real’ SCs should benefit from the reservation policies and those who have benefitted for several generations should be excluded. This perspective fails to consider the historical context that led to the current situation.
It may be true that certain SCs have benefitted more, but there are several problems with the usage of words such as appropriation or cornering the benefits. The central problem, in my view, is that such characterisation criminalises those SCs who, despite various odds, managed to obtain visible benefits of reservation in government employment and higher education. It creates massive hatred towards them for utilising the reservation provisions. It is important to remember that those SCs who have benefitted slightly more are also victims of caste discrimination, including the practices of untouchability. Despite the economic mobility of a tiny section of SCs, they continue to experience caste-based discrimination.
The first problem with usage such as appropriation and cornering of reservation by certain SCs is that it overlooks the role of political parties in power, bureaucrats, and officials responsible for implementing the reservation policies. Regardless of ideology, political parties in power have been extremely hostile towards caste-based reservations. Government officials and those controlling government-funded institutions actively subverted reservation in employment and higher education. This is not just a minor problem, it is a systemic issue that has been widely documented. Strong political mobilisation by Dalit organisations compelled governments to implement reservation policies. For instance, the powerful mobilisations by the Dalit Panthers in Maharashtra in the 1970s and 1980s. The arrival of political parties with a Dalit mass base in the 1990s, especially with the entry of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on the national scene, has increased the pressure on the governing classes to implement the reservation policy.
The SCs who benefitted slightly more are the ones who remained at the forefront of Dalit politics and struggled for effective implementation of the reservation policy. Despite their mobilisation, thousands of job vacancies for SCs and STs still remain vacant in government offices. It is often noticed that the selection committees overtly reject the most qualified SC person by stating that the candidate is ‘Not Found Suitable’ (NFS). Even after 75 years of Independence, the castes who have benefitted from reservation have not managed to obtain jobs as faculty members at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM). The Times of India reported in March 2019 that of the total faculty members in the IITs, the proportion of SCs is 2.23% and STs merely 0.31%. Similarly, of the total faculty members in IIMs, the proportion of SCs is 0.8% and STs is 0.2%. In both the cases, as per the reservation policies, the expected proportion of SCs should have been 15% and STs should have been 7.5%. The situation is no different in several universities and research institutions. The judiciary does not follow caste-based reservation, and other government offices have kept SC and ST seats vacant for a long time.
It is clear that varied mechanisms have been deployed by those at the helm of decision-making to subvert the mandate of reservation policies. The judiciary has never taken suo motu cognisance to intervene in the violations of reservation provisions for SCs and STs. In the current judgement, the Supreme Court expressed its concerns about the SCs who are left behind while introducing sub-classification. This is contradictory to the Supreme Court’s judgement in the case of Economically Weaker Section (EWS) reservation for the General Category. It never took into account that some caste and religious groups benefitted most from the General Category than others. In the General Category, it is visibly evident that the Brahmin caste has a significant over-representation in higher education and public employment. However, the Supreme Court treated ‘poor’ as a homogenous category for the General Category people. It never ventured into the variations among caste and religious groups that benefitted least from the General Category.
The second problem with appropriation and cornering is that it suggests that SCs who benefitted slightly more, especially the Neo-Buddhist Mahars in Maharashtra or the Jatavs in Uttar Pradesh, are the groups that have actively blocked opportunities for the ones left behind. There is no concrete evidence that those SCs who have utilised the reservation policy have placed obstacles and denied other SCs access to the benefits offered by the state. Instead, it is equally evident that the beneficiaries of the social justice policies had to experience extremely hostile situations at the workplace, including traumatic situations leading to depression and suicide attempts.
As for higher education, there is a long history to showcase how higher educational institutions have subverted reservation policies. Those Dalit students who enter higher educational institutions perpetually experience caste discrimination from teachers, non-teaching staff, and fellow students. In several cases, this has forced Dalit students to die by suicide in India’s elite institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
The third problem with terming it appropriation and cornering of reservation benefits by certain SCs is that it overlooks the changes in political economy that directly impact the availability of government jobs and higher education opportunities. Since the economic liberalisation, jobs have shrunk in the public sector. Of the total secured jobs nationwide, merely 3.5% are in the public sector. Even within these public sector jobs, a large proportion are contractualised. For instance, contractual government jobs increased from 0.7 million in 2004-05 to 15.9 million in 2017-18. Data from the Public Enterprises Survey from 2012-2013 to 2021-22 shows a reduction in 2.7 lakh jobs in Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) in India. As of March 2022, 42.5% of the jobs in Public Sector Undertakings were classified under the ‘contractual or casual workers’ category. These employees have no access to job security and the wide-ranging social security provisions that come along with it.
As for education, since the fiscal crisis of the 1980s, several public institutions have diversified their sources of funding. As a result, there has been a massive increase in self-financed public and private institutions. Overall, seats in government institutions have decreased and seats in private ones have increased. As of 2019, of the total colleges, 64.3% are private and unaided, 13.5% are private and aided, and merely 22.2% are managed and run by the government. Except for the institutions managed by the government, the fees in private institutions are comparatively higher. Furthermore, there is no reservation in the ‘minority’ institutions, defined in terms of religion, language and region. During the last decade and a half, there has been a massive expansion of private higher educational institutions that also do not follow caste-based reservation.
In private institutions, as the Yashpal Committee noted, fees are exorbitant and they have illegal capitation fees that range from Rs 1-10 million for engineering courses, Rs 20-40 million for MBBS courses, Rs 5-12 million for dental courses, and about Rs 30,000-50,000 for courses in arts and science colleges. Given the fact that the majority of SCs and STs have lower income levels, they cannot access private educational institutions. Thus, the changes in the higher education sector and in public sector employment have directly impacted the reservation provisions. Therefore, in addition to reservation of seats, there is a need to focus on financial support from the government to access private educational institutions.
For the factors mentioned above, it is important that SCs who have benefitted slightly more are not criminalised. This is a necessary step towards a healthy dialogue among the SCs who have benefitted slightly more and those who are left behind. The discussions between the SCs are important as the share of higher educational institutions and public employment has shrunk considerably. Therefore, the focus of the SCs and STs should be on pressuring the government to expand the opportunities in higher education and discontinue the contractualisation of jobs. At the same time, the government must ensure that SCs and STs are given business contracts so that they can be part of the private sector as owners of capital.
Furthermore, the government can incentivise private companies who have caste-based diversity in their workforce. Similarly, to gain access to private higher educational institutions, there is an urgent need to provide a large number of scholarships for SCs and STs. It is through dialogues in the changed political-economic context that hard-fought reservations for SCs and STs can be protected. Otherwise, the sub-classification of SCs might become a tool in the hands of political parties, bureaucrats, and those heading various institutions to subvert reservation policies.
Sumeet Mhaskar is Professor of Sociology at OP Jindal Global University. His X handle is @sumeetmhaskar. Views expressed are the author’s own.
Courtesy : TNM
Sub-quota a plot to divide & rule Dalits,d On August 12, 2024
NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party’s Dalit functionaries have dubbed the proposal of sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes a ploy to “divide and rule”, arguing that the party stands strongly for the unity of the community as prescribed by Ambedkar.
Veteran MPs RK Chaudhary and Awadhesh Prasad told TOI that division of SCs into sub-groups will sound the death knell of Dalit unity, which cannot be accepted. “SP led by Akhilesh Yadav stands resolutely with the SC/ST community. SCs are one bloc and there should be no change in it,” he said.
The views of the MP duo from Uttar Pradesh came as SP is positioning itself to tap into BSP’s support base which has diminished amid steady erosion of its Dalit base. Several BSP members have joined SP, with Chaudhary being a key figure from Kanshi Ram’s era. As Mayawati has come out strongly against the Supreme Court judgment on sub-categorisation and has historically stood for a single bloc of SCs, the views of SP’s Dalit brass are politically significant given its firm eyes on the fragmenting BSP vote bank.
Chaudhary said Kanshi Ram played a big role in uniting Dalits across divisions and sub-catergorisation will be an assault on that unity. “Kanshi Ram believed they should unite and only with the united struggle of the ‘Bahujan Samaj’ which includes SC, ST and OBCs, can the community succeed in securing its participation (in the society),” he said.
Prasad said Ambedkar enshrined in the Constitution the privilege for the entire SC community and “splitting them as Pasi, Raidas, Dhanuk, Koeri” will not work. Questioning the argument over affirmative action benefits being monopolized by some dominant sub-castes, Chaudhary said sub-categorisation is not the answer to the issue. “The Supreme Court has not studied the issue but decided according to the ‘mahaul’… nobody is stopping the other (weaker) sub-castes,” he said.
Courtesy : TOI
Backwards and Dalits have not got their rights till date: Virendra
Chandauli. A seminar was held on Constitution Pillar Foundation Day on Sunday at the Samajwadi Party’s office Lohia Bhawan in Narsinghpur Khurd. In this, Chandauli MP Virendra Singh said that backwards, Dalits, minorities and women have not got their rights till date. SP national president Akhilesh Yadav has formed PDA to get the people of the society their rights.
In the seminar, former Ghazipur MP Jagdish Prasad Kushwaha said that there is a need to save the Constitution from the BJP government. Sakaldiha MLA Prabhu Narayan Yadav said that Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar had made a provision for reservation in the Constitution to bring the deprived society into the mainstream, but the BJP government wants to end the Constitution and reservation. There is a need to struggle together for this. District President Satyanarayan Rajbhar said that SP is fighting for the welfare of every section. During this, Babulal Lal Yadav, Yogendra Yadav, Ramesh Yadav, Anjani Singh, Chandrashekhar Yadav, Niranjan Kannaujiya, Chandrabhan Yadav, Ajay Maurya etc. were present.
Courtesy : Hindu News.
New uproar begins over quota in reservation, what will Dalit society do now?
On August 1, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court commented on classification and creamy layer in reservation. After this, protests started rising from within the Dalit society.
Meanwhile, on August 9, the Central Government has issued a statement in this regard and clarified the situation. Union Minister Ashwini Varshney came forward on behalf of the Central Government. He said that there will be no creamy layer in SC-ST reservation.
However, the Center has maintained silence on classification in SC-ST reservation. In such a situation, Dalit Dastak editor Ashok Das discussed with social activist and thinker Dr. Satish Prakash about how this movement will move forward. Watch the video of the discussion-
Courtesy : Hindi News
World Tribal Day: Phulwanti Meena,The Sole Drone Pilot in Rajasthan’s Pratapgarh Village Skillfully Revolutionizing Agriculture
Phulwanti says that July and August are the main months for Kharif crops, while December and January are crucial for the Rabi season when there will be demand for drone services.
Geetha Sunil Pillai
Pratapgarh- Typically, when one thinks of a tribal woman, a shy figure clad in a veil, working in her kitchen, holding a child, or tending to livestock comes to mind. However, in Pateliya village of Pratapgarh district, 27-year-old Phulwanti Meena has shattered this traditional image, creating a new identity for herself.
Phulwanti is the only tribal woman drone pilot in the district, skillfully operating a drone to spray fertilizers and pesticides in the fields.
Phulwanti is among the five individuals in the district, including three women, who have been provided with drones for agricultural purposes under the Prime Minister’s Drone Didis scheme. These drones were supplied by IFFCO, a government agency that sells fertilizers and seeds, which also provided a 15-day training program for the selected candidates.
Currently, nano fertilizers and pesticides are being sprayed by drones across Pratapgarh district. Banwari Lal Joshi is conducting spraying in the Chhoti Sadri block, while Shivlal Dhakad is covering areas like Jaloada Jagir, Manpura Jagir, and others. Additionally, Sarla Morya, Phoolwanti Meena, and Arpita Rathore are performing spraying in other regions of Pratapgarh using drones.
Phulwanti’s husband learned about the scheme when he went to the IFFCO outlet to purchase fertilizers and medicines for their fields. After applying, Phoolwanti was selected following an interview.
Phulwanti told The Mooknayak, “We received the drone in April 2024, after which the handover process was completed, and I finished the training in May. This is the first season I am handling the drone for the Kharif crops. IFFCO also provided an electric van where we can safely store the drone set, along with a generator set and batteries. Since handling the heavy equipment alone is difficult, my husband Sukhlal accompanies me, and we manage the work together.”
During the current Kharif season, Phulwanti and her husband are extremely busy with constant calls for drone services. The couple has two young children, a 6-year-old daughter and a 3.5-year-old son. Phulwanti says, “I prepare food for my family, and our daughter goes to school. We leave home around 8-9 am with our tiffin along. We take a short break for lunch and after attending all the calls, we return home around 7 pm. Sometimes we take our son with us, although he usually stays at home with his grandparents.”
She says that her husband Sukhlal is very supportive. A postgraduate in Hindi Literature, Sukhlal encourages his wife and has been a source of motivation in learning drone flying techniques.
Sukhlal mentions, “We were informed that the drone costs around 5-6 lakh rupees. Initially, Phulwanti was apprehensive about handling such an expensive machine, but gradually she gained confidence.” Laughing, Phulwanti adds, “Oh, how can one trust something flying in the sky—how can you trust a machine soaring in the air?”
The couple says they must be very cautious during the rains, as the drone’s radar can go out of control if exposed to rain. Therefore, they do not work when it rains.Phulwanti explains that she takes the drone to a height of one and a half meters above the crop. “In our region, maize is the crop that grows the tallest after it starts fruiting. It can reach over 2 meters in height, so we need to keep the drone at 1.5 meters above the crop.”
There is a lot of enthusiasm for drone technology in the villages, and when they visit remote rural areas, crowds gather. The drone’s battery lasts for about 15-20 minutes of continuous work, after which a second set needs to be used. Sukhlal mentions that the drone comes with four battery sets, with two batteries each. They travel daily in an EV (electric three-wheeler) provided by the company, which has a range of 60 to 80 kilometers. Phulwanti says, “Just yesterday, we received a message that in case of an emergency if the vehicle runs out of charge, it can be recharged using the generator kept in the vehicle.” Currently, Sukhlal drives the vehicle, but Phulwanti is gradually learning to drive and hopes to drive herself in the future to attend calls so that Sukhlal can devote more time to farming.
Phulwanti highlights the benefits of drones, saying that they can precisely spray pesticides, herbicides, and other control products, ensuring crops receive the correct dosage. This reduces risks associated with manual application and increases the overall effectiveness of the products, leading to better yields for farmers.
Drones can significantly reduce the manual labor required for spraying pesticides and fertilizers and can be used for large areas of crops daily. Compared to manual spraying, drones use much less water and chemicals. Sukhlal adds that while spraying pesticides or fertilizers on a large field used to take an entire day, the same task now takes just one or two hours with the drone.
Phulwanti says that July and August are the main months for Kharif crops, while December and January are crucial for the Rabi season when there will be demand for drone services. Since Pratapgarh does not grow much vegetable crops, the couple notes that they will not have work during the remaining 8 months. “If there is a demand for services from surrounding districts where vegetables are grown year-round, we can go there.” Currently, with 3 to 5 calls daily, Phoolwanti earns up to 1,000 rupees, which can amount to 30,000 rupees a month.
Using drones for spraying nano fertilizers/pesticides can help farmers reduce time, labor, water, and farming costs, thus enhancing crop production and income.
How to Use Drone Services:
Farmers need to download the mobile app named “IFFCO Kisan Uday” from the Google Play Store to arrange for spraying of pesticides and fertilizers in their fields. Through this app, farmers can access drones for spraying nano fertilizers and other recommended chemicals based on availability in their area.
Using drones for spraying nano fertilizers can help farmers reduce time, labor, water, and farming costs, thus enhancing crop production and income.
Farmers can directly contact entrepreneurs for spraying services. IFFCO provides spraying of nano urea, nano DAP, liquid Sagarika, and other recommended medicines at affordable rates and within a short time frame. The drone has a capacity of 10 liters, sufficient for approximately one acre (2 to 2.5 bigha). The maximum spraying time is 10 to 15 minutes, with a cost of 300 rupees per acre (150 rupees per bigha).
Courtesy : The Mooknayak
L-G Kailashnathan inspects Oussudu freshwater lake
Published - August 11, 2024 11:24 pm IST - PUDUCHERRY
Lt. Governor K. Kailashnathan at the Oussudu Lake on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
In his first public event since assuming office, Lieutenant Governor K. Kailashnathan undertook an inspection of the Oussudu lake, the largest freshwater lake in the region.
The Lt. Governor sought to know why desilting works were not regularly carried out on the lake.
Comments
Post a Comment