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To deny Dalits entry, ‘upper castes’ cancel temple fest in Hassan – The hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/to-deny-dalits-entry-upper-castes-cancel-temple-fest-in-hassan/article8379078.ece
Kin Stage Protest After Dalit Farm Worker Suspectedly Killed by Caste Hindu Landlord – The new Indian express
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Kin-Stage-Protest-After-Dalit-Farm-Worker-Suspectedly-Killed-by-Caste-Hindu-Landlord/2016/03/21/article3337893.ece
Dalit village-leader in Madurai found dead after he objected to caste-slur – The news minute
http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/dalit-village-leader-madurai-found-dead-after-he-objected-caste-slur-40547
Police provide protection to Shankar’s family – The times of india city
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Police-provide-protection-to-Shankars-family/articleshow/51486000.cms
Left parties’ dilemmas in Tamil Nadu – Deccan chronicle
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/politics/210316/left-parties-dilemmas-in-tamil-nadu.html
Probe into scholarship ‘scam’ – The telegraph
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160321/jsp/frontpage/story_75626.jsp#.Vu9-D7v9V_k
Maharashtra Budget 2016-17: 20 per cent goes to SC/ST schemes but enforcement may prove a challenge- The Indian Express
http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/maharashtra-budget-2016-17-20-per-cent-goes-to-scst-schemes-but-enforcement-may-prove-a-challenge/
Please Watch:
Dontha Prashanth addressing public conference | Think Dissent Resist | sio kerala
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6J7rxm89xU
The Last Letter : Reach For The Stars By Hansal Mehta
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLZ2zC27uGE
The hindu
To deny Dalits entry, ‘upper castes’ cancel temple fest in Hassan
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/to-deny-dalits-entry-upper-castes-cancel-temple-fest-in-hassan/article8379078.ece
Opposed to Dalits demanding entry into the village temple, the ‘upper caste’ residents of Arakere village in Arsikere taluk of Hassan district have decided to cancel a car festival scheduled for April 1.
Representatives of the ‘upper caste’ groups in the village announced this decision after a meeting convened by the taluk administration here on Sunday.
Arsikere taluk administration convened the meeting following Dalits’ complaint that they were being discriminated in the festival, besides demanding entry into Kariyamma Temple.
A few representatives of the Dalit community had met Additional Deputy Commissioner K.M. Janaki in Hassan on Saturday and complained that untouchability was still being perpetuated in the village.
They were denied entry into the temple and were forced to continue with traditional customs, which include cleaning the village roads. The Additional Deputy Commissioner had ordered the officers concerned to hold a meeting and resolve the matter.
In the village of 1,400 houses, Dalits have a minority presence with just over 100 families. During the annual Kariyamma Jatra Mahotsav, village residents of all castes participate.
The Dalits demanded that the music band, which visits colonies of the ‘upper castes’ as part of the festival, visit their colony too. This was not accepted by the ‘upper castes’, who also opposed their temple entry.
Vijay Kumar, district president of Madiga Dandora Horata Samiti, said: “During the meeting, the ‘upper caste’ people said they would not oppose entry of Dalits into the temple and assured the officers that the community would not be discriminated against. But, they changed their stand as the meeting ended. They announced that the festival would be cancelled. This is only to avoid Dalits from entering the temple.” The samiti has decided to hold a protest in Hassan.
Dasharatha Murthy, Arsikere DySP, who attended the meeting on Sunday, told The Hindu: “Initially, everybody agreed to resolve the differences and hold the festival as per schedule. However, later they changed. Whether they conduct the festival or not, we will ensure law and order is in the place.”
The annual Kariyamma Jatra Mahotsav was scheduled
for April 1
The new Indian express
Kin Stage Protest After Dalit Farm Worker Suspectedly Killed by Caste Hindu Landlord
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Kin-Stage-Protest-After-Dalit-Farm-Worker-Suspectedly-Killed-by-Caste-Hindu-Landlord/2016/03/21/article3337893.ece
COIMBATORE/ERODE:Seeking action on the suspected death of Dalit farm worker Chinnasamy, his relatives and Dalit outfits protested in front of the Coimbatore Government Hospital here on Sunday.
Dalit farm worker Chinnasamy (55) of Ricemill Pudhur, Nallampatti, Thingalur village, near Gobi, was found dead in Marappakavundar’s farm well on Saturday evening. As his death was suspected to be a murder, his kin and relatives staged a protest in Erode on Saturday night, seeking immediate action on the issue.
Chinnasamy’s wife, Subbulakshmi, in a complaint to the Thingalur police, alleged that some persons had murdered him and she demanded their arrest. Erode Police sources said, “As Dalit people protested for more than five hours, we found it difficult to solve the issue. Hence, to complete the legal formalities, we brought Chinnasamy’s body from Erode to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) for the post-mortem.”
Gobi DSP Selvam himself went to the CMCH in view of the seriousness of the case, police sources said.
“Earlier on March 10, at a temple function, people belonging to the upper caste, thrashed a Dalit youth Krishnan, for entering the temple. To sort out the issue, a peace committee meet was organised in Erode on Friday presided by RDO Narmadha, in which Marappakavundar threatened to kill Chinnasamy,” said Ramasamy M, a relative of Chinnasamy.
Dalit youth Krishnan lodged a complaint at the Thingalur police station and police have registered a case against Marappakavundar. Subsequently, Dalit people had also organised a hunger strike on March 14 seeking action on untouchability.
“A day after the peace committee meeting, on Saturday evening, Chinnasamy was found dead in a farm well of Marappakavundar. So, we suspect it to be a planned murder. The police has to reveal the truth,” Ramasamy added.
On Sunday evening, the postmortem was completed at the CMCH. But the relatives and members of some Dalit outfits refused to receive Chinnasamy’s body, demanding the police to arrest the accused. As the protesters did not relent, police kept the body of Chinnasamy at the CMCH itself.
Dalit Viduthalai Katchi’s General Secretary Senkottaiyan said, “Initial postmortem reports reveals that it is suspected to be a murder. They have not taken any action on the complaint lodged by the dalit youngster Krishnan. It looks like the police are supporting the upper caste people.”
When contacted, MR Sibi Chakravarthi, Erode SP, said, “We have registered the case as suspected death. We will proceed based on the postmortem report, which yet to come.”
The news minute
Dalit village-leader in Madurai found dead after he objected to caste-slur
http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/dalit-village-leader-madurai-found-dead-after-he-objected-caste-slur-40547
Days after a Dalit youth was brutally hacked to death in a suspected case of honour killing in Tirupur district, the body of 45-year-old Dalit leader was found floating in a well in Chellampalayam in Madurai district on Sunday, police said.
They said an upper caste person had reportedly “abused” a 19-year old Dalit boy by his caste name when he was at the premises of a temple in Thingalur in Erode district on Saturday.
Chinnasamy, leader of an outfit named ‘Dalit Viduthalai Katchi’ objected to this, police said.
Chinnasamy’s body was found floating in a well in Chellampalayam on Sunday morning and was brought to the Government Hospital for post-mortem.
Tension prevailed at the hospital when activists of various organisations fighting for the cause of Dalits and human rights gathered after Chinnasamy’s family members refused to allow post-mortem, seeking a fair probe into the incident, which they claimed was mysterious, police said.
However, the protesters dispersed after senior district and police officials assured them that necessary steps would be taken.
On March 13, Shankar (22) and Kausalya (19), whose inter-caste marriage was opposed by their families, were attacked by a bike-borne gang with sickles in full public view in nearby Tirupur district, resulting in the death of Shankar.
Kausalya is presently undergoing treatment at the government hospital in Coimbatore under police protection.
Five persons have been already arrested in this connection.
The times of india city
Police provide protection to Shankar’s family
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Police-provide-protection-to-Shankars-family/articleshow/51486000.cms
Coimbatore: More than three police personnel have been deployed at the house of dalit youth V Shankar, 22, who was brutally murdered in full public view at Udumalpet last week, after his father Velusamy received an anonymous threat letter a few days back. Shankar was murdered for marrying 19-year-old C Kowsalya, who hailed from a non-dalit community. Police would now provide security for Shankar’s family round-the-clock.
In addition to the policemen deployed at the late Shankar’s house, more than 100 policemen have been deployed in the village to avoid any untoward incident. “We have deployed a special sub-inspector cadre and seven police personnel on shift basis to protect Shankar’s family,” said a police officer.
In another development, CPM state executive committee member K Thangavel visited Kowsalya, widow of the late Shankar, at the trauma ward of Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital on Sunday. He said All India Insurance Employees Association (AIIEA) has agreed to bear the expenses of her higher studies. After meeting Kowsalya, Thangavel told reporters that since she had witnessed the brutal murder of her husband, she was still in a state of shock and doctors were trying to help her with counselling. “Kowsalya has expressed her desire to study further and so theAll India Insurance Employees Association has come forward to help her.
Kowsalya has reportedly told Thangavel that her mother Annalakhsmi and maternal uncle were behind the murder and sought the maximum punishment for the two. “Police should arrest them immediately. They should also provide protection to Kowsalya,” said Thangavel.
On March 13 around 3pm, Shankar was hacked to death in full public view at Udumalpet in Tirupur district by a five-member gang, who also assaulted his wife Kowsalya. The couple belonged to different communities and got married eight months ago. But the girl’s parents did not accept the marriage and threatened Shankar’s family and had tried tried to separate them by force.
Deccan chronicle
Left parties’ dilemmas in Tamil Nadu
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/politics/210316/left-parties-dilemmas-in-tamil-nadu.html
Chennai: As the age-old maxim goes, squaring a circle is logically impossible. But it also lays bare the most unseemly contradictions and pragmatic combinations in the real life-world, more so in politics in an open, democratic society.
For the Indian Left parties, whose core constituency mainly comprising the “working class, the poor peasants and agricultural workers”, which the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – (CPI-M) has even recently described as the ‘core of the revolutionary alliance’, it is a constant running against the wall in trying to narrow the mismatch between ideological fury and grassroots reality. India’s caste fortifications hardly seem to be de-freezing into classes.
And by CPI (M)’s own candid admission, as the most dominant force in the Indian Left spectrum after breaking away from the Communist Party of India (CPI), the pulls and pressures of ‘Parliamentary politics’ that as its recent plenum document says, “confines the party’s activities to electoral work” and fighting elections, it is an unenviable dilemma the Indian Left parties face.
The oddities with which that dilemma unfolds for CPI and CPI (M) in Tamil Nadu in the run-up to the May 16 Assembly elections, particularly after the Left parties reached an electoral understanding or ‘seat adjustments’ with the Congress in West Bengal to take on Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress, is news by itself.
It is not the apparent contradictions of with whom they team up or not; neither it is about vote-shares of the two parties, which have oscillated between 5 per cent to 6 per cent in Tamil Nadu since the 1967 watershed Assembly elections, irrespective of the alliance choices the CPI and CPI (M) have made over the years.
In this context, the 2014 Lok Sabha polls stand out when CPI and CPI (M) in Tamil Nadu made a radical departure in announcing that they will jointly contest as a single bloc, after the ruling AIADMK had left it with a ‘take it or leave it’ situation with offer of a single seat for each. Since then, political observers say their ‘independent tactical line’ has acquired a new focus.
They had then decided to contest nine seats each out of the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu, on the plank of fighting ‘communalism, corruption and money power in elections’. This appeared to be a basic shift in their poll strategy to fighting elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, though there is no singular pattern to explain the post-1967 scenario.
For instance in 1967, CPI (M) was part of the DMK-Swatantra party grand alliance that trounced the Congress in the State, while in the 1971 Assembly elections CPI was part of the DMK-led alliance that had then struck a deal with the Indira Congress after the major split in the All India Congress.
Broadly, through the MGR-led AIADMK era in the State (1977-87) and later right up to 2004 LS elections — when both CPI and CPI (M) were part of the DMK-Congress ‘United Progressive Alliance (UPA)’ in Tamil Nadu, along with PMK and MDMK on a larger secular platform to take on the BJP-led NDA — the CPI has fought more elections with AIADMK and the CPI (M) has been largely a DMK ally.
But the 1996 Lok Sabha election was again an exception to that trend, when CPI contested as part of DMK-TMC alliance, even as the Marxists sought to forge a ‘third front’, with the MDMK led by Vaiko and the erstwhile Janata Dal. The DMK courting both BJP and the Congress in successive Lok Sabha elections, the previous Congress regime signing the Indo-US deal for civil nuclear cooperation and the subsequent 2G spectrum scam had also contributed to the Left distancing itself from the DMK later. Thus, both CPI and CPI (M) were part of the AIADMK-led alliance in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and in the 2011 Assembly polls when Vijayakanth-led DMDK was also on board the Jayalalithaa-led front.
As early as 1996, when Harkishen Singh Surjeet was at the helm of the CPI (M), the party saw in Vaiko’s MDMK “an alternative” to the main Dravidian parties, DMK and AIADMK.
But as that strategy came a cropper then, and with the advancement of the right-wing Hindu nationalist forces under BJP with the economic liberalisation since the 1990s’, and ascendancy of smaller caste-based parties, the Left again pinned their hopes on DMK or AIADMK, a strategy which also helped to ensure a good presence for the CPI and CPI (M) in the Assembly.
Seen in this backdrop, the CPI and CPI (M) now backing the formation of the ‘People’s Welfare Alliance (PWA)’, coordinated by MDMK leader Vaiko and also including a key Dalit party in Thol. Thirumavalavan-led VCK, seems only a widening of its earlier line of finding space for an independent ‘third front’ in Tamil Nadu politics. More so, when both the Left parties have been vigorously taking up Dalit and women’s issues in recent years.
The Left parties’ latest strategy in blessing the PWA, has not only enabled them to steer clear of the main Dravidian parties which they have been mulling for quite some time, but has also helped CPI and CPI (M) to ward off smaller regional parties like DMDK and the PMK.
But, notwithstanding the PWA’s common minimum programme to keep off contentious issues like the Sri Lankan Tamils problem, the irony facing the Left parties this time is that in eschewing regional and sub-regional parties, they unwittingly find themselves in company with Tamil Nationalists!
The telegraph
Probe into scholarship ‘scam’
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160321/jsp/frontpage/story_75626.jsp#.Vu9-D7v9V_k
Patna, March 20: The state government has ordered a vigilance probe into irregularities in disbursement of scholarships to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students pursuing technical education outside Bihar.
The vigilance bureau wrote to the SC/ST welfare department on Saturday, asking for details about the disbursement of post-matriculation scholarships to such students.
“The department has promised to send us the relevant documents after Holi,” said a senior vigilance official.
Initial inquiries have revealed that scholarship money has been paid to fictitious institutions. The alleged fraud came to light after non-payment of scholarship money to 60 SC/ST students at Raajdhani Engineering College in Bhubaneswar put a question mark over their studies.
BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi raised the issue in the Legislative Council last week, demanding a high-level probe.
“We had demanded the state government make public the names of students and payments made to different professional institutions in the country under the programme in the past five years,” Sushil told The Telegraph.
A total of 274 engineering colleges are registered with the SC/ST welfare department. It has been found that a portion of the Rs 206 crore allocated for such scholarships for the 2015-16 fiscal was paid in the name of 404 students in three colleges – Raja Ramchandra Institute of Technology and Management, Dulari Devi Institute of Pharmacy, and NCR Technical Campus – in Uttar Pradesh’s Chandaus village, around 20km from Aligarh town.
“I had asked some people in Aligarh to visit these colleges and check the whereabouts of Dalit students from Bihar studying there,” Sushil said. “They told me the three colleges don’t exist anymore.”
The scholarship amount allocated to the department is transferred to the educational institutions where SC and ST students from Bihar are admitted. The funds help pay the course fees and the amount ranges between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh for each student per annum, sources said.
An enquiry has revealed 60 bogus beneficiaries from Nawada enrolled in five nonexistent technical institutions in Dehradun.
Sources said disciplinary action was initiated against the Nawada district welfare officer and other officials.
The Indian Express
Maharashtra Budget 2016-17: 20 per cent goes to SC/ST schemes but enforcement may prove a challenge
http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/maharashtra-budget-2016-17-20-per-cent-goes-to-scst-schemes-but-enforcement-may-prove-a-challenge/
Several schemes have failed to explain the statistics pertaining to provisions and the estimated beneficiaries.
THE Maharashtra government may have made made a provision of Rs 6,725 crore for Scheduled Caste sub-plan and Rs 5,357 crore for a tribal sub-plan, commensurate with their population of 11.5 per cent and 9.4 per cent, respectively, but the bigger question that needs to be addressed is the effective mechanism to ensure its utilisation. Several schemes have failed to explain the statistics pertaining to provisions and the estimated beneficiaries.
The decision to provide Rs 2 lakh for construction of well to an SC farmer under the newly launched Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Krushi Swawlambhan Yojana may send a good social message, but it does not explain how much funds it would allocate for the entire scheme, or how many beneficiaries have been worked out per region.
Also, under the water recharge schemes, collectors of several drought-hit districts have enforced a ban on taking up new wells to avoid further depletion of the water table. The state aid for SC farmers constructing wells may now trigger conflict in villages. A question is also being raised if the farmers who have availed the funds for wells can still apply for farm ponds scheme, for which the government provides Rs 50,000.
At a time when the government is focussing on making farmers self-reliant, special emphasis on Dalit farmers is a good step, say observers, though they feel the administration will have to provide adequate safeguards for implementation of the scheme and also ensure it is not misused.
According to the Agriculture Census (2010-11), out of the 1.37 crore total operational holdings in the state, 78.6 per cent belonged to marginal and small farmers with land holding less than or equal to 2 hectares. The proportion of operational holdings of SC and ST farmers was 7.5 per cent and 6.3 per cent.
The average size of landholdings of SC and ST farmers was 1.27 hectares and 1.8 hectares, respectively, as against 1.44 hectares for all operational holdings.
The statistics indicate that construction of well would address the problems of water scarcity, since a majority of the small and marginal farmers with landholding less than 2 hectares rely on rain-fed agriculture.
In Maharashtra, out of the total 307.58 lakh hectares’ geographical area in the state, the gross cropped area was 233.80 lakh hectares, while the net area sown was 173.68 lakh hectares (56.4 per cent).
The government has also promised installation of electric water pumps on irrigation wells or solar water pump to boost crop productivity on their fields.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “The biggest challenge and the commitment of government is to make the farmers across sections and regions self-reliant through greater investments in permanent infrastructure. Inclusive agro-sector growth will have to address the problems of Dalits and tribals.”
In the education sector, the government has taken forward its integration of tribal children with the mainstream in good district schools for which a Rs 290-crore allocation has been made under the tribal sub-plan. Apart from Rs 300-crore funds for roads and Rs 370 crore for construction of government ashramshalas, the budget also sets aside Rs 112.65 crore for a supplementary nutrition scheme called “Bharat Ratna Dr A P J Abdul Kalam” will be provided. According to a senior official, “Whether it is SC or ST, the allocation of funds is not the problem. But at ground level, there is a clear mismatch between the policy and its execution.”
In the last budget, almost 50 per cent of the plans remained on paper. Majority of the ashramshalas, 1,100 across the tribal belt, are in a state of neglect because of lack of staff or failure to provide the funds in time. The children in many residential schools are deprived of nutritious meal or warm clothes.
The budget talks of expansion to include the supply of one-time nutritional diet to all pregnant women, lactating mothers and children in the age group of 3 to 6 years. Another welfare project for Scheduled Caste is housing for all families by 2019. In rural Maharashtra, it has shortlisted nearly 1,55,936 SC beneficiaries. Under the Gharkul Yojana, the government it will either provide plot, or shelters to ensure no family remains homeless. The budget has provided Rs 320 crore for housing schemes for Dalits.
An outlay of Rs 220 crore has been earmarked to carry out construction of government hostels for OBC students.
News monitored by AMRESH & AJEET
