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Teachers from oppressed sections would help change stereotypes

Posted by samathain on March 19, 2010

Source: Economic Times

Opposition to reservation for Scheduled Caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) candidates in teaching faculty positions has much in common with

widespread general opposition to reservations per se. The same argument of merit and excellence is adduced by anti-reservationists in all fields.

Even those who believe that social exclusion, deprivation and discrimination are better addressed through radical affirmative action and that mandated quota system is limiting, wrongly posit affirmative action against reservation.
They get appropriated by rank upper caste chauvinists and strengthen the opportunist political elite that restricts the struggle against caste inequities to narrow reservationism. The need for reservation will remain perpetual without radical affirmative action to empower the deprived.

There are, in fact, good reasons for SC and ST quotas in teaching positions. School or university education is not just about imparting skills, it is also about getting socialised into a particular way of life with its own attendant system of values. Having teachers from the traditionally-oppressed sections of society would go a long way in changing traditional stereotypes on caste-occupation linkages and cultural prejudices that go with them.

There are some who argue that it is okay to have quotas even in faculty positions, but only if they are limited to the junior faculty: let there be reservations for lecturers but not for readers and professors . This argument is flawed. The junior faculty members are also engaged in teaching and research . If reserving teaching positions for the traditionally-deprived would hurt the quality of the education , the harm would be done by allowing reservations even at the level of junior faculty.

The reality is: to be eligible to teach at the college level, a person has to pass a National Eligibility Test, conducted by the University Grants Commission. Moreover, each university has a process of selection where the ability of the candidates is judged. The quality of the teachers would, thus, be a function of how good this eligibility test and selection process are, not of the teachers’ caste.

Further, professors are entrusted with a greater role in administration and policy-making , and direction of research and teaching. Hence, it will be enriching for educational institutions to have socially-diverse representation.

That it is often difficult to fill reserved posts because of a paucity of eligible candidates from the reserved groups doesn’t become an argument against reservation. Where inadequate faculty strength hurts the academic process, administrative arrangements allow creation of additional positions till suitable candidates are identified from among the intended beneficiaries of quotas.

A separate strand in the opposition to reservation in faculty positions points out that the arguments for reservation for dalits cannot be extended to other backward castes (OBC). The OBC category indeed comprises highly-differentiated social groups ranging from near-dalits to rather prosperous communities. Instead of arguing for reservation for all OBCs and for none, appropriate economic and social identification should be sought.

Reservations actually raise the levels of merit and quality over the long run, because they broaden the talent pool for merit and quality, from a narrow section of society to its entirety. Unaided by a radical affirmative action, the timeframe from such broadening will be inordinately long.

(Sanjaya Kumar Bohidarv-P , Democratic Teachers’ Front, Delhi University)

Posted in Current Affairs, Dalit Issues, Employment Issues, Recent News, Reservations | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

JNU Faculty considers “Reservation NOT legally binding” !!!!

Posted by samathain on March 19, 2010

Source: Indian Express

Deepu Sebastian Edmond Tags : jnu, delhi Posted: Thursday , Mar 18, 2010 at 0015 hrs New Delhi:

//

The academic council of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is set to address the question of implementing the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe category reservation for the posts of professor and associate professor on Thursday.

The faculty remains divided on whether the December 6, 2005 directive from the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) and a subsequent order from the University Grants Commission (UGC) on the implementation of the 22.5-per cent reservation are legally binding.

On the council’s agenda are the “results” of an opinion poll conducted among the JNU schools and centres to gauge the support.

‘Ayes’ and ‘nays’
In the poll, the faculty of the Centre for Historical Studies voted 13 to 10 against the proposed policy.

The Centre for Persian and Central Asian Studies (CP&CAS) “unanimously resolved” that not only should the SC/ST reservation for the said posts be scrapped, but the 27 per cent reservation proposed for the OBC category at the level of assistant professor should also be done away with.

The School of Arts and Aesthetics, the Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies, the School of Computer and System Sciences, the Centre for Political Studies and the Centre for Study in Science Policy favoured the reservation.

Clarity required
The notion that the reservation is not legally binding seems to have affected the faculty’s view. A few schools and centres have sought more clarity on the matter.

Questions have also been raised on the roster system, which determines the number of reserved seats a centre gets against the total announced positions. Complaints have been raised over the fact that a skewed implementation of the roster system will lead to some centres or schools having more reserved positions than others.

“A concentration of reserved posts in one department and virtually no reservation in other departments would be unfair,” response from the School of Arts and Aesthetics (SAA) said.

The SAA, the Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament and the Centre for Study in Science Policy felt the university should make exceptions for specialised courses and those that have not been taught in India for long. “All effort needs to be made to train (the) most suitable MPhil and PhD students for future recruitment … so that candidates from the reserved quota may apply from a position of strength,” the SAA said.

In the council agenda, JNU has failed to place on record its own affidavit that could decide the debate once and for all. Filed in August 2008, it stated: “JNU is only implementing the policy or guidelines framed by the government or MHRD or UGC. As far as JNU is concerned … it has no alternative but to implement the direction of the Central government.”

The document was filed in response to a public interest litigation filed by the Citizens for Equality against the SC/ST reservation.

Posted in Current Affairs, Dalit Issues, Employment Issues, Recent News, Reservations | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Cow slaughter bill runs into opposition in K’taka

Posted by samathain on March 16, 2010

( Samatha )

Our thoughts are about how this bill could be within the basic principles of constitution ? Food habits is subjective and personal. Government passing draconian laws on this invites state tyranny, because now the state can make arrests based on false claims of cow slaughter or beef eating. This is a blow for CIVIL LIBERTIES. In Bangalore, last march (2009), a law was passed to require LICENSE from the commissioner to organize any kind of PROTEST. That was draconian and against democratic principles as we are stifling the voice of dissent. If the protesters were influential enough to get LICENSE, what would they be protesting against ? Vast majority of the people don’t have that kind of influence. This was done in the name of TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT !!!!! Here, in the name of hurting sentiments of majority community, we are passing a law which will support the worst form of state tyranny.

Why these seers are not hurt by the presence of american executives in MNCs ? They regularly eat beef as staple food. We wonder if the majority community would be offended by their eating habits. Well, no, actually. We are over eager to send our kids to work in MNCs. We want our kids to pursue higher education and career in america. Why are we not hurt in these cases ? We simply choose to support diversity, as beef eating is just a food habit of americans. Why we can not apply the same sense when it comes to indians eating beef. Is it because they are really second class citizens ? No, it is just a tool to selectively terrorize common man through state apparatus. Of course, MNC executives visiting from america need to be doubly careful. Anytime, if the state wants, it can pull them up using this piece of legislation.

Beef is a cheap source of proteins. Proteins are very important for the growth of muscles. No wonder, India is lagging behind in sports. Middle class, which has the time to pursue sports, has poor nutrition due to restrictions on food habits. Aryans could not have succeeded in conquering India without the help of beef. Vedas describe Indra as fond of feasting on beef. In fact, beef eating was looked down upon only as a reaction to counter the growth of Buddhism and Jainism. It (Ban on beef eating) was not even part of vedic tradition !!!

Good old adage of “Live and let live” is very appropriate here. As long as we respect different tastes and different preferences of people, these are truly non-issues. Why should we adopt “one size fits all” principle ?  We don’t do this in any other part of our lives. Trying to force one way of life on everyone is simply out of tune with modern world. India is in a position to become highly influential in the world stage.  Can we really do this by adopting these retrograde policies ? Taste in food is highly subjective.  State trying to regulate such a basic right is simply INTRUSIVE, not enforceable and is useful only as a tool of oppression.  For instance, I have no problem with eating beef. But the nature of my up-bringing is such that I don’t feel comfortable about eating it. Its a mental block that can be overcome with some effort. However, I don’t really want to do that. Reason is,  my lifestyle is already sedentary. I can’t really handle the disproportionate amount of fat in red meat.  So,  I have no motivation to overcome this mental block. However, I don’t see any reason why I should be uncomfortable if a family member, neighbor, colleague, a visitor or anybody else fancying beef for their own personal reasons. Neither did any of our great Hindu kings. Why should anyone be supporting such a policy in this modern age ? It does not make any sense at all :(

Bangalore has become symbol of progress. These bills are out of tune with its image. Don’t SACRIFICE CIVIL LIBERTIES. Our freedom was not won cheaply.

Source: Sakaal Times

Cow slaughter bill runs into opposition in K’taka
Habib Beary
Friday, March 12, 2010 AT 07:32 PM (IST)
Tags: Karnataka-Politics

BENGALURU: Hindu seers have asked the Karnataka Government to
immediately pass a law to ban cow slaughter even as the Congress,
Janata Dal Secular and left parties opposed the bill, saying it was
draconian and targeted minorities.

Dalit organisations too have protested against the ban, saying the
government cannot interfere in food habits of people.

In the light of protests by Dalits and the opposition parties, several
seers led by Vishwesha Theertha of the Udupi Pejawar mutt called upon
political parties not to politicise the issue.

“Parties across various political affiliations will have to come
together to protect these animals by supporting the ban, he said,
after addressing a meet of pontiffs of various mutts organised by
newly formed Cow Progeny Protection Force.

Adichunchangiri Mutt seer Balagangadharanath said it was wrong to kill
and eat the meat of the animals worshiped by the major community.

But Opposition leader in the assembly Siddaramaiah said the bill was
being pushed through at the behest of the RSS..

“It is the hidden agenda of the government. It will divide people on
communal lines,” he alleged.

Congress MLA Roshan Baig said the bill should be withdrawn as it was
aimed at targeting minorities

.”There is a wrong notion that only Muslims and Christians oppose the
anti-cow slaughter bill, but the BJP government should know that there
are a lot of members from the lower castes including Dalits who have
been eating cow meat for many centuries”, said former legislator and
human rights activist A.K.Subbaiah.

The bill ‘Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of
Cattle Bill 2010 that has been introduced in the assembly proposes
stringent punishment for violation including considering all offences
under the Act as “congnisable and non-bailable”

Law Minister Suresh Kumar said if the opposition members had any
reservations over the bill they could discuss the issue when the bill
comes up for discussion.

The legislation to ban cow slaughter was intended to divide people
and to create violence in the name of communities which eat beef and
others. The law is not due to any love for cows or because the animal
is considered holy”, said CPM leader G N Nagaraj.

Posted in Caste Discrimination, Caste Issues, Current Affairs, Dalit Issues, General, Minority Issues | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Women’s reservation Bill — A Compendium

Posted by samathain on March 13, 2010

(Samatha)

There is lot of expectations about Indian women setting the standards of our parliament once the “Women’s Reservation Bill” is passed. No doubt, this should usher in an era of gender equality at a political level. First of all, politics has become the exclusive domain of the rich and the powerful thanks to the culture of party tickets. So that is an already privileged class. This bill would confer political privileges to the women ( mostly from the existing political families). Would these women to speak on behalf of millions of other toiling, oppressed poor women ? Shouldn’t it be women who are more likely to be socially active with real experience of the problems. That seems more like dalit/OBC/Minority women. A sub-quota for them would bring their valuable experiences and problems to be voiced effectively. They are the ones with hands-on background. If not for the reservation in panchayath elections, many of the village women would not have go an opportunity. If you look at the success stories of women in panchayaths, almost all of those women are either dalits or backward castes. Not having sub-quota for them would keep this marginalized group voiceless. Our legislations would not benefit from the opinions and perspectives of these women who suffer the most. There is no question about women from dalit/OBC/minority backgrounds have been kept out of political power with very few exceptions.

Earlier, 20 out of 100 used to be reserved seats for SC/ST. After women’s bill, 67 seats would be available for men, Out of these only 13 are going to be reserved. Remaining 33 seats would be for women only. Theoretically, some of these women could be dalits. This scheme defeats the purpose of more inclusive representation. Effectively. dalits would lose their privileges by almost 33%. This is a huge cost.   This would violate constitutional mandate that 20% of seats should be reserved for dalits. Only way to keep this consistent is by reiterating clearly the sub-quota for dalit women in the 33% of seats reserved for women. Repeated claims of “no sub-quota within the quota” makes it clear that dalits are losing reserved seats by almost 33%. Having 20% sub-quota within 33% seats reserved for women would ensure that 0.2×33~6.6~7 seats reserved for dalit women for every 100 seats. This would make sure that a total of 20 dalits ( 13 dalit men+ 7 dalit women) for every 100 seats would be represented satisfying the constitutional mandate. But current proposal is reducing number of seats for dalits by 7 for every 100 MP seats.

Most candidates depend on the party to campaign & win the elections. Parties regularly issue WHIPs to get their members to follow the line in voting for a legislation. This does not allow any of the MPs to register their personal opinions and perspectives without risking ejection from the party.  This is not good for democracy. Whether the new legislation would enable Women to voice their demands is questionable. But, definitely, we will get to hear the women perspective on various bills. With the current process, one needs to defect or start a new party if they vote against the party’s dictates. One wonders why this WHIP system is needed ? Same way, one wonders why reservation for women is NOT helping the really oppressed, suffering women from dalit/OBC/minority groups. Instead, it is conferring privileges to an already powerul, elite section of upper caste women. Reservation is supposed to uplift the weaker sections of the society by enabling their voice to be heard in the parliament. Weaker section is not the women from the elite, upper class. It is the women from dalit/OBC/minority backgrounds. Without providing for them using sub-quota, this bill’s basis for reservation is questionable.

Principle of reservation is to help the WEAK, so that the representation is not monopolized by the STRONG alone. It is an insult to use the system to favor the STRONG. Government is talking of supporting the weaker sections and in the name of helping the weaker sections, it is brazenly strengthening the powerful classes of the society at the cost of the dalits/OBCs/minorities.

SP is already disowning the demand for sub-quota. They are probably under the illusion that less number of seats for dalits mean more seats for themselves. As they represent OBCs/Minorities, they can not really afford to be joining hands in making sure that marginalized women don’t get their due support in the bill. They have to understand that the bill is guranteeing 33% MP seats to ELITE women, which does NOT represent their constituency. It is completely against their party ideology of social justice. In fact, it is a BRAZEN Mockery of social justice as they are using a well known tool for empowerment of the marginalized people, reservation system, to actually strengthen the ruling class. It is not the women from ELITE classes who are in need of voice  in the parliament. It is the women from dalit/OBC/minority background suffer the most injustice and discrimination.  Having no sub-quota for these deserving women in the proposed bill actually defeats the very purpose of the bill. Concerns of ELITE women does NOT reflect the problems of the vast majority of indian women. They are not victims of rape, dowry, honor killing, female infanticide, gender discrimination at job, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, domestic violence or fetching drinking water for the family etc. ELITE women are not going to be any better than our existing MPs in adding new perspective to legislations. The value they bring to the parliament is limited, compared to mandating sub-quotas for the marginalized. One can not help feeling OPENLY ROBBED with utter disregard for the concerns of the poor and the downtrodden.

Without doubt, this legislation is revolutionary, but without the sub-quota it is a Big Time Injustice to dalits and all oppressed women. Under the grab of gender based reservation, an attempt is being made to change the colour of our parliament to be mainly Upper Caste, educated and the powerful.


Let’s junk the hypocrisy

Source: Indian Express

From a strictly constitutional position, one can argue that a radical change in the electoral system would constitute an assault on a “basic feature” and would thus go against the celebrated Keshavanand Bharati judgment. We already have completely discriminatory laws, for instance, women pay less income tax than men. This absurd proposition seems to forget that it is income that is taxed and income does not have any gender. If the Congress-BJP-Left combine to push through this measure, I believe that the opponents will have a strong case to get it struck down by the Supreme Court. The present franchise system — no separate electorates, reservation for SCs and STs, nominated seats for Anglo-Indians, etc — did not come out casually or by accident. The Constituent Assembly discussed and debated these matters at length, and guess what, consensus was obtained. The Muslim members of the assembly supported the abolition of separate electorates. For the Congress-BJP-Left upper caste leadership to ram down a major constitutional change that can have implications similar to the Minto-Morley reforms, pretending to be women-friendly while actually improving their own electoral prospects, is a dubious measure. On this one, believers in constitutional rectitude must support the SP, the RJD and the BSP — even if their parliamentary tactics are too noisy for comfort!


Woman power


Source:  Frontline

The issue that has fired the imagination of women in India in recent times is their demand for reservation in Parliament and the State Assemblies.

V.V. KRISHNAN

Women Members of Parliament of various political parties unite to demand the tabling of the women’s reservation Bill, in November 2007 in New Delhi.

“WOMANPOWER stalls Musclepower”, announced a newspaper headline the day after the women’s reservation Bill was placed yet again in Parliament on May 7.

Surely, the headline highlighted a very basic challenge facing Indian democracy both inside and outside Parliament. While it would appear that a long struggle lies ahead for representative politics in India to become truly representative of popular will, aspirations and interests, it must also be recognised that if there is one issue that has fired the imagination of women across the country in an explicitly positive sense over the past decade and more, it is the demand for 33 per cent reservation in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies.

What were the factors that propelled the demand for the Bill?

The demand was a logical continuation of what had been achieved relatively easily at the level of local representative bodies after the adoption of the 73rd-74th amendments to the Constitution in 1993. There have been many attempts to understand why women want greater representation – including the theory that they are driven by compulsions as crass as naked political ambition or that they desire important positions! Some may even believe that the demand comes from international platforms such as the Beijing Conference in 1995 where women’s role in decision making was seen as a mark of achievement. Others may see in it an expression of “feminist” politics coming of age.

Somehow, none of these recognises the basic fact that women contribute equally to this society with men, that they demand and deserve a share in decision making with regard to policies and planning, and that their struggle for equality is today an integral part of the struggle of the Indian people to ensure the strength and stability of Indian democracy.

Sustained campaign

Amidst this welter of views, it may be useful to put on record the extent to which the demand for 33 per cent reservation galvanised women in a sustained campaign spread over nearly 15 years now, notwithstanding the ‘drama’ enacted in Delhi before every Parliament session. First, as anyone who has been actively involved in the contemporary women’s movement would vouch for, the question “Didi, what is happening to 33 per cent?” has come up in virtually every corner of the country over the last decade.

The demand for women’s representation in elected bodies has perhaps featured in every other memorandum at the State and Central levels, in discussions, workshops, training programmes and interactive discussions across the regional divide. It has been raised by the so-called autonomous women’s groups, by the more political mass-based organisations, and by women’s wings of political parties, thereby cutting across the so-called divides within the movement. A mass protest before Parliament in the summer of 1998 drew an unprecedented response, with nearly 10,000 women landing up in New Delhi to press the demand.

There has perhaps not been a single Prime Minister or Lok Sabha Speaker in the past decade who has not been petitioned or has not had to field questions from women representatives on the subject. It is one issue on which leaders of political parties have been petitioned several times and quizzed on why this demand has not featured in their election manifestos.

The issue has drawn in scholars, activists, policymakers, media personnel and even members of the Election Commission, who are normally not drawn into such controversies.

With the notable exception of the Left parties, which have consistently backed the demand, verbal support for it has come in wavering undertones from some parties (such as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress), while the opposition to it has been strident in others such as the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Women activists have made public their distaste for such “patriarchal” mindsets even as they have debated the question of patriarchy and searched for more nuanced definitions of it.

Meanwhile, women continue with their dharnas, memoranda and petitions, and leadership training camps even as they engage with the dilemmas and challenges that representative politics poses for the women’s movement within the context of globalisation and a state that is committed to a neoliberal economic agenda.

Furthermore, the issue has brought women in the South Asian region closer through all the turbulence of the past two decades – military rule, the struggle against monarchy, and the divisive conflicts thrown up by fundamentalism and ethnic strife. There were ironies that emerged.

R.V. MOORTHY

Women from Bihar on a visit to Parliament House. A file picture. The social base of women entering panchayat bodies has broadened and now includes a cross-section of women from underprivileged groups.

The same women from Pakistan who despaired of any kind of representation given the virulent opposition to it from fundamentalists in their country managed to inch their way to 22 per cent representation in their parliament.

However, in India, where the campaign has been stronger and more widespread, the record is poor. The highest representation of women was a dismal 9 per cent in the Lok Sabha in 1999 and 15.4 per cent in the Rajya Sabha in 1991. Indeed, in 2005 the percentage actually came down to 8.2 and 11.4 respectively.

Push from below

The women’s movement’s decision to foreground the demand for reservation in the 1990s marked a shift in stance as until that point it had upheld the historical legacy of the freedom struggle in respect of the rejection of reservation by the pre-Independence women’s movement. In fact, a majority in the Constituent Assembly rejected a proposal for reservation for women.

In independent India, the Committee on the Status of Women in India (1975) discussed the issue of the low participation of women in elected bodies. It, however, rejected the demand for reservation, with Vina Mazumdar and Lotika Sarkar registering their dissent.

Undoubtedly, the real push for reservation came from below, after the enactment of the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments in 1993. The entry of women into rural and urban local bodies forced activists to sit up and take stock of the ground reality in ways they never had to consider before. Those contesting the local body elections were willy-nilly drawn into “party politics”, as it was referred to. Many of these women who were elected found themselves ill-equipped for the job. They were forced to draw on whatever support was available, family or otherwise, and even before they were given a chance to perform they were derided for being “proxies” and “rubber stamps”.

Nevertheless, they plodded on, taking vested interests head-on. After all, if India lives in its villages, so does a significant section of its ruling elite, along with power brokers, criminals, extortionists, conservatives, reactionaries and militants. It was these deadly forces that these uninitiated women representatives of elective politics had to take on all at once.

As if that was not enough, before they could even contest they had to pass the test by fulfilling a long list of eligibility conditions. Consider, for instance, clauses that sought details on criminal proceedings pending against them, details of outstanding or unpaid loans, indeed clauses that would make many a parliamentarian or legislator wince in guilt.

To add to this, they became subject to a clause imposing a two-child norm for elected representatives. This formed a part of the population policies adopted by many of the States and endorsed by the Supreme Court in its misplaced wisdom.

Further, even as the demand for accountability and the right to recall State legislators and parliamentarians simply floundered, women elected to panchayat bodies faced an extraordinary backlash. In several panchayats women faced no-confidence motions that were brought in, and adopted to dislodge them, by those whose interests they threatened. These powerful groups comprised contractor lobbies or land mafia-backed criminals who wished to corner funds allotted for development activity at the local level. Some of them allied themselves with upper-caste sections who had hitherto enjoyed the benefits of these allocations.

Women representatives’ refusal to comply with “instructions” given to them or to buckle under these pressures was met with no-confidence motions, physical threats, criminal/sexual assaults on them or family members and, in some cases, even murder. This, even as they juggled their “traditional” roles and new responsibilities.

Despite the backlash, representatives of the women’s movement have assessed this experience positively and chosen to push for 33 per cent reservation in elected bodies at the higher levels too.

Positive outcome

In fact, the positive outcome of representation is evident at several levels, starting with enhanced participation and the emergence of women’s leadership at the level of local self-government. The social base of women entering these bodies has broadened and now includes a cross-section of women from under-privileged groups – those that suffer economic deprivation and social and caste discrimination. New developmental priorities emerged with women entering panchayat bodies.

Thus the women’s movement’s subsequent demand for 33 per cent reservation in State legislatures and Parliament arose out of a recognition of positive interventions and of the experience of women members and chairpersons of panchayats in different States, specifically Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Kerala.

Sometimes the intensity of the conflict was greater in the supposedly backward States. Although this experience has been varied, uneven, and State- and locality-specific, it has enriched people-friendly governance, and its measurable success has strengthened the demand for reservation at higher levels.

Why is it important to place these facts on record?

The pressure from below to engage with politics in a meaningful and positive way comes at a time when the elite classes of India are united in hijacking politics to serve their own vested interests, thus spreading a certain cynicism towards politics, particularly amongst the Indian middle class, which conducts a continuous tirade against the “political class”.

Further, the wave of depoliticisation sweeping across the world since the 1990s has left the women’s movement in other parts of the world facing fragmentation – even disintegration – and certainly seeking fresh moorings. Given the context of this phase of politics, marked by the ‘end of ideology’, can the women’s movement in India afford to ignore the push coming from below for a more direct engagement in politics?

Significant issues have been raised in the course of the debate around the Bill over the past decade. Broadly these relate to the mode of ensuring increased representation of women; the quantum of reservation and the manner of its implementation; and lastly, the issue of quotas within the women’s quota.

First, let us look at the number of proposals as alternatives to a reserved quota for women. There have been suggestions for double-member constituencies; for an increase in the overall number of seats in the course of delimitation, whichwill automatically improve women’s chances; and even reservation within the list of candidates put up by parties.

These proposals raise more issues than they settle. For instance, on the issue of double-member constituencies, can only women represent women? Or, can women not be represented by men? Such tokenism or biological essentialism can never be the terrain on which women can argue their case.

The delimitation exercise has already reached an advanced stage and it is simply not feasible to incorporate women’s reservation within its terms of reference.

Whereas there is no disagreement with regard to parties putting up more women candidates, in the current situation of fractured mandates and coalition governments, the importance attached to a candidate’s winnability by the party makes it unrealistic to expect that they will pay heed to such a proposal.

Two objections

Opposition to the Bill has come up on two major grounds. First, given the wavering support for the Bill even among those who do not oppose it, some have argued for a diluted demand. Why not settle for 15 per cent or even 20 per cent? some well-wishers ask.

Pro-reservation activists have stood their ground on two main counts. First, they point out that while successive governments took the plea that they were waiting for a “consensus” to introduce the Bill, the fact that the Bill had been referred to a Joint Select Committee, which submitted its report in 1997 under the chairpersonship of the late Gita Mukherjee, was conveniently buried. Women activists have rightly said that the Bill, drafted along the lines of its recommendations, be placed in Parliament and debated forthwith without any bargaining.

Secondly, they have stood their ground on the principle of 33 per cent as it will provide the necessary critical mass for women to make an impact. Further, if there is a compromise here, it could spur efforts to scale down one-third reservation in local bodies as well.

The second major objection to the Bill is more complex as it apparently uses a weapon from the arsenal of the women’s movement against itself. If greater inclusiveness is a goal of reservation, then what of the marginalised groups from amongst women? Can the goal of inclusiveness be achieved without inbuilt sub-quotas for Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and minorities?

The debate has privileged the issues of ‘non-homogeneity’ within women as a category and the politics of ‘presence’ in the context of the marginalised sections more sharply, and has built pressure on the women’s movement to be ever more sensitive to the histories of discrimination and exclusion on the basis of caste and religion.

OBC representation

There are several issues involved here. First, a quota for Dalit women will form part of the reservation for women as per constitutional norms.

Secondly, why have those parties and forces that have used this as a plea to reject the Bill not placed before Parliament concrete proposals on reservation for OBC categories at a more general level? Also, if OBC representation in representative bodies is going up, then who is responsible for blocking the entry of women from these sections coming into the same bodies?

Finally, while it is true that majority fundamentalism has targeted and further alienated women belonging to religious minorities, it is unclear whether this issue can be addressed within the purview of this Bill. Reservation for minorities is a matter that requires constitutional amendments of a more complex nature.

The demand for religion-based rights and reservation was debated at length when the Constitution was being drafted, and was rejected on the basis of a clear understanding of secularism and democracy. The majority of women’s organisations today would, therefore, reject a demand for re-negotiating this issue. As the Sachar Committee report highlights, the problems of minority rights and reservation have to be addressed at multiple levels.

In other words, the reservation Bill cannot be a piece of catch-all legislation that should address all historical inequalities and challenges women face before it can settle the issue of women’s reservation. In fact, it is in recognition of this reality that many women’s organisations have made concerted efforts to reach out to women from the minorities and other marginalised sections in an attempt to address the specific discriminations faced by women of these sections and to take forward the discussion on democratic rights. This has often brought them into conflict with fundamentalist forces from both within and outside minority communities.

Interestingly, the issue of caste and its links with patriarchy has been central in much of the academic writing in women’s studies with some interesting critiques of Brahmanical patriarchy from a non-Brahmin perspective. These have focussed on issues of consciousness and perception from both gendered and caste-based perspectives. While that has added to the complexity of the debate within the movement, it should not be assumed that the political forces opposing women’s reservation in the name of caste necessarily share the same concerns.

In fact, the disconnect between historical movements or individuals who foregrounded issues of caste before 1947 and the present-day champions of caste-based reservation could not be sharper. Despite their ideological differences, leaders such as E.V. Ramasamy ‘Periyar’, B.R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia and E.M.S Namboodiripad located the institution of caste within the framework of pre-capitalist relations and ideology. Some of them successfully mounted a challenge to it because they firmly placed the struggle against caste within the context of anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggles. Also, from their varied perspectives they shared a commitment to equality for women.

In contrast to this, some of the modern champions of caste and reservation neither understand the material basis of the phenomenon nor challenge the context of globalisation and liberalisation within which caste operates. They merely press for representation based on identity and are at best silent on the subject of women’s equality.

To conclude, the debate around the women’s reservation Bill has thrown up interesting questions. It has generated a significant political momentum. In the event of its passage, it will create the conditions for meaningful interventions by women in particular, and progressive forces in general, in the struggle for a more egalitarian and humane path of development to take India forward.

This is necessary if social justice, inclusiveness and the right to dignity are to acquire real meaning, going beyond the rhetoric of their use as mere slogans by those who often choose to stall parliamentary proceedings rather than focus on real issues. For those united in sharing a concern for India’s advance to a secular, socialist future, the principle of 33 per cent reservation for women will in time, hopefully, transform the context and terms of representative politics itself.•

Indu Agnihotri is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi.


Why men have to pay the bill

Source: Times Of India

Akshaya Mukul on all you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask, about the Women’s Bill.

What is the background to the Women’s Reservation Bill?

During the framing of the Constitution , some women members argued against reservation for women. In 1974, the Report of the Committee on Status of Women highlighted the low number of women in political bodies and recommended that seats be reserved for women in panchayats and municipal bodies. Two dissenting members of the committee supported reservation of seats in all legislative bodies.

The National Perspective Plan for Women (1988) recommended a quota of 30% in panchayats, municipalities and parties. Representation for women in panchayats and Municipalities was done through the 73rd and 74th Amendments passed in 1993.

The first serious move for a women’s quota in Lok Sabha and state assemblies was made only in 1996, during the United Front government. It, however, ran into resistance from the OBC chieftains, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad, two important partners in that regime.

The confrontation saw the bill being sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee, headed by CPI’s Geeta Mukherjee. Subsequent attempts to introduce the Constitution Amendment bill in 1998 and 1999 failed, again because of OBC-led resistance. Finally, in 2008, UPA- I introduced the bill in the Rajya Sabha despite strong protests from Lalu Prasad, then an important ally of the Congress Party.

What are the highlights of the bill?

It seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and in the state legislative assemblies. The allocation of reserved seats is to be determined by an authority to be designated by Parliament.

One-third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) in the Lok Sabha and the legislative assemblies will also be reserved for SC/ST women. Reservation for women will cease 15 years after the commencement of the Act. Reserved seats will be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory.

If a state or union territory has only one seat in the Lok Sabha, that seat will be reserved for women in the first general election of every cycle of three elections . If there are two seats, each will be reserved once in a cycle of three elections. Similar rules apply for seats reserved for SC/STs. Of the two seats in the Lok Sabha reserved for Anglo-Indians , one will be reserved for women in each of the two elections in a cycle of three elections. A total of 181 seats will be reserved for women. On the face of it, that means only 1/3rd of the parliamentary seats will be impacted. But, potentially 2/3rd seats can be affected. How? Nothing stops women from contesting even from “open” seats that will be de-reserved after every election. Clearly, the going will get tougher for men.

What’s the logic behind the bill?

To bring about gender equality in Parliament and state legislatures. After 63 years of Independence, the percentage of women in the Lok Sabha has hovered between 7% and 11%. In assemblies, too, representation of women is abysmally low. Therefore, extraordinary measures are needed to bring women (nearly 50% of the population) at par with men in the Lok Sabha and assemblies.

What real difference can this make?

In general, women are supposed to bring greater seriousness to their job. While 33% reservation will displace a well-entrenched class of male politicians, it will create an army of a new breed of women political activists. Laws, be it personal, social or economic, often miss out on the voice of women. With their political empowerment, a big change can be expected. It will have social consequences also. In the early years of 33% reservation for women in panchayats, men tried to run them through proxies, putting up their wives or other family members, but now even in states like UP and Bihar, it is a common sight to see husbands having to introduce themselves as secretaries to their MP or panchayat- head spouses.

What is the situation in other countries?

Often better than India. In Pakistan, for instance, the percentage of women in the National Assembly has reached 22% because of the quota policy that reserves 17.5% of seats for women. In Nepal, the percentage of women members is 33%: again a feature made possible through the quota policy that reserves at least 33% of the candidates and 50% of any party’s nominations for women. In Bangladesh, 45 seats out of the total of 345 are reserved for women. China has 21% women in the National People’s Congress without any quota policy. Globally, Rwanda is the only country in the world with more women (56%) than men in their national legislative body through the quota system. Sweden follows with 47%, South Africa (45%), Iceland (43%), Argentina (42%), the Netherlands (41%) and Norway and Senegal with 40%. Sweden, South Africa, Iceland, the Netherlands and Norway have voluntary political party quotas for women.

Why do SP, RJD and other parties oppose the bill?

Privately, male MPs from the Congress and BJP also have a problem with 33% reservation as they fear their political future. But only leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad, who run their parties as fiefdoms, can afford to articulate it openly. But even they couch it with the demand for a sub-quota for OBC and Muslim women. Or else, they risk alienating 50% of the voters!

Why can OBC and Muslim women not be given reservation?

The Indian Constitution allows electoral reservation only for SC/ST. OBCs have reservation in education and jobs, but no quota in legislatures. The Constitution also does not allow reservation on communal lines. Historically, the experience with communal electorates has not been healthy. Lalu and Mulayam, both from the socialist stock, forget that their role model, Ram Manohar Lohia, talked of women as part of a larger coalition of dalits. He saw women as backwards who deserved special treatment.

Will this mean lower representation of backward castes in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies?

That is what OBC champions claim. Actually, it is an alibi to prevent the implementation of the women’s quota. The advances made by the OBCs cannot be rolled back, because of their sheer numerical strength. Moreover, the OBC parties that ensure the victory of their male MPs from OBC strongholds, can do the same for their women candidates. In fact, many of them have successfully ensured the election of their women-kin from their caste strongholds.

What about political parties giving ticket to women candidates rather than reserving seats for them?
This has not happened. What has prevented them from giving them tickets so far? All political parties — Left, Right or Centre — only talk, but are tardy when it comes to giving tickets to women candidates. The oft-repeated reason is that women cannot defeat established male opponents. Also, giving tickets is no guarantee that a significant number of women would get elected. Political parties may assign women candidates to constituencies where they are weak.

Why not increase the strength of Parliament and assemblies?

Where will they sit? Be it Parliament or assemblies, there will be a huge space problem. More seriously, there is a Constitutional cap on increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha till 2020. Also, this argument is repeatedly advanced to put women’s reservation off track. If such a proposal ever gets accepted, a new delimitation would have to be undertaken.


Leave it to the parties? Their record is terrible

Source: Times Of India

Some parties and individual MPs may question the need for reserving seats in Parliament for women, but here are some bare truths that should drive home the point. Political parties across the board have a terrible record of giving women a share in political representation. Take the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, for instance. Less than 10% of the total tickets were distributed to women. Of the 8,070 candidates who contested in those polls, only 556 or a mere 7% were women. And among the 543 who were finally elected to the 15th Lok Sabha, only 59 or 11% were women. Ironically, this is the highest proportion ever of women in the Lok Sabha.

Data analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch reveals that even within women, power remains the privilege of a few. Of the 59 women MPs, more than two-thirds, 40 to be precise, were crorepatis and 41 are graduates or have higher educational qualifications.

The analysis effectively puts paid to the anti-quota argument that political parties can be trusted with the responsibility of giving greater representation to women. It’s clear that the political leadership in most, if not all, parties has not found it necessary to provide women with a platform to dictate policy or make a significant contribution to the process of governance.

Despite swearing that they are all for women’s empowerment, major parties, like the Congress and BJP, allotted just about 10% of their tickets to women, while in the lists of the Samajwadi Party and CPM women candidates constituted 8% and 7% respectively. The Mayawati-led BSP and JD(U) did even worse with only 6% and 5% respectively of their candidates being women.

Of the women candidates who ultimately proved successful, 19% or about one in five came from the BSP, 12% from the Congress, 11% from the BJP and 13% from the SP.

Being highly educated and flush with funds certainly seems to help women candidates in getting elected, just as it does with men. Amongst the 59 female MPs, one is a doctorate, 16 are postgraduates, 12 are graduate professionals and 13 are graduates.

If these facts and trends are not particularly surprising, check this out. Of these 59 MPs, 10 have criminal cases pending against them. That’s one in every six (17%). If you are cynically inclined, you might say this just proves that women have what it takes to be a successful politician just as much as men. Of these, 5 are from the Congress, 4 from the BJP and 1 from the Shiv Sena.


A Different Perspective On Women Reservation

Source: Counter Currents

By Ashok Yadav

06 June, 2009
Countercurrents.org

Contrary to the popular perception, the women reservation in legislature will seriously damage the women liberation movements that are current today in India. The various women groups committed to struggle for equality, honour and liberation of women from patriarchal system, family & society must oppose the concept of women reservation in legislature. To understand this the experience of SC/ST reservation in legislature is very useful.

Dr Ambedkar fought for separate electorate but the Poona Pact forced joint electorate system on dalits. Under the joint electorate system the protagonist of dalit rights Dr Ambedkar himself lost the election from a reserved constituency. Poona Pact or the system of joint electorate in which fifteen percent seats were reserved for SCs in legislative bodies and where the common population consisting of brahmins, the upper caste and the OBC elect a dalit candidate from their constituency, effectively checked the growth of independent and talented leaders in dalit community. Original, independent and talented dalit leaders lost their brilliance once they entered electoral politics because they had to curb their rebellious character so as not to displease his or her electorates which consisted mostly non-dalit castes. That is why Kanshi Ram termed these SC MPs and MLAs as nothing but the stooges of brahminical system and famously called the age that started from the date of signing of Poona Pact as “the age of stooges” i.e. “chamcha yug”.

Dalit MLAs and MPs have done little to advance the cause of dalits because they cannot afford to antagonize the caste hindus as they have to get elected. By winning good number of SC reserved constituencies in assembly and parliament elections the parties paying lip service, or we may even say working contrary to the dalit welfare, claim that they stand for dalit interests.

It is a hard fact that it is not the dalit MLAs and MPs who have taken forward the dalit cause. Rather they have harmed the dalit cause because instead of serving their community they have served their political masters. If dalit movement has come of an age in India it is not due to SC reservation in legislature but due to SC reservation in education and job. The dalit intelligentsia consisting of government employees, bureaucrats, teachers, professors, writers etc organized themselves into BAMCEF and then asserted dalit rights with a form and content that was never seen before. From BAMCEF emerged DS 4 and from the latter emerged Bahujan Samaj Party.

The experience of SC reservation in legislature is crucial in assessing the proposed women reservation in legislature. The women will not have separate electorate system and they will be elected by votes of both men and women. Any woman candidate giving a challenge to the predominantly patriarchal, casteist and feudal set up would alienate not only the men but the conservative women also, who vastly outnumber the progressive thinking women, who would constitute her electorate. So all women politicians, aspiring to enter assembly and parliament through reserved seats, will have to compromise and curb her core ideology. The women activists having entered electoral politics will cease to be activists for women cause and, instead, will serve their political masters. They will not have an independent politics of their own which is so crucial for emancipation of women from patriarchal bondage. No political party in the country has any radical agenda for social change. All political parties are content with maintaining status quo in the society and system. Women liberation is closely linked with breaking status quo of our society which is so much anti-women besides being anti-dalit bahujan. The social justice parties have reduced themselves to permutations and combinations of castes to win elections and form government. The left parties believe in economism. Their belief is that once economic system changes everything will change including family, society and state. In short, the women have nothing to gain by becoming a part of the political system that stands for status quo.

The women activists agitating for women reservation in legislature should learn lessons from the experiences of women politician of this country. For many years Indira Gandhi remained prime minister of this country and wielded almost unrestrained power. She nationalized the banks, ended the privy purse of the erstwhile kings, liberated Bangladesh, imposed emergency, declared India a secular & socialist country by inserting these two words in the preamble of the constitution of India and tested atom bombs in Pokhran. There are many credits in her name including waging struggle against old guards of the congress party and dividing the congress party to her benefits. But she never seemed a representative of the exploited and oppressed Indian women. She never took any concrete practical step to ameliorate the conditions of Indian women. She never was a voice of the dumb Indian women. When she was prime minister, in Delhi itself, lots of dowry deaths occurred, but she was unable to do anything. The same thing can be claimed against the stock of the present day women politicians. Just as dalit movements, led by independent dalit activists & intellectuals, throw a challenge to the dalit MLAs & MPs, so the independent women movements led by independent women activists will indeed be a challenge to the women MPs & MLAs. Dalit/OBC/tribal/minority movements constantly expose their community people who are active in the parliamentary politics with the result that the latter turn against the movements of their own community people. How can one claim that the same thing will not happen in the case of women movements? In short, the proposed 33% reservation to women in legislature will go against the women liberation movements.

The important question in this regard is that why ideologically different BJP, Congress and the left are united in their support to the women reservation bill. The reason of their united stand on the issue lies in their common upper caste mentality which is wary of the caste question. The politics of hindutva and class struggle converge on one point of their opposition to the caste question. The caste question poses challenges to left, right and centre alike. The policy, programme, strategy, tactics, ideology of these forces have all been severely disturbed by the caste question. The success of their projects lies in how much they are successful in putting the caste question under the carpet.

The principal contradiction operating in Indian society is caste contradiction in which on one side are men and women of the dalit, the OBC and the adivasis and on the other side are men and women of the brahmin and other upper castes. The primary cause of oppression and exploitation of Indian women is the caste system itself. The proponents of women reservation bill seldom acknowledge this. Their upper caste prejudices prevent them to appreciate that patriarchy in India is deeply rooted in caste system. Patriarchy and endogamy which are two main characteristic of caste system are deeply interlinked. The struggle of the lower castes against caste exploitation and system also consists within it struggle against endogamy and patriarchy. It is, therefore, the greatest champions of women liberation have been the leaders of anti-caste struggle. Jotiba Phule, Periyar, Dr Ambedkar and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia have been the tallest champions of women liberation in modern India. No other leaders from the upper caste background have equaled these social justice icons in their achievements for liberation of women. Of course names of great social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chand Vidyasagar from upper caste background are there but since they could not challenge brahminism in the same way as the social justice icons did they could not revolutionize the agenda of women liberation.

So the sharpening of caste contradiction and its eventual solution alone will remove the primary cause of women subjugation. The lower caste women go through far greater hardships and crisis in their life than their upper caste counterparts. They don’t have the same economic and social security which the upper caste women enjoy. This is indicated by the overwhelming presence of lower caste women among the rape victims. How can lower caste women remain immune from the general backwardness, illiteracy, poverty, economic hardships etc. of their caste and community? Similarly how can upper caste women remain aloof from the general prosperity, power and privileges of their caste and community? There are more disparities than similarities in the conditions of lower caste and upper caste women. The gender unity within the lower caste is indispensable in their fight against caste oppression and exploitation. The women reservation in legislature seeks to dilute and weaken the caste contradiction by bringing gender contradiction parallel to caste contradiction chiefly by refusing to give reservation to lower caste women in the overall women reservation. The women reservation in legislature will only intensify gender rivalry within the lower castes and ultimately harm the caste movements.

The women reservation in legislature will harm the caste movements in another way also. A large number of lower caste MPs and MLAs will be replaced by women candidates who will be raw in understanding politics. They will be most certainly be weak replacements of our male MPs and MLAs. What is happening today in the case of women panchayat representatives will also happen tomorrow in the case of women MLAs and MPs, most particularly those belonging to the lower castes. The overall performance of OBC, dalit and tribal MLAs & MPs will go down. The upper caste female legislatures being more educated, more articulate and smarter than their lower caste counterparts will certainly score points over them. The women reservation bill in the present form i.e. without reservation for lower caste women seems a ploy on the part of upper caste vested interests to prevent the falling number of the upper caste MLAs and MPs. So in all likelihood the women reservation bill is going to bring crisis in the lower caste movements. That is why the forces, wary of ever sharpening caste contradictions, despite their sharp mutual ideological differences on other issues, have united themselves to push women reservation bill without caring a whit for reservation for the lower caste women.

Conclusion

Social justice leaders are demanding in one voice for reservation within reservation i.e. reservation for lower castes in 33% women reservation. Previously they were against women reservation in legislature because they felt that the women of their castes and communities were not educationally ready to take the huge responsibility of an MP and MLA. Now when they see that women reservation in legislature has become fait accompli, they are demanding reservation within reservation. Instead of going for reservation within reservation they should out rightly reject women reservation in legislature. But their fear of being branded anti-women by the mainstream brahminical media prevents them from taking a clear and bold line. Instead of going for reservation within reservation in legislature they should demand reservation to women in education and job in all categories viz. SC, ST, OBC and General. In other words, 33% or 50%, whatever it may be, as per the outcome of debate and general consensus that may emerge among different women groups and political parties, seats should be reserved in education and jobs, within all categories for the female candidates. Reservation in legislature will produce women leaders of servile mentality whereas reservation in education and job will produce independent and free thinking women. Let them acquire independent and free thinking status and then enter legislature without the help of reservation. The women of India do not need reservation in legislature but reservation in education and job. The women of India must reject out rightly reservation in legislature and aggressively pursue reservation in education and job. It is a matter of great surprise that the protagonists of women reservation in legislature are maintaining complete silence on women reservation in education and job. The only explanation for their silence on this important issue seems to be that politics and status quo rather than real progress and radical changes in the condition of women of India are their concern.

However if women reservation in legislature has become fait accompli then the only option that remain for the social justice forces is to not budge from their stand of having reservation for women of SC, ST, OBC and minorities in the 33% reservation for women in assemblies and parliaments otherwise it will divert caste contradiction

ashok yadav is associated with
ALL INDIA FEDERATION OF OBC EMPLOYEES WELFARE ASSOCIATION
email contact: ashokyadav2007@gmail.com


Womes’s Quota: A Primer

Source: Tehelka

A HISTORIC MOMENT, OR ANOTHER STORY OF SHIFTING GOALPOSTS? TEHELKA ANSWERS ALL THE PRESSING QUERIES

image
Against the tide? By opposing the Bill, Mulayam Singh and Lalu Yadav have angered those sections of Indian society that want reservation for women to come through (right)
Photo: REUTERS
image
Mother superior For supporters of the Bill, this could be a historic turning point for women’s equality in India (left)
Photo: AP

Who is opposing the Bill? Why?

Several political parties, academics and even feminists are opposing the Bill. The opposition is ideological — that reservation itself cannot empower women; and technical — that there has not been enough debate on several core features within the Bill. Politically, the strongest opposition has come from allies of the Congress: SP, RJD, and JDU —parties that claim to represent backward castes. They are demanding a sub-quota within the proposed one-thirds reservation, for women from backward castes and minorities, to ensure that the elected women do not have upper caste and urban bias. Though opposition may seem regressive, there are feminists who agree with this viewpoint, arguing that women are not homogenous; that a blanket reservation will only serve the interests of dominant groups. Another bone of contention is that it only allows reservation in the Lok Sabha, not the Rajya Sabha. The Bill also assumes that gender identity will influence decision-making in Parliament, but there is no evidence to back this claim. The different viewpoint emerges not from biological difference, but from an alternative socio-economic experience, naysayers feel. This is why it becomes more urgent to ensure the reservation benefits women from all backgrounds.

What are the arguments in favour of the Bill?

Politics in India has traditionally been male-dominated. A survey by the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the number of women in Parliaments ranked India 99 among 140 countries. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq and Rwanda were placed higher. At present, women make up 10 percent of the Lok Sabha. There is a dire need for more women in Indian politics. Proponents of the Bill argue that the quota will bring an unprecedented shift in the face of Parliament, allowing women a larger political platform. It is also a legal mandate that ensures parties to accord political space to women. So far, the record has been abysmal. In Maharashtra, for example, out of 412 candidates who stood for 48 Lok Sabha seats in 2004, only 29 were women. With more women in the apex legislative seat, there is a hope that policy-making will more adequately address their concerns. Displaying rare unity, the Congress, the BJP and the Left have joined to push this Bill, which has been pending for 15 years.

image‘Men — within the house and the political party — have only treated us as housewives. So where was the space for women to discuss political participation?’

KUSUM RAI
Rajya Sabha MP, BJP

Can’t political parties have internal seat reservation?

A possible alternative to empowering women through reserved seats in Parliament is to mandate that all political parties give a certain percentage of tickets to women. But there is a danger that parties will then give those tickets to women that hold little prospect for the party. Their strongholds will continue to be male-dominated. Also, this may not ensure a certain minimum number of women in Parliament, because women allotted to weaker constituencies may lose.

image‘The Bill is not perfect; but at least there is a recognition that political power-sharing in India is a complexity that cannot be ignored anymore’

K AJITHA
President, Anweshi, Women’s Rights Organisation, Kerala

Why not reservations within the women’s quota?

The Congress maintains that this Bill is a first step, and not a final step. They say, if it is found that reservation is only bringing a particular group of women into Parliament, then there is the option of a constitutional amendment later. The lack of political will and transparency on why a sub-quota cannot be included in the Bill right now continues to be a major concern. The government’s response to the opposition is that political parties can always issue tickets to backward caste women within this quota. The problem with this argument is that lower caste women who have traditionally not been in the political fray will then be competing with more experienced women candidates and the playing field will not be level.

Why does the Bill need further debate?

image‘Gender equality must begin where laws are made — in Parliament. Why should this bring in only elite women? This is a first step, not the final one’

SALMAN KHURSHID
Lok Sabha MP, Congress

Some inherent features are seen as a challenge to the core values of democracy. For instance, declaring a particular constituency as a ‘women constituency’ infringes on voters’ right of choice. It forces the voter to choose from a particular group. Further, the Bill allows reserved seats to rotate every 15 years. “This brings democracy without democratic accountability,” says academic Pratap Bhanu Mehta. There is also the view that pitting woman against woman will deradicalise feminist politics in the same way that pitting Dalit against Dalit has de-radicalised caste politics. When a non-Dalit has to choose between two reserved candidates, the perception is that the vote will go to the less radical Dalit. That defeats the purpose of having a Dalit candidate who will stand for hard issues concerning their caste. Feminists fear a similar diluting of political debate if this Bill is passed. An alternative — of two-member constituencies, where one man and one woman are fielded — is being proposed as a better option.

Has 50 percent reservation in panchayats worked?

The current Bill is being seen as a successor to reservation of 50 percent seats for women in panchayats. Supporters, like former Panchayati Raj Minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, cite the election of 12 lakh women to panchayats across India as proof that reservation for women in political bodies empower women as a whole. He adds that these women are from the most oppressed sections of society. “It has given women rights, politically and socially, and conveyed an important message,” says activist Medha Patkar. Opponents say that an administrative role in panchayats cannot be equated with a legislative position. This requires informed decision-making and, hence, a more nuanced debate.

With bureau inputs from TUSHA MITTAL, SANJANA and SHOBHITA NAITHANI

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 11, Dated March 20, 2010



A Belated but Welcome Beginning

Source: Economic & Political Weekly

A milestone in gender power-sharing has been passed, but the “quota-in-quota” has to be addressed.

The passing of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha on 9 March marks a historic turning point in the story of Indian democracy. The proposed legislation
reserving one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and the State
Assemblies will finally enable Indian women to keep their “tryst with destiny”. Despite active involvement in the freedom struggle, women had a minuscule presence in Parliament in the era dominated by the Indian National Congress – a trend that continues to this day, with only 59 women members in the 15th Lok Sabha.

Encouraged by Mohandas Gandhi, women’s organisations rejected reservations during most of the 20th century. As this journal noted a decade ago (Women’s Studies Special, EPW, October 2000), only after long experience of entrenched resistance to women across the political spectrum has reservation been recognised as essential for inclusion. The euphoria at this hard-won success needs to be tempered by the realisation that there is still a long road ahead. The next milestone is for the Bill to be approved by the Lok Sabha as well.

It is important to note that right from when it was first tabled in 1996, the main opposition to reservation for women in the legislature has always centred on the question of sub-quotas for Muslims and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), or additional quotas for dalit women. In other words, despite misleading media images, there has never been a simple opposition between feminist support and patriarchal resistance. Vocal dissent has always invoked the interests of the already disadvantaged castes and communities – it has never opposed women’s rights as such. Indeed, the media’s eagerness to demonise backward caste and Muslim politicians opposing the Bill serves to obscure the unspoken patriarchy that is at work behind the scenes in every political party. How else do we explain the low presence of women candidates among political parties in favour of women’s reservations in all the national and state elections after 1996? It is the silent subversion of the ayes – and not the noisy disruption of the nays – that is most responsible for the 14 years of exile endured by this Bill.

At first glance, the resistance to sub-quotas seems to provide a welcome instance of feminist assertion. Why should women be forced to take on the burden of caste and community when the reverse is not true? Not only has a “gender sub-quota” been absent in every instance of caste-based reservations since Independence, its very absence has gone unnoticed. The most recent example is the 93rd Amendment of 2007 instituting OBC quotas in elite higher education institutions, when neither proponents nor opponents thought to ask for a women’s sub-quota.

But two wrongs do not make a right. If the “male-stream” of
Indian politics has ignored women, the women’s movement cannot afford to retaliate in kind. For doing so would mean ignoring the inequalities of caste and community that continue to divide all social groups, including women themselves. However, it is precisely this kind of larger political understanding that is missing in the current debate. Women leaders – including an otherwise reticent Sonia Gandhi – were quite articulate when describing the various “excuses” used by all political parties to marginalise women and clearly outlined the structural features of the electoral process that conspire to consign most women to the “unwinnable” category.

Why, then, are the same astute women unable to see that caste and community will play a central role in shaping the profile of the “winnable” woman candidate of the future? While the new law will only create a women’s sub-quota for dalits and adivasis, OBC and Muslim women will be at a disadvantage relative to upper caste women. The same calculations that have kept out women in general will now tend to label OBC and Muslim women as “unwinnable”. A consensus on reservations emerged only after it became clear that electoral compulsions would prevent political parties from voluntarily fielding more women candidates. Similar pragmatic reasons are likely to prevent parties from fielding OBC and Muslim women unless compelled by law. Although it was expressed in a boorish manner, and sensationalised by the media, the demand for a sub-quota is essentially a just one. The point here is only to underline its validity, fully recognising that the constitutional impediments to its implementation require separate and careful consideration.

The perverse refusal to see beyond stereotypes was most vividly illustrated by the blind eloquence of a television personality who juxtaposed the heights to which Indian women had risen – represented by the all-female crew of the Air India flight to New York on the centenary of International Women’s Day – with the moral depths that some OBC and Muslim politicians were sinking into in the Rajya Sabha on the same day. To see a different kind of link between these events, one only had to ask how many OBC and Muslim pilots were part of that all-female crew representing “Indian women”.

Another feature of the debate on women in Parliament that is worth noticing is the relative lack of “national level” resistance to reservations for women in local government (panchayats and municipalities). Despite local frictions, the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution were passed without much dissent. In fact, last year’s amendment to raise women’s reservations in local government to 50% was hardly noticed. The bitter acrimony over the extension of exactly the same principle to national and state politics is a clear indication that, for all our talk of decentralisation real power still resides in the centre. This also means that political parties are not recognising the huge significance of women in local politics – now well over a million – as a potential resource at the state and national levels.

Finally, we must ask ourselves what precisely would be historic about bringing a critical mass of women into electoral politics. Popular expectations about women bringing in a “cleaner” government untouched by male power and pelf – or about women’s interests being better represented by women – may well remain unfulfilled. But in the final analysis, if we go back to the original vision of leaders like Ambedkar, what is at stake is nothing less than power-sharing and participation at all levels of the electoral process. History will truly be made when diverse women, shaped by multiple experiences of discrimination and exclusion, will become equal partners in the task of building India’s political future.


Reactions


It Is A Congress Conspiracy Against The Minorities

Source: The Hindu

Aarti Dhar — Photo: V.V.Krishnan

Panchayat council representatives demanding quota within quota in the Women’s Reservation Bill at a day-long conclave organised by ActionAid India in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: Impressing upon political parties to take note of discrimination against women from the Dalit and backward communities, scores of women panchayat council representatives on Friday demanded quota within quota in the Women’s Reservation Bill.

They were participating in a day-long conclave organised by ActionAid India here. Over 50 of them were from Bihar, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

“Yes, in theory women are equal to men. But even stepping out of home can lead to reactions and barbs. I got elected on a reserved seat and that revealed the power this gives one to work for the community,” said Raunaq Khatoon from Bihar.

The conclave focused on sharing testimonies about challenges of patriarchy and caste discrimination each woman faced when she decided to become a member of the village council. Most ranked the struggle to exercise power independently as the most difficult in their journey in grassroots democracy.

“Being a woman from the Dalit community proved a great challenge in finding support within the panchayat. But I did not give up,” said Sarvati Devi, panchayat pradhan of Jamlapur village in Uttar Pradesh.

“Our engagement with community women informs us that this achievement would just be the first step towards effective participation,” said Professor Babu Mathew, country director, ActionAid India.

“Looking at how women’s participation in Panchayati Raj institutions has unfolded over the years, there is a need for the blanket 33 per cent to be broken down.”

A member of the Gramin Vikas Samiti, an ActionAid partner in Bihar, said “the struggle against patriarchy and poverty will be a much harder and longer one.”


It Is A Congress Conspiracy Against The Minorities

Source: Tehelka

Akhilesh Yadav, chief of the SP’s Uttar Pradesh unit, tells NEHA DIXIT how the UPA is misleading the nation on the Women’s Reservation Bill

image
Photo: DHARMENDER RUHIL

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad have called the Women’s Reservation Bill a political conspiracy.
The Samajwadi Party is not against the Bill. Of course, the Bill in its present form is a conspiracy to keep out the minorities. The BJP and the Congress are scared of the mettle of backward class leaders like Lalu Yadav, Mulayam Singh and Ram Vilas Paswan. Hence, they are hesitating to include reservation of backward classes in the women’s Bill. SP also wants the upliftment of women. We are only asking for the inclusion of Dalits, Muslims and minorities.

But by opposing the Bill, you are dismissing reservation for women altogether.
Reservation for women has to be party-based. Women should get 50 percent reservation in government jobs. Parties should take the initiative to reserve tickets for women from all strata of society. All parties issue tickets to those with money and muscle power. We are demanding this should change.

We don’t want to see wives of bureaucrats occupying seats in Parliament. The whole purpose will be defeated then. Hence, women’s empowerment is only possible if 33 percent of tickets in each party are reserved for women.

All major parties including the BJP, Congress and the Left are criticising the SP’s stand.
The Left’s opposition is totally political. The BJP and Congress support the Bill but they need to answer a question: till date, why has Parliament not seen a single Muslim MP elected from Orissa, Punjab, Uttaranchal or Madhya Pradesh? With this sort of non-representation of minorities, who will guarantee representation of women from the backward classes? Clearly, it is not possible.

The BJP was supporting the Bill but is now demanding a debate. I know several Congress MPs who have, off the record, told me that they too disagree with the Bill. They too demand reservation for Muslims and Dalits.

‘Several Congress MPs have, off the record, told me that they too disagree with the Bill’

Who are these Congress MPs?
I can’t name them as Congress is dictatorial. It has a system of firing dissenters.

But the first woman Lok Sabha Speaker, Meira Kumar, is also a Dalit.
Both Meira Kumar and President Pratibha Patil have been elected to their respective offices on merit. Meira Kumar has risen to that position through her efforts, not through reservation. Congress has a history of not giving tickets to women. They are merely misleading the nation.

Will SP’s withdrawal of support to UPA make any difference to the Bill?
If nothing else, it will at least expose them. All those in the Congress who are pompously sleeping and eating at Dalit homes must understand that this will not make any difference to their lives. The Dalits and minorities must be given adequate representation for their progress. We were supporting the Congress because we wanted the BJP to stay out of power. We were supporting it for secular values. However, there is no option but to withdraw if it chooses to ignore those values.

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 11, Dated March 20, 2010

BSP to stage demo against Women Reservation Bill on April 14

Source: DNA India

Accusing the Congress of being anti-Dalit, BSP supremo Mayawati today said her party would stage demonstrations against the Women Reservation Bill across the country on April 14.

“Congress and other political parties had always been against Dalits and this is evident from the fact that no separate quota has been carved out for SC/ST women in 33% reservation proposed in the Women Reservation Bill,” Mayawati said, addressing a rally here to mark the party’s silver jubilee function.

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister said her party boycotted the passage of the bill in Parliament to register its protest.

“The BSP would stage demonstration at district headquarters across the country on the birth anniversary of Ambedkar on April 14 to protest the bill,” she announced.

Mayawati claimed that even the BSP’s suggestion of a separate quota for backward and poor women from upper caste was not incorporated in the bill.

“Congress people claim themselves to be the biggest sympathisers of women and are praising Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. In reality, whatever rights women have got in the field of education, employment and politics, it is due to Ambedkar,” she said.

The BSP’s silver jubilee celebration also marks the birth anniversary of party founder Kanshiram.

Mayawati’s party, like the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, opposes Women Reservation Bill in its present form and seeks quota within quota for SC/ST women in it. Mayawati said it was Ambedkar who for the first time provided equal opportunities to women in the Constitution.

“Another evidence of Congress being anti-Dalit came to the fore when the Centre did not announce even a single day national mourning on the death of Kanshiram, who devoted his entire life for the upliftment of SC/ST and downtrodden,” she alleged.

Taking a potshot at the Congress leaders’ visit to Dalit houses, she said it was a “drama”.

“Congress and other party leaders, who had been staging this drama of visiting houses of Dalits and sharing food with them have been exposed,” she alleged.

Mayawati said that casteism prevented SC/STs and backwards to lead a dignified and equitable life in the country. They did not had rights of education, to contest election and lead a dignified life like people of other castes, she said.

“It was due to Ambedkar that SC/STs and backwards got legal rights to lead an equitable life, which was strongly opposed by the Congress and other parties, and which continued till date,” the BSP leader added.

Mayawati said the Women Reservation Bill was an example of anti-Dalit mentality of the Congress and other political parties.


Women Reservation Bill Dangerous: Mulayam
Source: Outlook

Slamming the women’s reservation bill as a “dangerous” one, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today alleged that it was a conspiracy to prevent Muslims, backwards and dalits from entering Parliament and state assemblies.

“SP is not against reservation to women, but we are against the present format of the bill, which is a big conspiracy by the Congress and the BJP to prevent Muslims, backwards and dalits to get elected to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas,” Yadav, whose party has steadfastly opposed the bill, told reporters here.

Attacking the two parties, he said, “It’s not an allegation, it’s the reality as Congress and BJP had always been anti-Muslim, anti-backwards and anti-dalit. Therefore, they want to amend the Constitution.”

He contended that when not a single Muslim MP was elected to Parliament from several states including Gujarat, MP, Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana, how could a Muslim women be elected without reservation.

“This bill is dangerous…. If it is enacted, Muslims and OBCs will be at the receiving end,” he said.

“It’s a big conspiracy not to allow the leadership to grow among Muslims, OBCs and dalits,” he claimed.

Yadav said that if the intention was to promote women, then why was reservation not being offered in government jobs and in the education sector.

“If they want uplift of women why don’t they offer 40 to 50 per cent reservation in government jobs or in the education sector. We have no objections,” he said.

Yadav said that there were a number of political parties having women as their national president and people cannot function without their will.

“Even Congress’ national president is a woman, has the party given tickets to 33 per cent women in elections, who stopped them from doing so. They can even give cent per cent tickets to women,” he said, adding “they are making mockery of the democratic system.”

The SP supremo claimed that even the Congress and BJP MPs were not in favour of this bill.

“But they all are slaves, who cannot raise their voices,” he said.

He said that if reservation was being extended it should be given separately to dalit, OBC and Muslim women on the basis of their numbers within the 33 per cent quota.

“The SP will expose this conspiracy of the Congress and BJP and we will go to the people on this issue,” he added.

Yadav said that the SP has demanded that the 33 per cent quota should be reduced to 20 per cent.

“Even former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani accepted my suggestion,” he said.

Yadav said that his party demands that instead of reserving seats, it should be made mandatory for all the political parties to be given 20 per cent tickets to women candidates.

“The political parties should be directed to enusre 20 per cent tickets to women and registration of a party which fails to do so should be cancelled,” he said.

He said that his party would continue to oppose the bill in its present form in the Parliament.


Lalu compares Women’s Reservation Bill to an onion

Source: Rediff

Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav  had the entire Lok Sabha in splits on Thursday as he pleaded his case against the Women’s Reservation Bill passed by the Rajya Sabha.

“Congress members are telling me, ‘please save us as we are being made to sign on our death certificates by supporting this legislation’,” he said while speaking briefly on the Bill. In a speech full of sarcasm, he even dubbed the Bill as an onion that will bring tears to the eyes of the members once they peel it.

Prasad did not spare the Communist Party of India – Marxist and told the Left party’s leader Basudeb Acharia that their bete noire Mamata Banerjee had taken the lead in West Bengal  and even he had pinned his hopes on her support. He was referring to Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress members abstaining from voting on the Bill when it was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Prasad told Speaker Meira Kumar that it was not his fashion to rush to the Well of the House and shout slogans.

“When a person does not listen, then it is necessary to go closer to him and speak. Don’t take it otherwise, madam,” he said, drawing guffaws from members.

“Jitna hi suniyega, utna hi yaha-wahan aane mein kami hogi (the more you listen to us, the less we will march towards the Well),” he said.

Prasad also had a word of praise for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi  for his visit to Dalit homes, but argued that the same women whose plight he brought to light would not benefit if the bill is passed in its current form.

“Rahul had told the House that he had visited the house of a poor woman Kalavati. It is a good thing. He is a youth leader, he should move ahead, but at the same time he should know that the daughters of Muslims and poor people should also benefit from reservation,” he said.

At one point, Prasad also appeared to take exception to Acharia dubbing the three key leaders opposing the Bill as the ‘Yadav trio’. “We are supremos of our respective parties, but in your party everything supreme is over. You are neither in Pakistan nor in India,” he said.

Acharia tried to interrupt but was silenced by Prasad’s quick wit.

“The constitution is being amended and hence everyone’s opinion must be taken into account,” Prasad said and demanded a debate on the bill before it is brought to the Lok Sabha.

He said his party was not opposed to women’s reservation, but wanted amendments in the bill to ensure that rights of the Muslim and Dalit women were upheld.


Parties seek quota within quota

Source: Express Buzz

BHUBANESWAR: Political activists and social justice forces, opposing
the Women Reservation Bill, today staged a peaceful dharna at lower
PMG and submitted a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil through
Governor MC Bhandare.

In a joint memorandum to the President, Samajwadi Party, Jharkhand
Mukti Morcha, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Republican Party of India, Utkal
Yadav Mahasabha, Social Justice Front, Orissa Dalit Kalyan Parishad
and National Union of Backward Classes have demanded reservation for
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes (OBCs) and
minorities women in the Bill.

While due care has been taken for representation of SC, ST and OBC
women in the three-tier panchayati raj institutions, there should not
be any objection from any quarter to extend the facility to these
categories of women in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha, the highest
policy-making body in the country, the memorandum said.

While the average women representation in Parliament world over is 19
per cent, it is only 11 per cent in India (61 women in the Lok Sabha
having a total strength of 543) despite the fact that the women
population of the country is 48 per cent of the total population. The
presence of women representatives from SC, ST and OBC is negligible.

Even conservative countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh have better
women representation in their Parliament. Pakistan has 76 women
representatives in a house of 342 members while in Bangladesh their
number is 65 in a house of 345 members.

General secretary of the State unit of the Samajwadi Party Rabi Behera
told this paper that the social justice forces will obstruct the
passing of the Bill both in and outside Parliament and create a public
movement on the issue.


The vote-at-all-costs strategy

Source: Hindu

It was clear that the Congress, BJP and Left were committed to the Bill

NEW DELHI: After dithering and developing cold feet on Monday, the ruling Congress’ strategy became clear on Tuesday: a vote on the Women’s Reservation Bill at all costs, debate if possible and use marshals to handle the wilful disrupters as a last resort, if necessary.

And this is exactly what yielded the desired result in the Rajya Sabha where the Bill was adopted by a more than two/thirds majority of those present and voting comfortably meeting the requirement of a constitutional amendment.

It was also clear that the three major political groups – the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left – were committed to the Bill and certainly did not want to be seen backing out. Among other considerations was the most important factor that any wavering could cost them politically.

A number of meetings and behind-the-scenes confabulations throughout Tuesday ended with a final strategy meeting of the Congress floor managers. Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee earlier conferred with leaders of parties supporting the Bill. The strategy was firmed up after a vote-at-all-costs signal from party president Sonia Gandhi and a go-ahead from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Monday’s insistence on a debate by the BJP and the Left were seen to be part of the plan to ensure that their contribution to the passing of legislation is duly acknowledged. Neither group wanted the Congress to run away with all the credit for this.

The day began with the three Yadav leaders – Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad and Sharad – meeting Dr. Singh at his residence. They came out reiterating their known stance. They were not against women’s reservation but wanted the Bill to be amended to include a sub-quota within the overall reservation to ensure representation of backward caste women.

After the House convened, Mr. Mukherjee called a meeting of leaders of the parties supporting the Bill. After this, the Congress floor managers met with Mr. Mukherjee. It seems it was at this meeting and after getting the political green signal from Prime Minister and Ms. Gandhi that the strategy was firmed up, which was later seen in action in the Rajya Sabha.

As Ms. Gandhi later told reporters – for her it was a question of fulfilling Rajiv Gandhi’s dream and with the Left parties and the BJP supporting the move, it could be taken up. She also gave credit to “Indian women” who were able to achieve this “with the help of men.”

Sushma on ‘Sonia’s firmness’

The comments from the main Opposition party were equally gracious. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said this historic occasion was made possible by “Sonia’s firmness, our commitment and the unswerving support of the Left parties.” She added legislation was a “debt the political system owed to the women of this country” and “there should not be race or competition for political credit” as no party alone could have done it.

Brinda Karat of the CPI(M) was of the view that this would usher in “sensitive” politics and change and break the centuries-old “stereotyping of women.” She was also of the view that representation of backward caste women, Dalit and scheduled tribe women and Muslim women would improve through this legislation.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley made it clear that not only was his party in favour of the Bill, it also supported wholeheartedly the idea of rotation of seats for a period of 15 years over three Lok Sabha elections. This with a similar pattern in State Assemblies would mean that in a decade-and-half, every Assembly and parliamentary constituency would have been represented by a woman, creating a whole new army of women political workers and leaders.


Women’s bill will impact caste struggle in India: Experts

Source: Sify

Women’s participation in politics, the historic bill to reserve 33 percent
of seats for them in parliament and the legislatures will impact the
country’s political scenario, the patriarchal system and the caste
struggle in rural India, experts say.

Bibhu Mahapatra, consultant of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) project on Legal Empowerment, said: ‘The 73rd
constitutional amendment, passed in 1992, gave constitutional
recognition to local self governance and reserved 33 percent seats in
panchayats for women. This encouraged lakhs of women to enter public
life by giving more opportunities to them.’

‘The Women’s Reservation Bill will have a similar impact. It will also
impact the caste struggle. Today, there are questions asked about who
is more marginalised within the Dalit community and that is because
more women are in the forefront in politics,’ Mahapatra told IANS.

The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha after a lot of furore Tuesday.
The Lok Sabha, which has seen protests on the issue for the last three
days, is expected to pass the bill before it takes a three-week break
beginning March 16.

Said Kamal Mitra Shenoy, a sociologist at the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU): ‘In the beginning, there may not be much impact on
the caste struggle because the more dominant will field their
candidates into the political arena.’

‘But with time, women will definitely be empowered because of the bill
as it will have its effect on patriarchy and change the gender
dynamics. You won’t just have the wives and daughters of political
leaders being fielded,’ he maintained.

Shenoy said the idea of a quota within quota – that is, reservation
for women from backward classes within the women’s reservation – will
not do any good.

‘There is no reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) in
parliament, yet there is a lot of OBC representation there. So,
reservation within reservation is not really needed,’ he explained.

Mahapatra said the bill will also encourage political parties to
re-invent themselves.

‘It will have a stimulating effect on the political parties. Parties
like the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
have very little women’s representation, but now they will have to
rope in more women,’ he said.

Ranjan Sharma, a Delhi-based sociologist, said: ‘More women would also
mean that there will be a sobering effect on parliament. You will most
probably not have so much hooliganism. Similarly, it will have a
civilising effect on the political parties.’

While Shenoy said the actual effect of the bill will be seen after 15
years, Mahapatra opined: ‘In the next elections, the predictions and
calculations will be different because we will not just take into
account the SC/ST vote banks, but may be also the inclinations of the
women segment.’


Countering the critics

Source:  Indian Express

Subhashini Ali

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Lalu firm on opposing Women’s Reservation Bill

Source:  PTI News

STAFF WRITER 16:49 HRS IST
Patna, Mar 7 (PTI) Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) will oppose the Women’s
Reservation Bill “tooth and nail and are even prepared to be
marshalled out,” its president Lalu Prasad said today.

Dubbing the bill as a “political blunder”, Prasad alleged that it was
a conspiracy hatched by both BJP and Congress parties to suppress
representation of women belonging to the OBC, ST/SC and Muslim
communities.

The Centre does not have guts to implement the Ranganath Mishra
Commission and Sachar panel reports, and hence passing of the Women’s
Reservation Bill was merely a “diversionary tactic”, he told reporters
here before leaving for New Delhi to garner support against the bill
in its present form.

“I am for 50 per cent reservation for women belonging to all
communities.

.. But you cannot ignore the the interests of women from
deprived sections of the society.


BSP won’t support in present form, seeks quotas

Source: Indian Express

Express News Service Posted online: Monday , Mar 08, 2010 at 0231 hrs
Lucknow : THE BSP on Sunday said it would not support the Women’s
Reservation Bill if it was tabled in the House in its present format.
“The floor management of the BSP would be definitely there in the
House. We will take a decision after tabling of the Bill,” said BSP’s
national general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Satish Chandra
Mishra, clarifying that his party wanted “separate quota without
disturbing the original quota for the SC/ST”.

This came even as UP Chief Minister Mayawati sent a letter to Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, demanding separate quotas for Dalit,
religious minorities, backwards and the poor from the upper castes in
the Bill. In addition, the existing reservation for Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes in Parliament and Assemblies must not be
disturbed, she added.

In her letter, the BSP supremo said she was in favour of giving
reservation for women for their full participation in politics, but

the proposed 33 per cent quota within the existing reservation for the
SC/ST was wrong.

“Besides protecting the existing quota, my party demands separate
reservation for women of the SC/ST communities within the proposed 33
per cent reservation for the women,” wrote Maya, who was earlier
believed to be averse to be siding with the SP which is opposing the
Bill.

Maintaining it was necessary to reserve seats for women of backward
communities, religious minorities and the poor from the upper castes,
she requested the PM to ensure the presentation of an amended Bill in
Parliament.


Brinda reels off statistics to show OBC women not disadvantaged

Source: Economic Times

10 Mar 2010, 0325 hrs IST, ET Bureau

Topics:BJP Brinda Karat Left parties Women Reservation Bill
NEW DELHI: If the UPA government managed to pass the Women’s
Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha, it was thanks to the BJP and Left
parties. EUPHORIC: Brinda Karat & Sushma Swaraj celebrate. (PTI)
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, while
initiating the discussion on the legislation, extended his party’s
full backing to the move. “The myth is that reservations create a
privileged society. The truth is that nature created all of us as
equals, the Constitution also provided equality. However, aberrations
in the society translated some equals into unequals,” he said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Quota within a quota is fallacious logic

Source: Economic Times

12 Mar 2010, 0734 hrs IST,

When a critical mass of 182 women enter Parliament and occupy one
third seats in state assemblies, it will include women from all
castes, Syeda Hameed
Member, Planning Commission
communities and classes. It will no longer be possible to sideline
Muslim women or, for that matter OBC women. The reasons are clear. The
reserved seats will be selected in some manner, such as drawing of
lots or hammering out a consensus . These seats will be rotated every
five years so that at the end of 15 years (or three elections) a woman
would have represented every single constituency in the country. The
men will have to give up their constituencies in favour of women, just
as they did with the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendment.

It is quite likely (judging from the panchayat experience) that men
will field women from their families in order to ‘retain their seat.’
This ‘advancement of family women’ at the expense of the cause is
repugnant to all right-thinking people because the objective of
women’s reservation is different. It is to get capable, strong,
articulate and right thinking women into Parliament, so that the
selection of issues, standard of functioning and calibre of debate can
improve. But the reality is that today, men, even those seven men who
created the ugly scenes in Rajya Sabha on March 8 and shamed the
nation, will be thinking about women in their circle in case their
constituency becomes reserved in the next election. They will include
Muslims, OBCs and Dalits.

Reservation within reservation is a fallacious argument. Groups
supporting this have deliberately closed their eyes to reality. No one
is asking the question that if empowerment of Muslim women was such a
burning issue for those who today are shouting from the rooftops about
‘Muslim sisters’ why didn’t their political parties field them in the
first place? And if they did field a few, why give them constituencies
where they were sure to lose? Our responsibility is to begin preparing
lists of women across the country, Muslims, OBCs and others to ensure
that the dignity of Parliament is safe in the hands of women and men
of substance and dignity.

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Caste Discrimination in Karnataka flood relief operations

Posted by samathain on November 9, 2009

Samatha

It is the poor and the landless who deserve most help during these natural calamities. However, even simple gruel is not being served to the poor in the name of them not having Id cards of local areas !!! We don’t think anybody should be turned away from gruel centers. Distributing relief from religious centers like matts and temples is highly discriminatory. Aren’t there government schools and government offices ? Even in relief work, one should not discriminate based on caste and religion. Government is not going to have funds to rebuild houses for every one. That is understandable. As the floods affected everyone, rich and poor alike, irrespective of caste or religion. Instead of allowing for usual corruption and influence in implementing welfare schemes, government should give a fair chance to everyone who fulfills the eligibility criteria. Government should really consider building houses for the affected using open and honest lottery. US does the same with respect to much coveted Green Cards by having lottery system to give a chance to people to immigrate irrespective of skills or income.

Red Cross leading NGOs to arrange relief for flood affected people in north karnataka. U can reach 4 details @ +91-80-22264205

Source: The Hindu

Caste discrimination in rehabilitation work alleged

Special Correspondent

‘Help from private agencies should be channelled through Government’

Bangalore: On what basis did some families in the flood-hit districts of north Karnataka get a compensation of Rs. 1,500 for a destroyed house, while others got up to Rs. 30,000 even when the nature of construction and extent of built area was equal?
Discrepancies

Caste discrimination was at the root of many such discrepancies in rehabilitation work in Bijpur, Bellary, Gulbarga and other districts, alleged persons from these areas in their testimonies at a public hearing organised by Human Rights Forum for Dalit Liberation (HRFDL) here on Saturday.

They listed discriminations of various kinds: in compensation given for destroyed houses and crops, restricted access to gruel centres, barring entry into rehabilitation centres when they are in religious places such as temples, and so on. “They give money to those who have got it once, leaving out poor people like me,” said Durgamma from Hospet taluk in Bellary district.

Kamala Bai from Karjol in Bijapur district said the Dalits and the poor got a raw deal even though the former Minister Govind Karjol hailed from her village.

P. Ramesh from Bijapur alleged that the district administration had used the floods as an excuse to demolish two slums.

“Rather than help rebuild our houses, whatever remained our houses was destroyed without any notice,” he said.

Basavaraj Kowthal, convenor of HRFDL, objected to the rehabilitation work being done through maths and other religious organisations as it led to caste discrimination. He demanded that help for rehabilitation from private agencies be channelled through the Government. Justice A.J. Sadashiva, who heads the panel set up to probe discrimination against the Scheduled Castes, said that problems in rehabilitation should be corrected rather than stopped.
Barriers

He said that caste barriers should be done away with while rebuilding villages and people from various castes should not be segregated in allotment of houses and sites.

 


Gruel centres fail to satiate the hungry

 

Source : The Hindu

Sudipto Mondal

Pregnant women and children worst-affected

Gruel centre at Mandrali abruptly was closed down on Friday

Migrant workers have not received any relief or food from the authorities

Fllod victims waiting at gruel center
— Photo: Sudipto Mondal

A long wait: Flood victims in Mandrali village of Kadvad gram panchayat wait for a team from a local NGO to bring them food after the gruel centre was closed by the district administration.

KARWAR: After providing exactly seven lunches and seven dinners, the district administration has concluded that Mandrali village’s flood-affected residents have had enough “free food” and must fend for themselves from now on. (Breakfast is not part of the deal at relief centers in Uttara Kannada district.)

Fourteen insipid and low-calorie meals are all that the 150 flood victims here managed to get before the gruel centre here was abruptly closed down on Friday — seven days after it was started. Official sources told The Hindu that of the remaining 17 centers in the district, many more will be closed in the next two days.

When The Hindu reached Mandrali at 2.30 p.m. on Friday, its famished residents barely had energy to talk and were eagerly waiting for the Karwar Diocesan Development Council, a local NGO, to bring them food.

“We have not eaten anything since last night. The gruel centre was our only source of sustenance,” said Renuka B. Kathimare amid the cries of her three hungry children.

But even as the residents here lamented the loss of their gruel centre, they unanimously agreed that the food, when supplied, was barely edible.

Two meals a day comprising of a watery dal and lumpy rice is what is served. The gruel centre in the Kothar area of Majali Gram Panchayat, which supports 380 people, received 12 kg of dal on October 4 and 5 and only 10 kg the next day. But since October 7, the centre has been receiving only eight kg or 21.05 gm of dal per person.

The only vegetables, for the record, are tomatoes and onions — four kilos of each go into the cooking of a mass meal. Each person gets 10.5 gm of onions and the same quantity of tomatoes in each meal.

The first meal at the centers is served at 1.30 p.m. every day. “By this time, we have a storm in our stomachs and are giddy with hunger,” said Ullas P. Kotarkar a resident whose house was washed away in the floods.

“Only two of my younger children (aged one and four) get a glass of diluted milk in the morning. The other two (aged six and nine) do not get anything,” said Meenakshi Vivek Talekar (30).

This is because, as per the rules, only children below five years of age are eligible for milk. Migrant colonies, with their flimsy houses, bore the full brunt of the disaster. But as the workers, mostly from districts in north Karnataka, do not hold domicile documents, they have not received any relief or food.

Venkatesh Bovi (38), a construction worker hailing from Gadag, said that he tried to sneak into a gruel centre with his family of six a few days ago. But he was chased away by the officials there since he did not have any identification papers,” he claimed.

Deputy Commissioner N.S. Chennappagowda maintains that the district had no shortage of funds.

“But where are these funds going?” asked Ramesh N. Gowda of the Taluk Vokkaligara Sangha.

 


Waiting to encash their cheques

 

Source : The Hindu

Girish Pattanashetti

Compensation cheques for house collapse yet to be realised

Parasappa Madar in front of their make-shift tent

On their own: Parasappa Madar and his family in front of their make-shift shelter near Shirabadagi village in Bagalkot district.

SHIRABADAGI (BAGALKOT DISTRICT): The steel frames which Parasappa Madar used for sericulture a few years ago has become handy for him now. In the absence of temporary sheds for shelter, the steel frames, torn plastic sheets and a blanket now form the roof of the temporary shelter he has built for his family.

Parasappa has been living with his wife Matangi and three children in this shelter for almost a month now. To add to his woes, he has been suffering from stomach pain for the last few weeks. Although the doctors have given him medicines, the pain remains.

Moreover, the compensation cheque of Rs. 37,000 given to him for house damage is yet to be credited into his bank account.

Scores of residents of Shirabadagi village in Badami taluk of Bagalkot district have similar problems. At present, there are 96 sheds near the Shirabadagi village, which were set up after several houses collapsed during the flooding of the Malaprabha in 2007. Several people living in the sheds generously shared their temporary houses with other recent flood-hit families. Yet, there are still many who require shelter. Even after a month, the temporary sheds are still in the process of being “set up”.

However, the residents seem to be satisfied with the foodgrains, essential commodities and healthcare that have been provided.

But they wonder why despite having bank accounts, the compensation cheques could not be encashed.

 


Out of a drought and into the flood

 

Source: The Hindu

Sudipto Mondal

Migrant workers from North Karnataka have been dealt another cruel blow

Migrant workers are not eligible for compensation

They are not getting jobs as works have stopped

— Photo: sudipto mondal

Left in the lurch: Migrant labourers from north Karnataka wait for work in front of the Karwar Urban Bank.

KARWAR: It is 6.30 a.m. on Friday and a large group of men and women gather in front of the Karwar Urban Bank. Their trademark saris and jewellery, dhotis and turbans say that they are from north Karnataka. “We are waiting here in the hope that some contractor will give us work,” explains Girijowwa (38) from Gajendragada in Gadag. She says that group has spent the last seven days waiting for jobs.

“There is no work. All construction work has stopped. Come tomorrow,” Prashant Bovi a middle-aged contractor tells the crowd milling around him. The disappointed workers silently scatter.

A natural calamity is no great leveller. Take the impoverished workforce of migrant labour from north Karnataka, for example. The drought in their home villages drove them to Karwar in search of work. Here, they fell victim to the fury of the monsoon and the floods that devastated the coastal region.

According to Yamunappa Kotudi (48), who owns an eight acre farm in Bagalkot: “My entire crop of jowar withered in the drought.” In early September, he and his family of five members migrated to Habbuwada on the outskirts of Karwar, with only a bag of jowar and rice.

Outside his partially destroyed hut, his wife is drying some sodden jowar in the sun, helped by their three scantily clad children aged 10, 9 and six.

There are several small clusters of thatched huts spread across the area, flimsily constructed on empty plots and along drains. Those along a large storm water drain were the worst affected by the floods.
No food, no relief

Migrant workers dealt a raw deal

Yamunapur Benkathi, a migrant worker from Bagalkot, says that some officials came to the colony in a jeep a few days ago.

“They asked me if I had a ration card or titles to the land on which this hut is built and I said I did not.” No official has since visited, he says.

Later, when asked about compensation for migrant labourers, Deputy Commissioner N.S. Chennappagowda told The Hindu: “They will be compensated, but they must have some identification papers to show they are from this district.”

The migrant labourers of Habbuwada, who are amongst the worst affected by the flood, are thus outside the compensation net.

Says Venkatesh Bovi (50): “Nobody has bothered to come and even ask us if we are dead or alive.”

Mr. Bovi and the other residents say that they had nothing to eat for several days after the floods. One migrant worker, too ashamed to identify himself, says that after two days of starvation he was forced to beg for food. He says that he owns 10 acres of land in Gulbarga.

“So what if we are not eligible for compensation? The officials could have at least provided us with food,” says Shivaji (35), from Bijapur. In fact when Venkatesh Bovi and his family tried to sneak into a gruel centre, they were chased away by an official. “We were asked for our ration cards. When we told him (the official) that all documents were washed away in the floods, he chased us away,” says Mr. Bovi.

 


Residents of villages may not benefit from compensation

 

Source : The Hindu

T.V. Sivanandan

Most houses in villages in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region are ‘kuchcha’ houses

Bhimashankar kallur and his family still live in their damaged kutchcha house

Sorry state: Bhimashankar Kallur and his family inside his damaged house in Yatnal village of Gulbarga district.

GULBARGA: Residents of villages, whose houses have been damaged, completely or partially, may not benefit from the compensation given by the Government.

According to Assistant Commissioner Sangappa, under the norms of the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF), officials are authorised to pay a maximum compensation of Rs. 10,000 to families whose “kuchcha” house have been completely damaged in the floods, Rs. 1,500 to those whose houses have partially collapsed and Rs. 2,500 to those whose houses have been severely damaged. However, for “pucca” houses, which have been completely damaged, Rs. 35,000 will be paid as compensation.

Houses constructed using mud and boulders without concrete roofing are classified as “kuchcha” houses and houses constructed using cement with cement concrete roofing are classified as “pucca” houses.

Almost all the houses in villages in the Hyderabad Karnataka region are constructed with mud and boulders.

People of the villages in this region use the mud from tank beds and boulders to construct their houses. The roof is also constructed with the same mud and bamboo sticks or stalks of red gram. Bhimashankar Kallur, a resident of Yatnal village in Jewargi taluk, whose house was severely damaged, said: “With this paltry compensation I will have to borrow money from money-lenders at a high rate of interest to reconstruct my house.”

At the most Mr. Kallur will be paid Rs. 2,500 as compensation for the three rooms of the four rooms which have collapsed.

Basanna Mariappa of Bandoli village, whose house located on the banks of the Krishna, is severely damaged said: “I cannot imagine living in the house in its present condition. Even if the Government pays Rs. 10,000 as compensation it will not be enough to reconstruct the house.” However, a sum of Rs. 2,000 which was paid to affected families as immediate compensation enabled them to purchase essential items such as food, utensils and clothes.

B.S. Patil, vice-president of the Afzalpur Taluk Panchayat and a resident of Tellur village, which was marooned owing to floods in the Amarja, said that the amount would go a long way in helping the people meet emergency needs. In Gulbarga district, as per the official estimate, more than 30,400 houses have collapsed, partially or fully, in the floods and heavy rain.

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UN set to treat caste as human rights violation

Posted by samathain on October 8, 2009

Samatha

discrimination based on caste is human rights violation. U can’t abolish caste as every hindu is assigned a caste at birth. this is an
identity. What this declaration is calling for, is that social sanction
and indirect support by state machinery for caste based persecution
can be challenged in international courts. This enables international
recognition for brutal injustice in the name of caste based hatred. What
international audience tend to view as clan war and cultural prejudice can be treated as “human right violation” now on. This will enable human rights watch groups to monitor caste based injustice too.

Government welfare policies use caste as one of the criteria because it is a practical and realistic way to target people who need assistance. Just like you target sex workers, lorry drivers, taxi drivers etc for AIDS welfare schemes. So reservations based on quotas for SC/ST/OBCs would still be required. Infact, it is necessary to extend it to extreme poor and converted dalit muslims or dalit christians.

This should encourage intercaste marriages as opposition based on caste violates human right to choose a life partner.

Satinath Choudhary

However, the million dollar question is how to empower the vast majority that languishes below poverty level, of which the SC/ST can be looked upon merely as only the tip of the iceberg.

I think the two main tools that lend themselves towards catapulting small minorities into stratosphere, enabling them to control the whole country of impoverished people are: (1) First-past-the-post (FPTP) system of election, which enables a small dominant section of the country to take political control of the country in spite of its minority status. (2) Deciding most employments and admission to colleges, etc., mostly on the basis of so called merit-test.

(1) I think the sooner the world community recognizes FPTP to be a most pernicious tool of unfair distribution of political power, which happens to be the mother of all powers! The sooner the world gets rid of it, the better we will be. Had it not been for FPTP, the US Congress would not have allowed Bushes and Regan to be as destructive as they were. Actually, all elections for a single post are basically FPTP, as such even the direct elections of President should be abolished. In fact, a single person should never hold any significant position of power, particularly not at the very top. Most positions should be held by collectives of people – the way the Election Commission of India (ECI) works; the way the Swiss Federal Executive Council works; and the way multi-seat benches of juries and jurists work.

(2) As for deciding employments and admissions, all “merit-tests” should be replaced by a combination of tests that evaluate reading writing ability together with how many votes of appreciation and esteem from the public with the help of their social work. Without the requirement of votes of appreciation, most civil servants tend to behave as feudal lordships, with absolutely no accountability to the public at large. They treat the public worse than dirt! Every single individual must go to the public for some votes of appreciation, and these votes should have some impact on their jobs and ability to get admission in colleges and so forth. That would turn the whole society into a collective of social workers eager to be of some kind of visible service to them. Most people will behave pleasantly with each other. The whole world is likely to be a different place in that case.

I took a cursory glance at the commentaries of the public with regard to this news. I was expecting a universal denunciation of the news from the usual middle class crowd. However, a lot of people appreciated the news. It was interesting to find that some appreciated the news but at the same time they denounced all reservation policies and some hoped that reservation policies would be discarded.

Source : Times Of India

UN set to treat caste as human rights violation
Manoj Mitta, TNN 28 September 2009, 06:10am IST
NEW DELHI: If the recent genome study denying the Aryan-Dravidian divide has established the antiquity of caste segregations in marriage, the

ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva looks set to recognize caste-based discrimination as a human rights violation. This, despite India’s opposition and following Nepal’s breaking ranks on the culturally sensitive issue.

Nepal has emerged as the first country from South Asia — the region where untouchability has been traditionally practiced — to declare support for the draft principles and guidelines published by UNHRC four months ago for “effective elimination of discrimination based on work and descent” — the UN terminology for caste inequities.

In a side-event to the session on September 16, Nepalese minister Jeet Bahadur Darjee Gautam said his county welcomed the idea mooted by the UNHRC document to involve “regional and international mechanism, the UN and its organs” to complement national efforts to combat caste discrimination. This is radically different from India’s stated aversion to the internationalization of the caste problem.

Much to India’s embarrassment, Nepal’s statement evoked an immediate endorsement from the office of the UN high commissioner for human rights, Navanethem Pillay, a South African Tamil. Besides calling Nepal’s support “a significant step by a country grappling with this entrenched problem itself”, Pillay’s office said it would “like to encourage other states to follow this commendable example”.

The reference to India was unmistakable especially since Pillay had pressed the issue during her visit to New Delhi in March. Pillay not only asked India to address “its own challenges nationally, but show leadership in combating caste-based discrimination globally”. The granddaughter of an indentured labourer taken to South Africa from a village near Madurai, Pillay recalled that in 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had compared untouchability to apartheid.

Adding to India’s discomfiture, Sweden, in its capacity as the president of the Europeon Union, said, “caste-based discrimination and other forms of discrimination based on work and descent is an important priority for EU”. If this issue continues to gather momentum, UNHRC may in a future session adopt the draft principles and guidelines and, to impart greater legal force, send them for adoption to the UN General Assembly.

The draft principles specifically cited caste as one of the grounds on which more than 200 million people in the world suffer discrimination. “This type of discrimination is typically associated with the notion of purity and pollution and practices of untouchability, and is deeply rooted in societies and cultures where this discrimination is practiced,” it said.

Though India succeeded in its efforts to keep caste out of the resolution adopted by the 2001 Durban conference on racism, the issue has since re-emerged in a different guise, without getting drawn into the debate over where caste and race are analogous.

 


UN’s caste declaration riles India

Source: Morung Express

DELHI – The United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHCR) recent decision to declare discrimination based on the caste system a “human-rights abuse” – thereby acknowledging centuries of bias against the world’s estimated 200 million Dalits (untouchables) – has evoked a sharp reaction from India. The UN decision came about despite robust opposition from the Indian government and its aggressive lobbying to get the council to delete the word “caste” from its draft. Instead, the UNHCR is now set to ratify draft principles that recognize persecution of Dalits worldwide. No other country has opposed the move as vehemently as India. This is because the UNHCR declaration has a special relevance to India and its 65 million Dalits – the largest for any single country.
This sizeable demographic is considered “unclean” in India by the upper castes who regard their presence, and sometimes even their shadow, as polluting. It is in this regard that the UN draft pledges to work for the “effective elimination of discrimination based on work and descent”. What most weakened India’s case in the UNHCR was Nepal’s acquiescence to the move. Wresting the opportunity, the council has now called on India to follow Nepal’s example even as New Delhi feels this amounts to “international interference” in a sensitive internal matter.
There’s no denying that the issue of Dalits – who occupy the lowest rung of India’s well-entrenched caste pyramid – is a virtual tinderbox in the country. Despite India’s increasing literacy levels, mounting economic wealth and growing geopolitical heft, the benefits of national prosperity haven’t quite percolated down to low-caste Indians, who are ostracized by mainstream society.
Despite over six decades of independence from British rule, Dalits are still discriminated against in all aspect of life in India despite laws specifically outlawing such acts. They are the victims of economic embargos, denied basic human rights such as access to clean drinking water, use of public facilities, education and access to places of worship. Even constitutional laws, modeled on those framed by the Confederate states in America during the reconstruction period after the Civil War to protect freed black American slaves, have never been enforced by the Indian judiciary and legislature, which are dominated by high castes.
This is indeed ironic as one of this century’s most recognizable global icons – Mahatma Gandhi – was an Indian who crusaded tirelessly against discrimination based on caste or gender. He ensured that the founding fathers of the Indian constitution made special provisions to grant India’s Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Castes special privileges like reservations (up to 33%) in jobs and educational institutes.
So why is there such a hue and cry in India over the UNHCR move? According to experts, the brouhaha has as much to do with politics as with economics and human rights. First, it is not in favor of vested political interests to eliminate the caste system in India as Dalits form a lucrative vote bank. In fact, in a country of a billion-plus population, it would be foolhardy to fritter away this attractive political constituency that dominates large swaths of India.
The prime example is India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh (population: 190 million) which has 403 electoral constituencies. Though there are no official figures available, it is estimated that the country’s largest number of Dalits – probably half – reside here. The results are clear; currently the state is ruled by the powerful Dalit-dominated Bahujan Samaj Party, helmed by its redoubtable chief minister Mayawati, who was ranked by Forbes magazine in 2008 at 59 on its world’s most powerful women list.
In 1995, at age 39, Mayawati was the youngest politician elected to the post of chief minister and was also the first Dalit to head a state government. She may well trail-blaze again as India’s first Dalit prime minister as she goes about building an alliance with India’s Brahmins, augmenting the Dalits’ pan-India footprint. (In June, Meira Kumar was elected the first Dalit woman ever as parliament speaker.)
Still, there’s no denying that Mayawati is more an aberration rather than the rule in India. So will the UNHCR move help get Indian Dalits’ global attention followed by aid from bodies like the European Union? Dr Udit Raj of the Dalit-based Indian Justice Party has welcomed the UN move and feels it will focus the international spotlight on the issue provided the “Indian government has the courage to accept there’s discrimination”.
It is unlikely that a single UN resolution will radically change the landscape of social realities in India. Perhaps even the UNHCR is aware of this fact. Can its declaration be a tool to harass India then? Is it a clever ploy to keep the ambitious country on a leash in view of its abysmal human-rights record? The idea could be to push India to be answerable for discrimination based on work, descent and gender.
Some good has already come out of the UNHCR exercise, albeit indirectly. Rahul Gandhi, the architect of the ruling Congress Party’s general election victory in May, has launched a recent drive to uplift Dalits. He is visiting Dalit homes across Uttar Pradesh and has ordered his party members to recalibrate their welfare programs in favor of Dalits. However, many see the Gandhi scion’s move as a larger political game plan to erode Mayawati’s base in Uttar Pradesh.
In other words, the UNHCR declaration is a sword that will cut both ways for India. While it will definitely focus international attention on the issue – and hopefully lead to increased government spending to improve opportunities for Dalits in the country – it has simultaneously underscored the country’s feudalistic and discriminatory ethos. It is this that India is most sensitive about as it tries to wrest center stage in the new global regime.

Neeta Lal is a widely published writer/commentator who contributes to many reputed national and international print and Internet publications.

 

 


Comments

 

Aks,USA,says:A step in the right direction and hope the Government of India has got the guts and political will to do away with the discrimination in all sections all over the country. It is a real shame that even today we get discriminated basing on our names, caste, religion and what not. We do not need these and the only way to weed out this is to empower all the villages and develop on war footing with proper infrastructure including schools (give free schooling), hospitals, roads, electricity and water as a bare minimum. The elected representative should be made accountable and those who do not deliver should be made to be recalled by the public after giving enough notice of show cause. But India (read politicians) would fight this tooth and nail as their political vote bank would be eroded and it applies equally to all the political parties and no bias on this. They do not want the people to be literate lest their vote bank politics would be shown
an early exit.
[28 Sep, 2009 1230hrs IST]

Ajay Meena,JAipur,says:it would be naive to assume that a UN resolution or UNHRC can change social realities in India. Will endup as a tool to harass India.
[28 Sep, 2009 1121hrs IST]

hortense vaughan,auSTRALIA,says: At last after 3 generations of an Independent India the UN has finally found the guts to face and call casteism a violation of human rights. The UN must be pretty dumb to take 62 years before condeming a system which was obviously a blatant abuse of human rights. The fact that India does not agree only highlights the perverted logic and bigotry that has allowed this caste system to flourish. I wonder what the world is thinking about the Indian move for a permanent seat on the UN security council when it can so easily oppose such an obvious righteous move on the part of the UN. Indians have lived with the abolishment of suttee and in time will abandon casteism and then maybe India should be considered for a permanent seat on the Security Council
[28 Sep, 2009 1114hrs IST]

Sam Paul,Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh,says:Thanks for pointing out this brave and pertinent act of NEPAL. As a participant in Durban Conference and in the Review conference in Geneva this year, it is a shame why the Govt. of India is dodging this issue and not taking a stand. Of course, it is not easy to break the age old hegemony on the lower castes be it Indian Government or UN (it took over 10 years to state the problem!!). Trust more will happen in this direction.
[28 Sep, 2009 1114hrs IST]

Afzal,Nanjing,says:This caste menace must be eradicated from the society. On one hand government has abolished Caste System, on the other people are still recognised by their caste, what a mokery of Government policy?
[28 Sep, 2009 1052hrs IST]

Shyamal Ganguly,Reading, PA, USA,says:If India agrees with the U.N. then about 50% of the bureaucrats (babus, IAS) will lose their jobs. These bureaucrats serve the interests of the CORRUPT POLITICIANS (LALLOO IN BIHAR, MAYAVATI in U.P.) who use caste base for electioneering. Indian bureaucrats will rather be kicked by China in the teeth than join forces to transcend caste based quota based system for rationing favors and collecting bribes in exchange.
[28 Sep, 2009 1015hrs IST]

Raj,Bangalore,says:It is indeed a disturbing news for India. The caste based discrimination has been in existence in India for thousands of years and it cannot be abolished in a single day. Though it is true that no civilized individual would want to have such discriminatiosn to exists in our society. Whatever may be the actions taken by the government and NG’s in this regard, it needs years of efforts before we could completely eliminate this problem from our society. But the move by the UNHRC is without taking the valid concerns express by India. Moreover, the latest move by the UNHRC could be a problem for India in many areas. The west and European countries, the self styled champions of human rights, may use these rules to tarnish India’s image in world forums and may even try to put restrictions on our country’s international engagements. It could well be used by our adversaris to scuttle India’s efforts to get a permanenet seat in th UN security
council.
[28 Sep, 2009 1006hrs IST]

David M. thangliana,Aizawl, Mizoram,says:Why should India be embarrassed to provide rights to its citizens? Low or high castes, aren’t we all human beings when everything is said and done after all? David
[28 Sep, 2009 1004hrs IST]

Nate Gupta,USA,says:Why would India be uncomfortable with this move by UN? Caste system should have been abolished long ago…
[28 Sep, 2009 0957hrs IST]

Raman Sharma,New Delhi,says:Indian Government will be the first one to violate the UN norms by providing the caste based incentives to its citizens. What the Indian government will do now?
[28 Sep, 2009 0949hrs IST]

Jayakrishnan,Singapore,says:

Its hard to understand why India resists this kind of a move. As per the father of our nation “Untouchability is a crime against god and Man”. So does all discrimincations in the name of caste. Its high time India put and end to this nonsense and punish the culprits severely.
[28 Sep, 2009 0947hrs IST]Raj,Bangalore,says:Practically in our day to day life we do not have this religion, caste etc. But this is the backbone of our political system and our politicians can divide people by their religion, caste etc. They can’t divide them as poor or rich which is very easier to do. Instead they follow this path just for their political gain. No UN can change change these corrupt antinational politicians.
[28 Sep, 2009 0946hrs IST]

 

mentabolism,Kuwait,says:Our country will improve, only after its people stop seeing everything through the eyes of religion, caste, color and creed. Once we see ourselves as only Indians, and everything else is secondary, it will inspire us to improve our lot. Otherwise, we will be stuck in the well of our caste and religion… Implementing this requires strong political will, to see humans as they are and not just voter lists…
[28 Sep, 2009 0943hrs IST]

surinder singh sunner,ventura california,says:Brahamchari, pujaree, vparee and shikari turned into four varan and further into cast system according to their work. Now anyone can do anything than why we are still into cast system. Please come out of it we human are all the same. If India comes out of it our great country will achieve new hights.
[28 Sep, 2009 0942hrs IST]

lpaisley,Ft Lauderdale,says:INDIA!The most racist country in the world. About time the rest of the world knows the country’s dirty secret. Racism based on caste,community, religion and economic statue
[28 Sep, 2009 0941hrs IST]

tabsis,banglore,says:casteism comes as a gift from british rule, divide and rule , why follow it and support it when we as a country have moved on and looking towards moon
[28 Sep, 2009 0937hrs IST]

Victor Warrior,USA,says:It is high time India recognizes that it cannot be superpower unless its people practice democracy and social justice. 250 million people,100 million children, 40 million bonded labour cannot live in slavery for ever , based on caste.Every chain is strongest at its weakest link. This is its weakest link.Nation will not live in peace if it is a democracy of the few, by the few, and for the few. We must build a new fraternity through education, human rights and social justice. ALL CHILDREN SHOULD GROW WITH PRIDE AS INDIANS AND NOTHING ELSE! This will make India a stronger, and most powerful nation on earth! Follow Samrat Ashoka!
[28 Sep, 2009 0937hrs IST]

cmsingh,J,says:Definitely a step in the right direction. Kudos to Nepal and shame on India.
[28 Sep, 2009 0933hrs IST]

blindspot,Kolkata,says:UN should FORCE India to remove all these cast based facilities (e.g. 50% reservation for the SC ST OBC) with immediate effect!
[28 Sep, 2009 0931hrs IST]

knight,India,says:Guys – this is not good news. This is international politicking with no good intentions. this will be used as a stick to beat india in international fora and nothing else!! fact is india has taken affirmative action that is unparalleled and unprecedented. more than 70% of seats in educational institutions and colleges are reserved. india abolished caste discrimination in 47 while racial segregation was still legal in many US states till the 70s. Go figure!!!! If there is condemnation then it should be against religious apartheid that is practiced in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and some western countries as well…
[28 Sep, 2009 0923hrs IST]

Srinivas Aluru,Mumbai,says:It should not be embarrassing to India that caste based discrimination and marital arrangements are considered a form of human rights violation. What should be embarrassing is that we indulge in such discriminatory practices. Let us own up responsibility and agree with the world that it is evil; and let each one of us work to remove it from our lives. Nature can provide subtle lessons if only we care to listen. To come up with a scientific invention or an engineering or medical breakthrough, nature does not make it any easier for someone because they come from a particular caste or lineage. Unless we build a system based on merit and allow individuals to thrive on merit, we are not doing favors to anyone. Certainly if there are past discriminatory practices that need to be corrected, one may provide an extra push for a few generations. However, the eventual goal should be to encourage merit of every individual and if we make it
easy for any particular community, we are actually harming them in the long run by providing them incentives to forever be left behind.
[28 Sep, 2009 0921hrs IST]

Shaikh,NJ, USA,says:Its a welcome move, that has kept people at disadvantage since dark ages of India. I am still appalled to know that India opposes the move!! Which way you want to head india? Back to dark ages of ignorance, conjucture and human subjugation while worshipping animals?
[28 Sep, 2009 0921hrs IST]

Sunil Sharma,Kuwait,says:While Caste system is a degradation of humanity and contrary to the inherent equality of Man, nay of all living beings, as preached by Lord Krishna in the Gita yet India cannot be singled out as the only country where it is still prevalent and practised!! Everywhere, especially in the Middle East, it is far more apparent in the garb of “Tribal Culture” and “Religious Racism” than it is in India!! It is present in all western countries as “Racism” so why single out India? The word “Caste” was coined by the “British” to suite their occupation of India and to divide the locals by formentinmg acrimony amongst them but the actual literal translation of the word “Jaat” is “Class” while “Jaat” itself is the corrupted version of “Varna”…in the good old ancient days “Classes” in society, in order to protect their own turf, evolved the “Jaati” system with no religious sanction from either the Vedas or the Upanishads”, in order only to
guarantee their own perpetual survival. And forms of this “Jaati” system are prevalent in bigger measure in the entire world! So why single out India? India will do well, instead of being on the defensive, to proactively highlight the presence of “Caste” under different garbs in other parts of the world so that all become exposed to the hypocracy that is being manifested by the UN resolution that is specifically aimed against India!! I hope somebody in the Political circle in India takes note of my comment!
[28 Sep, 2009 0914hrs IST]

Sonia,USA,says:There are various kinds of discriminations based on class, gender, educational qualification, age, etc. All discriminations are bad, but do not necessarily come under the definition of “human right violation.” This development clearly shows that Nepal is now firmly in the Chinese sphere of influence. No one would support caste discrimination, but putting this into UN as a “human rights” issue is only a Chinese ploy to divert world’s attention from its own genocides and real human right violations, and getting a foothold into India’s internal matters and politics.
[28 Sep, 2009 0914hrs IST]

Dharmaraj,chennai,says:Ideal Quota for the down trodden people The purpose of introducing quota system was to facilitate the underprivileged and destitute of society but the present mode of quota system does not help the real needy people. Instead It enrich the creamy layer. It is deplorable to note that even after sixty years of free India more than one third of our population live below the poverty line. The economic condition and standard of life has not improved for the majority of the poor in rural. Though we implement the quota system. It has not benefited the poor and the rural as it was expected. The poor and rural first generation from each community are unaware of the priorities as its lion share of benefits are being enjoyed by the creamy layer of its own community our vote bank politician would not allow to remove the creamy layer . In the present scenario It is not possible to remove the creamy layer but it is possible to make the quota
benefits to reach the poor without removing the creamy layer. In each and every quota category there should be two sects , one is BPL and other is general within the community. In each and every quota category there should be BPL quota within the community . The percentage for the BPL should be fixed in proportion to percentage of people live under BPL in the community concerned. Then only these BPL can taste the benefits which are meant for them. If there is no eligible candidate from BPL in the same community, second generation or well off from the same community may be allowed to enjoy without leaving it to other community. If more than 70% of SC live below poverty line, 70% of SC Quota should be reserved for BPL SC. IF 60 % of OBC live below poverty line , 60% of OBC Quota should be reserved for BPL OBC , remaining may be allowed to General SC and OBC respectively. The tough competitor for the BPL is the rich from the same community because these
people enjoy the great share of the quota without leaving it to the poor in the community. Only if there is two quota categories proportionately in each community , the main purpose of quota will reach the poor in each community. Otherwise quota will be enjoyed by the rich or second generation in each community and the poor in each community will remain unaffected by any kind of quota benefits and the caste system in indial can not be eliminated.
[28 Sep, 2009 0913hrs IST]

Borun Chowdhury,Jaipur, In,says:Its not really clear from the article on what grounds India is opposing such a move. Caste based discrimination is clearly a human rights violation case and one would have to be extremely imaginative in order to paint it otherwise.
[28 Sep, 2009 0912hrs IST]

log51,china,says:we don’t put caste in cv/resume knowing the consequences,then why we need caste for school admission/quota/marriage etc…religion did its best in dividing people ..pls eradicate this virus from society.hope our h’able pm can do this.
[28 Sep, 2009 0910hrs IST]

Pankaj,Delhi,says:Can we have this from today :-) he he.. India has been divided on caste for ages.. let us recognize we are humans oops sorry atleast let us be human beings and nothing else on color caste or creed.. Bury the hatchet guys
[28 Sep, 2009 0910hrs IST]

Sunil Sharma,Kuwait,says:While Caste system is a degradation of humanity and contrary to the inherent equality of Man, nay of all living beings, as preached by Lord Krishna in the Gita yet India cannot be singled out as the only country where it is still prevalent and practised!! Everywhere, especially in the Middle East, it is far more apparent in the garb of “Tribal Culture” and “Religious Racism” than it is in India!! It is present in all western countries as “Racism” so why single out India? The word “Caste” was coined by the “British” to suite their occupation of India and to divide the locals by formentinmg acrimony amongst them but the actual literal translation of the word “Jaat” is “Class” while “Jaat” itself is the corrupted version of “Varna”…in the good old ancient days “Classes” in society, in order to protect their own turf, evolved the “Jaati” system with no religious sanction from either the Vedas or the Upanishads”, in order only to
guarantee their own perpetual survival. And forms of this “Jaati” system are prevalent in bigger measure in the entire world! So why single out India? India will do well, instead of being on the defensive, to proactively highlight the presence of “Caste” under different garbs in other parts of the world so that all become exposed to the hypocracy that is being manifested by the UN resolution that is specifically aimed against India!! I hope somebody in the Political circle in India takes note of my comment!
[28 Sep, 2009 0910hrs IST]

Varun,Navi Mumbai,says:This evil is not only practiced by politicians, but is widespread in the country due to lack of literacy and a firmer education policy. Though the government is trying to spread education to the remotest parts of the country, age-old superstitions and traditions practiced by elders include caste as a valid issue. Along with child-marriages, female foeticide, casteism is a sensitive issue that can only be tackled through education. Why only rural areas, even in urban areas caste is an issue, you can see that in the matrimonial sites. The UN is right to treat caste as a human rights violation. We should follow the example of Nepal and embrace this cause. By opposing this act, we as a country are only showing our backward thinking and accepting our inability to curb this evil.
[28 Sep, 2009 0907hrs IST]

Readers’ Opinions
Comment

UN set to treat caste as human rights violation

radhika,balasundrum,says:Not only there is caste discrimination, there is also age discrmination to apply for various jobs in India. You have to be within certain age group to apply for certain jobs which is ridiculous (eg A person over 35 years of age can’t be a Govt teacher his BED, MED goes wasted even though he is human being and have full qualification including years of experience) and outdated prampara and will take thousand years for Indian leadership to understand that (just like caste discrimination).
[28 Sep, 2009 0856hrs IST]

satvista,chennai,says:Finally it has come up! Yes its high time we leave these Caste systems behind! But this can’t be done in a single day, we need a few years though!!!Gradually we need to merge different communities and finally there will only one!!!!
[28 Sep, 2009 0854hrs IST]

shailendram,Bangalore,says:Awesome news, and most welcome. Will India reciprocate wholeheartedly and take off all caste based discrimination in education and jobs now? Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas are facing extreme harassment in India from the hands of majority (Christians, Muslims, SCs, STs and OBCs) which must be removed – minorities must be provided due protection against oppression by majority on the grounds of caste and religion. We are all born equal and must enjoy equal rights.
[28 Sep, 2009 0852hrs IST]

SV,Bangalore,says:Caste based discrimination is a basic violation of human right.Indian politicians kept justifying caste-based-reservation for the advantage of vote bank . In states like tamilnadu where 69% of seats are “reserved”, candidates competing in general category face the brunt of this idiotic practice.
[28 Sep, 2009 0850hrs IST]

Nishit,USA,says:It would be gr8 but I don’t see it happening in India as more than 50% of population (politicians) are dependent on some kind of reservations due to this caste discrimination. But if it happens India would emerge as one of the strong powers and it also changes the mindset of people in India.
[28 Sep, 2009 0841hrs IST]

shakuntala prasad,fiji,says:Yes, we have had enough of caste related discrimination and violence.Just eradicate the whole practice and such beliefs where we identify individuals based on purity of one particular group and untouchability of others.just mix us all; intermarriages between diverse groups will help us break the barriers between human beings.
[28 Sep, 2009 0840hrs IST]

Prasanna Jena,USA,says:Looks like the Catholic Missionaries have been very active in India lately. This is a desperate attempt by the evngelists to pressurize the Hindus.
[28 Sep, 2009 0836hrs IST]

Witan,New Delhi,says:If “caste-based discrimination and other forms of discrimination based on work and descent” is a form of racism, then the undoubted corollary is that “reverse discrimination” is also racism. It means that the 22.5 per cent reservation for SC/ST is racism, and so is the reservation for the so-called OBCs, because such reservations discriminate against the so-called upper castes.
[28 Sep, 2009 0835hrs IST]

Dr.(Prof)Vijay Kumar(Retired)R.U.,Ratu,Ranchi,Jharkhand,says:UN set to treat caste as human right violation and our Law Minister Moily writes to PM for caste-based census.I have already expressed and dispatched my bitter comments on Moily’s demand of caste based census to his PM. Some how till today my comments have been ignored as it could not appear under the head “Moily writes to PM for caste based census”.
[28 Sep, 2009 0832hrs IST]

Sharad,Ballia,says:This is a good step. But humans by nature will keep dividing themselves into castes, region, religion etc. Even the west is not classless and it has never been classless. Bollywood being one of the biggest propagandists of casteless and secular soceity so much foster casteism of their own type where they promote their own kith and kin and any outsider has to struggle to get in, if left at their hands for a couple hundred years they wont let outsider get in. But no doubt the caste based system in India was doing more bad than any good. This is a welcome step, and though humans will never be classless, I wish we have a soceity where everyone has the freedom to “pursue” what he/she wants to be and do and his/her birth or way of living or faith causes him/her to face any discriminiation or special treatment.
[28 Sep, 2009 0831hrs IST]

 Raj,-,says:The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.
[28 Sep, 2009 0830hrs IST]

Sri,California,says:Super! We Indians are making so much of a noise when some of our country men are getting beaten up in Australia saying that it is racism. Casteism is a even bigger crime. it is even bigger than Racism. it has been coming in our country for so many years and so many people undergo so much pain everyday in our country because of this. it is time for other countries to take note of this and make it an international issue and force India to take even more serious actions.
[28 Sep, 2009 0827hrs IST]

? Shah,Chicago,says:Are they ready to accept discrimination based on skin color as human rights violation?
[28 Sep, 2009 0827hrs IST]

Indian,USA,says:During the last presidential election, Republican contenders including John McCain said that ONLY A CHRISTIAN should and can become the President of US. How different is this from caste system and why is America preaching to the rest of world when they do not practice what they preach! We Indians blindly accept and follow what America says but never bother to check if they do as they say!
[28 Sep, 2009 0825hrs IST]

Vikas Chawla,Boston, US,says:i absolutely love this. Political elite class in India would like to use the caste to its advantage. I can’t believe Indian government can publicly state that they are against tackling the menace of casteism.
[28 Sep, 2009 0820hrs IST]

Sumeet,USA,says:Very welcome move. The caste based discrimination in Indian govt and education is finally being recognized by the world. Shame on India for opposing it. And India calls itself a democracy!
[28 Sep, 2009 0819hrs IST]

Kaushal,USA,says:This is very good move of UN – first time ever considering Indians a human being. At the same time, it is very disgusting to see Indian government opposing it. Caste, the way it was practiced in past few hundreds of years, and the way it is practiced today to discriminate and select candidates based on caste & religion; is absolutely a human right issue.
[28 Sep, 2009 0815hrs IST]

==??vibhav,india,says:this piece of news is really great but in today’s india upper caste children people feel discriminated. there are whole lot of subsidies and reservations for lower caste so in any case a welcomed news…and hope this will force the indian politicians to remove casteism as a whole…..
[28 Sep, 2009 0812hrs IST]

Dr.(Prof)Vijay Kumar(Retired)R.U.,Ratu,Ranchi,Jharkhand,says:UN Human Rights Council in Geneva may recognise “CASTE BASED DISCRIMINATION AS A HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION” on the first instance it appears to be CORRECT but issue of Nepal’s breaking on culturally sensitive matter/point must get the specific attentions of the world as such cases are being interpreted in their own terms by many contries.
[28 Sep, 2009 0811hrs IST]

Shekhar,Bangalore,says:If only this leads to abolition of all the “reservations” we have in place… *sigh*
[28 Sep, 2009 0801hrs IST]

?RS,Manila,says:Caste should be dropped. Affirmative action as regards Educations and Employment should be based on “economically backward” only — it’s a shame that India from the inception of its Reservation Policy took into consideration Religion-Caste, saying that only Hinduism acknowledges caste and so, only Hindus are entitled to affirmative-action benefits.
[28 Sep, 2009 0800hrs IST]

?Nikhilesh,Vietnam,says:Yes; it time for India to part ways from caste system. Such system was created to increase efficiency in the society but it turned out to be a weapon to dominate poor by the handful few. We shuold stop quoting caste in official certificates in schools/marriages, ban caste based advertisements, jail leaders if they ask vote in the name of caste. It is going to take another 100 years to bring a concrete change but we have to start somewhere to eleminate this old system.
[28 Sep, 2009 0758hrs IST]

Selvam,India,says:Great Stuff!
[28 Sep, 2009 0757hrs IST]

Shyam,Noida,says:This is just a childish thought by the UN. Nobody can remove discrimination from the world, it may be called “caste” or “birth” or “wealth” or “nationality”. The world is a place of suffering and everybody here is bound to suffer one way or the other. We are born as per our previous karma, although caste must be decided by the traits in one’s character. As per Vedic scriptures , nobody is born a brahmin, especially in Kaliyuga. Rather everyone is born a sudra. However, one who exhibits a saintly character is to be honored and regarded as a “Knower of God” or “Brahman”. Nobody can deny that different categories of human beings exist on the earth. Of course, from “ahaar-nidra-bhaya-maithunam” point of view they all seem equal. However they differ due to their degrees of spiritual consciousness. The UN as a body of atheistic persons cannot understand all this. They cannot change anything either!
[28 Sep, 2009 0747hrs IST]

sai ,chicago,says:This is awesome – caste system had destroyed the lives of innocent millions. Though it is propagated by the politicians, it has been adopted by the people who like the convenience of it. It’s sad that during my college days, I went to a good school with 98% score and the guy sitting next to me 53% – why caste system and by the way, he was richer than I was so it wasn’t the money. Why does he need to relinquish the comforts it provides? So this is should be treated as a pandemic and nothing less – caste system destroyed the lives of innocent millions back in the days (for the so called backward castes) and it continues to destroy the lives of millions today (of the so called forward castes) – we can either wait for the cycle to reverse or move and cure this infection now. I support the UN resolution whole heartedly and I hope EU and others put enough pressure on India to change this – unfortunately EU needs trade relations more than
curing this infection so we’ll just have to wait and see.
[28 Sep, 2009 0747hrs IST]

Chithra KarunaKaran Ethical Democracy,NYC,says:India has nothing to hide on the caste issue. We have far to go on caste-based discriminatory practices in our ancient, vast, complex social structure. Let the evidence speak. Transparency is needed. India can be proud of the progress we have made. But that does not mean we don’t have much more to do. But if the UNHRC insists, India must insist that Racism, Ethnocentrism, sexism, Patriarchalism, Zionism, Tribalism and other categories which are significant bases for discrimination be simultaneously included.
[28 Sep, 2009 0742hrs IST]

Amin,Chennai,says:Inida should fix a timeline for ending caste based reservation system, never ending rigid reservation policy and quotas would do no good for the society and should revise its education system so that it encourages practical way of teaching and examination.
[28 Sep, 2009 0742hrs IST]

aravind,reddy,says:I have never commented before but this is very tempting. Now you know that Indian political leaders favour caste based discrimination in college admissions and government jobs for their personal and political gains. This is screwing up India and life of meritorious aspirants. If UNHRC passes this resolution it would be a victory for humanity. Hats of to UNHRC….
[28 Sep, 2009 0736hrs IST]

divya,new york,says:how about UN treating income discrimination based on gender, ethnicity and race in the US as a human rights issue?
[28 Sep, 2009 0736hrs IST]

Anejat Shyam,Allahabad,says:Finally World has woken up to plight of millions. Unless we Hindus banish this discrimination based on caste, we are nothing but doomed. Jajo Bharat, jago!!
[28 Sep, 2009 0735hrs IST]

Readers’ Opinions
Comment

UN set to treat caste as human rights violation

SK,USA,says:This is good news. This will ensure that the politicians will not be able to garner votes based on caste. Striding towards a caste free India will ensure all round progress.
[28 Sep, 2009 0733hrs IST]

Naik,U.K.,says:India has to eventually give in for UN proposals and rightly so. Caste system is so discriminatory then we have language, skin colour, north vs south to add on top of that. Even the so called modern youth select their match using caste based data from matrimonial websites. Sooner we realise how outdated our system the better.
[28 Sep, 2009 0728hrs IST]

Rohan,London,says:Why does India oppose this? Is it the Indian govt influencing this or the upper caste bureaucrats in the govt The main reason we are undeveloped is the caste system, which is worse than racism. It is time we eradicate that
[28 Sep, 2009 0728hrs IST]

Bijesh,Singapore,says:Thats a great news. Hope at least with this movement, the evil of caste system gets eradicated from our country…
[28 Sep, 2009 0725hrs IST]

kumarasamy,chennai,says: In India the cast system has been penetrated everywhere.in Metro this is covered or not felt just because everone is busy on their work.Govt can not completely eliminate this but they hide and manipulate the figures. even Political leaders have problem created based on caste . Ms.Karat was recently facing stiff resistance to reveal the actual facts..she could not visit a place in Madurai/TN till Govt officials set things changed/hidden.even now two glass system is adopted in rural areas and one group of people still can not ride cycle in that of another group. some time even walking with out cheppal is not permitted.. those lower caste people will never wish to cross the street of upper caste people to save their own life.. still atrocity persists..
[28 Sep, 2009 0721hrs IST]

vij,usa,says:Better late than never. If India has to progress, it must get rid of this accepted practice of casteism.
[28 Sep, 2009 0717hrs IST]

Sharath,Sydney,says:And why is India opposed to this in anyway? However, I would like to state that the definition of caste based discrimination should be broad and wide. It should not merely include high castes discriminating against low castes, but the other way round as well. And also, low castes discriminating against other low castes and high castes discriminating against other high castes. I use the term High and Low caste as only a formal label as used by the government and public in general. I do not in any way mean to imply that someone is inferior or superior to someone else based on caste.
[28 Sep, 2009 0708hrs IST]

Mel,Narre Warren Australia,says:India with its disgraceful caste system has the impertinance to brand Australians as racist.
[28 Sep, 2009 0705hrs IST]

s thakur,pune,says:Finally, someone sees what caste system has become for real. It is invention of olden times which needs to be demolished as it has no relevance in today’s progressing world. For politicians it has become the rally call whether to drum up support or divide the people. This is an evil system with no value addition to society and like many other systems present in olden times in other parts of world, this also needs to be dismantled.
[28 Sep, 2009 0704hrs IST]

Chintan Dave,Sydney,says:Finally, UN is wise enough to do this…….. India is discriminating its own people based on the laws that were created in the ages of dinosaurs from which we need to come out if we want to be recognised and respect as one of the strongest nations on the planet. Shining India needs to set an example and come out from this caste based system where everyone hates everyone just because they are of different caste or religion or sub-caste or whatever pathetic name they have given to it. ……………………. When these so-called opposition goes abroad and to other states within India they complain and cry that they are racially abused and attacked or whatever they call it because they are of different color, who are we to decide that certain caste is only allowed to do certain work. India needs be mature enough at least in this 21st century where even the western world is coming out of its white extremism faster than expected
just look at South Africa, no wonder we have so many civil wars going on within our homeland…………….. Jai Hind
[28 Sep, 2009 0656hrs IST]

Ashok,CT, USA,says:Awesome, i do agree with US. No one in India wants Casteism. This is political leaders want to keep alive for their political benefit.
[28 Sep, 2009 0650hrs IST]

Umesh,USA,says:Indian politicians purosely practice caste politics for votes. Indian government discriminates students applying for medical and engineering colleages based on caste which is very wrong and dangerous – a bad doctor is a dad doctor irrespective of his/her caste. In government offices, people with certain caste are discriminated. India should abolish is discrimination and make selection/promotion merit based. India is such a “third rate” country – not just poverty but morally bancrupt.
[28 Sep, 2009 0627hrs IST]

singh,usa,says:excellent, now practice this damn thing so that this evil could be curbed!
[28 Sep, 2009 0616hrs IST]

mazhar,mumbai,says:Even puny states like Israel and Taiwan dont care for UN. India will be denied a Security Council Membership forevery anyways. So there is no need to loose any sleep over this matter.
[28 Sep, 2009 0602hrs IST]

Ponnuswamy,Chennai,says:It’s ridiculus on part of Indian Administration opposition to UN effort to treat caste as human rights violation. The Indian Goverment opposition to the resolution shows the bonless tonque of Indian rulers who use Gandhi & Ambedkar for vote.
[28 Sep, 2009 0450hrs IST]

??Amit,USA,says:I suppose it is a good move. India’s quota based policies for lower caste people can then be challenged and reversed under law. It is unlikely that Indian polity will ever find a way to drop their quota culture. Further, Indian-origin people may be able to claim refugee status in other nations due to the discrimination and threat to life they face in India.
[28 Sep, 2009 0348hrs IST]

Posted in Caste Discrimination, Caste Issues, Current Affairs, Dalit Issues, Recent News, Reservations, Welfare Schemes | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Parliament approves SC/ST reservation Bill

Posted by samathain on August 30, 2009

Source: The Hindu

J. Balaji


Bill seeks to extend the reservation beyond January 25, 2010

Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on Monday


NEW DELHI: Parliament has adopted the Constitution (109th amendment) Bill, 2009, for providing reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies for another 10 years, with the Lok Sabha approving it by division of votes on Tuesday.

The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on Monday. The Bill was adopted with an amendment by the government.

When the Bill was taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha and put to vote later, 375 members voted in its favour. One member opposed it and another abstained from voting.

The Bill seeks to extend the reservation beyond January 25, 2010, when the time period of 60 years under Article 334 of the Constitution lapses, and also to extend the nomination of Anglo-Indians to the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies by another 10 years.

Law and Justice Minister M. Veerappa Moily, who moved the Bill, said of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, SCs had 79 and STs 41.

“Change of heart”

Similarly, of the 3,961 seats in the Legislative Assemblies, SCs had been reserved 543 seats and STs 527.

Urging the House to adopt the Bill, Mr. Moily said there should be a “change of heart” in society towards SCs and STs.

“We need to travel more distance to ensure they join the mainstream. We must practice inclusive politics and not exclusive politics…fragmented politics,” he said.

Posted in Current Affairs, Dalit Issues, Recent News, Reservations | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

No automatic quota benefit in another State: Court

Posted by samathain on August 19, 2009

Source: The Hindu

J. Venkatesan

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that a person belonging to a particular community notified as Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe in one State cannot automatically claim the benefit of reservation in another State or Union Territory.

A Bench consisting of Justices S.B. Sinha (since retired) and Cyriac Joseph said “both the Central government and the State government indisputably may lay down a policy decision in regard to reservation having regard to Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution, but such a policy cannot violate other constitutional provisions. A policy cannot have primacy over the constitutional scheme.”

The Bench was setting aside a judgment of the Delhi High Court holding that the benefit of reservation should be extended to migrant SC/STs in appointments to Delhi Subordinate services, on their caste certificates being verified and found to be in order.

The court said: “Both the Central government and the State government indisputably may lay down a policy decision in regard to reservation having regard to Articles 15 and 16 but such a policy cannot violate other constitutional provisions.A policy cannot have primacy over other constitutional scheme.”

“If for the purposes of Articles 341 and 342, the State and the Union Territory are at par on the ground of administrative eligibility or in exercise of the administrative power, the constitutional interdict contained in clause (2) of Article 341 or clause (2) of Article 342 of the Constitution of India cannot be got rid of,” Mr. Justice Sinha said.

“If the Central Civil Services and the Union Territory Services are different, keeping in view the constitutional schemes particularly having regard to the proviso appended to Article 309 of the Constitution of India, the same cannot be done away with only because a Union Territory is administered by the Central government. Any direction or policy decision, thus, must satisfy the constitutional requirements laid down under Articles 341 and 342.”

The Bench said:

“We are unable to accept the contention that the members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes notified as such in other States would come within the purview of the Backward Classes within the meaning of clause (4) of Article 16. If a caste or tribe is notified in terms of the Scheduled Caste Order or Scheduled Tribe Order, the same must be done in terms of clause (1) of Article 341 as also that of 342 of the Constitution, as the case may be. No deviation from the procedure laid down therein is permissible in law.

“It must be borne in mind at this juncture that in reality, various kinds of rights do not operate independently of each other. And importantly, when State puts its weight behind any particular set of rights by showing compelling interest, the courts have to ensure that the transfer or accrual of benefits as a result of the State action does not end up abrogating the competing rights of others to an unnecessary extent.”

The court had an important responsibility to inquire and assess that the law was not a narrowly tailored means of furthering those governmental interests.

“Narrow tailoring should satisfy the court that the law capture within its reach just the adequate activity, neither more or less, than is necessary to advance those compelling ends. In the ultimate analysis, the State action must be narrowly drawn in a manner that it can qualify to be the least restrictive alternative available to pursue those ends.”

Posted in Current Affairs, Dalit Issues, Education Issues, Recent News, Reservations | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

The Best Online Sources for News and Analysis on the 2009 Indian Lok Sabha Elections

Posted by samathain on April 23, 2009

(Samatha)
This is an example of what alternative media can achieve.

Of these, most promising is the new medium of Crowd-Sourced crisis information. Checkout Vote Report for a sample. This is a promising media for reporting
issues ignored by the mainstream media. Dalits and minorities should use these tools to make sure their stories are not ignored. Eye witnesses and victims could use SMS /Email/Web to report what they know about a particular story. You could be a Citizen Journalist using just your mobile. Imagine, you can report from a rural village too.

In addition to the promise of this technology, use the information below to keep tabs on Indian elections 2009.

Source : Vote Report

As the campaigns for the 2009 Indian Lok Sabha elections heat up, several new websites are aiming to become the default source of news and analysis related the 2009 general elections.

These websites, however, are directly competing with election microsites from mainstream media — Hindustan Times/ Google, TOI, Mint, DNA, The Hindu, Yahoo!, MSN, Rediff, NDTV, IBN Live, India Today, The Week, Economic Times, India TV, Aaj Tak, Business Standard, BBC and Al Jazeera– and need to offer something different to be useful.

All the mainstream media election microsites have similar features: details about parties, constituencies, candidates and manifestos, statistics about previous elections, and an overload of news and opinion related to the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. However, some microsites have unique features which stand out, so let me start by pointing to my favorite, often interactive, features on the mainstream media websites.

DNA, India Today, Business Standard and IBN Politics have user friendly pages for columns by some very well-known writers.

Google election microsite

The Hindustan Times/ Google election microsite is based on Google gadgets which allows you to add individual features to your iGoogle page.

The WordPress-based Hindu Election Blog allows you to subscribe to specific tags and categories.

MSN has a useful news aggregator which allows to you find news by candidate, party, or state.

The Outlook India Election Blog is doing a great curation role by linking to important stories from elsewhere.
Indipepal blog aggregator

Of the new players, IndiPepal is perhaps the most ambitious, with blogs from several well-known analysts.

India Voting and Engage Voter also have content rich websites with some interesting features.

BlogAdda has media aggregator

BlogAdda has a very well designed social media aggregator for the elections, which collates photos, videos, and posts from election-focused blogs.

OneVote also has a well designed social media aggregator that collates photos, videos, tweets, blog posts and news reports related to the India elections.

Global Voices has special coverage

As always, the Global Voices special coverage page for the 2009 Indian elections is quickly evolving into a useful resource to track the conversations in the Indian blogosphere related to the elections.

We are hoping that Vote Report India will become a useful part of this great eco-system of sources for news and analysis related the 2009 general elections.

Vote Report India is a collaborative citizen-driven election monitoring platform for the 2009 Indian general elections.

Basically, users contribute direct SMS, email, and web reports on violations of the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct (PDF). The platform will then aggregate these direct reports with news reports, blog posts, photos, videos and tweets related to the elections from all relevant sources, in one place, on an interactive map.

By aggregating both traditional and non-traditional sources of news on a clickable, searchable map, we are hoping that Vote Report India will not only increase transparency and accountability in the Indian election process, but also provide the most complete picture of public opinion in India during the elections.

We’ll also help you make sense of this rich information, by doing roundups for important issues on the Vote Report India blog.

The direct reporting functionality is already up and the ability to aggregate content from other sources will be up soon.

We would encourage you to spend some time at our website and project wiki to get a sense of what we are doing. If you like what we are doing, please join the Vote Report India community at Twitter (@votereportindia), Facebook, Orkut, SMSGupShup or Google Groups and subscribe to our blog. If you have a blog or a website, please consider writing about Vote Report India and displaying our banners (200X200 and 150X150). If possible, consider volunteering for one of our open work streams.

But, most importantly, do use and encourage others to use the Vote Report India platform, and help us make the election process more transparent.

Posted in Current Affairs, General, Indian Election, Recent News | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Mayawati’s promise to India : BSP Manifesto

Posted by samathain on April 16, 2009

Source: ZESTCaste

(Samatha)
By ignoring the importance of capital and the capitalists who drive it, Mayawati would be committing the same mistake russia/cuba did in taking up anti-capitalist posture. Capitalism is important for innovation. These market forces reward hardwork, determination, individual drive and luck. This “power of the individual” is very important for a society to keep its best people involved in the community. Only then the society will progress.An updated Nehruvian model of welfare state and private enterprise is better suited for India. Providing hope for the poor in terms of quotas would help india close the gap between its oceans of poverty and islands of prosperity. This would dissuade the frustrated youth from taking extreme measures. It is unfortunate that Mayawati has no comments on secularism or corruption or moral policing or the economic crisis. These issues do affect Sarva Jan. It is possible that Mayawati is trying to differentiate her party from other mainstream parties.


Highlights of Mayawati’s promises and achievements:

  • their economic policies are not prepared
    for removing the hardship of the general public
  • constituted a separate
    welfare department for every segment of that society
  • selecting
    under the “Dr.Ambedkar Rural Development Scheme” villages with
    preponderance of the Dalit population in particular has decided to
    cover them with every kind of essential amenities
  • Urban Integrated Development Scheme
  • under a “Sarvjan Hitay
    urban Slum Area Ownership right Scheme” has decided to give ownership
    right to residential plots measuring a maximum of 30sq. meters and
    minimum of 15sq. meters and commercial plots for employment measuring
    a maximum of 10 sq. meters
  • provided scholarship to the poor children from the Other Backward
    Classes (OBCs) and religious minorities, particularly Muslims
  • send students of the newly established
    Gautam Buddha University in Gautam Buddha Nagar district (Great Noida)
    at government expense to Europe or other foreign countries for higher
    education
  • separate provision of 25 per cent fund has been
    made for the first time in the budget for SC/ST
  • for creating a sense of
    security among the Bahujan Samaj people a provision of “reservation”
    has been made for the first time in the country for police station
    officers
  • by including the economically backward people in
    the Muslim society in the list of the backward classes, our party’s
    government has for the first time in the state made available to them
    the benefit of reservation in education and state level government
    jobs
  • cleared the backlog of the “reserved
    quota” vacancies for the people of the Scheduled Castes/Tribes and
    Other Backward Classes in government jobs and other areas at the state
    level which had not been filled up for years
  • securing the
    benefit of “Reservation” for the Scheduled Castes/Tribes and Other
    Backward Classes in the areas like the judiciary, council of
    ministers, Rajya Sabha, Legislative Council and the private sector
  • congress party and BJP and their
    allies have been trying to end reservation gradually by giving to the
    Private Sector on a large scale those “government departments” and
    “institutions” in the Centre and all the states of the country
  • B.S.P. government is the only one in the entire country which has
    ensured a guarantee for maintaining the earlier available reservation
    system even after a “government department” and “institution” is
    handed over to the private sector
  • party is in favour of providing
    separate reservation to the poor people of this class on an economic
    basis
  • our party’s government has always been fully
    sensitive and serious over the issue of social security
  • instead of giving unemployment allowance
    to the youths is giving them an opportunity to live with dignity,
    self-respect and self-reliance by making provision for permanent
    employment
  • our government has granted
    “inheritance right” to unmarried daughters from the Sarva Samaj in the
    property of their father
  • “Mahamaya garib Balika
    Ashirvad Yojana” (Mahamaya Scheme of blessings for poor girls). After the launching of this
    scheme, the birth of a girl child instead of being viewed as a burden
    will strengthen a tendency to view it as a welcome event
  • Savitri Bai Phule
    Balika Shiksha Madad Yojana” (Savitri Bai Phule Scheme of assistance
    for education of girls)
  • full honour and respect to many Sants, Gurus and great men born
    in the Bahujan Samaj
  • create in the
    entire country an atmosphere free from “injustice, crime and fear” by
    establishing a “Rule of Law by Lawful Means”
  • wean them away from the path of Naxalism
  • our party will pay full attention towards terrorism also
  • Better National Rural Employment Guarantee
  • our party wants growth of capital and not
    development of capitalists in the country
  • every “Economic Policy” of our country will be designed to
    bendfit the general public and not make the rich richer and the poor
    poorer

Bahujan Samaj Party

” APPEAL”

For

Lok Sabha General Elections -2009

Brothers and Sisters,

As it is known to all, Bahujan Samaj Party or B.S.P. is the only party
in the country, which believers in ” deeds and not in words“. That is
why our party, unlike other parties doses not release an election
“Manifesto” rather B.S.P. only makes an ” APPEAL” to people for
votes, enabling it to complete the unfinished works of the Sants,
Gurus and great men born in the Bahujan Samaj from time to time,
especially Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj,
Narayana Guru, Parapujya Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimraro Ambedkar and Manyavar
Shri Kanshi Ram Ji by following the path show by them so that it can
produce good results in the elections to gain power and them with the
“Masterkey” of political power can make the lives of the suffering and
oppressed people prosperous in every respect. This is because
parampujya Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimraro Ambedkar was of the view that
“political power is a master-key by which all the problems can be
solved”.

By following this very thinking of Baba Saheb Dr. Ambedkar, our party
is contesting these general elections for Lok Sabha on all the seats
alone on its own strength and with preparedness, in other words our
party has not forged any electoral alliance of any kind with any party
in these elections.

But here the main question that arises is why it is essential for the
general public of the country to cast their votes for the B.S.P. alone
and not for the Congress and B.J.P . and their allies? This main and
essential point will have to be understood.

In this regard, it is the contention of the B.S.P. that it is the only
party in the country the ” Ideology and Policies” and ” Work Style” of
which are in the interest of the Sarva Samaj (entire society ) and
that our party does whatever it says in the interest of the Sarva
Samaj whereas other parties make a lot of promises and do very little,
in other words most of their work is projected on paper, and very
little is seen as being implemented on ground.

This is the main reason why because of wrong policies of the parties
having a casteist mindset no significant shange has come about even 61
years after the country’s Independence in the ” social and economic ”
condition of the “Bahujan Samaj, which comprises the Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and religious
minorities like the Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Buddhists
etc., who account for 85 per cent of the country’s total population
.

And I have mentioned about ” Wrong Policies “ here because the parties
which have so far formed governments in the Center and most of the
states In the country have been depending on financial help from big
capitalists as a result of which these parties on coming to power
tailor their every “Economic Policy” to suit the needs of those
capitalist, in other words their economic policies are not prepared
for removing the hardship of the general public
. This is the main
reason why the economic condition of the Bahujan Samaj people as well
as of the poor people belonging to Upper Castes continues to be bad
and pitiable even now.

Keeping all this in view, we had to form a separate political party by
the name of ” Bahujan Samaj Party” (B.S.P) on April 14, 1984, under
the leadership of “Manyavar Shri Kanshi Ram Ji” by following the path
shown by parampujya Baba Saheb. Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and by now it has
emerged as an important party at the “national level”.

Not only this, our party has rather gradually increased its mass-base
throughout the country and also sent its MPs to Parliament and MLAs
to legislatures in several states. Besides, government has been formed
under the leadership of our party in Uttar Pradesh four times and
during all the four termes of office our party’s government has taken
full care of the interests of the Sarav Samaj, but it has given
priority to those people of the Bahujan Samaj, who had been neglected
on a large scale in “social and economic” spheres by the governments
of other parties in the past. Taking this issue of neglect seriously,
our party’s government in order to bring about an improvement in the
“social and economic” condition of the Bahujan Samaj people in Uttar
Pradesh has for the first time in the country constituted a separate
welfare department for every segment of that society
and by selecting
under the “Dr.Ambedkar Rural Development Scheme” villages with
preponderance of the Dalit population in particular has decided to
cover them with every kind of essential amenities
and now the name of
this scheme has been changed to the “Baba Saheb Dr.Ambedkar Uttar
Pradesh Gramsabha Integrated Development Scheme”.

Similarly, an “Urban Integrated Development Scheme” has also been
launched in the name of Manyavar Shri Kanshi Ram Ji, through which
all the cities, towns and ‘kasbas’, big and small, in Uttar Pradesh
are being developed in a phased manner.

Besides , to a large number of poor people in the urban areas of Uttar
Pradesh , who because of their helpessness had settled unauthorisedly
on the land of the state government departments and have been living
there since before 15.01.2009, our government under a “Sarvjan Hitaiy
urban Slum Area Ownership right Scheme” has decided to give ownership
right to residential plots measuring a mximum of 30sq. meters and
minimum of 15sq. meters and commercial plots for employment measuring
a maximum of 10 sq. meters
. In the history of the state such a
decision had not been taken by any of the past governments because of
which the poor people in a large number have been exploited for years
by government employees, land -mafias and employees of municipalities
etc. But since 15.01.2209 after implementation of this scheme from my
birthday, they have got ownership right to their residential plot in
urban areas, while they have also got freedom from all kinds of
exploitation.

Along with this , the government land lying vacant is being
distributed with actual possession therefore for a two-room pucca
house and for cultivation to the poor helpess people of the Sarv Samaj
in the states with priority to the Dalits, exploited and backwards in
particular, which has so far benefited lakhs of poor people in the
state and this process is still continuing.

For promoting eduction, like for the children of the Scheduled Castes
/Tribes, our party’s government has for the first time in India
provided scholarship to the poor children from the Other Backward
Classes (OBCs) and religious minorities, particularlyMuslims
, and in
view of rise in pricies the scholarship is distributed to the students
soon after they take admission. Our government has arranged for “free
government coaching” for poor students of these classes to enable them
to get high ranking jobs.

Besides, along with these classes in uttarprasesh, a new era in the
field of higher and technical education has been ushered in for poor
children of the Savarn Samaj for which a historic decision has been
taken for the first time to send students of the newly established
Gautam Buddha University in Gautam Buddha Nagar district (Great Noida)
at government expense to Europe or other foreign countries for higher
education
.

By giving priority to development of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes a separate provision of 25 per cent fund has been
made for the first time in the budget for them
. Similarly, for
creating a sense of security them. Similarly, for creating a sense of
security among the Bahujan Samaj people a provision of “reseversation”
has been made for the first time in the country for police station
officers
.

Full care has also been tken of the interests of the biggest
constituent of the “religious minority society” the Muslims, in
particular in every sphere. Their economic development has been
ensured and their lives, properties and religion have been fully
protected. Besides, by including the economically backward people in
the Muslim society in the list of the backward classes, our party’s
government has for the first time in the state made available to them
the benefit of reservation in education and state level government
jobs
.

A New Initiative in Respect of reservation: In regard to reservation
too, we in all the four terms of our rule in Uttar Pradesh have
conducted a special drive and cleared the backlog of the “reserved
quota” vacancies for the people of the Scheduled Castes/Tribes and
Other Backward Classes in government jobs and other areas at the state
level which had not been filled up for years
.

Besides, our party has been making relentless efforts for securing the
benefit of “Reservation” for the Scheduled Castes/Tribes and Other
Backward Classes in the areas like the judiciary, council of
ministers, Rajya Sabha, Legislative Council and the private sector

etc., all over the country in which reservation has not yet been
provided to them by the Central Government. In this regard letters
have been written to the Central government several times. Along with
this, our party has written several times to the Central Government
for providing the benefit of additional reservation to those people of
the Scheduled Castes/Tribes who have become Christians or Muslims
through religious conversion by including them in the list of
Scheduled Castes/Tribes by keeping intact the present fixed quota of
reservation for the latter. But the government of no party formed in
the Centre so far has acceded to this reasonable demand of these
people.

This not all, the governments of the congress party and BJP and their
allies have been trying to end reservation gradually by giving to the
Private Sector on a large scale those “government departments” and
“institutions” in the Centre and all the states of the country
in
which the people of the Scheduled Castes/Tribes and Other Backward
Classes have been getting job reservation under government, as there
is no provision of reservation as yet in the private sector for these
classes at the Central and the state levels. In a situation like this
the reservation for these classes will automatically come to an end
one day. Our party is very “worried” over this and in this regard the
people of these classes in the entire country also need to be very
“alert”.

And in this regard, it is also the belief of our party that this
reservation for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other
Backward Classes (OBCs) in our country can be “protected” and
reservation made available to them in the areas in which they are not
yet getting this benefit only when these people form their own
government in the Centre and the states. And a concrete example of
this is the formation of our party’s government in Uttar Pradesh as
the B.S.P. government is the only one in the entire country which has
ensured a guarantee for maintaining the earlier available reservation
system even after a “government department” and “institution” is
handed over to the private sector
.

Besides, in regard to reservation, I wish to tell the people of the
“upper caste society” that our party is in favour of providing
separate reservation to the poor people of this class on an economic
basis
in the entire country. But it is the government in the “Centre”
which will have to introduce it by amending the Constitution.
Therefore, our party’s government has written several times to the
Central Government for providing separate reservation to the people of
this class on an economic basis. But the government of no party in the
Centre has so far agreed to this demand of ours. However, in this
regard, I wish to give this assurance to the people of the “upper
caste society” that the day our party’s government is formed in the
Centre like that in Uttar Pradesh it will make a meaningful effort to
remove poverty and unemployment of the people of the upper caste
society by certainly making the reservation facility available to them
even without their asking for it. And in this regard, you know it well
about the work culture of our party that it does what is says, in
other words there is no difference between its words and deeds.

Along with reservation, our party’s government has always been fully
sensitive and serious over the issue of social security
. Therefore, we
have raised the amount of the old age/farmer pension from Rs.150 to
Rs.300. In addition, our party’s government immediately raised the
daily wages of the labourers from Rs.58(fifty-eight) to Rs.100 (one
hundred) for the labourers as it is in the most poor and weak class
and belongs mostly to the category of landless labourers to whom no
attention had been paid ever before because of their being
unorganized. And the daily wages of sanitation workers has also been
hiked from Rs.73 (seventy-three) to Rs.100 (one hundred).

This is also known to all that in the long rule for the Congress,
B.J.P. and their allies for about 61 years agriculture and farmers
have been neglected a great deal in the entire country, but our
party’s government has paid special attention to agriculture and
farmers also by keeping them in the priority category. Besides, our
government in Uttar Pradesh instead of giving unemployment allowance
to the youths is giving them an opportunity to live with dignity,
self-respect and self-reliance by making provision for permanent
employment
for them. And from May 13, 2007 till January, 2009, in less
than two years, arrangement has been made for permanent employment for
seven lakhs people in government and for another two lakhs people in
non-government sector.

In addition to the interests of the poor and unemployed people of the
Sarva Samaj, our party’s government has taken full care of the
interest of “farmers” , “labourers”, “traders” and the people engaged
in “other occupations” and many important decisions have been taken in
their interests also.

Women Empowerment: Along with this, our government has granted
“inheritance right” to unmarried daughters from the Sarva Samaj in the
property of their father
by amending the sectors-171 and 174 of the
Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act, 1950 for improving the social
and economic condition of women in Uttar Pradesh. Earlier during my
second tenure of rule in 1997 I had secured this “legal right” to
widows.

Besides, two important schemes have been launched on my 53rd birthday
by our party’s government for a bright future of girls in the state.
The first one has been launched by the name “Mahamaya garib Balika
Ashirvad Yojana” (Mahamaya Scheme of blessings for poor girls)
under
which in the name of every girl born in the below the poverty line
families after January 15, 2009, a fixed deposit of a certain amount
is made and the girl on its maturity when she completes the age of 18
years will get a lump sum of Rs. One lakh. After the launching of this
scheme, the birth of a girl child instead of being viewed as a burden
will strengthen a tendency to view it as a welcome event
and it will
also provide special help in correcting of the growing imbalance of
gender ratio gap in the state.

Similarly, the second scheme has been launched as “Savitri Bai Phule
Balika Shiksha Madad Yojana” (Savitri Bai Phule Scheme of assistance
for education of girls)
under which a decision has been taken to
provide a lump sum amount for further studies to the girls of the
below the poverty line families, who have passed the standard tenth.

In this regard, I wish to inform you that when such a girl takes
admission to the standard eleventh, she is being given a lump sum of
Rs. 15 thousand and a ladies bicycle and when the girl passes the
standard eleventh examinations and takes admission to the standard
twelfth she will be given an additional amount of Rs.10000 by the
government for completing further studies. All these amounts will be
in addition to the scholarship or facilities provided under other
heads.

Along with these works, our party’s government in Uttar Pradesh has
given full honour and respect to many Sants, Gurus and great men born
in the Bahujan Samaj
from time to time, who have been neglected by the
past governments. In their names many public welfare schemes have been
launched in the interests of the Sarva Samaj and several “new
districts”, “universities”, “memorials” and “museums” and parks etc.,
have been built in their memory.

Besides, I wish to tell you here that the Dalits, backwards and the
people of other neglected classes in the country have been victims of
atrocities and excesses of various kinds perpetrated by the people
having a casteist mindset from Independence till even now and they are
not able to get proper and timely justice. But our party after coming
to power in the Centre will not allow any class of the society in the
country, in other words it will do “justice” with honesty and
dedication to all and like in Uttar Pradesh it will create in the
entire country an atmosphere free from “injustice, crime and fear” by
establishing a “Rule of Law by Lawful Means”
.

Along with this, in the absence of proper development of all the
regions in the country and because of want, injustice, exploitation,
poverty and deprivation some people are adopting and the path of
Naxalsim and governments in the Centre and the states have not so far
paid proper attention towards them, but our party on coming to power
in the Centre will wean them away from the path of Naxalism by finding
a “lasting solution” to all these problems of theirs and along with
this it will try to bring them in the mainstream of development by
providing “permanent employment” to them.

Besides, terrorism has emerged as a very big problem and serious
challenge in the country over the past few years and the main reason
for it appears to be “laxity” and “weaknesses” of the Central
Government itself and to a certain extent its political self-interest
as well. But our party will pay full attention towards this also.

And as far as the question of the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme is concerned, under this scheme there is a provision for
providing employment for only 100 days out of 365 days in a year and
that too for only one unemployed person in a family. But our party on
coming to power in the Centre will start a scheme for the poor people
living in rural areas of the entire country which will ensure
provision of permanent employment for these people throughout the year
for all the 365 days.

Besides, on our party coming to power in the Centre all its policies
at the “national and international” levels in every respect will be
framed by keeping in view the people of all the religious and castes
in the Sarva Samaj. And “foreign Policy” will also be evolved by
keeping all this in view. In other words, while framing foreign policy
and entering into any agreement with a foreign country, special
attention will be paid to the national security as well as the
country’s dignity, self-respect and sovereignty.

In addition, plans of “all the ministries” of the Central Government
will be reviewed and operated in a proper manner so that the general
public in the country is able to get the full benefit of all the
schemes directly and easily. Not only this, our party’s government
will not enter into any deal with any country in the world which may
lead to its subjugation by that country later on.

Along with this, our government will not frame any “Economic Policy”
in any area which like under the past governments will continue to
work for development of capitalists instead of formation of capital in
the country. In other words our party wants growth of capital and not
development of capitalists in the country
so that the life of the
common people in both urban and rural areas including farmers,
workers, traders and those engaged in other occupations for employment
becomes prosperous.

Thus every “Economic Policy” of our country will be designed to
bendfit the general public and not make the rich richer and the poor
poorer
as it has been happening during the rule of the Congress party,
B.J.P. and their allies so far in our country and most of the states.
And then only the poor people of this country will be able to get two
square meals in a proper way. It is only after this that the
missionary goal our party to create an environment of “Sarvjan Hitaiy
and Sarvjan Sukhaiy” (In the Interest of And For Happiness of All)
in
the entire country can be realized in a true sense.

But for this to happen they will have to take the “Master Key of
Political Power” into their own hands by showing a good result of
their party in the Lok Sabha general elections being held now. And for
this, they will certainly have to be cautious against many tactics of
the opposition parties like attempts to cajole, coerce, lure and
divide because these parties can go to any extent to harm our party.

In this regard, the opposition parties will try their best to see in
particular that our party does not get the votes of the Savarn Samaj
and to this end they can also try to project the ideology and policies
of our party in a distorted manner before the upper castes. This is
despite the fact that the ideology and policies of our party are not
against any caste and religion, in other words the B.S.P. wants to
establish an “equalitarian social order” in this country by changing
the inequitable social order based on “caste line”, an objective that
is in the interest of the country and the Sarv Samaj. And if in this
“transformation of order” along with the Bahujan Samaj the people of
the Savarn Samaj also cooperate by changing their Casteist mindset,
then the doors of the Bahujan Samaj Party (B.S.P) are always open for
admission and advancement of such people with dignity and
self-respect. What I am implying is that the ideology and policies of
the B.S.P. are not against the people of the upper caste society.

In this regard, I would like the upper caste people to think over the
question why the B.S.P. would have kept these people in the
organization at the national and state levels had its ideology and
policies been against the Savarn Samaj? And then why would the B.S.P.
have fielded such people on its tickets in the Lok Sabha and Assembly
elections and on formation of its government inducted them into
honourable positions of ministers? From this, it is fully clear that
the ideology and policies of our party are based on the principle of
“Sarvjan Hitaiy and Sarvjan Sukhaiy” (Progress and Prosperity For
All).

Besides, with regard to the “Ideology and Policies” of the B.S.P., I
also want ot make it clear here that an “equalitarian social order” is
not going to be established in the country by organising the Bahujan
Samaj people alone. For this, we will have to carry along with us
Savarn Hindus also on the basisi of a spirit of social brotherhood by
changing their casteist mindset and then only an “equalitarian social
order” as envisioned by the architect of the Indian constitution Baba
Saheb Dr. Ambedkar can be really established in this country. And it
is only after this that the people of the Sarva Samaj can be united
together and distinctions of “high and low and caste and creed” can
come to end and then alone our party can get an opportunity to come to
power in the Centre and the states.

But the B.S.P. people will have to keep it in mind that the congress,
B.J.P. and their allies will not allow our party to come to power in
the Centre and the states that easily and that for preventing our
party from achieving this goal they will use machination of every kind
and our party will have to remain on guard against this at every step.

Along with this, it is my fervent appeal to our party people all over
the country “to remain alert so that their invaluable votes are
neither bought nor looted nor remain unused and no selfish person is
able to misuse their votes by ensnaring them in the name of caste and
creed, money, temple and mosque or by any other kind of emotional
blackmail, in other words they have to rise to the defence of
democracy with their lives. Therefore, in the interest of the Sarva
Samaj, the country and their respective state, they will have to place
the power in the Centre in the right hands, in other words in the
hands of the B.S.P. so that our party can frame its every policy on
the principle of Sarvjan Hitaiy and Sarvjan Sukhaiy in every walk of
life and make the lives of the Bahujan Samaj and the poor people of
upper caste society and other people engaged in various occupations
prosperous”.

In the end, keeping all this in view, I make this “APPEAL” to the
supporters, followers and well-wishers of our party not to get carried
away by alluring promises made in the election manifesto of opposition
parties and to act on the appeal of their party alone and to certainly
make all the B.S.P. candidates victorious in the Lok Sabha general
elections-2009 being held in the country now by pressing the button
facing the “Elephant” symbol of their own party.

(Kumari Mayawati)

National President

Bahujan Samaj Party

For Ushering In An Era

Of “Sarvjan Hitaiy &

Sarvjan Sukhaiy” In the Country, Vote For

The B.S.P. Candidates Only

*

Make B.S.P. Successful Bu Pressing The

Button facing “Elephant” Election Symbol.

B.S.P. Ki Kiya Pahchan

Neela Jhanda, Haathi Nishan

(What Is B.S.P Known By

With Blue Flag &

“Elephant” Election Symbol)

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