International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) Press release

A strongly worded resolution on caste discrimination in India was debated and adopted today by the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The Parliament condemned the high number of atrocities committed against Dalits in India and the Indian government's insufficient action on the issue of caste discrimination.

Copenhagen (IDSN), 13 December 2012 -- The European Parliament (EP) today sent a strong message of solidarity to millions of victims of caste discrimination in India and urged the country's authorities to live up to their pledges to end this serious human rights problem and ensure protection of Dalits and other vulnerable groups.

While acknowledging that significant work had already been done to eradicate caste discrimination in India, the EP expressed its deep concern over the continued human rights violations against Dalits; condemned the high number of atrocities committed against them; and deplored the non-intervention by state actors such as the police in acts of communal violence against Dalits.

Expressing its deep concern about the inhuman practice of manual scavenging, the EP urged the Government of India to amend and enforce the law banning this practice.

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Letter (dated 8th November, 2012) from the 'Joint Action Committee for the Protection of Reservation' to the Vice-Chancellor, University of Hyderabad

[Via Arun Asokan]

(Please read this article 'Non-Implementation of Reservation policy in University of Hyderabad: A Report' published on 27th November, 2012, for comprehensive information on the implementation of quotas in the university)

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To
Prof. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy
The Vice-Chancellor Hyderabad
University of Hyderabad

Respected Sir,

Sub: Request to announce an open PhD admission notice in the month of December, reg.

With reference to the letter, addressed to the VC by the Students' Union 2011-2012 (Dt. 22-08-2012) which brought to our notice the lapses designed in the implementation of reservation policy at University of Hyderabad for the academic year 2012-13; we would like to state that there has been a serious deterrent and foul play in implementing the constitutional guarantee for higher education to the depressed classes namely SC/ST/OBC/PH/DP/North-Eastern states and Union Territories Quota.

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Dalit Women's Right to Political Participation
in Rural Panchayati Raj
A study of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu

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Executive Summary

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Jayshree Mangubhai
Aloysius Irudayam sj
Emma Sydenham

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(Research done in Collaboration with Navsarjan Trust, Gujarat and Evidence, Tamil Nadu)

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"More and more Dalit¹ women should contest the elections and get elected to the panchayat, and help the Dalit community become liberated from their bondage. Like the dominant castes², the Dalits should join hands with other Dalit sub-groups and stand together against the dominant castes. They should be able to work independently in the panchayats and stop being proxies for the dominant castes. We Dalits need to focus on our progress, throwing off our subordination."
- Annammal, village panchayat President in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu

"Reservation has meant little difference other than formal elections: it has not meant any real change for women other than their ability to move outside the house."
- Dalit women elected representatives, Ahmedabad district, Gujarat

Direct political participation of Dalit women in local governance (Panchayati Raj) is a central human right in itself and enables the realisation of a host of other human rights. Political voice and decision-making power concerning basic services, economic development and social justice are critical factors in challenging and transforming structural caste-class-gender discrimination, and enabling Dalit women to realise their fundamental rights. Political participation also demands accountability from state and non-state actors to guarantee and respect these women's equal political voice and development. This requires a transformation of power relationships both within institutions of governance and in the women's social environment.

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Report on Non-Implementation of Reservation policy in
University of Hyderabad (A case study of 2011-12 Admissions)

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Ambedkar Students' Association

[Via Arun Asokan]

Non-Implementation of Reservation Policy in P.G Courses for the year 2011-12 

University of Hyderabad has a clear-cut policy of 'no cut-off marks' for admission into P.G Courses, which means that the seats vacant under any quota must be filled. For reserved quota it becomes obligatory to fulfill mandatory provisions of reservation policy. But University of Hyderabad has violated it. From Table 1, owing exceptions to M.A Urdu and M.P.A Dance, we could observe that almost all departments had candidates available. Despite this, the seats remained vacant.

Table 1: Statement showing the No. of Vacancies and Availability of Candidates

Source: Compiled from Agenda Circulated for 67th Academic Council at University of Hyderabad.

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[Statement Forwarded by Anoop Patel, AIBSF]

A group of students and teachers of Delhi University staged a protest demonstration in front of Ramjas College. A delegation met the Principal, Ramjas College and put forward their demands. After staging the demonstration the group marched to the office of the Dean of Students' Welfare (Delhi University) and continued the protest. They forced the Dean of Students' Welfare to come out and listen to the demands. But the issues that were raised were not resolved and therefore we have decided to continue with the agitation and take it to the higher authorities, namely the Vice-Chancellor of the University and to the Ministry of Human Resources Development.

Although DU follows the cut off system for admission for General and OBC, Ramjas College has rendered the cut off for OBC by restricting their admission to the number of sanctioned strength. Therefore, the General Category admission goes well above the sanctioned strength, but the OBC students are denied seats even if they meet the cut off. 27% reservation for OBC has thus been rendered meaningless in Ramjas. The following demands were put forward:

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Karthik Navayan

SC, ST Sub-Plan Nidhula Saadhana Ikya Kaaryacharana Committee (United Action Committee to claim SC, ST Sub-Plan Funds) was formed under the leadership of Sri Kaki Madhava Rao, Former Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh as its chairman and Retired Justice K. Ramaswamy as adviser. Retired IAS Officers Sri B. Danam, Sri K.R. Venu Gopal, Sri T. Gopal Rao and Retired IPS Officers Sri Rushya Rao, Dr. D. T. Nayak, Dr. V. N. V. K. Sastri are some of the important persons as its members. National Dalit Forum, Sakshi Human Rights Watch- A P and Center for Dalit Studies have come together to provide secretarial assistance to the committee.

The Committee has brought together nearly 100 people's organizations and NGOs under its fold. The core committee constituted a drafting committee to draft the bill to provide statutory status to SCP and TSP. The drafting committee consisted of Sri K. Madhava Rao, Sri B.Danam, Sri V.Nanda Gopal, Mr. R.Ravi Kumar. The Drafting committee met several times to articulate the bill. The salient features of the Bill are:

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Union Budget 2012-13

Response from Dalits and Tribals

Dalit Arthik Adhikar Andolan/NCDHR*

The Total Plan Expenditure of Union Budget 2012-13 BE is Rs.3,99,011 cr. For Special Component Plan (SCP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) Rs. 37113.03 cr. and Rs.21710.11 cr has been allocated which is altogether 9.3% (SCP) and 5.4% (TSP) as compared to the legitimate allocation of 16.2% for SCP and 8.2% for TSP. For STs there is decrease of 0.1%. There is gap of Rs. 38,535.54 cr. for both communities.

As per the guidelines, each Ministry has to allocate fund under SCP/TSP but it is unfortunate that only 25 departments have allocated for SCs and 28 for STs. While all other departments like Energy, Coal, Industries 70-75 departments have not allocated any funds. Quality of allocation is less in the growth sectors and more in the survival areas.

If we calculate spending on SCs & STs in the Total Budget (Plan+Non-Plan) of Rs.14,90,925.29 cr, the share of both communities come to only 3.9%.

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