by Nilesh Kumar
Ideology of Bahujan Samaj Party is “Social Transformation and Economic Emancipation” of the “Bahujan Samaj” which comprises of the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and the Religious Minorities such as Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Parsis and Buddhists. Reason for including all these classes is because they all were, in some way or the other, the victims of the Brahmnical system in the Country since last 1000 of years, under which they have been vanquished, trampled and forced to languish in all spheres of life. They were deprived of all those human rights which had been secured for the upper caste Hindus under the age old “Brahminical System”.
Kanshi Ramji, founder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the political mentor of Behen Mayawati, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, had believed in using the power of the state as the key to bring about socio-economic change and transform the society by eliminating the lower-upper caste divide (Bahujan means sarvajan including sc/st/obcs/general/poor).
Uttar Pradesh which is the most populous State in India, includes 16% of the country’s population and is the fourth largest State covering 9% of the country’s geographical area. Agriculture and allied services generates 32 percent of the State’s GDP, industries account for 26 percent and Service sector accounts for 42 percent of GDP– these are some of the prominent facts about the State.
Why it’s important to mention these facts? It’s important to mention these facts because seeing the Historical backwardness of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, it’s highly impossible for at least 1% of the population to be a part of these sectors as I mentioned above.
Suddenly after the political shift and electoral success, BSP came to power with the goal of ‘Sarva jan Hitaya Sarvajan Sukhaya’, with a concrete ‘appeal’ rather than a manifesto. It stated the congress government at the center had failed in handling atrocities against Dalits in the State and filling backlog of Backward Class employees etc. BSP Government did try to fulfill its own promises by launching numerous schemes for the welfare of the people of UP.
Schemes: –
1. Kanshiramji Shahri Garib Awas Yojna, a Rs- 1,500 crore scheme launched by Chief Minister Mayawati to give one-room houses free to the disabled, widows, orphans, poor, and those living below poverty line in urban areas.
2. Ambedkar Village Development Scheme; under which villages where more than half the population were from SCs were covered. Rs 3000 crore has already been sanctioned since then, for about 18, 000 Ambedkar villages. CM Mayawati has been personally inspecting these villages, she deployed teams of senior bureaucrats to oversee their development; she took to task the officers who did not deliver with many suspensions and transfers. A full-fledged Ambedkar Village Development department headed by principal secretary-rank officer for overall supervision has been constitutred.
3. Uttar Pradesh Mukhya Mantri Mahamaya Garib Arthik Madad Yojana (MMGAMY) For those who have not been covered under any poverty alleviation programme– they will get Rs. 300 a month under this scheme.
4. Mahamaya Garib Balika Ashirvad Yojna, Rs 1 lakh is deposited in the account of a girl child, born after January 15, 2009.
5. Savitri Bai Phule Shiksha Madad Yojna, under this scheme Young girls pursuing higher education, Government gives Rs 25,000 in cash and a bicycle to the girl
6. Under the Health Insurance Scheme, for the poor, proper treatment to people belonging to the SCs in government hospitals and a number of super-speciality hospitals at the district level is being ensured.
7. Mahamaya Sarvajan Awas Yojna (For non-Dalit BPL families)
8. Savitri Bai Phule Shiksha Madad Yojna (for minor girls)
9. Manyawar Kanshi Ram Shahri Samagra Vikar Yojna (for urban poor)
10. Sarvajan Hitaya Gharib Awas Malikana Haq Yojna (for urban slums)
11. Dr Ambedkar Urja Krishi Sudhar Yojna.. ..and many more Schemes to be Continued…
And many more such schemes have been launched by the state not only to cater the needs of SC/ST and OBCs but also underprivileged and poor (non dalits), in each sector.
It’s with the blessings of Kanshiramji that the party President, CM of UP Mayawati could come up with innovative programmes to look after the development of overall state, which is usually a very tough task given the size of the population and area covered by the State. Inspite of all these efforts, Mayawati’s UP is still being targeted by the Media (Governed by corporate houses and Political parties) right from referring to her as a Dalit CM and are morally accusing the CM about not protecting the Dalit rights, which for any other CM of the state is even more difficult.
Rapes on Dalit women which are the cause of assertion largely seen in UP: nobody has ever tried to look at how cases are being registered after the incidences took place. These are the Signs of Social Commotion. The sudden and intense focus on rapes on Dalit women in UP, while ignoring the rapes on Dalit women in the rest of the country, is an attempt to somehow hold the CM solely responsible for the structural nature of caste misogyny and sexual violence against Dali women inscribed in Indian society since centuries. One can not stop this hypocritical reaction as its the casteist brahminical psyche (Manuwadi) to harm the community in which women can be easily targeted. These are not at all the justification of crimes in the state but these are the media strategies to propagate a myth that the UP CM is not well equipped in saving her own women from crime and malign Mayawati’s Government.
Some parallel news also stated that according to the National figures of Crimes against women (National Crime Records Bureau) happening in the country, UP has lowest rape rates among all states. Refer to Economic Times 28, June 2011.
“Sarvajan Hitaya Sarvajan Sukhaya” : Many crude political analyst go to the extent of calling it a political card or strategy of vote gaining, if it is a political card of strategy of vote gaining, I must say then it is the best strategy for all, in fact, it is best for the country, best for the National Interest too. But, for Dalits these are the populist acts dreamt by Dr. Ambedkar. Mayawati is a populist women politician and BSP is a populist political party.
For people who don’t know
The Bahujan Samaj Party, under the leadership of Chief Minister Mayawati, organised a mammoth rally on April 14, 2003, for which over 5.76 lakh people had gathered at the 27-acre Dr Ambedkar Maidan in Lukcnow, U.P. About 5,000 heavy and 2,000 light vehicles were requisitioned to transport more than 3.70 lakh people. Over and above that, about 1.01 lakh people arrived by train. Some 30,000 people came from neighboring states and 75,000 persons reached the spot by foot. For efficient crowd management, the entire area was divided into four zones, which were further split into 19 sectors. There were 3,771 security personnel on duty. In addition, 30 Companies and two Platoons of the PAC were deployed.
— Limca Book of Records 2006, India at her Best (Page.195)
CM In Three Contiguous Assemblies ( Woman ) :
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kumari Mayawati Ji of BSP is the only woman chief minister of a State to be sworn in thrice in three contiguous Assemblies.
In the 12th Assembly her tenure lasted from June 3 – Oct. 27, 1995; the second term in the 13th Assembly was from March 20 – Sept. 20, 1997 and the third term in the 14th Assembly was May 3, 2002 – August 26, 2003.
— Limca Book of Records 2006, India at her Best (Page.208).
Date: July/5/11
