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Dalit Status ( A frontline review)

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Prep course cutoffs for SC/STs to dip by 55%

http://timesofindia .indiatimes. com/India/ Prep_course_ cutoffs_for_ SCSTs_to_ dip_by_55/ rssarticleshow/ 3339591.cms

8 Aug 2008, 0309 hrs IST, Hemali Chhapia,TNN

MUMBAI: For the first time in the history of IITs, a second round of
admissions is on to fill vacant seats at all its 13 campuses. More
students will also be accommodated in the preparatory course, which is
like a feeder class that trains SC and ST students for a year to equip
them to qualify for the IITs. Students need to take a test at the end
of the year-long tutorial.

If they qualify, the gates of IITs are opened to them. For the
preparatory course, each IIT relaxes the lowest SC and ST cutoffs by
55%. With that figure being 104 for both reserved categories this
year, the preparatory course cutoff turned out to be 57 out of a total
of 489. This cutoff will dip further if additional students have to be
admitted.

Prasad said, "We will also begin running the preparatory course at the
six new IITs from this year.'' While this will put an additional
burden on the overnight-born institutes, it will prevent a repeat of
the ''vacant seat'' scenario next year as those candidates will be
eligible for admission then.

The older IITs managed to fill some SC/ST seats with students who were
admitted to the preparatory course in 2007, but there were no such
admissions at the new IITs. This year's sorry situation was the result
of the government commissioning six new IITs (thus increasing the pool
of seats by 720), which simultaneously led to the increase of quota
seats (for which there were not enough eligible applicants).

Despite lowering the cutoff percentage in the name of affirmative
action, not enough reserved category students could make the grade.

Dalits upset with TTD's tokenism

http://www.deccanhe rald.com/ Content/Aug82008 /panorama2008080 783303.asp

By R Akhileshwari

Most of the TTD's income is from oppressed Hindus, who form 80-90 per
cent of the pilgrims.

The Dalita Govindam programme by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams
(TTD) to win over the Dalits and keep them within the Hindu fold seems
to have rebounded. The Dalits are outraged that, in the name of God,
they have once again been humiliated and shown that they cannot be
part of the religion as practised by a few.

While Dalit activists are threatening to file a case against the TTD
under the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for 'humiliating' the
Dalits, political parties — including the Left and the BJP — have
dismissed the programme as a 'gimmick' and a 'farce'.

The issue is that the idols of Sri Venkateswara and his two consorts
that were taken to the Dalitwada — in Vemuru village, Chittoor
district, a few kms from Tirupati — have been kept in a room used by
priests rather than in the sanctum sanctorum. In response to the Dalit
outrage that this was yet another face of social discrimination
against the Dalits, the TTD insists that placing the idols in the
sanctum santorum would be a violation of Agama Sastras that rule the
rituals in the Tirumala temple. The Dalit organisations have sought
redressal and have taken the issue to the SC-ST Commission and have
also appealed to the President of India to intervene.

The TTD organised the programme, the brainchild of its chairman B
Karunakar Reddy — who was once a Left activist. For the first time
ever, the deities of Sri Venkateswara and his two consorts were taken
to Vemuru village's Dalitwada last April. Pujas were performed and a
feast was held. Priests blessed the community enmasse with Veda
Asirvadam and the devotees were given Srivari Prasadam both of which
are normally given to VVIPs when they go to the Tirumala temple for
darshan.

After a night's halt in the Dalitwada, they were brought back to
Tirumala. The initiative, Reddy explained, was to spread the message
that everyone was equal in the eyes of God and that Hindu religion
does not support caste or caste-based discrimination. The caste
system, he said, was enforced by influential sections in the middle
ages for their own benefit. Over the years, a schism developed in the
society with the exclusion of weaker sections like Dalits and the BCs.
Untouchability, said Reddy, had done irreparable damage to the Hindu
society.

The TTD found it worrying that the numbers of the Hindus converting to
other religions were much higher in the last 50 years than in the rule
of Mughals or the colonial period. Therefore, the TTD took up
programmes with 'social' dimension like Dalita Govindam, Matsya
Govindam and Girjana Govindam. In the last programme, select tribal
youth have been taught religious rituals and mantras that can be used
along with their tribal worship, according to the TTD. Interestingly,
Reddy had, as an activist, led an agitation some years ago and
succeeded in getting Dalits to enter a local temple and do puja.

However, his efforts this time round seem to have rebounded given the
controversy over the idols. P Anjaiah, state general secretary,
Republican Party of India, believes that Dalits were 'cheated' and
excluded in every aspect of the Dalita Govindam programme.

First, the TTD announced that the deities that are in the sanctum
sanctorum, one of the five sets of deities that are moved out for
various pujas and festivals, would be taken to Vemuru Dalitawada.
Instead, enquiries showed, idols were newly made for the Dalita
Govindam; decorated with 'gilded' ornaments and taken to Vemuru. On
return, they were confined to a building used by temple priests. When
asked, the TTD explained that the idols were not "sanctified" or
"given life" and therefore they could be placed in the sanctum
sanctorum..

"We have been once again cheated by 'dead' deities and false
ornaments. We were cheated socially and politically; now we are being
cheated in the name of god," said Anjaiah.

Also, if the TTD really wants to include Dalits, then during the
programme, the priests should have eaten the food prepared in Dalit
kitchens and slept in their huts. This would have sent a far more
powerful message than a 100 Dalita Govindams, Dalit activists point
out.

They also point out that the TTD's annual income of Rs 1,800 crore is
the contribution of the oppressed Hindus, who comprise 80-90 per cent
of the pilgrims to Tirumala. Yet, the posts in the TTD are 'reserved'
only for upper castes. Also, in the numerous educational institutions
run by the TTD, the number of Dalit and other oppressed caste
employees is minimal. Why should not the TTD run 'Vedic' schools
specially for Dalit children, they ask.
If the TTD genuinely believes that caste discrimination is not
supported by Hindu religion, then it should do more than have a
one-night Dalita Govindam. Tokenism is insincerity. In fact, it is
cheating.

Mayawati to put up more of her statues

http://www.thaindia n.com/newsportal /politics/ mayawati- to-put-up- more-of-her- statues_10080876 .html

August 7th, 2008 - 12:35 pm ICT by IANS

Lucknow, Aug 7 (IANS) Undaunted by all the criticism from her
adversaries, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Mayawati is to get three more of her statues installed in the
state capital where two imposing bronze memorials are already in
place. An 18-feet-tall statue is proposed in the neighbourhood of
BSP's Prerna Sthal (inspiration home) where Mayawati had got her first
statue installed inside an imposing stone structure shaped like a
Buddhist stupa.

The space for the statue was created after demolition of BSP's own
office that was built barely four years ago on a 50,000 sq ft plot
just behind the state governor's house.

The statue will adorn what has been christened Bahujan Nayak Park,
being laid in place of the party's state headquarter, that has been
shifted to a brand new building erected over the debris of a
government bungalow.

An identical statue is planned for Kanshi Ram Memorial that was coming
up on a sprawling 32-acre plot of land taken from the Lucknow district
jail. The memorial is slated to cost the state exchequer about Rs.3.5
billion.

The third statue is likely to find place at a prominent spot in
Mayawati's first ever dream project - Ambedkar Park cum Memorial that
was being built on a giant scale at a cost of nearly Rs.5 billion.

Officials dealing with the statue projects were tight-lipped.

However sculptor Ram Sutar, who has been assigned to create the three
statues in bronze, admitted that he was on the job and had been asked
to accomplish the task at speed.

"I have assured the administration I'll complete the statues in record
time", he told IANS.

While none was willing to divulge the cost of these statues
officially, it is said that each will weigh between 20 and 25 tonnes.

Mayawati justified her decision to install her first statue at the
Prerna Sthal, saying: "I always felt that memorials should be built
during the lifetime of icons.

"That is why I got the first statue of my mentor Kanshi Ram installed
in Lucknow during his lifetime. But because he wished that I should
also have my own statue next to his, I decided to put mine too."

The same explanation was repeated when she unveiled her own statue
along with that of her mentor Kanshi Ram last June.

Mayawati's arch adversary Mulayam Singh Yadav had not only condemned
her fad for installing her own statues but also threatened to get
these bulldozed once he came to power.

Quota seats go empty at mining college

http://www.telegrap hindia.com/ 1080806/jsp/ jharkhand/ story_9653008. jsp

AMIT GUPTA & SANTOSH K.. KIRO
Ranchi, Aug. 5: At least 149 seats, reserved for SC and ST students,
would go empty at the Indian School of Mines University (ISMU),
Dhanbad, this year.

Admission to this coveted mining engineering college was through
IIT-JEE, but ISMU authorities believe that out of a total of 612
seats, this year would record 149 vacancies, most of them in seats
reserved for students belonging to Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled
Caste (SC) categories.

At IITs, too, initial calculations suggest about 432 seats would remain vacant.

This trend, both at ISM and the IITs, is a direct fallout of six new
IITs that have been commissioned by the Centre leading to an increase
in the number of quota seats.

"Out of 159 seats reserved for SC/ST students, only 10 SC category
students got admission to the BTech course," said T Kumar, ISMU
director. "No one from the ST category has got admission."

If it's any consolation, 99 students had been chosen from both
categories to be admitted to ISMU's preparatory course which would
equip them to join the main course next year. These students, 34 more
than last year, would be trained in basic physics, chemistry,
mathematics, English and Hindi.

These students, who qualified through the IIT JEE, aren't as
proficient as their counterparts in the general or OBC categories.
"Hence they are trained for a year before they are inculcated into the
full-time programme," Kumar explained. "Only after completing the
training some of them would they be inducted into the first year BTech
course for the academic session 2008-2009," he added.

Tribal organisations are alarmed at this trend. Some even allege foul
play. "It is hard to believe that there is a dearth of talent among
tribal students. The vacancies of reserved seats in the IITs were
probably created because something went wrong somewhere," said Nishit
Ekka, secretary of the Tribal Medical Association.

Ekka pointed out that in 2005, only one boy had qualified to study
medicine in Jharkhand as against 12 in 2006. "However, after we
intervened and told the state to rectify the process of selection, the
number of tribal students who qualified for medical colleges increased
up to 38 in 2007. Also, 87 others qualified for medical colleges out
of the state," he noted.

Special secretary in the welfare department B.C. Nigam attributed the
issue to lack of coaching facilities for tribal students aspiring to
get into IITs. "Though there is no dearth of talent among tribals,
they fail to make the mark due to inadequate opportunities, " he said.

He said Jharkhand needed to focus on imparting high quality coaching
for IIT aspirants so that they could qualify in the entrance
examinations. The welfare department, he added, ran various schemes
through which it financed coaching for tribal students aiming to
become doctors, engineers or civil servants.

But as of now, these are yet to show results.

Six arrested for assaulting dalit woman

[Hindustan Times]

Press Trust Of India

Activists protest Binayak Sen’s imprisonment

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/activists-protest-binayak-sens-imprisonment_10048609.html

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