From: Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC <pmarc2008@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 1:16 PM
Subject: [PMARC] Dalits Media Watch - News Updates 11.02.10
To: Dalits Media Watch <PMARC@dgroups.org>
Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 11.02.10
Dalit woman panchayat president alleges attack - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/11/stories/2010021159730700.htm
President's kin usurped land, says court - The Times Of India
Group Clash
Dhanaks see police bias, hold protest - The Tribune
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100211/haryana.htm#8
Centre to appoint 'Lok Karmi' in panchayats to help villagers - Zee News
http://www.zeenews.com/news603232.html
'SCs being denied their rightful due' - Indian express
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/scs-being-denied-their-rightful-due/578227/0
Bid to solve caste row in Odisha village fails - Kalinga Times
Ex gratia for SC, ST students' parents - Express Buzz
SC, ST students to get relief in case of death in hostel - The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com/234975/SC-ST-students-to-get-relief-in-case-of-death-in-hostel.html
The Hindu
Dalit woman panchayat president alleges attack
http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/11/stories/2010021159730700.htm
Special Correspondent
MADURAI: A Dalit woman panchayat president of Sivaganga district has alleged that she was attacked with a knife on the Republic Day by a caste Hindu government employee with the intention of preventing her from hoisting the national flag and convening a meeting of grama sabha.
Narrating the sequence of events at a press conference here on Wednesday, M. Manonmani, an M. Phil. graduate, said that as she was about to leave for the T. Alangulam panchayat office in a car along with her husband, daughter and an Assistant Block Development Officer on January 26, an employee of Paattam panchayat office, confronted her.
Shouting that she should not hoist the national flag, he allegedly attacked her with a knife.
Her husband, who came to her rescue, was also attacked. When an alarm was raised, he fled the scene.
The couple, who sustained serious cut injuries on their hands, lodged a complaint with the Tiruppuvanam police station.
Ms. Manonmani claimed that the employee, who was earlier working in T. Alangulam, used to harass her in many ways and prevented her from discharging her duties. Based on a complaint lodged with the District Collector, an enquiry had been ordered, following which he was transferred to Paattam.
She alleged that the attack was intended to kill her.
Ms. Manonmani wanted the police to register a case under the relevant sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and urged the government to provide adequate protection to her family, besides reimbursing her medical expenses.
The Times Of India
President's kin usurped land, says court
Vaibhav Ganjapure & Vaidehi More, TNN, 11 February 2010, 03:10am IST
NAGPUR: A local court in Maharashtra has upheld a farmer's plea that India's first family had fraudulently usurped a little more than one hectare of his farmland. Surprisingly, the order was made last December 7 but never made public since the order wasn't given to either party until Tuesday.
In the order, the court of Daryapur subdivisional officer Ashok Amankar directed striking off the names of President Pratibha Patil Shekhawat's family from the records and upheld Kishor Bansod's claim that the transfer of ownership was done using fraudulent means.
The SDO, while partly allowing an appeal filed by the aggrieved farmer, cancelled a mutation entry of October 5, 2007, which named, apart from the president's husband Devisingh Shekhawat, family members Siddheshwar, Raghusingh, Bhawarsingh, Kishorsingh and Omsingh Shekhawat.
Devisingh told TOI on Wednesday the allegation was baseless and nothing but a publicity gimmick by the appellant. "The total land of 1.02 hectare was jointly held by Bansod and Siddheshwar Shekhawat and five others," he said.
Devisingh clarified that the court has only partially allowed the appeal while directing revenue officials to measure the land afresh and restore ownership to the original joint owners. Devisingh claimed that Bansod had been illegally cultivating on their piece of land and since he was also working as part-time journalist, was seeking undue publicity. "It might be an error committed by the officials who measured it. I have only one acre of land in my name which I would have donated to any of my family members," he said.
Congress party also rushed to his defence, saying it would be premature to judge him guilty. "It would be wrong to jump to conclusions on the basis of one-sided facts," said party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi.
The SDO also directed superintendent of town planning in Daryapur in Amravati district to measure the disputed tract and asked the Shekhawat family to bear the cost of the exercise.
According to the appellant's counsel Sunil Gajbhiye, Shekhwat family's land was adjacent Bansod's land measuring 1.02 hectares in Chandrapur Khallar village and Shekhawat's wanted Bansod to sell it to them.
Later, revenue officials got the ownership entry in the name of Shekawat family members and it was made official on October 5, 2007 without informing the appellant, Bansod alleged.
Bansod filed an application under Section 247 of Maharashtra Land Ownership Act 1966 before Daryapur SDO's court, demanding immediate stay on the alleged illegal transfer of his land by the Shekhawat family. He contended that after his refusal to sell his land, Shekhawat family members connived with local officials and transferred his land in their names on the key documents.
Only a small bit was left with Bansod as per records.
The Tribune
Group Clash
Dhanaks see police bias, hold protest
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100211/haryana.htm#8
Tribune News Service
Fatehabad, February 10
Demanding justice, hundreds of men and women belonging to the Dhanak community today held a demonstration against the alleged "partisan" attitude of the police in a case of group clash between their community and Bishnois in Bhirdana village a few days ago.
One person belonging to the Dhanak community was killed in the clash on February 3.
The agitators first gathered at the local grain market and later went in procession to the mini-secretariat, blocking the national highway several times on their way by squatting on the road.
"A reign of terror has been unleashed on us because we are Dalits," alleged the demonstrators, adding that children of their community had been shunted out of the government school of the village to pressure them for a compromise.
They alleged that only three persons had so far been arrested by the police, though over 100 persons were involved in a planned attack on the Dalits in which Madan Lal, a Dhanak, was killed and property worth several lakhs was burnt after the mob set their belongings on fire.
"Those named in the FIR have been roaming free in the village and have been threatening us with dire consequences using caste-based abusive language," the agitators alleged.
Sushil Indora, a former MP, demanded justice for them. The agitators submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan, who immediately sent in to the DEO and asked him to ensure that no child was made to leave the school.
Zee News
Centre to appoint 'Lok Karmi' in panchayats to help villagers
http://www.zeenews.com/news603232.html
New Delhi: With illiteracy being a major stumbling block in implementation of its schemes in rural areas, the Centre is considering to appoint an educated person from SC, ST or minority communities in each panchayat as 'Lok Karmi' to help villagers.
In a draft proposal, the Ministry of Rural Development has also sought to engage NGOs in the ambitious programme by designating them as 'Lok Sewaks', who would in turn appoint and guide Lok Karmis in their territorial jurisdiction, which would not be more than four blocks in a district.
Seeking to secure maximum participation of rural women in the programme, the Ministry has proposed that Lok Karmis should preferably be women and men be appointed if a suitable women in not available in the area.
"Every Lok Sevak must ensure that not less than 50 per cent of the selected candidates are women," the draft Lok Sewak and Lok Karmi scheme of the ministry proposes.
The proposal seeks to support those people in rural areas who are "largely non-literate, poor and at the bottom of the social hierarchy," an official said.
Citing the example of NREGA workers, he said many of them are unable to record their rights or to articulate their demands in a written form as they are not literate.
Indian express
'SCs being denied their rightful due'
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/scs-being-denied-their-rightful-due/578227/0
The Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes came down heavily on the state government on Wednesday, alleging that the government was bypassing constitutional provisions and denying the scheduled castes their rightful due during allocation of development funds and reservations in jobs.
PSCSC Chairman Naranjan Singh, while addressing a gathering here, urged the Punjab DGP to review all cases of atrocities against Dalits and take action against erring police officers.
Singh, along with Dalip Singh Pandhi, member of the commission, was here to preside over a seminar of the Dalit community. Singh expressed his concern over the low conviction rate in cases registered under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the state.
Pandhi added, "The commission has powers to take action against officers who try to suppress the rights of the weaker sections. Such officials should mend their ways or the commission will be forced to ask the government to remove such officers from service."
Principal Secretary T R Sarangal said there were adequate laws to prevent atrocities against the Dalits, and there was a need to bring awareness among the poor people on their rights.
Former MLA Tarsem Jodhan said that there was a huge gap between the laws and the implementing agencies, which was the main reason for social and economic exploitation of the downtrodden. He claimed that 50,000 families in the state did not have shelter, from which one could well judge their condition of living and the functioning of the government.
Buta summons Kapurthala DC, SSP
JALANDHAR: Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Buta Singh, has summoned the deputy commissioner and SSP of Kapurthala on February 12 in his office at New Delhi for a meeting to explain as to what action has been taken on a complaint addressed to the commission on the alleged infringement of the rights of Joga Singh, sarpanch of Mansoorwal Bet village. The commission has taken cognizance of a complaint sent by Bholath MLA Sukhpal Khaira who had alleged that the said sarpanch, despite being duly elected and having majority in the gram panchayat, was being victimised by Akali workers and was not allowed to function.
Kalinga Times
Bid to solve caste row in Odisha village fails
KalingaTimes Correspondent
Kendrapara, Feb. 10: The bid to amicably settle the mid-day meal controversy that has snowballed into a volatile caste-related conflict in a remote village under Rajnagar tehsil of this coastal Odisha district today failed to elicit desired result.
Earlier yesterday the upper caste students had skipped classes in the government-run primary school in Sanamarichapalli village that continues to be embroiled in an unsavoury caste-bound conflict stemming from MDM preparation.
The officials of local tehsil, block besides the school & mass education department held several rounds of discussion with both the groups to solve the tricky issue. But nothing came out of it as both sticking to their stubborn stand, said official sources.
"However stalemate continues despite our best efforts. Both the factions continue to maintain unyielding stand. While upper-caste want that cooking that is being done by dalits be stopped, the other factions remain unrelenting and want the continuation of the practice," said an official.
Meanwhile, the school wore a deserted look for second successive day as more than one hundred upper-caste students skipped classes. Hardly 30 of them turned up to attend classes.
"Small children know little of caste divide. Parents should desist from poisoning their impressionable minds," remarked a schoolteacher.
Since 19 January, the sleepy village in Rajnagar police station area has come under spotlight. The cooking of MDM in the school by scheduled caste women had triggered an ugly row as a section of villagers had stopped the meal preparation and had locked up the women cooks.
Police have so far arrested a member of local village education committee in connection with the incident.
It's pertinent to note that a simmering caste-bound row had erupted in Rajnagar's Keredagada village on 2007 as dalits laid their claim for puja and darshan in the 800-year-old Jagannath temple.
Following timely governmental intervention, the contentious issue was solved with dalits given the nod to enter into the temple and offer puja to lord Jagannath. Prior to the settlement, the Dalits had to peep through the holes along the temple wall to catch glimpse of the deity.
Express Buzz
Ex gratia for SC, ST students' parents
BHUBANESWAR: The State Government had decided to pay ex gratia to the parents of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe students if they die in accidents or of diseases during their stay in hostel while pursuing their studies.
The students will also be eligible for getting compensation if they become permanently disabled during the study period.
Announcing this here today, Minister for Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste Development Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha said it has come to the notice of the State Government that many SC and ST students die in hostels because of diseases, snakebite or other accidents or become permanently disabled. The Minister said that keeping this in view, the compensation amount has been fixed at Rs 50,000 for the parents of the students who die in hostels. Similarly, permanently disabled students will receive Rs 25,000 as compensation. This will benefit students of eight ME Schools under the department, 11 Ekalabya model schools, 19 Orissa model tribal education society and hostels managed by the ST and ST Development Department in schools under the School and Mass Education Department.
In case of a death in the hostel, the headmaster or headmistress and hostel superintendent will have to bring this to the notice of the district collector, village health worker, government hospital or police station immediately.
Compensation will be paid after approval of district collector, he added.
The Pioneer
SC, ST students to get relief in case of death in hostel
http://www.dailypioneer.com/234975/SC-ST-students-to-get-relief-in-case-of-death-in-hostel.html
PNS | Bhubaneswar
If any SC and ST students die while staying in hostel, the immediate kith and kin of the student would be awarded with compensation, Government said in a Press release.
SC and ST Development Minister Bijay Ranjan Singhbariha said the family would be provided with Rs 50,000 compensation. "If the student become handicapped during the stay in hostel would be given a compensation of Rs 25,000," he said.
The school authorities would have to give all information immediately regarding the students' health to the District Collector, Village Health Workers, Government Hospital or the police station. "District Collector will take the final decision on the issue of compensation," Minister said.
--
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
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Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC has been initiated with the support from group of senior journalists, social activists, academics and intellectuals from Dalit and civil society to advocate and facilitate Dalits issues in the mainstream media. To create proper & adequate space with the Dalit perspective in the mainstream media national/ International on Dalit issues is primary objective of the PMARC.
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