.National Academy for Dalit: Mayawati contests charges of maximum harassment of Dalits

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Mayawati contests charges of maximum harassment of Dalits

10 April 2011 - 5:46pm

Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Sunday sought to refute Union Social Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik's charge about the state leading the way in atrocities on Dalits, arguing this could be because it was the country's most populous state.

Reacting sharply to Wasnik's remark in an interaction with the media Friday, press release issued by an official spokesman on behalf of the chief minister here termed the allegations "baseless, false, motivated and misleading".

"It is shocking to note that a union minister has not cared to understand facts before blurting out a statement with the sole intent of tarnishing the image of the Bahujan Samaj Party Party (BSP) government in the state," the release said.

"The minister does not seem to realise that the figures of crimes against dalits were bound to be higher in Uttar Pradesh simply because it happens to be the country's most populous state. Therefore cases of Dalit harassment needed to be seen in that light," it said.

The spokesman contended that the state government was taking adequate steps to prevent crimes against Dalits. "The Mayawati government was committed to the cause of Dalits and it had ensured that crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were brought down," he said, urging Wasnik to look into National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports before making any sweeping remark against the Uttar Pradesh government.

Not very long ago, National Commission for Schedules Castes and Scheduled Tribes chairman P.L. Punia had flayed the Mayawati government on the same issue. Slamming Punia, a former Indian Administrative Service officer who was at one time her close confidante, Mayawati had accused him of "concocting figures".

Wasnik, during his visit, was prevented by the state government from addressing a press conference in the lounge of the VVIP guest house here. Even though he was staying in the same guest house, officials curtly told Wasnik that he could not be permitted to address the media in the guest house lounge and he was compelled to step out into the driveway to briefly speak to the press.

Source: http://twocircles.net/2011apr10/mayawati_contests_charges_maximum_harassment_dalits.html

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Population of Dalit as Per GOI

SCHEDULED CASTES

According to the 2001 Census, the Scheduled Castes population in India is 166,635,700 persons, constituting 16.2 per cent of the country’s total population. Being rural people, four fifth (79.8 per cent) of them live in rural areas and rest one-fifth (20.2 per cent) live in urban areas. The sex ratio of 936 females per thousand males is slightly higher than national average of 933 sex ratios.

The highest percentage of Scheduled Castes population to the total Scheduled Castes population of the country live in Uttar Pradesh (21.1 per cent) followed by West Bengal (11.1 per cent) and Bihar (7.8 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (7.4 percent) and Tamil Nadu (7.1.percent). In fact, more than 57 per cent of total Scheduled Castes population inhabit in these five States. Proportionately, the largest proportion of population of the Scheduled Castes to total population of the State is in Punjab (28.9 per cent), followed by Himachal Pradesh (24.7 per cent) and West Bengal (23 percent). In Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Pondicherry proportion of SCs population is exactly equal to the National average of 16.2 per cent. The smallest concentration of the Scheduled Castes population is in the North-Eastern tribal States such as Mizoram (with negligible or only 272 persons) followed by Meghalaya (0.5 per cent) and Arunachal Pradesh (0.6 per cent).

As per the 2001 Census, there are 22 districts where the Scheduled Castes population is 30 per cent or more. In majority of the districts (i.e., 273 districts) the concentration of SCs population to the total population is between 10 to 20 per cent. In Nagaland, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, no Scheduled Caste is notified.

SCHEDULED TRIBES

According to the 2001 Census, the total population of the Scheduled Tribes in India is 84,326,240 persons, constituting 8.2 per cent of the total population of the country. 91.7 per cent of them lives in rural areas, whereas, only 8.3 per cent inhabit in urban areas. The sex ratio of Scheduled Tribes population at 978 females per thousand males is higher than that of the total population of the country as well as that of Scheduled Castes.

Madhya Pradesh accounts for the highest percentage of Scheduled Tribes population to total STs population of the country (14.5 percent) followed by Maharashtra (10.2 per cent), Orissa (9.7 per cent), Gujarat (8.9 per cent), Rajasthan (8.4 per cent), Jharkhand (8.4 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (7.8 per cent). In fact, 68 per cent of the country’s Scheduled Tribes population lives in these seven States only. The proportion of the Scheduled Tribes to the total population of the States/Union territories is highest in Mizoram (94.5 %) and Lakshadweep (94.5 %) followed by Nagaland (89.1 %), Meghalaya (85.9 %). Within the major states Chhattisgarh (31.8%) has the highest percentage of Scheduled Tribes population followed by Jharkhand (26.3%) and Orissa(22.1%). These proportions are in the lowest in Uttar Pradesh (0.1 %), Bihar (0.9 %), Tamil Nadu (1.0 %) and Kerala (1.1%).

As per the 2001 Census, there are 75 districts where Scheduled Tribes population is 50 per cent or more as per the 2001 Census. In majority of the districts (i.e., 403 districts), the concentration of Scheduled Tribes population to its total population is less than 20 percent.

Dalit and Education

Dalit children, being disproportionately poor, most heavily suffer the ills of an inequitable and ineffective education system in India. The Indian constitution pledges to provide free and compulsory education for all children up to age fourteen. However, in 1993 only 16.2% of primary school age Dalit children in were enrolled in school as compared to 83.8% of primary aged children from non-scheduled castes.29 According to the India Education Report, school attendance in rural areas in 1993-94 was 64.3% for Dalit boys and 46.2% for Dalit girls, compared to 74.9% among boys and 61% girls from other social groups30 Dalits lagged behind the general population by as many as 15 percentage points in literacy, and according to the 1991 Census, barely 24 per cent of Dalit women were literate. Statistics also show that Dalit children are more likely to drop out than their non-Dalit counterparts, particularly in the early elementary stages. Education represents one way to break out of cycles of poverty and distress, but it is also a by-product of such economic conditions. Even when Dalits are allowed access to school, Dalit students face substandard conditions. Ninety-nine percent of Dalit students come from government schools that lack basic infrastructure, classrooms, teachers and teaching aid. In contrast, it is common for non-Dalit children to seek private tutoring or to access private education of generally better quality. The motivation to do so comes from the fact that most primary government schools are considered low quality. Few Dalits are able to access such supplementation to their education; this furthers the education gap. Once enrolled, discrimination continues to obstruct the access of Dalit children to schooling as well as to affect the quality of education they receive. Source: Ellyn Artis, Chad Doobay and Karen Lyons: Workshop on Human Rights: From Grassroots Courage to International Influence, The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, January 2003

National Academy for Dalit (NAD)

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Mayawati contests charges of maximum harassment of Dalits

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