Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 03.03.11
Maya Mantra: Punish shirkers, pat doers - The Times Of India
Officers take feedback on atrocities on Dalits - MSN News
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4985818
'Mayawati unconcerned about plight of the oppressed' - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/03/stories/2011030362800500.htm
'Caste certificates of employees not confidential' - The Hindustan Times
Under job plan, families await unemployment allowance - The Hindustan Times
'Dalit leaders ignoring community interests' - Express Buzz
The Times Of India
Maya Mantra: Punish shirkers, pat doers
TNN, Mar 3, 2011, 12.33am IST
LUCKNOW: Around 24 officers suspended, 32 transferred and 32 issued strict warnings to mend their ways. This is the score of chief minister Mayawati's statewide drive to assess the progress of development projects and status of the welfare schemes. In the month-long drive, which concluded on Wednesday, she visited 81 Ambedkar villages, 80 slums, 88 hospitals, 148 tehsils and 148 police stations, across 72 districts of the state. Mayawati is known for dealing with administrative setup with an iron hand but, this time her stormy drive was different in two ways.
While officials got punishment for laxity, letters of appreciation were also issued to those performing well. Earlier, she used to punish the IAS and IPS officers on the drop of a hat but this time she went into the details to find out the real culprit. For example, if there was something wrong in delivery of health services, doctors bore the brunt. If administration at tehsil level was found to be lax, tehsildars and sub-divisional magistrates were axed. Engineers were suspended in case of anomalies detected in the construction work.
Similarly, municipal corporation and Nagar Palika officials came under fire for inadequacy in municipal services in their area of jurisdiction. IAS and IPS officials were also punished for poor monitoring of development work and inefficient law and order. But they accounted for only around 50% of the total head count. Another significant change this time was that Mayawati also gave letters of appreciation to the officials whose performance met her expectations. So far around 21 officials have got the honour.
This is in sharp contrast to the way Mayawati dealt with officers earlier. In her first term as chief minister, which lasted 4 months and 14 days in 1995, around 578 bureaucrats were transferred. The second one in 1997, which lasted for 6 months, saw 777 heads rolling. The third tenure of 15 months in 2002 had claimed 970 scalps. In her fourth term, since 2007 so far, she has re-shuffled more than 1,100 officials, which include IAS, IPS and PCS. Besides, from 2007 till date, over 100 IAS officers have been put under suspension on different charges.
In January, 2008, four officers were suspended allegedly for lauding Gandhi family in a book on Sultanpur's history. It created a controversy. But, this time Mayawati has been more objective. If vice-chairman Lucknow Development Authority was transferred for `unsatisfactory work', commissioner Lucknow division and Lucknow municipal commissioner got appreciation letters for `good performance'. "It has instilled confidence among officers and has improved the delivery of service to the people of the state," said a senior IAS officer.
In Kanpur, divisional commissioner, inspector general of police and deputy inspector general of police were transferred and two executive engineers were suspended on charges of laxity. On similar grounds, the district magistrate of Jhansi was shifted. In Lalitpur, four senior engineers of the public works department were suspended on charges of poor construction work. On the other hand, district magistrate Gautambudhnagar got appreciation letter for `good performance' but senior superintendent of police was shifted for poor law and order situation.
* Mayawati's special emphasis was on visiting Ambedkar villages to check status of land title distribution to dalits. In cities, her focus was on free home scheme for urban poor.
* She visited hospitals, schools, police stations and tehsils -- places which affect commoners the most. For a reality check, she also travelled by road in some villages.
* Emphasis was on controlling of crime against women and dalits. UP National Capital Region was formed to check increasing crime rate in west UP districts near Delhi.
* Now directions have been issued to all the district magistrates, district police chiefs and concerned departments to remove anomalies found during the drive.
* Directions were issued to hold thana/tehsil diwas regularly to address problems of poor and to take up supply of drinking water on priority basis.
* Mayawati found that overall law and order was satisfactory in UP. Government claimed it was first of its kind drive undertaken by a chief minister in the country.
MSN News
Officers take feedback on atrocities on Dalits
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4985818
Alwar, Mar 2 (PTI) Senior officials today visited Husaipur village here and reviewed the situation under which several terrified Dalit families have migrated to other places.
The officers - Jaipur Divisional Commissioner Umrav Saloida and IG Rajiv Dasot - spoke to local people about atrocities on Dalits allegedly by a particular community following which they are not ready to live in the village.
They also took feedback from locals officials.
"We had dialogue with locals and took feedback from them on alleged atrocities. The report will be submitted to the state government soon," the officers told reporters.They also visited Kehrani area in the district where an official of mining department was allegedly beaten up some time back when he had gone to take action against illegal mining.Dalit people in Husaipur village had alleged that their houses were ransacked and they were beaten up in January but police did not take any action under the pressure of state minister Duru Miyan.
The Hindu
'Mayawati unconcerned about plight of the oppressed'
http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/03/stories/2011030362800500.htm
Special Correspondent
LUCKNOW: Taking up the cause of two Dalit gang rape victims, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, Shiv Pal Singh Yadav, has accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of being unconcerned about the plight of the oppressed. Mr. Yadav said incidents of crime against women, including sexual assault, were on the rise under the present regime.
Mr. Yadav said the two victims had been demanding justice, but the police, allegedly acting at the behest of the ruling party functionaries, were trying to hush up the cases, notwithstanding the FIRs against the culprits.
Both women were brought before journalists at the Samajwadi Party headquarters here on Wednesday. One of them was allegedly gang raped by three persons in Andhi Ki Chowki village under the Kakori police station area in Lucknow district on February 19, 2009. An FIR was lodged against some persons, but so far no accused had been arrested, Mr. Yadav said.
The Leader of the Opposition alleged that one of the accused, Anup Kumar, was being shielded by Bahujan Samaj Party MLC Ram Chandra Pradhan, who enjoyed the status of a Minister of State and was a close ally of senior Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha.
The accused and Mr. Pradhan were related to each other, Mr. Yadav alleged. The Kakori police were acting on the directions of Mr. Kushwaha and the MLC, he added.
Mr. Yadav told journalists that the victim and her husband attempted self-immolation as there was no justice in sight.
The second victim was gangraped by three persons on January 3, 2011 in Rasoolabad area of Kanpur Dehat district and an FIR was lodged at the Rasoolabad police station the same day.
However, the police changed the date of the crime to January 8 and did not send her for medical examination, Mr. Yadav alleged. The police were threatening the victim and her family to settle for a compromise.
Stating that the Samajwadi Party would free the State from Ms. Mayawati's "authoritarian rule," Mr. Yadav blamed her and a coterie of ministers and officials for the "plunder" of Uttar Pradesh.
He criticised the police action against the lawyers in Allahabad and Lucknow and said the Samajwadi Party would support their demands.
The Hindustan Times
'Caste certificates of employees not confidential'
Dharmendra Jore, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, March 03, 2011
Last Updated: 02:06 IST(3/3/2011)
Now you can use the sunshine law to get copies of documents based on which people avail job reservations. In an order passed on February 28, 2011, PW Patil, the state information commissioner of Nagpur division, said that these documents were not confidential because the government issues them.
Patil overruled the objections raised by teachers and Class I officials of the Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University that their caste verification certificates could not be handed over to information seeker Sunil Kumar Mishra because of their confidential nature and a possible misuse by the information seeker.
Inquiries by committees of former high court justice GG Lone and other government officials found irregularities in recruitment pertaining to caste certificates in various departments of the Nagpur University in the past 10 years.
According to university officials, the recruitment scam has put a burden of more than Rs300 crore on the state exchequer.
Information seeker Mishra has been pursuing this matter ever since the Hindustan Times first reported this story two years ago.
The government, however, has not taken any action as yet though a kingpin in the scam has admitted before justice Lone that he had tampered with the reservation manual.
Mishra had sought information in this matter in February last year and when the university denied him, he went approached the then state commissioner Vilas Patil.
He had allowed Mishra access to the register of entries alone.
But Mishra insisted on having copies of caste verification certificates, teachers and officials were also allowed to intervene.
Mishra then accused the former information commissioner of changing his oral order and complained against him to the governor.
Vilas Patil had denied Mishra's charge that he had manipulated his oral order.
However, PW Patil, who replaced Vilas Patil following the later's elevation as the chief commissioner, heard the third party in January this year.
Dismissing objections from the teachers and officials, Patil said, though the information sought was about the third party, it could not be classified or kept confidential.
"These certificates are public documents because a government committee issues them after verifying evidences in accordance with rule and regulations. The certificates enables one to avail of reservations (job or political).''
The Hindustan Times
Under job plan, families await unemployment allowance
Prasad Nichenametla, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, March 03, 2011
Last Updated: 00:39 IST(3/3/2011)
On December 7th, 17 workers from Jagabor in Dungarpur (Rajasthan) received Rs 375 each as unemployment allowance under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. For these workers, the satisfaction of getting the money was compounded by the fact that they were paid their dues after almost one year and after lodging protests.
What makes them the lucky few, however, is that not many rural poor in the country actually get this allowance.
Data from the ministry of rural development shows that of the 16.9 lakh days for which the states have to pay unemployment allowance, they have paid only for 1,304 days and the total amount doled out was a measly R24,119.
Under MGNREGA, a worker not provided work within 15 days of submitting the demand is entitled to a daily unemployment allowance of not less than one-fourth of the wage rate for the first 30 days.
According to a ministry official, the figures shown as the 2010-11 figures include several in which allowance hasn't been paid for years after discounting the many cases that go unreported. For example, 6.17 lakh households are still waiting for employment this fiscal, whose man-days could be much more than the 16.9 lakh days.
The numbers are revealing: Uttar Pradesh that has to pay for 4.3 lakh days has paid only for 67 days. Bihar, J&K and Mizoram has not paid for a single day though they should have paid for 2.1, 1.2 and 1.9 lakh days respectively.
Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, shows the unemployment allowance due as zero. But here also there is a demand-supply a gap of 25.7 thousand households. "There are zero cases as we are providing work to everyone who applies. These 25,000 could be those households who are still under the 15-day period," Reddy Subrahmanyam, AP principal secretary, rural development said.
Sources say it is the lack of information about rules and the courage to question officials that makes unemployment allowance most neglected.
The workers of Dungarpur who got the allowance had the backing of NGO Wagad Mazdoor Kisan Sangathan and the collector of Dungarpur Purna Chandra Kishan.
"The 17 lakh cases are proof that people want to work but the governments are not providing it. This is another reason why NREGA allocations find few takers," Ruchi Gupta of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti
Express Buzz
'Dalit leaders ignoring community interests'
First Published : 03 Mar 2011 04:11:50 AM IST
CHENNAI: The Dalit intelligentsia on Wednesday slammed politicians from the community for ignoring the basic rights of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
At a meeting to discuss the 'Current problems of Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes' at the Dr Ambedkar Academy, the intelligentisia, comprising bureacrats, academicians, social activists and people from different walks of life, said that even after 63 years of Independence nothing had changed for the community.
"Now we have political rights as all states have Scheduled Caste MLAs and MPs. But these MPs are hankering for power and using the community as a ladder and in the process, they ignore the basic rights of the community," said former chief secretary of the State and advisor of Dr Ambedkar Academy Dr A Padmanaban.
"The Dalit parties are bothered more about seat-sharing, but have hardly voiced for the need to abolish untouchability in the State," said Padmanaban, also the former Governor of Mizoram.
Padmanaban also slammed the SC & ST commission for barely acknowledging letters highlighting the problems of the community.
"The Congress party in their earlier poll manifesto, the Common Minimum Programme, promised a lot of things for the Dalits, but nothing has taken shape. Even Chief Minister M Karunanidhi promised a lot for the community, but nothing has been done," he said.
He also said that assurances by the private sector to provide jobs to Dalits had seldom been implemented.
He expressed hoped that the recent assurances by former bureaucrat and FICCI advisor P Murari would be implemented.
Padmanaban was also critical of the committee appointed to study the panchami land issue.
"They have to submit the report in six months and till now they had only two sittings. With elections around the corner, I think it is highly unlikely that they would be able to submit the report by the given deadline," he added.
Former bureaucrat C Chellappan voiced concern over denial of rights to Dalit panchayat presidents and the delay in allocation of funds to the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing Development Corporation.
S Devadoss, director, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Chennai, and Chellappan also highlighted the need for more hostels for Dalit students besides doing away with capitation fee for Dalits in private institutions.
--
.Arun Khote
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
--
Palash Biswas
Pl Read:
http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment