From: Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC <pmarc2008@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 11, 2010 at 7:23 PM
Subject: [PMARC] Dalits Media Watch - News Updates 11.03.10
To: Dalits Media Watch <PMARC@dgroups.org>
Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 11.03.10
Caste & the labour market - The Hindu
http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/books/article223013.ece
Case against Chinnalapatti SI filed under SC/ST Act - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/11/stories/2010031159920300.htm
Make benefits public: Dalits - The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/11/stories/2010031159810300.htm
York prof literary activist - Excalibur
http://www.excal.on.ca/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8134
Journalism students of SC/ST get sponsorship - Express Buzz
No data since 1931, will 2011 Census be all-caste inclusive? - The Times Of India
The Hindu
Caste & the labour market
http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/books/article223013.ece
MADHURA SWAMINATHAN
This is an excellent volume — carefully-researched and eye-opening — on caste-based injustice in our society and economy. Now, while there is a literature that documents discrimination and the denial of civil liberties, there is very little understanding and research on the practice of caste discrimination in markets, notably in modern, urban and metropolitan settings, and in public institutions. This book takes up the challenge of understanding the latter by means of systematic research on the question.
A useful four-fold classification of the types of discrimination is proposed by Thorat and Newman: complete exclusion, selective inclusion, unfavourable inclusion, and selective exclusion. Complete exclusion would occur, for example, if Dalits were totally excluded from purchase of land in certain residential areas. Selective inclusion refers to differential treatment or inclusion in markets, such as disparity in payment of wages to Dalit workers and other workers. Unfavourable inclusion or forced inclusion refers to tasks in which Dalits are incorporated based on traditional caste practices, such as bonded labour. Lastly, selective exclusion refers to exclusion of those involved in "polluting occupations" (such as leather tanning or sanitary work) from certain jobs and services.
Study in rural areas
There is a body of research on discrimination in rural areas and on the continuation of caste barriers to economic and social mobility in village India. There is a myth, however, that caste does not matter in the urban milieu and that, with the anonymity of the big city and with education and associated job and occupational mobility (assisted by affirmative action), traditional caste-based discriminatory practices disappear. This book explodes that myth in a set of chapters that focus on the formal labour market. These chapters use methodologies developed in the United States to study racial discrimination, and are written in collaboration with scholars from the U.S.
Thorat and Attewell ran an experiment to test caste discrimination in the urban labour market. For one year, researchers collected advertisements from leading English language newspapers for jobs in the private sector that required a university degree but no specialised skills. The researchers then submitted three false applications for each job. The applicants, all male, had the same or similar education qualification and experience. One of them had a recognisable upper caste Hindu name, another a Muslim name and the third a distinctly Dalit name. The expected outcome was a call for interview or further screening.
An analysis of the outcomes, using regression methods, showed that, although there were an equal number of false applicants from three social groups, for every 10 upper caste Hindu applicants selected for interview, only six Dalits and three Muslims were chosen. Thus, in modern private enterprises (including IT), applicants with a typical Muslim or Dalit name had a lower chance of success than those with the same qualification and an upper caste Hindu name.
In another chapter, Jodhka and Newman report on detailed interviews with human resource managers of 25 large firms in New Delhi. All the managers insisted that hiring was solely on the basis of "merit," and old practices such as hiring kin or members of the same community did not exist.
At the same time, every hiring manager said "family background" (including the educational level of parents) was critical in evaluating a potential employee. This is clearly discriminatory, for Dalit applicants may not have the same social and educational background as those from the upper castes. As the authors note, "one must take the profession of deep belief in meritocracy with a heavy dose of salt."
These findings raise serious questions about allowing the corporate sector to monitor itself in respect of "inclusive employment" instead of making it abide by a policy of reservation.
Another set of chapters explores the patterns of discrimination in public services and public institutions, including in health care services, in schools, and in programmes of food security.
Sanghmitra Acharya gives a detailed account of various forms of discrimination experienced by Dalit children in gaining access to health care from both private and public providers in rural Gujarat and Rajasthan. Untouchability was reported by children "seven out of 10 times" from "doctors, laboratory technicians, and registered medical practitioners", and it was "more vigorously practised by pharmacists, ANMs and AWWs." Geetha Nambissan writes of similar experiences of Dalit children in schools in rural and urban Rajasthan.
Or, take the case of the public distribution system (PDS). Fair price shops are owned privately or run by cooperatives or, in a few cases, by government. An analysis by Thorat and Lee, drawing on a survey of PDS outlets in 531 villages across five States, shows that there was discriminatory behaviour against Dalits by the PDS staff in respect of prices in 28 per cent of villages and in respect of quality in 40 per cent. In 26 per cent of the villages, dealers practised untouchability "by dropping goods from above into cupped Dalit hands below, so as to avoid 'polluting contact'."
As the authors say, to term the prevalence of such practices as merely the "phenomenon of caste discrimination remaining or still continuing or lingering" is to not understand that these practices are associated with new institutions set up after Independence and after the legal abolition of untouchability.
Penal action
An important and urgent policy implication of this set of studies is that the government needs to ensure that its own policies and progarammes (such as the public distribution system or provision of mid-day meal to school children or of health care at Public Health Centres) are implemented in a non-discriminatory manner. Institutions (whether public, cooperative, or non-governmental) that accept government funds or implement government programmes must be held responsible and penalised if they practice untouchability.
A fair-price shop dealer is both a private individual and an arm of public policy, and the severest action should be taken if he is found to discriminate against Dalits or those from other socially disadvantaged groups.
In conclusion, this book — based on careful and a methodologically innovative research — shows that caste discrimination not only persists but has taken new forms and penetrated into new systems and institutional structures. It also raises serious questions about patterns of economic development.
The Hindu
Case against Chinnalapatti SI filed under SC/ST Act
http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/11/stories/2010031159920300.htm
Staff Reporter
| For alleged attack on members of Dalit community |
MADURAI: A case has been filed against Murugan, Sub-Inspector of Chinnalapatti police station in Dindigul district, under the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 Section 3(1) (10) and under Section 323 of IPC on Monday following an alleged attack on Dalits, including a pregnant woman.
The attack by the SI and his team came after a clash between Dalits and caste Hindus following a wordy duel at Melakkottai village in Dindigul district on Sunday.
The SI has not been arrested so far.
Following the clash, elders belonging to both the castes arranged for a peace meeting but it was alleged that the Dalit elders were not treated respectfully by the caste Hindu youth. So the Dalit elders complained that they had no other choice but to take to legal action. This resulted in caste Hindu youth attacking the Dalits and the Dalits retaliating them.
The Dalits alleged that after the clash a police team, led by Murugan, SI, Chinnalapatti police station, had entered the Dalit area and started attacking A. Ganesan (28) and also attacked Muthulakshmi, a pregnant woman, who came to prevent the police from attacking him.
Muthulakshmi suffered injuries on her forehead and was admitted to the Dindigul Government Hospital.
Following a complaint given by Ganesan at the Chinnalapatti police station cases were filed against Mr. Murugan.
Cases were also filed against the Dalits by caste Hindus under Sections 147,148,294(b), 341,326,506(2) of Indian Penal Code.
NGO holds enquiry in the village
Team members of Evidence, a non-governmental organisation based in Madurai, visited the village and conducted an enquiry.
A. Kathir, Executive Director, urged the State Government to arrest the SI and provide adequate compensation to the Dalits who were attacked.
He said that the case involving the SI should be handed over to the CB-CID. Complaints in this regard had been sent to the National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commission, he said.
The Hindu
Make benefits public: Dalits
http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/11/stories/2010031159810300.htm
Staff Correspondent
HASSAN: Members of the Dalit Rakshana Vedike staged a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office here on Wednesday demanding that the government benefits available for farmers belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes be made public.
Republic Party of India State secretary Ahmad Fariq, Dalit Rakshana Vedike district president H.S. Satish and vice-president P. Manju led the dharna.
The members said officials had not disclosed the benefits available to SC/ STs. Under the Vidarbha package, the family of a farmer who committed suicide should get compensation. But so far, SC/ STs had not received any such benefit. The group demanded immediate release of funds.
Excalibur
York prof literary activist
http://www.excal.on.ca/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8134
Written by Ali Abbas, Contributor
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Mukherjee's translation of Valmikis 'Joothan' describes life as part of India's lowest caste, the Dalit
With her eyes closed, Arun Mukherjee, a post-colonial theorist at York University, prepares to read from Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan. Mukherjee is credited with ransporting the Hindi text to the English reader.
"It is a scalpel penetrating deep into the flesh, a scar in my deepest consciousness," she says, introducing the work.She takes a deep breath and reveals the pain of Joothan. Her students drop their pens and hold on to their hearts.
Joothan is Valmiki's autobiographical account of growing up as a Dalit in India, and Mukherjee, born in the final years of British-occupied India, has devoted much of her literary career to penning the voices of one of the most oppressed communities in the Indian social landscape.
Mukherjee asks, "I wonder in the present about the past: why did a Dalit have to pick up my shit?" Dalits, also known as untouchables, are the lowest class in the Varna caste system. Dalits are ostracized as impure, born from the feet of god and hence not worthy of any respect from the higher castes.
From birth, Dalits are organized within a social order that leaves them with the duty of performing menial labour, including, as experienced by Mukherjee, cleaning up excrement. Out of fear of pollution, Dalits are excluded from social life and are forbidden basic human rights. They have limited, if any, access to water, are denied education and cannot partake in social interactions with any but those of their caste.
Joothan is a map of the author's journey from childhood to adulthood as a Dalit. Living with pigs, dogs and naked children as roommates, Valmiki's life is punctuated with violence and brutality. Valmiki's story mirrors that of many Dalits, and, although some Dalits have broken the shackles of oppression, the system continues to exercise its archival authority.
"One would be mistaken to think that casteism is dead. It is very much alive and, you need only to browse through Indian matrimonial pages to realize the emphasis on caste," Valmiki says. Although the practice of untouchability, not the Varna, was abolished in secular India's constitution of 1949, government malfeasance has kept the hostilities alive to this day. According to India's National Crime Records Bureau, a crime is committed against a Dalit every 20 minutes. One only needs to read Anand Teltumbde's Khairlanji to realize that Dalits are regularly humiliated and killed through rape and torture.
'One would be mistaken to think that casteism is dead. It is very much alive'
—Omprakash Valmiki, author
"Incredible India," Mukherjee mocks, "is the mantra of the time. I am from the dust of India but refuse to celebrate my own comfort in Canada as that of all other Indians."
Mukherjee is not enamoured with 21st century India's middle class population. Instead, she is devoted to the plight of the Dalits, who constitute a minority.
"It is not enough to question if the subaltern can speak. Instead, as I mention in my foreword, we need to actively make room for the subaltern to speak," says Mukherjee.
The literary activist uses literature for a critical pedagogy on Dalits. Her aim is to raise awareness of their situation.
"There is plenty of Dalit literature, written in English, and the only muscle I have is in this field."
Mukherjee is, however, concerned that this initiative will remainin the shadows of the cannons of literature. "Voices of the oppressed are the last to be heard," she says.
According to York University's English department's website, the department seeks to "examine fundamental shifts in knowledge and language within our multi-cultural, gendered and post-colonial world."
The amount of emphasis and importance given to this task is questionable. Mukherjee's second- year course on post-colonial South Asian literature has been accelerated into a third-year course and this, Mukherjee claims, poses the question, "Shouldn't the experiences of oppression be taught much earlier?"
Express Buzz
Journalism students of SC/ST get sponsorship
CHENNAI: Opening the doors for students from downtrodden communities in professional journalism courses, the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing Development Corporation (TAHDCO), a Public Sector Undertaking by the Government of Tamil Nadu, has planned to sponsor 10 SC/ST students pursuing media courses in Asian College of Journalism from the forthcoming academic year.
"A decision to this effect was taken at a review meeting of TAHDCO district managers in the city on Tuesday," Minister for Adi Dravida Welfare A Tamilarasi told Express. "As the presence of students hailing from the Scheduled Caste is low in the field of journalism, we felt the need for opening new avenues for them in this area of studies," she said and added that an amount close to Rs 3 lakh would be spent on each student.
When asked about the selection criteria, she said ACJ would be involved in the process and the role of TAHDCO is confined only to sponsoring those students. Tamilarasi claimed that a student, who had got training in marine course with aid from the government, is earning a decent income.
The Times Of India
No data since 1931, will 2011 Census be all-caste inclusive?
NEW DELHI: Should India, after a lapse of 80 years, not revive the practice of collecting data on all castes in the ensuing 2011 Census? The proposal of collecting caste-wise data beyond SCs and STs has been made in order to provide similar empirical support to quotas for OBCs in government jobs and educational institutions.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Telugu Desam leader and former Union cabinet minister K Yerrannaidu said that opposition to OBC census often came from the very people opposing reservations. "They would first not let you count OBCs in the census and then cite absence of latest of latest census data as ground to oppose quota for OBCs," Yerrannaidu said.
Describing the present census arrangement as a "double-tongued logjam", he said "OBCs are not responsible for the decision to abolish caste wise census and therefore cannot be sufferers for the absence of such data since 1931." Since NSSO, an organization run by the Ministry of Statistics, already conducted a sample survey of OBCs to make an estimate of unemployment among them, Yerrannaidu asserted that there could not be any reason for rejecting their demand for caste-wise census. Brushing aside the apprehension that conducting caste-wise enumeration would trigger casteism, he said, "Non-collection of caste data since Independence has not transformed the Indian society into a casteless one nor had it reduced the practice of caste system." Yerrannaidu pointed out that even the Supreme Court had, in the context of the 2007 legislation extending OBC quota to educational institutions, conceded the need for caste wise census.
The court said, "There is no doubt and in fact it was fairly accepted by additional solicitor general that there is need for periodic identification of the backward citizens and for this purpose the need for survey of entire population on the basis of acceptable mechanism. What might have been relevant in 1931census may have some relevance but cannot be the determinative factor."
--
.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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