Ambedkar Action Alert: Dalit girl murdered

Panchkula, December 16
Disposing of a case relating to the murder of Rakesh alias Lara, a Dalit of Gohana, Additional Sessions Judge-cum-Special Judge, CBI, AS Narang, today sentenced Naresh, alias Neshi, one of the accused, to life imprisonment.

The murder case had led to the statewide protests by dalits in August 2007.

The court has also sentenced him an imprisonment of 3 years with a penalty of Rs 1,000 under the Arms Act.

Other five accused in the case- Prahlad, Ashok, Dinesh Mudlana, Dinesh and Ram Niwas, have been acquitted by the court. Another accused in the case, Sanjay Butania, had been killed in a shootout in Sonepat court on December 12, 2008.

Lara was shot dead by three motorcycle-borne men on August 27, 2007. The incident had sparked off violent protests in the state, which left one dead and six injured. Following this, state chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda ordered for a CBI inquiry into the incident. Lara was named in the murder of a Jat youth, Baljeet Siwatch at Gohana, in August 2005. Following this, the houses of 50 Dalits in Gohna set ablaze. Later, Lara was discharged on November 26, 2006 by the CBI due to lack of evidence. While investigating his murder case, the CBI had arrested the seven accused. During the hearing of the case, the CBI had got a setback when all the four witnesses-Mithun, brother of the deceased, along with Arun, Vickey and Deepak turned hostile.

Zee News

Dalit girl murdered

http://zeenews.india.com/news/uttar-pradesh/dalit-girl-murdered_746719.html

Last Updated: Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 12:21

Hardoi: Dec 13 (PTI) A teenage Dalit girl was murdered allegedly by a youth after he failed in his attempt to rape her, police said.

The 14-year-old girl was killed by Rakesh in village Manglipurwa when he failed to rape her in her house on Monday night.

On a complaint by the family members of the victim, the accused has been arrested, they said, adding a probe is on in the matter. PTI

Zee News

Par panel approves MPLAD funds for SC/STs on slums

http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/par-panel-approves-mplad-funds-for-sc-sts-on-slums_747143.html

Last Updated: Thursday, December 15, 2011, 22:30

New Delhi: A Parliamentary Committee on MPs Local Area Development Scheme has recommended that MPLAD funds earmarked for SC/ST areas may be utilised for slums or other such deprived areas in towns and cities since housing was a major problem there.

The Lok Sabha Committee on MPs Local Area Development Scheme (2111-12) headed by A K S Vijayan, presented its report to the Lok Sabha today on "Development of SC/ST areas through MPLADS funds", recommended that MPLADS funds be utilised according to the SC/ST population in constituencies.

Where there are difficulties in identifying definite pockets of SCs and STs, construction of cluster of houses may be permitted under the scheme in slums or other such deprived areas, the Committee recommended in view of the fact of housing being a major problem in slums.

The Committee also recommended that a database of identified works be made available on the website of MPLADS by nodal departments of states and district authorities in identifying the works recommended under the scheme. PTI

The Hindu

Dalit students get a raw deal in HPS

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/article2718219.ece

Swathi. V

Decision to revoke boarding facilities to underprivileged students faulted

The iconic Hyderabad Public School (HPS) which also happens to be the alma mater of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has been doling out a raw deal to its Dalit students for two years, through its decision to revoke boarding facilities.

The school's decision to withdraw hostel accommodation for the Plus-One and Plus-Two admission holders has forced students from underprivileged sections to stay in State-run social welfare hostels, thereby affecting their study quality and performance to a great extent.

Appalling conditions

"Conditions in social welfare hostels are appalling. We are given a diet of low quality rice and watery sambar, and crammed into a hall with many other students. Due to this, we are unable to study properly, though the school we are in is one among the best in the country," says Suresh (name changed), a Dalit student from Plus-II.

Till Class X, these students stayed in HPS dormitories, each accommodating four members.

Apart from good food and health care, one more advantage was in the daily preparatory classes held by teachers.

Performance of all the Dalit students has reportedly declined when compared to their Class X results.

There have been instances where scorers of 70 per cent in Class X exams failed in almost all subjects in Plus-I.

Students also claim that from the previous batch of Plus-Two, nearly 50 percent of the Dalit students failed to clear the exams.

Many of them are from poor households outside Hyderabad.

"If we fail to perform in the board exams, it will ruin our chances of admission into higher learning institutions," rues another student.

The school provides statutory quotas in admissions for SCs and STs, and the students are totally sponsored by the Social Welfare and Tribal Welfare departments respectively.

But according to reports, the number of Dalit students in Plus-I and Plus-II does not exceed seven percent nowadays, as opposed to the full quota up to Class X.

The reduced numbers are attributable to lack of hostel accommodation which is forcing many to join elsewhere.

Campus brawl

Boarding for these two classes was withdrawn two years ago, reportedly after a brawl in the campus. However, school authorities attribute it to the decision to offer accommodation from Class III onwards instead of the Class V earlier.

President of the Telangana SC and ST Parents' Association K. Venkata Swamy contended the same and questioned why the same decision was not being implemented in HPS, Ramanthapur.

Representations were made to many, right from the principal to the Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha who himself had been a student of the school, but to no avail.

When contacted, Principal R.S. Khatri, while not divulging the numbers of Dalit students and their pass percentages, claimed that many are opting out after Class X, seeking education in corporate colleges. He ascribed the decision to withdraw hostel accommodation to the Board of Governors.

Board of Governors

Principal Secretary for School Education D.Sambasiva Rao, who is the Board's chairman, however, said he was not aware of the decision.

Incidentally, the Board has MP G. Vivekanand, Vice-Chancellors of Osmania University and JNTU, and two to three IAS officers among its members.

The Tribune

Victims to get free foodgrains, blankets,

state assures SC

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111217/haryana.htm#1

R Sedhuraman

New Delhi, December 16

All 150 Dalit families affected by the April 21, 2010, violence at Mirchpur in Hisar, would be provided foodgrains free of cost for four more months from November 2011 to February 2012, the Haryana Government assured the Supreme Court today.

The families, comprising 350 persons, would also get blankets free of cost to protect themselves in the winter, senior counsel PN Misra informed a Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya.

The blankets could be collected from the District Welfare Office at Hisar. Each family would be provided 100 kg of wheat and rice a month.

The victims, who had fled Mirchpur village, following the violence, are staying in tents pitched at a farmhouse in the district.

Refusing to return to their village in view of the hostile atmosphere prevailing against them, the villagers have sought their resettlement at some other place.

The state government informed the Bench that it would consider their demand for resettlement at a later stage and file an affidavit in the court. The state also clarified that it was not in a position to give them foodgrains free of cost perennially. The Bench said there was no need for this, as it would dispose of the case soon.

On October 31, a trial court in Delhi convicted 15 persons, of whom three were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the April 2010 Mirchpur violence.

The Times Of India

DSP nabbed while taking bribe from NRI

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/DSP-nabbed-while-taking-bribe-from-NRI/articleshow/11140020.cms

TNN | Dec 17, 2011, 05.32AM IST

TUTICORIN: Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) sleuths on Friday arrested the Tuticorin rural DSP, when he was taking a bribe from a person, who was facing charges under the Prevention of Atrocities Against SC/ST Act.

The DSP, Jayakumar (50) from Pollachi has been serving at Tutucorin rural sub-division for the last two years. Kirubakaran alias Sam (73) from Pudukottai in Tuticorin district and an NRI had his ancestral properties in his native.

A case under Prevention of Atrocities Against SC/ST Act was booked on Sam for harassing one Haribalakrishnan from Pudukottai on March 20, this year. Jayakumar was the investigation officer in the case.

DVAC officials said that Jayakumar demanded Rs 3 lakh from Sam to relieve him from the case and after some negotiations, Sam agreed to pay Rs 1 lakh. It was decided that Sam must hand over Rs 50,000 as the first instalment at the DSP office situated in Briant Nagar on Friday. However, Sam preferred a complaint with the DVAC officials who decided to trap the DSP red-handed.

The Times Of India

Uthapuram village peaceful, Madurai SP tells high court

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/Uthapuram-village-peaceful-Madurai-SP-tells-high-court/articleshow/11140081.cms

TNN | Dec 17, 2011, 05.40AM IST

MADURAI: Filing a status report on Uthapuram before the Madurai bench, the Madurai district superintendent of police said after decades of unrest in the village, better sense prevailed on both the warring sides, who understood the futility of waging war against each other and hence, peace descended on the village after a long wait.

There was a long-standing enmity between two communities since 1934 in Uthapuram, Madurai district. Several lives have been lost and properties worth lakhs of rupees have been damaged on both sides resulting in criminal cases registered against both communities. One of the contentious issue was the entry into the Muthalamman temple. Recently, a temple entry agitation was launched which ended in a clash. Nearly 150 people were arrested. Subsequent to the incident, there are six petitions filed in the bench.

Madurai SP Asra Garg appeared before Justice K Chandru and narrated the sequence of events to bring peace between both the communities. In his report, he said compromise was brought about in writing in which community leaders from the both sides signed.

He told the court, "The caste Hindu people accepted that they have no objection to dalits worshipping in the Muthalamman temple. Similarly, people from the dalit communityhave accepted that the management and administration of the temple would rest with caste Hindus." Accordingly, a few men and women belonging to the dalit community people went to the said temple on November 10 and were received by the leaders of the caste Hindu people.