[ZESTCaste] From agricultural labourers to civic workers
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/mysore/From-agricultural-labourers-to-civic-workers/articleshow/4897470.cms From agricultural labourers to civic workers TNN 15 August 2009, 10:44pm IST Print Email Discuss Bookmark/Share Save Comment Text Size: | Madiga community people are largely found in Andhra Pradesh. They are basically agricultural labourers and leather workers. Owing to drought in their native place, sections of the community members migrated to different parts of India several decades back. One such group came to the heritage city. Venkatesh, a community member, says presently there are over 3,000 members residing in the city. Most of them have migrated from the southern part of AP. However, they feel that the caste discrimination has depressed them a lot and they cannot even think of doing any business apart from what they are doing now, ie civic works. There is not enough support to provide education to their children, he rues. Every community member is united through an association, Dalitha abhivrudhi sangha and the organization activists fight for obtaining facilities provided to them by the government, Venkatesh claims. Basically, they are Telugu speaking people and over the years they have learnt Kannada. Their presiding deity is Maariamma. Venkatesh claims their traditions are unique and different from their community members who have originated from Tamil Nadu. They don't get married to close relatives and members from the same family (manchala, polichalla, Nallipogu etc) because they consider the members as brothers and sisters. All marriages in the community are decided by Yejamanas (heads) of respective colonies where they live in. Venkatesh says every colony will have a Yejamana and to conduct any programmes including marriages they have to consult their group heads. Even today most of the marriages are held at the bridegroom's residence and marriage is a one-day affair. The bride and bridegroom have to wear white clothes for all marriage programmes, he added. The community members celebrate Maarimmma jathre in a grand manner during summer. It is a three-day event and all the members contribute to the celebrations. Special poojas are offered to the deity on all three days to ward off evils as practised by our ancestors'', Venkatesh adds. All the members take part in the procession of the presiding deity and on the last day, every family in the community prepares food in an open field in the colony as part of the festival. Speaking of his family tree, Venkatesh said his grandfather Venkataiah relocated to Mysore from Nellore district owing to drought some eight decades back. They were agricultural labourers but after moving here they are into civic works to eke out a living. However, over the years many in the community are switching over to other occupations.
[ZESTCaste] Dalit samiti urges for social justice
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/mangalore/Dalit-samiti-urges-for-social-justice/articleshow/4899602.cms Dalit samiti urges for social justice TNN 16 August 2009, 10:50pm IST MANGALORE: The Dakshina Kannada district unit of Karnataka Dalit Sangharsh Samiti has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and chief minister B S Yeddyurappa to provide special grants to protect the constitutionally guaranteed rights aimed at social transformation of the dalit community. Its the duty of both governments to provide social justice to members of scheduled caste and scheduled tribes and the demands are in line with this concept, P Keshava, state committee member said. Addressing reporters here on Friday, Keshava said that the governments must direct the deputy commissioners to prepare action plan to ensure that 18% of development grants given to elected representatives is earmarked for welfare schemes of SC/STs. The government must set up special committee to try cases of atrocities against SC/STs as well as instances where people produce false caste certificate to grab land allotted to SC/STs. The state government must set up Karnataka SC/ST Rights Protection Commission on lines with SHRC and a retired judge must head the commission. Dalits residing in illegally constructed huts must be given land rights, he said and added that survey must be conducted to identify `DC manna' land in all districts and the deputy commissioners must allocate such land to dalits. Union and state governments should give priority to well educated local youths while recruiting to their respective offices. The state government must take steps to appoint an IAS officer, who knows Kannada as the registrar of NIT-K, Surathakal. Government must release funds directly to social welfare department, he added.
[ZESTCaste] 'I get paid Rs8 for clearing animal carcass from roads'
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_i-get-paid-rs8-for-clearing-animal-carcass-from-roads_1282977 'I get paid Rs8 for clearing animal carcass from roads' Paras K Jha / DNAMonday, August 17, 2009 8:56 IST Ahmedabad: The stink from carcasses of animals that die in road accidents and which are not cleared by the civic authorities is often nauseating. One can only imagine the plight of people who have to move these decomposed road kills to other places. Despite several attempts by development organisations to curb manual scavenging, it is common to see dalit children drag the carcasses.Navsarjan - a social organisation that works on issues of discrimination against Dalit children has found out that more than 1,000 children from several districts of the state are involved in manual scavenging. Thirteen-year-old Umesh Vegad from Vallabhipur taluka of Bhavnagar district says he is made to sit on the floor of the school while others get to sit on the benches. Teachers and children from Patel and Darbar community are treated us differently. I clean my class twice a month and urinals once every week. I get work of moving dead animal bodies from the roads to other places and I get paid Rs8 for that, says Umesh. Such children, who have left their studies because of discrimination in schools, will share their plight and pain of being born in a dalit family in a public hearing organised by the NGO today at Gandhi Ashram between 12 to 4 pm. Manjula Pradeep, executive director of Navsarjan said, We want to put forward this issue to the government. Even today, there are people who believe there is nothing wrong in cleaning toilets by children from lower castes, especially dalits. We want, dalit children to be in the mainstream just like other children. They should also attend schools and get to study. The public hearing will help kids from Valmiki community. Talking about discrimination with children of Valmiki community in schools, Hasmukh Adhia, principal secretary state Education department said, If such cases of discrimination would be brought to our notice, we will put the children in main schools. Gautam Valmiki from Harij town of Patan district tells no different story. We face discrimination during mid-day meals at our school. The students from other community abuse and treat us in a bad way. Iam made to clean my classroom daily. My father earns Rs1,500 every month and everyday, I go to Ambikanagar to collect leftover food. We get Rs10 ff we drag carcasses from the roads and move it to other places. Manjula Pradeep said that eminent people will attend the public hearing as a jury. It includes Justice RA Mehta, former acting chief justice of Gujarat, Kamlaben Gurjar, member of National Commission for Safai Karmacharies, Ishwarbhai Patel, former member of National Commission for Safai Karmacharies, Martin Macwan, founder of Navsarjan and dalit leader, Mari Thekakara, writer and journalist and prof Ghanshyam Shah, political scientist.
[ZESTCaste] Micro-Loan Project of Aurangabad, Bihar, is ready to roll!
Note: I do not have account in many of the groups you copied this email. Feel free to post my reply on them, if it has any value. We need donors, who knows there may be someone looking for an opportunity to serve people. Dear Dr Sati, Wonderful job! I again surprised to read my promise of Rs.25,000 from FFEI. You haven’t read my earlier email on this. Anyway, now you made me think of ways and means to get you Rs.25,000 of FFEI funds. Let me think and ask around. 1. I am impressed with your committee members and organization name. Hope, the project will be in good hands and grows leaps and bounds. 2. Prof Anandswarup Gadde had already in communication with me and in the process of sending money. As you said, it is appropriate to copy his background in his own words. I hope Professor do not have any objection. I knew him for almost 3 years and I know how much he care about the people in need. Though he is a retired professor, he spends all his earnings helping others. He not only spends his own money, but also encourages his family members and friends to do the same. For example, in 2007, his son gave a substantial amount that he earned through an online game. Helping others is his passion. How many people do we find with such a commitment? When I ask a penny from some known rich NRIs, they say several cock and bull stories. To my surprise, they are not only rich but also more talkative on the net on Dalit matters. Their talk does not go beyond lip service. My personal solicitations yield no results and I stopped wasting my time. So, right people always deserve praise. When Scavenging Children Scholarships project is the brain child of Prof Shiva Shankar, Prof Anand gave impetus to Microloans project. Prof Anand also helped to stock books worth of tens of thousands of rupees in a library in a Dalit ghetto. I know that apart from our project, he helps many more. 3. I am looking for a good website that helps me post information with ease, for example, bio people connected to our project etc. It is not that I am not acting on it. I have been trying to take help for almost 3,4 years. But it is not going anywhere, reasons are many. 4. 12% interest earned on microloans, we so far used it for giving more loans. If you want to give nominal salaries to the staff, it is upto you. India is not that good in tapping volunteers. I desire to build a volunteer force for FFEI. See if it is possible. Otherwise, choice is yours. 5. Since you are in India, I would like you visit our running projects and talk to our volunteers and how they are maintain the records. If you are interested, please let me know. I will arrange everything for you, except travelling expenses. If you like spicy curries, I can accommodate you in one of my relative’s house, if you can adjust with our modest facilities. That’s all for now. Hope, you make microloan project a big in Bihar and with it you bring kudos to Prof Anandswarup who came forward to help start it and FFEI. May I see another Mohammad Yunus in you? I am serious, big things start small. With regards and best wishes Benjamin -- An educated man without character and humility was more dangerous than a beast. If his education was detrimental to the welfare of poor, he was a curse to society. -Babasaheb Dr B R Ambedkar Please visit www.friendsforeducation.org or www.ambedkarscholarship.org From: Satinath Choudhary satich...@yahoo.com To: AmbedkarScholarshipGroup ambedkarscholars...@yahoogroups.com; Dalit Group da...@yahoogroups.com; ZestCaste ZESTCaste@yahoogroups.com Cc: india-un...@yahoogroups.com; nri-s...@yahoogroups.com; youth4equalopportunit...@yahoogroups.com; buddhismbangal...@yahoogroups.com; cyberbahuj...@yahoogroups.com; iitdal...@yahoogroups.com; bam...@yahoogroups.com; bahu...@yahoogroups.com; dalithumanrig...@yahoogroups.com; ZESTCaste@yahoogroups.com; dalits_in...@yahoogroups.com; dalitsind...@yahoogroups.com; ekduniya-socialjust...@dgroups.org; dalits-internatio...@yahoogroups.com; buddhistcir...@yahoogroups.com; issuesonline @yahoogroups.com; sakyagr...@yahoogroups.com; mulnivasibahujanwo...@yahoogroups.com; dalitconfere...@googlegroups.com; andhrapradesha...@yahoogroups.com; indiathinkers...@yahoogroups.com indiathinkers...@yahoogroups.com; Irfan Ahmad irfan_fa...@yahoo.co.in Sent: Saturday, August 15, 2009 11:24:31 PM Subject: [E-Forum] Micro-Loan Project of Aurangabad, Bihar, is ready to roll! Dear Br. Ben, Sorry for this late communication to you. The fault is entirely mine. Irfan Sahab had sent the list of names for the Board of Directors of the Micro-Loan Project of Aurangabad, Bihar, a number of days ago. But I was getting involved in a number of other things. Please
[ZESTCaste] Dalit newspaper strives for social justice in Bundelkhand
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/19806/dalit-newspaper-strives-social-justice.html Dalit newspaper strives for social justice in Bundelkhand Sanjay Pandey in Lucknow Sheer determination and hard work has earned this small group of women international recognition Launched in 2002 as a modest four-page newspaper in Uttar Pradesh's backward Bundelkhand region, ‘Khabar Lahariya’ (waves of news), bagged the prestigious UNESCO Literacy Award. The news paper is in a local dialect using Devanagiri script and run by semi-literate Dalit, Muslim and Kol women and has been creating real waves in the impoverished and parched lands of Bundelkhand. The all women newspaper, a weekly, which now has eight pages and employs 20 plus ‘semi-literate’ women, symbolises the struggle against social discrimination. ‘‘We had to face great difficulties in bringing out and running the newspaper. The people from the upper caste did not like it and our reporters had a tough time in gathering information’’, recalls its editor Meera. Interestingly barring Meera, who is a graduate, all the other staff is semi-literate. ‘‘Our reporters do not find any difficulty in their work as the newspaper is in Bundeli dialect’’, she told Deccan Herald from Chitrakoot. The work of reporting, page making and even selling the newspapers is done by these 20-plus women. ‘‘With our limited resources, we can not afford to sell the newspaper through hawkers. The reporters go from one village to another to sell it’’, Meera said. ‘‘In fact it helped the reporters ton get first hand news from the villages; especially the problems they face and about the implementation of welfare schemes'', she added. Meera attributes the success of the newspaper to the dialect in which it is published. ‘‘It is easy for the people of the region to understand the Bundeli language’’, she points out. No wonder ‘Khabar Lahariya’ today has a readership of 25, 000. The number of copies printed stand at four thousand and it is sold for Rs. two in as many as 400 villages in Chitrakoot and Banda districts of Bundelkhand. A Delhi-based NGO Nirantar had extended help to bring out the newspaper after a newsletter ‘Mahila Dakiya’ by an NGO Mahila Samakhya stopped publication in 1999. The newspaper now is getting government and private advertisements also, which has helped to sustain it, Meera said. The newspaper has won the prestigious UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2009. The award would be presented at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in September. Meera says that the award signifies ‘victory of women’s power’. She is now making plans to start publication of the newspaper from some other districts of the region as well. With its main focus on local issues, Khabar Lahariya exposed the Tendu leaves scam. Its reports were followed by many state level Hindi dailies. INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to zestmedia-dig...@yahoogroups.com, OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE:- On this list you can share caste news, discuss caste issues and network with like-minded anti-caste people from across India and the world. Just write to zestcaste@yahoogroups.com TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP:- If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to zestcaste-subscr...@yahoogroups.com OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: mailto:zestcaste-dig...@yahoogroups.com mailto:zestcaste-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: zestcaste-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
