Dear friends, A little while ago I came back from the dharna at Jantar Mantar led by Dr. Udit Raj and his associates. There were at least 50 people who were fasting unto death, supported by around 500 others in the panddal. Five MPs came over to Jantar Mantar in solidarity with the demands mentioned below. At the meeting of Parliamentary Forum of Dalit MPs from different parties was held at the Parliament Annexe, they passed a resolution in support of the said demands.
1. Reservation in the private sector and enacatment of the Reservation Act 2. In the Government services, contract labour system may be abolished in the matter of recruitment from clerks to safai karamcharis. 3. Price rise may be checked. 4. Caste certificates issued in one state may be held valid in all the States. 5. Reservation in Higher Judiciary and Army. 6. Filling up of the back-log vacancies. 7. Land to the landless. 8. Dr.Ambedkar' s statue may be displayed in all the NTPC projects at prominent places. 9. Dependents of NTPC employees after their should be given employment in NTPC 10. In all the NTPC projects, there should be reservation for accommodation. I believe all of these demands are of vital interest to Dalits and to our country. We must join hands with Dr. Udit Raj and his followers on these issues. Dalit activists and members of “All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations” from different states are taking turns in supporting Dr. Udit Raj and his compatriots. Last couple of days it was Maharashtra’s turn. Tomorrow it is supposed to be Delhi’s turn. Friends, let us show up in hundreds at Jantar Mantar in support of Dr. Udit Raj and his associates fasting for our sake. Best regards, Satinath Choudhary =========== Dr. Udit Raj Chairman, All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations National President, Indian Justice Party Member, National Integration Council (Govt. of India) T-22, Atul Grove Road, New Delhi-110001 Tel: 23354841, Telefax: 23354842 Email: [email protected] Press Release Fast unto death of Dr. Udit Raj and his followers enters fourth day Dr. Udit Raj's condition very critical, Doctors Advised him to be hospitalized but he declined to do so. Full support extended to our demands by the Parliamentary Forum of Dalit MPs MPs Shri P.L. Punia, Shri Raman Kishore and Shri Pradip Tamta called on Dr.Udit Raj and extended full support to our demands. 18th December, 2009 at 1:30 PM The fast unto death undertaken by Dr. Udit Raj and his followers on the demands of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations has entered the fourth day today. On the fourth day of the fast unto death, Dr. Udit Raj's condition has become very critical and his blood pressure has gone very low. Doctors have advised him to be hospitalized but he has declined to do so and said that no government representative has so far met him about our demands. So long as our demands are not acceded to, he will not get admitted to the hospital even though it may cost us our lives. Our main demands are - Reservation in in the Private Sector and Enacatment of the Reservation Act, Abolition of contract labour system in Government services, in the matter of recruitment from clerks to safai karamcharis, Caste certificates issued by one state may be held valid in all the States, Price rise may be checked, Reservation in Higher Judiciary and Army may be introduced, Filling up of the back-log vacancies may be expedited, Land to the landless and Reservation in Government contracts may be introduced immediately. Today's dharna is being organized by the Maharashtra unit of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations under the leadership of Prof. Indira Athawale and other leaders from Maharashtra and other parts of the country. Today a meeting of the Parliamentary Forum of Dalit MPs from different parties was held at the Parliament Annexe. At the meeting, Chairman of the Committee of Dalit MPs, Shri R.K. Naik, wanted to know why Dr. Udit Raj had been forced to take this drastic step. He said that we should take urgent steps to save the precious life of Dr. Udit Raj and his followers. In today's meeting of the Committee of Dalit MPs, mainly two issues were discussed, one is the matter relating to the fast unto death of Dr. Udit Raj and his followers on the demands of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organizations and the other is relating to the proposed impeachment of the Chief Justice Karnataka High Court, Shri P.D. Dinakaran. All the members who were present in the meeting extended full support to our demands. This is clearly a victory on the issue of our demands. Congress Members of Parliament, Shri P.L. Punia, Shri Raman Kishore and Pradip Tamta called on Dr. Udit Raj and supported our demands. Shri P.L. Punia said that he would discuss the matter with Government and try to find out an amicable solution. Why Dr. Udit Raj has gone on fast unto death? Giving reasons for his decision to go on fast unto death, Dr. Udit Raj said that most of the demands for which the Confederation has been sitting on Dharna since 19.11.2009 had already been conceded by the govt. earlier. Reservation Bill was introduced in 2004 and one House of the Parliament passed it in February 2009 but certain anomalies has been found in the Bill. Instead of removing the anomalies and passing it the Bill was withdrawn. Secondly, the UPA govt. had committed to fill up the backlog vacancies but this was not done in its last tenure and a couple of days back the DOPT had issued a directive that it would not fill up vacancies. Thirdly, in the Common Minimum programme which was drawn up in 2004 by the UPA govt. it was said that it will endeavour to give reservation in pvt. sector. Some steps were taken in this regard also like constitution of a Committee of Ministers for this purpose which had six to seven meetings. Consequently some big business organizations like CII and FICCI came out with proposals to prepare one hundred dalit entrepreneurs per year, five hundred professionals in a year and to provide coaching facilities for ten thousand dalit students every year through existing universities etc. Due to apathy on the part of the govt. these organizations have retracted from their commitments. Dr. Udit Raj asked that under these circumstances what was his fault and that of his followers who are sitting on fast unto death. Thus he was forced to take this drastic step. Besides the above mentioned demands there are other demands like Abolition of contract labour system in Government services in the matter of recruitment from clerks to safai karamcharis, Caste certificates issued by one state may be held valid in all the States, Price rise may be checked, Reservation in Higher Judiciary and Army may be introduced, Filling up of the back-log vacancies may be expedited, Land to the landless and Reservation in Government contracts may be introduced immediately. (Sanjay Raj) Media In-Charge 9654252076
