Fwd: [untouchabilityeradicationfront] Implement 85th Amendment and attack untouchability: Himachal CPM

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From: P.Esakkimuthu <ttnuef@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Nov 17, 2010 at 9:07 AM
Subject: [untouchabilityeradicationfront] Implement 85th Amendment and attack untouchability: Himachal CPM
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Implement 85th Amendment and attack untouchability: Himachal CPM

Posted: Tue Nov 16 2010, 00:02 hrs

On the basis of its survey across 35,000 dalit households across 1,000 panchayats, the CPM today claimed that at least 95 per cent of Schedule Caste families were small and marginal farmers. As the party held a rally in Shimla to seek the people's support to launch a struggle for Schedule Castes' rights, it said that the survey had shown that the majority of Dalits were living in poor conditions and facing caste-based discrimination.
The CPM has now amalgamated its long-standing agenda of the need for fresh land reforms in the state with dalit rights and has bid to attract supporters of other parties on the issue in Himachal, which has the second highest proportion of Schedule Castes among the states with 24.7 per cent of its population being SC.

"This campaign would not only be led by dalits to assert their own rights. The masses in general will also have to join in. After the Panchayati Raj Institution elections are over in January, the CPM will attract the support of people across different parties to join the mass campaign for Dalit rights that would be launched from Mandi in February," said CPM Secretary Rakesh Singha.

CPM State Secretariat Member Tikender Panwar said, "We will submit a memorandum to the state government and also the survey about the condition of dalits. Our demand is that the government should implement the 85th Amendment to the Constitution and work to stop caste-based discrimination in villages, where dalits are still not allowed to enter temples, drink water from common sources and eat together at public functions."

CPM leader Kuldeep Tanwar raised the issue of deliberate efforts not to recruit schedule caste candidates as Anganwadi workers, mid-day meal cooks or water carriers in schools as untouchability is still in practice. The party will seek implementation of a reservation roaster on all these recruitments to change people's mindsets.
courtesy:Indian express 17.11.10

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