Commission says committed to safeguarding SC, ST rights

Karnataka State Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes Commission Chairman K Basavanna Chalvadi said the commission would always abide by the commitment to safeguard the Constitutional rights of SC/ST communities.

Briefing reporters, on Tuesday, Chalvadi said the commission had received as many as 2,036 cases since its inception in 2003. He said as many as 61 cases were considering judgment after he took charge in November, 2014. He said some more were under conciliation thorough Alternative Dispute Resolution process. 

Asserting that the commission was set up to act as quasi judicial authority, he said the commission looks into roster maintenance, lands granted to Dalits and other atrocity cases. He said officials should look into sympathetic aspects concerning the cases related to Dalits.

He said 24.1 per cent allocations in all government schemes should be earmarked to SC/ST communities. He said he would direct the police chief to look into many number of B reports filed in the cases concerning Dalit atrocities.

Practice of untouchability

Dalit leaders briefed the commission over various problems in the district bothering them. The practice of untouchability was the major issue debated on the occasion.

The Koraga community leader Ganesh objected to the chairman’s remarks that people in the literate district of Udupi do not practice untouchability. He said the upper caste men always do not miss the opportunity to suppress the lower caste. He said it is rampant. 

He alleged that reservation for the post of president in gram panchayats is not announced at least once for the ST male and is always for females. The opportunity is not picked up by ST community women as there are nil gram panchayat members. He demanded separate reservation for Koraga community.

He said in gram panchayats and town municipalities, the scheduled tribes are considered only for the cleanliness related works while maintaining the roster.

Dalit leader Sunder Master demanded that the income criteria for the SC/ST communities should be raised to Rs 6.5 lakh in all other sectors other than education and employment, as they already have reservation in these two fields.

He said the backlog posts that are reserved for SC should be filled immediately.  He said DC (Depressed Class) Manna land should be distributed among the Dalits.

He alleged that the benefits of the scheme initiated under Ambedkar Abhivriddhi Nigam is distributed among the members affiliated to the political parties.

He demanded that the Ambedkar Bhavan should be upgraded to facilitate many number of people. He said the communities that demanded inclusion under SC/ST categories should not be supported. Ramesh Kotian accused that the reservation in language minorities schools in not maintained.  

Uday Kumar Tallur demanded that the forest department should take up Dalit grievance meet every three months. He alleged that Kundapur Tahsildar treat Dalits very badly and the officer rarely pays attention to the grievances of Dalits.

Vishu Shetty Ambalpadi said he rescued two Dalit women who were suffering from malnutrition for the past 15 years.

He alleged that no official came forward to offer rehabilitation to these two women. There was also demand for the cancellation of Kumki rights following the misuse. As many as 362 acres of land earmarked for Dalits is encroached by land mafia, alleged Vasu from Mudduru.