Chairperson demands separate survey for nomadic and semi-nomadic communities of Scheduled Castes
Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Development Corporation chairperson G. Pallavi has demanded a separate survey for the nomadic and semi-nomadic communities of the Scheduled Castes (SC) with a separate questionnaire.
In a press conference in Shivamogga on Thursday, Ms. Pallavi said that the mapping of the SC communities being conducted by the Justice Nagamohan Das Commission would not give justice to the nomadic and semi-nomadic communities of the Scheduled Castes.
'The questionnaire set by the commission does not include the criteria necessary to assess the socio-economic and educational standards of the nomadic and semi-nomadic communities. There should be a separate survey for three days at the hobli level to cover such communities,' Ms. Pallavi said.
A majority of the nomadic and semi-nomadic population, spread over 51 castes, had been living in makeshift tents with no address. They had been moving from one place to another in search of a livelihood. 'They hardly have records such as caste certificates, Aadhaar cards, or ration cards. The enumerators require these records for the survey. Without these records, they cannot be covered in the survey. Hence, there should be a separate survey,' she said.
The separate survey, Ms. Pallavi said, should be such that enumerators take into account the people's culture, occupation, lifestyle, and other details to assess their caste. 'Many of the nomadic communities have not gone to school. They have not been able to avail themselves of the benefits of the government's schemes because of their ignorance. If they are not properly covered in the survey, they will once again miss the opportunities,' she added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
political line newsletter speech I hate, but must defend
Unless we defend the rights of both Vijay Shah and Ali Khan Mahmudabad to say whatever they want to, neither can be defended rationally ------ There are two Special Investigation Teams (SIT), each comprising three IPS officers investigating two people, on the directions of the Supreme Court of India: Madhya Pradesh's BJP Minister Vijay Shah and Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad. The SC order has specified that the SIT in Madhya Pradesh must be of directly recruited IPS officers from outside of the State cadre. The implied equivalence of these two cases in the SC approach — that the police can investigate alleged criminality premised on the idea of excessive speech —has been disconcerting for many people. Those who were outraged by Mr. Shah's comments, which the SC rightly described as 'crass, thoughtless,' wanted legal action against him. Broadly, the same set of people were also outraged by Haryana police arresting Mr. Mahmudabad. The interesting spectacle of six IPS officers trying to parse through the sentences of two people to investigate criminality in them leads us to the question: what exactly is freedom of expression. Can there be selective freedom of expression? Should hate speech be allowed in a civilized society? If some speech must be restricted, who gets to decide what is allowed and what is restricted? As we have seen in recent days, the Congress government in Karnataka and the BJP government in Haryana have different standards of what speech can be allowed. We need to defend the rights of both Mr. Shah and Mr. Mahmudabad. Free speech cannot be restricted to what one person likes; hate speech cannot be defined as what another hates. Unless free speech is absolute, including — and especially — for views that are dissenting and offensive, there is no meaning in it. A police inspector or a random political actor can initiate a case, and the rest will depend on the social capital and relative power of the side that claims to be aggrieved and that of the alleged aggressor. A free speech supporter cannot call for punishment of Mr. Shah and protection for Mr. Mahmudabad. Article 19 of the Indian Constitution guarantees that all citizens shall have the right to 'freedom of speech and expression,' and then goes to add multiple caveats. 'Reasonable restrictions' on free speech include 'the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with Foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.' This is echoed in criminal laws and Mr. Mahmudabad was actually arrested on charges of endangering the country's sovereignty and integrity and promoting enmity between different groups, among others, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Article 19 also gives citizens the right to 'assemble peaceably and without arms,' again with caveats similar to those mentioned above. As it happens, the government of Assam has decided to arm indigenous communities. In this case, the state is abdicating its role of providing security and encouraging select groups to arm themselves. This is not new. In Kashmir to fight back separatists, and in Chhattisgarh to neutralise the Maoists, local communities were armed. The broader question is the power of the state to decide what are legitimate arms and what is legitimate speech. In the US, people have much more power than in India to bear arms and to speak freely. There are restrictions there too, but they are more narrowly defined. Arbitrary measures are not unheard of, but some dependable precedents are in place, evolved through judicial disputes over the decades. But the Republicans and Democrats both want to restrict speech in the US — they differ on what kind. Antisemitism and Islamophobia are recurring grounds for restricting speech in many contexts in the West, including by the state. In India, commenting on Hinduism or nationalism can be adventure intellectualism these days. The default liberal position, however, should be that all speech is allowed. If there are any restrictions, they must withstand objective reasoning. Federalism Tract: Notes on Indian diversity Tongue lashing Kamal Haasan is set to enter the Rajya Sabha. But he made news for other reasons. His statement that Kannada is born out of Tamil triggered a reaction in Karnataka. In fact, for all the talk around Dravidian languages and culture, the linguistic pride of each State and conflicts between regions within States have been politically consequential. The Telugus wanted separation from the then Madras State, and their struggle led to the linguistic reorganisation of States. Telugus in Telangana later wanted a separate State for themselves, and they got that. The idea that any language is born from another language is a fallacy that few linguists would take seriously now. Languages interact and migrate along with the people who do the same. The idea that Sanskrit is the mother of all, or many Indian languages, is a common and misplaced notion. Having a heavy load of Sanskrit vocabulary in a language (for instance, Malayalam, my mother tongue) does not make it the child of Sanskrit. It is a more complex process, as linguist and author Peggy Mohan says. I hope, Mr. Haasan watches this too.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
6 key accused in Chhattisgarh ‘coal scam' freed from jail after SC grants bail
RAIPUR: Two days after being granted interim bail by Supreme Court, six accused in the Rs 570 crore coal-levy scam in Chhattisgarh -- including suspended IAS officers Ranu Sahu and Sameer Vishnoi, and former deputy secretary in then CM Bhupesh Baghel's office, Saumya Chaurasia -- walked out of Raipur jail on Saturday morning. While the apex court had approved their bail on Thursday, officials say their release was delayed by a day due to late arrival of formal release orders at the prison. Businessmen Rajnikant Tiwari, Virendra Jaiswal and Sandeep Nayak are the other three released from prison. Family members of the accused were present outside the prison to receive them. The SC bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta granted bail to eight accused, but six were released on Saturday. Two others — businessman Suryakant Tiwari, alleged kingpin of the scam, and Nikhil Chandrakar — remain in custody due to pending cases. SC directed that all released individuals must leave Chhattisgarh immediately and must not reside in the state until further orders, citing concerns about potential witness tampering. They are required to submit their passports to the special court, provide their residential address outside Chhattisgarh within a week, inform local police of their new address, cooperate fully with investigation agencies and appear in court whenever required. While Chaurasia spent nearly two and a half years in prison, Vishnoi was behind bars around a month longer, and Sahu for just over 22 months. Reacting to their release, Chhattisgarh minister Ramvichar Netam said, 'Getting bail doesn't mean the crime didn't happen. The investigation will continue and more names will surface.' Minister Kedar Kashyap added, 'Those involved in corruption will keep going in and out of jail. Even Congress leaders are on bail. The guilty will not be spared.' Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that the scam involves a 'syndicate' of a section of politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen who extorted money from coal transporters, generating over Rs 570 crore in illegal levies. The alleged scam involved turning online transport permits into offline ones — a move authorized on July 15, 2020, by then mining director Sameer Vishnoi — which allowed selective issuance of permits in exchange for bribes. Coal traders were allegedly forced to pay Rs 25 per ton to receive transport clearances. Tiwari, according to ED, collected the money through his employees and coordinated with officials for smooth issuance of permits. Those complying with the extortion were allegedly rewarded with permits from the mining department. Defence counsel Faizal Rizvi on Friday told the Press that SC has issued release of eight persons but as of now six of them are getting released, while other two, businessmen Suryakant Tiwari and Nikhil Chandrakar is still pending due to other cases against them and they will continue to remain in judicial custody.
The Hindu
5 hours ago
- The Hindu
Plans afoot to expand SCCL on global scale, landmark tribal welfare schemes a hallmark of people's govt.: Bhatti
Plans are afoot to expand the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) on a global scale in a phenomenal manner, said Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, also Energy and Finance Minister. Speaking after inaugurating the SCCL General Manager's office and a workshop in the coal town of Kothagudem, on Saturday, he said, 'We have appointed experts to gather the necessary information and make recommendations for this expansion. Once we receive the report, we will initiate the action plan.' Mr. Vikramarka said, 'SCCL, with over a hundred years of experience in coal mining, is being considered for profitable ventures in technical and mineral excavation.' New mines are ready to extract 22 million tonnes of coal over the next 30 years, he noted, referring to the expansion and diversification plans of SCCL. Emphasising on the safety and welfare of the workforce, he said, 'The primary goal is the safety of Singareni workers – business comes only after that. SCCL is providing ₹1 crore accident insurance cover along with compassionate appointments to SCCL workers.' Meanwhile, addressing the Telangana Adivasi Congress workers' meeting in Palvancha, he hit out at the previous BRS government accusing it of failing to utilise the SC/ST Sub-Plan funds. 'In the current Praja government, we are spending every rupee of Sub-Plan funds with precision. Under the Sub-Plan, ₹17,169 crore has been allocated for tribals this fiscal. Additionally, ₹1,296 crore unspent funds from the past have been carried forward,' he said. In 2006, the then Congress-led Central government issued land titles to tribals cultivating forest lands, he recalled, adding that the current Congress dispensation in Telangana allocated funds for tribals to live with dignity in line with the party's Nallamala Declaration. He reminded that during his tenure as Deputy Speaker in united Andhra Pradesh, he ensured that the SC/ST Sub-Plan Act was passed in the Assembly. He added that the Indira Saura Giri Jala Vikasam scheme envisages irrigation facilities to 6.7 lakh acres of tribal land besides offering free pumpsets and plants like avocado and oil palm. Allocation of ₹1,000 crore for tribals under the Rajiv Yuva Vikasam scheme is a historic first in India, he asserted.
