Seeking justice: Activists at the Dalit Stree Shakti meeting in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: She was trembling as she was helped up the steps. Unsure and a little scared, the fifteen-year-old sat facing rows of women, all strangers to her. She wouldn’t look up. “I want justice,” she said, her words barely audible as she buried her face in her hands along with her tears. It was the voice of a child – frightened and scarred.

The hall murmured, clucked in sympathy but there was no comfort in that. Not for a victim of gang-rape. She cried quietly as somebody relayed the sordid details. Her father’s upper caste employer, a Sub-Inspector, two constables were all accused in a case that has dragged on for ten months.
She was one among 70 men and women, all of whom testified at a public hearing on violence against Dalit women and girl-children held here on Thursday by the Dalit Stree Shakti.
Young mothers

Dalits by birth, they came from Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, East and West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and other places in the hope of getting justice. There were young mothers cheated of child support, grieving parents who have lost their daughters to statutory rape and ‘suicide’.

Stories blurred as victims and their families asked the same questions. Why my child? How can we be refused justice so brazenly? When, everyone else is fighting for rights, why are we fighting to live? They looked tired. They tried for months to convince the police to register a First Information Report (FIR). They spent years in and around courts, filing the same case after it was quashed as false. After bundling away a life’s worth of savings, they watched as a thicker wad of notes denied them justice. And they started all over again.

They were all exhausted but not one of them has given up hope. “I will not let this go. I owe it to my child,” said a woman, whose 16-year-old daughter died earlier this month hours after she had been raped.


Source : The hindu

SC, ST Entrepreneurs

RBI nod for loans up to Rs. 1 cr. to SC/ST entrepreneurs



HYDERABAD: The RBI has cleared a proposal made by the State government to give loans up to Rs. 1 crore to SC/ST entrepreneurs without collateral security to encourage them as industrialists.

Announcing this in the Assembly on Thursday in reply to a question by G. Nagesh and P. Ramulu (both Telugu Desam), Major Industries Minister K. Lakhsminarayana said as the RBI approval was available now, a trust would be constituted shortly with an amount of Rs. 5 crore to stand guarantee for the loans given to these entrepreneurs through State Finance Corporation. The Telugu Desam members cautioned the government that some people with bogus caste certificates might apply as the loans were being sanctioned with huge subsidy.

source : The Hindu.

NEWS

The Andrapradesh Government going to be establishment credit guaranty trust for the purpose of SC ST fresh business persons. It was announced by late CM Dr. YS Rajashekar Reddy.Recently there was a meeting conducted by govt.Industrial represents with Bankers they (Bankers) was not willing to give loans to Dalits even though Government will give credit guaranty to Dalits up to Rs.5 corers. Bankers argument is they has been giving loans up to Rs. 1 corer which is central govt assurance more than that they will be in trouble. Because the state govt giving credit guaranty up to 250 corer. So the scheme may be going in to cold storage. Its a dream project to late Chief Minister Dr. YSR. However department of industries govt of Andrapradesh trying to convince state level Bankers. And he was written to Reserve Bank of India a letter to permission to give loans. RBI replayed to govt if Bankers agree to give loan they won't have any objection to give loans to Dalits. And govt will add this policy in their next industrial policy.

Republic of India - DALITS

India just completed its republic day celebrations. 1oo core India's population Dalits have major role in India's development as a agriculture labor and other unorganized sector. In organized sector like in business the did n't have any major role to participate. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar created reservation to Dalits in Education as well as Govt. Employement, and politics. Most of the educated Dalits settled in Govt. jobs only.Business was not a part of their goals,” says Ambedkar. “Their first job was to get themselves educated. The first opportunity they got was government jobs, because government jobs offered them financial viability and financial stability.”

Whereas in business class we don't have any recognized industry owned by Dalits. There is just one Dalit-backed company among the 4,700 listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange: the Visaka Industries. Its founder, G Vivekanand MP, is the son of G Venkat Swamy cwc member, who was India’s textile minister when the company was launched in 1983.

Govt of India has been funding to uplift the Dalit community every budjet alloction but they did n't created a Dalit business community. In NDA govt the BJP used Ambedkar jayanti to push the idea of Dalit entrepreneurship.

But all three of them, like 27 of the 39 Indians on the Forbes rich list, come from India’s traditional merchant communities. India’s untouchables, the “scheduled castes and tribes” who make up the bottom quarter of India’s 1.2 billion population, are absent. We don't have business icon. Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar, was the Dalit leader who did most to free his caste from the discrimination of untouchables – which made them ritually unclean to “higher” Hindus. He wrote the Indian constitution in 1949, outlawing caste discrimination.That Dalits are still completely absent from the list of India’s rich 60 years later is, Ambedkar argues, one of the darkest blemishes on the country’s recent economic progress.

The Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Affirmative Action Code of Conduct is also an attempt to address the issue. However, the CII and Indian companies we have seen that the codes have tended to be ‘social’ rather than ‘economic’ development programmes.There are 2 lakhs dealers for HLL in India most of them hails from indias traditional merchant family. Why don't they give atleast one Dalit.Mr. Chandrabanu prasad says "assuming a HLL dealer get a 1% commission, he can earn a minimum of over Rs 60 lakh a year. A Dalit can take up this dealership, taking less commission than others. Don't replace existing dealers, but when new dealerships are given out, reserve some for Dalits." Most of the Dalits have small business, small gaurages I'm requesting here Govt and industry take consious steps to become Dalit merchant community. Yes we do not have social network we have to create & effort to bring in to supply chain.

In Andrapradesh Dr. YS Rajasekhar Reddy try to up lift the Dalits become the entrepreneuers unfortunatly we lost him in Air crash.

We the Dalit have to think twice here to change our social network, to change our social status.