KOTTAYAM: Dalit organisations led by the Rashtriya Maha Sabha (RMS) will adopt a novel strategy to launch their agitation against the education policy being followed by the State Government.

The agitation will be marked by a day-long interaction with people from the Dalit-Adivasi community on their opinion on and experience under the new education regime, which the RMS believes, has resulted in the marginalisation of an already marginalised segment from the mainstream education system.

Speaking to media persons, RMS general secretary M. Geethanandan, said the documented information gathered from Dalit-Adivasi students and parents would be presented before the Justice Khalid Commission as a comprehensive statement. This would be the first step in a series of agitations planned against the authorities who have designed a system which was basically exclusive, he said. The formal launching of the agitation will be on July 22, the death anniversary of Rejani S. Anand, the Dalit student who had to take her own life on account of her inability to pay for her professional course, Mr. Geethanandan said. Even after the tragic incident, the authorities have not come out with a comprehensive policy for the Dalit-Adivasi sections, he said.

According to him, it took two years for the Government to take a decision on the fees structure for Dalit-Adivasi students in the unaided sector. It was only after scores of students were subjected to actions like outright ouster and issue of showcause notices, that the authorities decided that fees structure as stipulated by K. T. Thomas Commission should be made applicable to the SC/ST students.

After 2000-01, there had been a fivefold increase in the number of professional seats.

However, there had been no corresponding increase in the number of hostel seats for SC/ST students. The authorities have also failed to make budgetary provisions to meet the increasing expenditure for financial assistance to SC/ST students, he pointed out.

Mr. Geeethanandan said a monitoring committee consisting of representatives of Dalit-Adivasi organisations and experts will be set up to have a close watch on the developments in the education sector and their impact on the marginalised segments.The RMS in association with Dalit Students' Movement and Samvarana Samrakshna Prakshobha Samithy will observe the death anniversary of Rejani S. Anand on July 22 with seminars at Kannur, Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram.

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