Other States - Rajasthan   

Team to monitor bias against Dalits in flood relief

Special Correspondent

`Flood victims belonging to dominant castes are hounding Dalits out of the relief camps'

JAIPUR: Dalit groups in Rajasthan have appointed a monitoring team to look into complaints of discrimination against Dalits in relief and rehabilitation measures in the flood-affected Barmer district. The team, which left for Barmer on Tuesday, will visit remote villages and hamlets destroyed by floods to verify the allegations.

Reports pouring in from various parts of Barmer and Jaisalmer districts have indicated that the flood victims belonging to dominant castes were hounding Dalits out of the relief camps, denying food and water to them and not even allowing them to use the relief camp toilets, accommodation and common kitchen facilities.

The convenor of the eight-member team and Chairperson of the Centre for Dalit Rights (CDR), P. L. Mimroth, told The Hindu here that those belonging to higher castes were vehemently opposing the drainage of water from the worst-affected Malwa and Kawas villages, which had a significant number of Dalit houses, even in this hour of common tragedy.

"The Government engineers are fearing a violent backlash from the dominant communities if machines were used to pump out water from Dalit localities,'' Mr. Mimroth said, adding that the flood-affected Dalits had very little access to the massive relief operations launched by the Government agencies and NGOs. "This seems to be a replay of the old story of caste hatred in feudal Rajasthan. Mr. Mimroth said the Dalits were once again confronted with perpetual prejudice among the flood-affected people of upper castes, who believe that the entry of Dalits in the relief camps would "pollute the sanctity of camps''.

The monitoring committee has members from the CDR, National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, Lok Adhikar Network, Jodhpur-based Unnati, and Sambhav and IDEA working in Balotra town of Barmer district. Satish Kumar, a lawyer practising in the Rajasthan High Court, will act as member-secretary of the team.

Mr. Mimroth said the team would play the role of a watchdog body to ensure that the Dalit victims of caste discrimination get a fair deal and access to the relief operations. The team will prepare a status report on the condition of Dalits in the flood-affected areas on its return.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Team to monitor bias against Dalits in flood relief
15 new boarding schools for girls in Rajasthan

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu