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SC/ST youths to meet Rahul today

CUTTACK: More than 500 SC and ST youths of the State—who are eager to take leaderships in their locality—are quit excited at the opportunity to meet AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi here on Tuesday.

The Congress leader is scheduled to interact with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes delegates after a two-day session of Adivasi Yuva Netutwa Nirman Abhiyan and Dalit Yuva Netrutwa Abhiyan which began here on Monday.

The two-day workshop here mainly discussed socio-economic status of SCs and STs, education and status of women and impact on these people of industrialization, SEZ, modernization and urbanization on the first day.

The delegates would be discussing development of tribal and dalit leadership capable of envisaging and implementing schemes and models for the development of these people on Tuesday.

The delegates felt that unlike other disadvantaged groups, Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste people possessed lands which are closely attached to forests.

“However, the lands of these people are generally uplands and their productivity is low as they depend completely on rainfall for cultivation.”

On education and gender equality, the youths felt that Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population were deprived of getting quality education.

They were for all times exploited and oppressed by the outsiders due to their illiteracy. Due to lack of proper education, they were not in a position to join the mainstream, the delegates said.

On industrialization, the participants felt that ruthless modernization had disturbed the existing structure and imbalanced local ecology. Impacts of mining and industrialization had displaced these people from their land and it would take a long time to rehabilitate these people.

However, when these people had now got an opportunity to take leadership in their locality, they are much excited and are eager to meet AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

“Rahulji has invited us for an interaction and I am sure he will listen to us and guide us to lead the people of our community so as to bring them to the mainstream”, said Anil Minz, a youth who has come all the way from Rourkela to attend the workshop.

Similarly, Priyabrat Majhi of Koraput who studies in JNU is also here to try his luck in serving the people of his native district.

“There is no dearth of leadership in our community, but we lack the focus and there is no one to guide us. Now that Rahulji has volunteered to guide us, we are sure our voice will be heard in the corridors of power,” Majhi said.

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