Tamil Nadu - Vellore   

Law sought on quota for SC/ST in private sector

— Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan

Prakash Ambedkar, national president, RPI, presenting an award to a volunteer of RPI on the occasion of 53rd death anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar, in Vellore on Wednesday.

VELLORE: The Oppressed People’s Unity Pledge-Taking Day Conference, organised by the Republican Party of India (RPI) in connection with the 53rd death anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar here on Tuesday, urged the Central government to bring in legislation without delay to ensure reservation for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the private sector. It said it is in the light of the dilution of reservation in the public sector on account of privatisation and the livelihood of the oppressed classes “becoming a question mark.”

A resolution was adopted at the conference presided over by C.K. Thamizharasan, Tamil Nadu State president of the RPI, in the presence of national president Prakash Ambedkar.

The conference urged the United Progressive Alliance government to bear the education expenses of Dalit students in all colleges. It requested the Centre to ensure reservation for SCs/STs in its higher educational institutions. The conference appealed for a separate budget for schemes for the welfare of the SCs/STs, as done for the Railways. It wanted allocations to be made directly to the Department of Adi Dravidar Welfare of State governments for implementation.

The conference appealed to the State government to establish bank branches for the Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation (TAHDCO) in all districts and to enhance the TAHDCO loans by three times. It urged the Central and State governments to waive the TAHDCO loans and educational loans granted to the SC/ST people.

The conference urged the State government to prevent the Palar River from becoming dry and polluted and to take steps to strengthen the waterbodies in such a way that they permanently yield water. It pleaded for the extension of the Hogenakkal scheme to Vellore.

Mr. Prakash Ambedkar called upon the Dalits to be vigilant and ensure that the schemes meant for the welfare of the SCs/STs are not only implemented but also lead to the fruition of the efforts taken by Dalit organisations.

With many SCs/STs having educated themselves and become doctors, engineers, business people and entered the Information Technology and management sector thanks to the reservation brought by the efforts of B.R. Ambedkar in the government sector, the Central government was slowly depriving the Dalits of scholarships and subsidies. He recalled the words of his grandfather, B.R. Ambedkar, who said that the moment the Dalits stopped being vigilant, exploitation would start. Mr. Prakash Ambedkar said that the present problem arising out of the announcement of a separate Telangana State, leading to the demand for the bifurcation of other States, would not have arisen, had the Central government followed the advice of B.R. Ambedkar to form smaller States during the process of linguistic reorganisation of States. Mr. Thamizharasan accused the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government of failure to introduce new schemes for the welfare of Dalits. He urged the DMK government to provide for reservation for Dalits in the Cabinet, and the Central government to increase the reservation for Dalits and tribals from 19 to 22 per cent. C. Senguttuvan, State general secretary of RPI, spoke.

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