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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Centre mulls special Mahadalit category by Usha Srivastava

Centre mulls special Mahadalit category by Usha Srivastava

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published Published on May 19, 2011   modified Modified on May 19, 2011
Set to include them in BPL segment

In a step which can have a major bearing on Dalit politics in the country and challenge Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s undisputed hold over her caste people, the Centre is likely to carve out a special Mahadalit category and include them in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) segment.

The proposal is expected to come up for discussion before the Union Cabinet on Thursday. Sources said the Mahadalit category will consist of those sub-castes from Scheduled Castes which are economically, socially and educationally most backward in comparison to others and are landless, homeless and have symbolic representation in Government jobs.

The Congress feels that creation of this Mahadalit category will deal a body blow to UP Chief Minister Mayawati and other Dalit leaders.

This proposal mooted by the Rural Development Ministry could become part of the BPL census exercise once the Cabinet gave its seal of approval. An official of the Rural Development Ministry said there was need to reach out to the most backward and poorest section of Dalits and this move will ensure their empowerment.

For the first time in 2007, NC Saxena committee report on Below Poverty Line methodology talked about the need for giving especial attention to Mahadalits and stressed that they be automatically included in the BPL list.

Expressing happiness over the Centre’s move, Saxena told The Pioneer that “this will come as a big relief for hundreds of thousands of Dalits.”

On who will be identified as Mahadalits, Saxena said, “those who are poorest among the poor and most backward among the backwards.”

Saxena said Mahadalits are present in large numbers in States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Assam.

Bihar is the first State to treat Mahadalits as separate category. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s revolutionary step helped him isolate his political rival Ram Vilas Paswan in a big way.

Saxena said that while the States will have flexibility to include certain Scheduled Castes in Mahadalit category, but they will have to ensure that the BPL sealing fixed by the Planning Commission is not breached. He said his committee had also recommended exclusion of ‘well-off’ castes from the list of BPL.

Sources said the exercise to identify people below poverty line will go hand in hand with caste census and be part of it.

The Cabinet on Thursday is likely to decide on the methodology and agency to carry out this exercise. The Government will like to complete it before September to take political advantage in the next year’s elections in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand.

Incidentally, hundreds of villages have been identified under Prime Minister’s Adarsh Gram Yojna, of which 25 are in UP. In such villages, half of the population consists of the Mahadalits.

In October last year, the NAC had suggested inclusion of particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PTGs), the Mahadalit groups, households headed by single women or disabled persons or a minor, destitute households which are dependent predominantly on alms for survival, homeless and bonded labourers in the priority group for coverage under the Food Security Act.

The Pioneer, 19 May, 2011, http://www.dailypioneer.com/339665/Centre-mulls-special-Mahadalit-category.html


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