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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Dalit women pledge to snatch their rights from oppressive social structures -Mohammad Ali

Dalit women pledge to snatch their rights from oppressive social structures -Mohammad Ali

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published Published on Dec 5, 2012   modified Modified on Dec 5, 2012
-The Hindu

Sunita Devi couldn’t take her Class IX final exams because the date clashed with the day of her marriage. Nine years on, she has not completed her degree course, but teaches other Dalit women who couldn’t continue their studies after marriage.

The resident of Baghpat in western Uttar Pradesh was recounting her story to a large number of Dalit women who gathered here on Tuesday as part of the first national conference of Dalit women to debate and outline a national Dalit development agenda that will focus on Dalits gaining access to essential services such as the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme (MDM) and the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS).

“After marriage I told my husband that at any cost I would continue my studies. I challenged the social norms prevailing in Baghpat because somebody has to take the courage to break the social structures. If you won’t then nobody will,” she told the cheering crowd.

Ms. Devi was joined by Laxmi Bagri, a field worker on Dalit issues in Haryana. She narrated her story of fighting against the violent onslaught of a casteist and patriarchal society. “I raised my voice against sexual violence on fellow Dalit women and took the matter up with the police. The victims got justice because of the solidarity shown by the Dalit rights activists and groups,” she said.

“The bottom line is that it is high time we say no to all kinds of violence by any body and every body,” Ms. Bagri said amid thunderous applause by the crowd. “We need to take our every legitimate right from the self-appointed guardians of society.”

The occasion saw eminent feminist Kamla Bhasin singing empowering songs about not getting bogged down by patriarchal dictates and fulfilling one’s every wish and aspiration.

“Let’s take a pledge not to be defeated by patriarchal onslaught. All that it takes is courage on our part,” she said.

Dalit women talked about how they faced discrimination while accessing food programmes such as the PDS, ICDS and the MDM. They demanded that ICDS centres and PDS shops be opened in Dalit villages, cooking staff appointed from among the SC/STs to “eliminate the notions of purity, pollution and untouchability.”

Ashok Bharti from the National Confederation of Dalit Organisation, a coalition of several Dalit rights groups, noted that the PDS, ICDS, and the MDM were arguably the strongest available tools with which the poor and marginalised could actualise the Right to Food.

“But the biggest roadblock is the considerable disadvantage faced by Dalits while accessing these schemes, which has finally resulted in poor nutritional indicators of the majority of the SC/ST communities,” he said.

A recent UNICEF study showed that 37 per cent of reported maternal deaths were from the SCs, he said adding that children from the SC/STs were more likely to be underweight and malnourished. “It shows that there is something seriously wrong with our nutritional policies,” he said.

Mr. Bharti demanded the redesigning of the National Nutrition Policy and the establishment of a National Nutrition Authority with substantial presence from the SC/ST communities. He also asked the government to make it mandatory a social audit of all food and nutritional schemes.

Dalit women face discrimination while accessing programmes like PDS, ICDS and MDM

37 per cent of reported maternal deaths are from the Scheduled Castes: UNICEF study

The Hindu, 5 December, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/dalit-women-pledge-to-snatch-their-rights-from-oppressive-social-structures/article4165436.ece


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