A rally on wheels to build Dalit awareness
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The National Conference of Dalit Organisations’ Jan Adhikaar Cycle Rally, to span over 60 days, was flagged off on January 10, 2008 by Subhash Chandra Chaurasia, journalist, Dainik Bhaskar, from Dabhora in Rewa District, Madhya Pradesh.
The rally will concentrate on building awareness and public opinion regarding the “New Panchsheel”, as focused by NACDOR during the 2nd National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR-II) at Delhi during December 2007. The ‘New Panchsheel’ include (1) Land & Resources, (2) Education, (3) Health, (4) Livelihoods, and (5) Dignity – the cornerstones of the development of Dalits and other marginalised sections of society. The rally will cover 250 villages in the Baghelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. Besides getting a first hand understanding of the ground realities related to development of Dalits and marginalised, the rallyists will hold over 1,000 public meetings in these villages and adjoining areas to initiate a people’s dialogue on issues of concern. On the first day of the rally, four villages were covered. These included Devpuja, Banjana, Akauria and Magraur. The following were some of the findings: 1. The health care infrastructure in the region is in shambles. In Akauria village, a government Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Centre exists but hardly offers any facilities. The building is in illegally possession by local strongmen and their goons, and is being used as a storehouse for fodder for their cattle! The staffs who are supposed to work at the MCH centre visit the village occasionally. They expressed their desire to work regularly provided their rightful office is vacated by the goons and they are given the rights to the premises. They said there is serious threat to their security by the local goons and hence prefer to stay at home. The rich and influential communities go and seek medical services elsewhere. As the poor, the Dalits and marginalised women are the ones most affected; no one has bothered to get the MCH centre functional. 2. Adivasis in the region have land titles (pattas). However the land is not in their control and continues to be managed by influential communities and their henchmen. These are the people who have since long ruled over the vulnerable communities of the area and lived off the sweat of the toiling masses. Land titles of 42 Adivasis were cancelled without assigning any legitimate reason. 3. Malnutrition amongst the children of Dalits and marginalised is the norm rather than an exception. In spite of this fact, the government run mid-day meal programme is highly irregular and is plagued with corruption and inefficiency. 4. We are told that there is a government run scheme that provides bicycles to school going girls, if they have to travel over 2 kms to reach schools. In the four villages that the rallyists covered, we found 15 girls who have to travel over 9 kms to reach Dabhora. None of these girls have been provided with bicycles. The rallyists will meet the concerned local officials and functionaries, and hand over a copy of their findings to make them to take corrective action. This will be an ongoing activity during the yatra. The Cycle Yatra is being led by Chote Lal, Jagdish Yadav, Ms. Shakuntala Adivasi, Bhola Prasad and Acchhe Lal. NACDOR partners Bhoomi Adhikar Manch and Panchsheel Seva Sansthan are leading the rally. For more information, contact Anulekha National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) M-3/22, Model Town-III, Delhi 110009 INDIA Telephone: +91-11-27419002 Fax: +91-11-27442744 Formed in December 2001, NACDOR is a confederation of more than 300 grassroots Dalit organisations spread across India. NACDOR is the founder of World Dignity Forum and is closely linked with the World Social Forum, GCAP, MDGs and other International campaigns. |
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