HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Bonded labour is prohibited in India by law. Though the Constitution directly and indirectly prohibits the practice, vide Articles 21, 23 (1) and 24, a specific law that prohibits the practice, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act was legislated only in 1976. Despite the statutory prohibition, bonded labour is widely practiced. The …
Forest alert
by Latha Jishnu Saxena panel report on Niyamgiri puts states under watch for forest, tribal rights violations Tribals in Kodigumma village discuss filing of community claims Few committees have been as forthright as the N C Saxena committee on the violation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) by the very authorities which are charged …
Neutral agency to study atrocities against Dalits
HINDUSTAN TIMES Following the Dalit ministers’ demand that atrocities against their community be averted, the state government on Monday decided to appoint a neutral agency to recommend measures to check the social evil. In the Cabinet meeting on August 4, Ministers Nitin Raut, Varsha Gaikwad and Ramesh Bagwe (from Congress) and Laxman Dhoble (from the …
New vistas for deprived students
Urvashi Sarkar The need to highlight positive stories of Dalits and adivasis and the desire to spread awareness about higher education abroad prompted the Insight Foundation to organise an interactive discussion on opportunities for Dalit and adivasi students here on Sunday.Discussions centred mainly on universities in the United States and the United Kingdom. Rama …
Adi Dharam World Mission Objects to Amrit Bani
OUTLOOK Adi Dharam World Mission, a Dalit body today extended support to radical Sikh organisation, Damdami Taksal Bhindrawale, and declared that newly-floated Ravidasia dharm was a conspiracy to drive a wedge between Adidharm samaj and the Sikh community.Kishan Pal Sood, President Adi Dharam World Mission, today told newsmen here that Amrit Bani, new granth of …
Shampoo & social equality
Ila Patnaik Economists have tended to focus on expenditure patterns, consumption and income to assess poverty and inequality in rural India. Within these categories, the debate among economists normally focuses on the average consumer or the one living below the poverty line. This approach fits well with methods for studying changing inequality in most countries. …
‘Names of women folk poets wiped off’
INDIA BLOOMS New Delhi: Names of several women folk poets were systematically wiped off, said Vishnu Khare, well-known poet, translator and critic.He was speaking at the 11th Friday Seminar Lecture series organized by the School of Gender and Development Studies, IGNOU. The topic of the lecture was “The Daughters of Punna and Mutta: Contemporary Women …
Untouchable Ambedkar—the Saga of his Discrimination in America
BY A K VISWAS The 119th birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar has been observed on April 14 this year. On this occasion we offer our sincere homage to that towering personality by publishing the following article and a piece that N.C. wrote on him in 1990 when the Bharat Ratna was posthumously …
A History of the Untouchables: The Buraku and the Dalit
by Katelyn Coyle The Buraku of Japan and the Dalit of India remain the lowest caste of their respective countries. Experiencing more than just poverty and low status, the Buraku and the Dalit have been described as being lower than human, filthy, and contaminated. Members of these castes are considered to be the untouchables. Highly …