Modi government taking serious initiative for welfare of Dalits

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on May 11 took a holy dip (samrasta snan) with Dalits at Valmiki Ghat on the banks of river Shipra in Ujjain, where the Simhastha Kumbh is being held.

While critics may call it symbolic, the event holds significance as it underlines BJP’s sustained effort to bring Dalits into the mainstream and ensure that they too lead a life of dignity and respect.

Most political parties have so far engaged in politics of symbolism and used Dalits as vote bank. However, now the BJP-led NDA government has ushered in a refreshing change with a genuine attempt to reach out to the community and create an enabling environment through multiple measures for their all-round growth and development.

Thanks to caste-based reservation introduced by Babasaheb Ambedkar, it was initially the Congress that became the natural beneficiary of the policy and secured a lion’s share of Dalit votes at the national level for decades.

However, in the last two decades, Dalits have gradually moved away from the Congress as the grand old party failed to initiate any impactful programme to uplift the community.

Since then a number of parties entered the political fray to take advantage of the disenchantment of Dalits from the Congress but it is only the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that has managed to make a substantial dent in the community’s vote bank.

The BSP rose in the 1990s in the Hindi heartland and its supremo Mayawati became chief minister of the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh on four different occasions.

However, even Mayawati failed to usher in any structural changes for the welfare of the Dalits, and instead, drowned the opportunity by chasing politics of symbolism when she installed statues of Dalit leaders of the yore across the state.

No wonder, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, her party drew a blank in Uttar Pradesh. However, most political outfits have not learned from the plight of Congress and BSP and continue to dabble in politics of symbolism while ignoring real issues concerning Dalits.

Perhaps this is the reason that the unfortunate suicide of Hyderabad University’s Dalit student Rohith Vemula was given so much political colour. In the last ten years, as many as eight Dalit students have committed suicide in Hyderabad University which clearly indicates caste-based discrimination in this centre of learning.

Of the eight suicides, seven took place when both the state and the Centre had Congress governments but there were no protests by any political party, nor did Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi dash to Hyderabad to express his solidarity with the family of the deceased student.

In fact, BSP chief Mayawati, who created a ruckus in Parliament over Rohith’s suicide, had never spoken a word before on the issue of atrocities against Dalits in Hyderabad University. It is evident that those shedding crocodile tears over Rohith’s tragic death are only indulging in politics and they have nothing to do with the welfare of the Dalits.

Besides social integration, the creation of a strict law and its effective implementation is the only way to ensure justice for Dalits. In this regard the BJP government in Maharashtra has taken a commendable step by bringing Prohibition of Social Boycott Bill in the state Assembly.

This bill has made discrimination and social boycott a punishable offence with maximum punishment of seven years in prison or fine up to Rs 5 lakh or both.

This law will go a long way in curbing the practice of discrimination by local institutions, like panchayat bodies, against Dalits. The central government also introduced similar effective laws a couple of weeks ago to rein in crimes against Dalits and adivasis. Such stringent laws can play an effective role in ending bias against Dalits and pave the way for their empowerment.

The intolerance shown towards Dalits in Hindu temples and other places of worship for centuries has also created a feeling of inferiority among the community. Thus, both religious leaders and religious institutions also need to play a key role in instilling confidence among the Dalits.

The religious places that discriminate against Dalits need to be identified and appropriate steps need to be taken to put an end to this evil practice. While it is a fact that some social ills need to be tackled to ensure rightful place for Dalits in the society but the key to their upliftment and progress eventually lies in education and economic development.

The BJP government under Narendra Modi’s leadership has taken several effective steps in these two crucial areas for the benefit of Dalits and these measures are likely to deliver results in the long run.

It is often seen that the benefit of reservation has largely been confined to the educated and well-heeled in the Dalit community. Generation after generation, it is only people from the same family and community, who have been getting cushy jobs.

Thus, it is necessary that the policy of reservation is targeted better so that its advantages accrue to other sections of Dalits as well and they also get an opportunity to rise and shine.

Perhaps, the concept of creamy layer can also be introduced in Dalit reservation as has been done in reservation for backward castes.

The reservation for Dalits in private sector can’t be advocated in a liberalised modern economy. However, big corporates can still contribute in this noble cause by giving preference to Dalits on merit basis on the lines of their CSR initiative; this can create a new window of opportunities for the community.

Since Dalits have, traditionally, never been landlords in rural areas, they remained illiterate due to lack of funds and evil practice of social boycott. Hence, manual labour has been their only source of income.

Skill development can provide better livelihood to Dalits in rural areas.

In this context, participation in Modi government’s "Skill India" programme can prove to be a blessing for the Dalit community. It is essential that the government introduces effective and result-oriented programmes under the "Skill India" initiative keeping Dalits in focus.

Similarly, entrepreneurship can prove to be a milestone for financial empowerment and prosperity of Dalits. While "Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce" is a welcome move, a common Dalit person may not be able to derive benefits from such an institution due to lack of education, skill and funds.

Hence, effective implementation of government initiatives like "Stand Up India" for supporting entrepreneurship, Mudra Bank for easy finance and "Jan Dhan Yojana” for access to banking services will go a long way in awakening the spirit of entrepreneurship among the Dalit community.

Thus, Narendra Modi government and BJP under Amit Shah have taken some serious initiative for long-term welfare of Dalits.

However, mainstreaming and empowerment of Dalits can never be achieved unless every Indian does his/her bit because social discrimination is the root cause of this centuries-old evil.