Dalits Media Watch
News Updates 29.08.15
Dalit man forced into bonded labour in Madurai - The Times Of India
Cops begin probe into rape of dalit girl by mill supervisor - The Times Of India
SC/ST employees seek promotions on seniority - The Hindu
BR Ambedkar's London Home to be Turned Into Memorial - NDTV
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/br-ambedkars-london-home-to-be-turned-into-memorial-1212074
Please Watch:
Untouchability Captured on Camera, Rajasthan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdosKk6htrQ
The Hindu
Manual scavengers to tie rakhi to PM Narendra Modi today
Last Updated: Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 04:03
New Delhi: Several manual scavengers, liberated by an NGO, will tie rakhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan that falls on Saturday.
The group of five women will also hand over 1,000 rakhis to Modi designed by the widows from Vrindavan and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh who have been looked after by the NGO Sulabh International.
"Tying Rakhis to prime minister will be a major symbol against the existing stigma towards manual scavengers. It is a sad thing that widows have been considered inauspicious and manual scavengers as untouchables," said Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International.
With the help of Sulabh International, these people have been moved from manual scavenging to work like cooking, embroidery and painting.
Earlier on Raksha Bandhan, hundreds of manual scavengers and widows also tied rakhis on the wrist of Hindu priests and Sanskrit scholars.
Sulabh International works towards improvement of sanitation conditions across the country and also helps in the rehabilitation of manual scavengers.
IANS
The Times Of India
Dalit man forced into bonded labour in Madurai
TNN | Aug 29, 2015, 02.26 AM IST
MADURAI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has ordered the Madurai district collector to inquire a complaint filed by a dalit man who claimed that he was forcibly held as a bonded labourer at a brick kiln in the district.
Manimaran, 32, from Pannaiyur village in Madurai, had approached the Justice Shivaraj V Patil Foundation in the city on August 6. Manimaran said four years ago, he had worked in a brick kiln belonging to one Sundarajan of Nilayoor. While working there, he borrowed Rs 50,000 from Sundarajan for his sister's wedding. But, at the end of the repayment term in 2012, Sundarajan told him that he still had to pay Rs 70,000. Unable to repay the amount, Manimaran sought the help of another brick kiln owner, Ayyavu of Harveypatti in the same region. He then lured him with a promise of paying him Rs 500 per day, if he made 1,000 bricks a day. Ayyavu also told Manimaran that he would clear off Sundarajan's debt and he (Manimaran) can pay him (Ayyavu) back in instalments. However, Manimaran claimed that he was paid a meagre Rs 400 while the other workers who had not borrowed any loan from Ayyavu were paid between Rs 750 to 1,000 for every 1,000 bricks. Moreover, he was confined as a bonded labourer for the last three years and made to work for over 12 hours a day. Due to this, he was unable to attend any functions in his village like marriages and also funerals.
Few days back, Ayyavu had told him that he had repaid only the interest and not the principle and threatened him of consequences if he dared to question his actions. Following this, Manimaran filed a complaint with the foundation, which in turn forwarded his petition to the NHRC on August 7. The commission, which took up the compliant for hearing on August 20, ordered the collector to inquire Manimaran's allegation and submit a report in 15 days.
S Selva Gomathi, managing trustee of the foundation said this was the first time that the Commission had raised 14 queries, including the status of the licence of the brick kiln, community of the workers, wages register, muster roll, whether the owner followed the Minimum Wages Act, medical examination of workers among others.
The National Human Rights Commission took up the compliant for hearing on August 20. It has ordered the Madurai collector to inquire the allegation and submit a report in 15 days.
The Times Of India
Cops begin probe into rape of dalit girl by mill supervisor
TNN | Aug 29, 2015, 05.43 AM IST
COIMBATORE: The Tirupur police have begun a probe into the rape of a 15-year-old dalit girl by a mill supervisor. The girl from Andipatti in Theni district was allegedly raped by the mill supervisor who had employed her at the textile unit there.
Her plight came to light when she became pregnant and her mother lodged a complaint with the Andipatti police. The case has now been transferred from the Theni police to Tirupur. The accused has been arrested and remanded.According to the complaint lodged by the girl's mother, the teenager had dropped out of school two years ago due to a speech impairment. Subsequently, she was taken to Tirupur to work in a spinning mill.
"The family was promised a salary of 5,500 per month for the girl. The tout identified as Balsamy told the family that if the girl worked under the Sumangali scheme for three years, she would be paid 1.7lakh at the end of the term which could be used for her marriage,'' said police.
The girl arrived in Tirupur in 2013, when she was barely 13 years old and was enroled in Meghala Spinning Mill. Since then, Mani, the supervisor of the mill, has been allegedly raping her. "Mani enticed her with mobile phone, new clothes and cinema outings. Soon, he began raping her, even though she protested," police said.
The girl was warned against revealing her plight to others. When she told a few coworkers, no one believed her. Because of her speech impairment, she did not pursue the matter further, said police. She was allowed to visit her native only during Pongal, but it was unclear whether she told her parents about the rape. But, when she became pregnant, her parents got to know.
The Hindu
SC/ST employees seek promotions on seniority
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
AP Secretariat SC and ST Employees Association has represented to the government that seniority should be the basis while considering the cases for promotion to the next category.
Association secretary M.Yedukondalu here on Friday said they gave a representation addressed to the Chief Secretary in the wake of a petition submitted by one M.V.L. Kali Kumar, Deputy Secretary to Government, that as SC, ST employees, who were promoted against roster under the Right of Reservation were becoming seniors to him. He thus urged the authorities that further promotions be given by virtue of merit and ability and not on the basis of seniority.
The SC, ST Employees Association said the rule of reservation in promotions with consequential seniority in favour of SCs and STs was being implemented in the State as per the provisions in the Article 16 of the Constitution.
NDTV
BR Ambedkar's London Home to be Turned Into Memorial
http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/br-ambedkars-london-home-to-be-turned-into-memorial-1212074
All India | Press Trust of India | Updated: August 28, 2015 20:47 IST
LONDON: Dr BR Ambedkar will be the first Indian to have an entire home dedicated to his memory in London after India sealed a 3.1-million deal to acquire a bungalow where the Dalit icon and architect of Indian Constitution lived as a student in the 1920s.
The Maharashtra government this week completed the formalities to acquire the 10 King Henry's Road townhouse in north London where Dr Ambedkar resided during his student days in 1921-22.
The three-storey home will now be transformed into a memorial after the state government gains possession within two-three weeks and carries out essential repair and renovation work. The memorial is expected to open to visitors by later this year or early next year.\
"This property also has the distinction of being recognised as an English Heritage since 1991 and carries a blue plaque with the words 'Dr Bhimjirao Ramji Ambedkar 1891-1956, Indian Crusader for social justice lived here'.
"This property, therefore, has historic significance for all his followers and admirers, not only in India but all over the world," said Rajkumar Badole, Maharashtra's minister of social justice and special assistance.
"Our plan is that for the maintenance and use of this property as Dr Ambedkar Memorial, the government of Maharashtra would work closely with the High Commission of India," he said.
The details of the shape and form of the new memorial will now be finalised after consultations between Maharashtra government and India's Ministry of External Affairs.
Among some of the proposals under consideration for the memorial-cum-museum is a plan to use one of the floors as a transitory residence for Indian students who arrive in the UK to study.
The 2,050 square feet residential property in London went up for sale through an estate agent last year.
The Federation of Ambedkarites and Buddhist Organisation (FABO) UK wrote to the Indian government to urge them to purchase it as a historically important monument.
The decision for Maharashtra to purchase the property was cleared by the Indian government, with the state Cabinet giving its final nod to the proposal in February this year.
"Generations of Indians in the UK and visitors studying, interested or inspired by Dr Ambedkar's key roles in furthering social justice, human rights and equal treatment issues will be able to visit... Additionally, its five bedrooms could be used as accommodation for Indian students from Dalit backgrounds while doing post-graduate studies in the UK," said FABO UK president Santosh Dass.
Over and above the 3.1 million pound cost of the home, there will be an estimated 2,17,000 pound Stamp Duty (payable at 7 per cent on the purchase price), with essential legal and insurance costs and renovations taking the cost up to around 4 million pounds.
"There is a lot of work to do on the house before it can be opened to visitors.
"We look forward to working with GOM (Government of Maharashtra) and the High Commission in London in the months and years to come to ensure that this cultural and political heritage site is put to uses of which Dr Ambedkar would approve," Mr Dass added.
News monitored by AMRESH & AJEET
On behalf of
Dalits Media Watch Team
(An initiative of "Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre-PMARC")
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