Television sets for SC/ST colonies

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MAY 26. The Chief Minister, Mr. S. M. Krishna, said here on Saturday that the State Government would look into the shortcomings in the implementation of the various welfare programmes for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs).

He was participating at a function organised by the Department of Information to distribute television sets to SC/ST colonies and launch media centres that would be managed by persons belonging to these communities and a programme to distribute scholarships to SC/ ST students who were interested in pursuing Journalism courses.

Mr. Krishna said the initiative taken by the President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, in constituting a committee of Governors to tour the States and submit a report on implementation of various programmes for the welfare of the SC/ST people over the past 50 years, deserved appreciation.

The committee had submitted its report to the President, who would forward it to the Union Government. Once the copy of the report was given by the Centre, the State Government would look into the findings of the committee and take appropriate action.

Mr. Krishna said the Congress had introspected on the implementation of the welfare programmes for the SCs/ STs at its plenary session held here and discussed the steps to be taken in future in this regard.

Apart from the Congress President, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, the others who attended the introspection session included the Chief Ministers and the Ministers for Social Welfare of the States, where the party was in power. The Congress was serious about the uplift of the SCs/ STs, he added.

Referring to the steps taken by the Department of Information in distributing television sets to SC/ ST colonies and establishing media centres for their benefit, the Chief Minister said the welfare of SCs/ STs was not the responsibility of the Social Welfare Department alone.

The initiative of the Information Department could thus be described as a path-breaking effort.

The SCs/ STs would stand to gain if all government departments earmarked a small part of the funds allotted to them for the benefit of the deprived sections of society.

Mr. Krishna said television was a powerful medium of communication. The print media also continued to hold sway since the information circulated by it remained etched in the memory of the readers.

Apart from distributing television sets to dalit colonies in the reserved Legislative Assembly constituencies, efforts should be made to distribute TV sets to SC/ST colonies in other parts of the State, he added.

The Home Minister, Mr. M. Mallikarjun Kharge, said there were nearly 28,000 revenue villages and an equal number of hamlets and tribal colonies in the State.

A majority of them did not even have a television set or even access to newspapers.

Radio continued to be the only source of information for them. Providing them television sets would go a long way in disseminating information and serve as a source of education.

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Section  : Southern States
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