The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : BJP Dalit Morcha opposes quota for ‘converted’ Dalits

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 20, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

BJP Dalit Morcha opposes quota for ‘converted’ Dalits

Measures not at the expense of the Scheduled Castes
Extending benefits to Dalits who converted would adversely impact the SCs
Terms it yet another move to treat minority communities as ‘vote bank’

HYDERABAD: Bharatiya Janata Dalit Morcha president Satyanarayan Jatia has criticised the Central Government for its efforts to extend reservation to Dalits converted to other faiths claiming it to be yet another move to treat the minority communities as ‘vote bank’. The Morcha is not against measures for welfare of minorities, but they should not be at the expense of the Scheduled Castes which comprise 17 per cent of the population, he said.

Will impact SCs

Participating in a Dalit Morcha State executive meeting here on Saturday, he said extending benefits of reservations to Dalits who converted to other religions would adversely impact the SCs in that they would be made to compete for their share in the existing quota.

“This amounts to nothing but ridiculing Dr. B.R. Ambedkar who wanted equality in terms of opportunities to Dalits,” he said. He criticised the ‘Sonia Gandhi Government’ at the Centre for stopping implementation of rule of reservation in minority institutions.

The Government, at the same time, was trying to provide ‘interest free’ loans to the Muslim community on the basis of Sachar Committee report. “Why is the same facility not being extended to Dalits?” he asked.

He exhorted the morcha activists and the party cadre to educate people on the ‘anti-Dalit’ policies of the Central Government.

Appreciating the morcha for chalking out a 45-day agitational plan across the State, BJP State president Bandaru Dattatreya asked them to identify lapses in the implementation of Indiramma scheme while they should launch a door-to-door campaign for identifying shelterless poor who were in need of houses.

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