The THORAT Committee Report [and an ILO report too]: An obituary!
In our past article "Well Done Maharashtra Dalits ......" dated 24/12/06 and printed in the April 07 issue of this magazine, we wrote "And this explains the presence, and perhaps in some cases leading-role, of highly educated Dalit youth in the revolt actions ? they demonstrated by their deeds that 'reservation' could not and cannot do away with unemployment problem even among highly educated Dalits, the unemployment and marginalisation problems are getting accentuated by this Liberalisation-Globalisation policy of the governments of all shades; and moreover, it could not wipe away the caustic abuse, humiliation that always accompany reservation, always accompany Dalits even in higher ranks of jobs; more exactly speaking, it intensified insults from the 'upper-caste'. ..." We wrote this, especially the emphasised words, from our day-to-day bitter experiences. But at that time we were not aware of a front page news of The Telegraph, "Ghetto in medical hostel - Quota students in AIIMS allege being driven into a corner" by CHARU SUDAN KASTURI, on Wednesday, July 05, 2006. We are giving a link to that Telegraph article here (http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060705/asp/frontpage/story_6439173.asp) so that readers can see the ugliness of the said humiliation in the picture accompanying the story there.
We quote a few lines of that story for readers of the print version: "An engraved message on the door of Room No. 49 (Hostel 1) bears testimony to their concern. The inscription, spiced with abusive language, asks the room's occupant Umakant, a scheduled caste student, to "get out of this (hostel) wing". With almost half the reserved category students since seeking reallocation of their rooms, the message seems to have worked. The top floors of Hostel No. 4 and 5 of the country's premier medical school have 32 rooms in all, of which 27 are occupied by SC/ST students. Of the 250 students at the institute, 55 are SC/ST.
Hostel records show that 22 of the students currently in the "ghetto" moved there only in the wake of the surcharged atmosphere of the anti-reservation agitation that started with the human resource development ministry unveiling plans for a quota for the Other Backward Classes. "Many more want to shift there but cannot because there aren't enough rooms for everyone," said a student. AIIMS authorities said they would take "necessary action". Sub-dean Dr Sunil Chumber said he had himself faced discrimination during his college years. "My room was broken into, and things destroyed, because I came from a reserved category," he said. ... ... ..."
It was also added there that ? A senior resident doctor, who belongs to the scheduled castes, said: "We are so scared here because the director (P. Venugopal) himself is supporting them (the anti-quota agitators). We have nowhere to go to complain." ... Some SC/ST students alleged that to keep them from revealing the discrimination, they were often "failed in examinations", which acted as a threat. "Every year on an average five of the 11 reserved category students are held back," a resident doctor said, citing his own case, where he was one of those failed in the first year. AIIMS rules say a student who fails twice over the five years of study cannot pursue his or her post-graduation. ... ...
But that lad, Umakant, was a bit defiant and formally submitted a complaint in September after being abused for not obeying orders. Another boy did the same. And these events prompted another newspaper article: Dalit students 'abused' at AIIMS, this time in the India's largest selling English daily The Time Of India, on September 12 (see that article at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1980423.cms) and on that evening the Health Minister Dr Ramadoss announced a committee to probe into. The committee, headed by UGC Chairman Prof Thorat, submitted its report on May 6 this year.
What the THORAT Committee found out? Again let us see those two newspapers.
The font page news of The Telegraph on May 7, titled AIIMS apartheid, cricket to class said: New Delhi, May 6: In the country's top medical college, Sateesh Meena is not allowed to dine or play cricket with upper caste students. Neither, he says, is any other Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe student. Daily life at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences resembles that in the country's feudal outbacks and Apartheid-era South Africa, a government committee has discovered, confirming findings [as were] reported by The Telegraph. "Some would just get up and walk away when I would sit at the table (in the mess)," said Jiten Dash (name changed, like Meena's), according to transcripts of conversations the panel had with SC and ST students. The committee interviewed 25 reserved-category students ? half their total number at the institute ? of whom almost all said they were told "not to play basketball or cricket" by the upper caste students". "Football and volleyball (that the upper castes don't fancy) were the only sports we were allowed to play," Meena said. The committee claims "enough evidence" that the discrimination is "linked" to the "proactive role the AIIMS administration played" in fanning anti-quota sentiments on campus. During last year's anti-reservation agitation, AIIMS authorities had allowed student protesters from other institutions, too, to gather on the campus. No other central institution did so. ...
The Times Of India had an analytical and revealing article titled Diagnosis: Casteism by MANOJ MITTA on May 13 (see http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Diagnosis_Casteism/articleshow/2039283.cms). He diagnosed some of the diseases prevalent in the top notches of our ruling elite class, which includes both the govt and the AIIMS Board, including the director and the minister themselves. His concluding three Paragraphs were: "But when the much-awaited findings came, Ramadoss, unfortunately, seemed more interested in settling his personal scores with Venugopal. After tabling the report in a meeting of the governing body of AIIMS, all that the government could think of announcing was its decision to serve a show-cause notice on faculty members for condemning the Thorat findings.
"Instead of pinning them down on specific instances of caste discrimination, Ramadoss did Venugopal's camp a favour with his clumsy attempt to muzzle their voices. Sure enough, they accused him of being autocratic and the committee of doing his bidding. By allowing them to reclaim the moral high ground on the autonomy of AIIMS, Ramadoss has helped the faculty and administration escape the odium of accounting for their errors of omission and commission.
"Little wonder then that Sukhbir Singh Badhal, for instance, has to make do with his second preference despite topping the exam. And, for all the exposure in the media, AIIMS has held on to its dubious distinction of having a ghetto for its Dalit and tribal students."
Quite disgustingly the aftermath of the submission of the Thorat Report was, if we follow the big bourgeois media, abandoning or evasion of the issue - and the 'personal clash' between two bigwigs, Venugopal vs. Ramadoss, was overblown. The upper-caste-upper-class elite had their issue in their own way. And within a few days the whole episode was quietly buried into oblivion by the media. The web world is also no exception. As for example, the academics-india.com titled its relevant lead story: "Ramadoss has his way, Thorat panel indicts Venugopal" and the first sentence was, "The battle-lines between pro and anti-reservationists became a bit sharper on May 5, as the three-member pro-reservationists' Thorat Committee indicted the Director of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and accused him of "playing a provocative role" in anti-reservation stir last year" [emphasis ours]. The upper-caste elites in their sites and blogs described the Thorat findings just as a consequence of Venugopal vs. Ramadoss fight, and portrayed the latter as an interfering element spoiling the sacred 'autonomy' of the 'prestigious' institute, even as a 'casteist', who, allegedly, could become a doctor only by the caste-quota!
And thus the story ends with, as MANOJ wrote, "And, for all the exposure in the media, AIIMS has held on to its dubious distinction of having a ghetto for its Dalit and tribal students". From an obscure village of Maharashtra, 'Khairlanji', to the esteemed 'centre of excellence' at the capital of the country, 'AIIMS', caste discrimination, humiliation and insult for the Dalits are there everywhere.
To top it all the Business Standard, published a story "Caste discrimination still exists: ILO" by Prasad Nichenametla, dated 13 May 2007: The latest evidence that caste discrimination in the country is alive and kicking in the country is a report by the International Labour Organisation. In its report "Equality at Work: Tackling the challenges," it says caste discrimination keeps a vast segment of the population out of many workplaces. It adds that affirmative action like quotas have not helped the depressed classes be on a par with the rest. Dalits are generally not accepted for any work involving contact with water or food for non-Dalits or entering a non-Dalit residence, the report says. Thus, they are excluded from a wide range of work opportunities in production, processing or sale of food items, domestic work and provision of certain services in private and public sectors. The discrimination is not confined to the work place, as the report further observes that limited access to education, training and resources such as land and credit further impair their opportunities for access to non caste-based occupations and work. "The deprivation stemming from discrimination in all areas of their life leads to higher levels of poverty among Dalits compared with non-Dalits," the report says. Commenting on religion-based discrimination, the ILO report says Dalits in India suffer even more extreme marginalisation and socio-economic discrimination if they are either Muslim or Christian. ...While admitting that affirmative action has assisted a small number of Dalits in obtaining formal jobs, the International Labour Organisation says the programme has failed to lead to more even progress in providing equal opportunities to all. "Purely developmental approaches to improving the lot of the Dalits are insufficient, if the underlying structural causes and caste barriers are not simultaneously addressed," the report cautions. ...
Thus, when Vidya Bhushan Rawat was writing "Defining Moment Of Dalit Empowerment" (see http://www.countercurrents.org/rawat120507.htm) celebrating the victory of Mayawati in the UP assembly election, Dalit contract workers in as far away places as Kolkata or Guwahati were rejoicing over the victory of Behenji in UP, precisely at that time the Thorat panel report was throttled and buried silently, with the ILO report waiting for the same fate! Another 'interesting point' is there: though some English language dailies put this episode in their front pages, strikingly, the vernacular press, including the Hindi print media, by and large, didn't give that much 'importance' to this item!
But, the revolutionary proletariat, as a true and vigilant fighter against all kinds of discriminations, exploitations, does not forget such episodes, always remembers each and every scars and insults inflicted by the caste society, and vows with vengeance for radical change of this society, including annihilation of caste system. Otherwise, 'democracy', in the true sense, cannot be achieved.
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