Chairperson of the
Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Kirit Premjibhai Solanki expressed satisfaction on the overall social condition
of these two communities in Assam on Monday.
He, however,
stressed on the need to improve different parameters such as education and jobs
besides ending practices like manual scavenging in which mostly people from
Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) are engaged.
Talking to
reporters at the end of a three-day study tour of the panel to the State,
Solanki said, “Discrimination based on caste is less in Assam and the entire
northeastern region compared to many other parts of the country. We have learnt
that cases of atrocities on SC/ST are also few here.”
Solanki, who was
accompanied by 14 out of total 30 members of the committee, held discussions
with the State Government representatives, including chief secretary and
several PSUs such as LIC, ONGC, OIL, Northeast Frontier Railways and
IIT-Guwahati.
The committee,
which left for Darjeeling in West Bengal, also visited a tribal village near
Guwahati during their tour.
“During our talks
with the State Government, we emphasised that benefits of schemes meant for
both the communities should reach people. One of our thrust areas was the pre
and post-matric scholarship schemes for students of these two communities,” said
Solanki.
Another area of
focus was on awareness to mitigate sickle cell anemia, which is highly
prevalent among the tribals, the BJP MP from Gujarat added.
“Allocation of
funds for awareness and eradication of this disease has been made in the Union
Budget. Besides the government initiatives, we have also requested private
companies to take up the cause under their CSR commitments,” he said.
The committee
urged PSUs to ensure implementation of SC/ST welfare schemes, including
full-time employment of ‘safai karmacharis’ (cleaning staff), so that they are
not deprived of their benefits.
“The welfare of
‘safai karmacharis’ is essential. We want mechanisation of jobs such as
cleaning of drains as far as feasible and we have put forth that before the
different organisations,” Solanki said.
He also called for
appointment of eligible persons from SC/ST communities in higher posts.
Solanki urged for
the implementation of reservation policies in letter and spirit, wherever
applicable, though he refused to comment on a demand for caste census.
“The matter of
caste census is for the government to decide. We cannot say anything on it,” he
added.
PTI
