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Charter of Demands
Adopted by the
Newly elected Dalit Local Government Representatives of Tamil Nadu
24 and 25 February 2007
Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai.
Organized by
Institute of Social Sciences,
New Delhi - 110 070.
And
Department of Political Science,
Madurai Kamaraj University,
Madurai - 625 021
Charter of Demands
Adopted by the newly elected Dalit Local Government Representatives of Tamil Nadu
24 and 25 February 2007
Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai.
The Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai and the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi organized a Convention of the newly elected Dalit Panchayat Members, Vice- Presidents and Presidents of District and Village Panchayat of Tamil Nadu on 24 and 25 February 2007 at Mu. Va. Hall, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai. Over 1000 Dalit Participants present across party lines were of the view that Tamil Nadu has to go a long way in implementing the 73rd Constitutional amendment in letter and spirit. Because (a) the culture of local self Government as envisaged in Part IX of the Constitution is uneven in the state and (b) the Panchayat Raj reforms are not institutionalized, the worst victims are the Dalits who contest the constitutionally mandated Panchayat elections; the Dalits who get elected as members as well as those occupying the offices of Vice-President or President. Tamil Nadu which has achieved remarkable success in political process and economic development is far behind in social development because of caste system reflected in all walks of life and today it is acutely felt ever since the new generations of panchayats have come into existence. Therefore, we the Dalit elected members of Panchayts in Tamil Nadu, present at the convention, place before the Government of Tamil Nadu the following Charter of Demands:
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1 |
The roles and responsibilities are not handed over to the
newly elected representatives of the panchayats so far. This results in
non-functioning of the panchayats. Hence we urge the Government of Tamil
Nadu to intervene in this issue and to ensure the handover the responsibilities
to the respective Panchayat Presidents. |
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2 |
We urge the Government of Tamil Nadu that, Instead of giving allowances
and honorarium to the Panchayat Presidents, the Government of Tamil Nadu
should make an amendment to the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act 1994, ensuring
salaries to the Panchayat Presidents, Vice- Presidents and Ward Members
as that of the Kerala and Karnataka Panchayats Act. |
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3 |
We demand that the Government of Tamil Nadu should develop schemes for
constituting electric crematoriums in every Panchayat so as to eradicate
the existing caste discrimination even in burial grounds. |
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4 |
We urge the state government to conscientize the state Government officials
especially those dealing with Panchayat Raj to (a) understand the meaning
of Part IX of the Constitution and (b) enable them to deal with all elected
Panchayat members equally without any caste prejudice. |
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5 |
All arrangements must be made for imparting special training to the Dalit
elected Panchayat members enabling them to understand their rights and responsibilities
in the third tier of government, i.e. the Panchayats. |
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6 |
We demand that Section 205 of Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act 1994 which has
given powers to the District Collector to remove the Panchayat Presidents
from Office without enquiry should be repealed by making an amendment to
the Act. Because of the prevalence of Section 205, the SC/ST members are
worst affected. |
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7 |
We urge the Government of Tamil Nadu to implement the Special Component
Plan meant for the Adi-Dravidas, to allocate the funds as per the population
for self - reliance of the Dalits and Tribals. We demand that the funds
for the special component plan should be routed through the Panchayats and
not through the District Administration. |
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8 |
We demand that the Government of Tamil Nadu should publish a status paper
on the expenditure related to the Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub-
Plan in the forthcoming Budget session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. |
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9 |
The departments functioning for implementation of the welfare schemes
of Dalits and Tribals has only recommendatory powers. Hence all the developmental
plans related to the welfare of Dalits and Tribals are not reaching the
needy Dalits due to "Procedural Steel Frame Approach". Therefore, the concerned
banks such as TADCO (Tamil Nadu) and PADCO (Puduchery) are now giving priority
to procedures rather than the welfare of the Dalits and Tribals. We urge
the Government of Tamil Nadu to take steps to empower TADCO and PADCO with
independent powers to reach out to the target groups so that their poverty
can be eradicated within the shortest possible time. |
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10 |
The Government of Tamil Nadu should revisit the group housing scheme for
the Dalits. Today these housing lack healthy infrastructure, drinking and
running water and toilet facilitate. We request the Government of Tamil
Nadu to modify the budget with a minimum amount of Rs. 2 lakhs per house
ensuring a proper habitat enshrined in the Constitution. |
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11 |
In all the Government contracts related to common properties, the Government
should ensure that it should benefit the SC/ST population as per the population
ratio. |
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12 |
The existing procedures relating to the issuance of the Community Certificate
to Dalits and Tribals is complicated. Hence we urge the Government of Tamil
Nadu to relax the existing procedures and vest the power of issuing community
certificates with the respective Panchayats. |
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13 |
In every disaster, it is the Dalits who are neglected in relief and rehabilitation
measures carried out by the Government because Panchayats are not involved
in the disaster management or they are marginalized. Even in the recent
tsunami this was the case. Therefore we demand that the government of Tamil
Nadu should publish a white paper as to the money received for Tsunami relief
operations and how much has been spent through the Panchayats so far for
the relief operations of Dalits. |
In order to ensure that the Tamil Nadu Government implements the above demands,
the Convention resolved to form Dalit Local Government Representative Association
of Tamil Nadu. An Ad hoc Committee comprising of Mr. Pandit M.P.Raman (Madurai
District), Mr. Pakkirisamy (Thiruvarur District), Ms. Uma Thilagavathi (Sivagangai
District) and Ms. Tamil Selvi (Thiruvarur District) have been constituted to
form the association at the District and State Levels within the shortest possible
time.
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