Bihar governor moots tribals' and Dalits' commission
Patna | August 21, 2005 4:55:53 PM IST

Bihar Governor Buta Singh has proposed a state commission for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes to protect their rights and empower them even as opposition leaders rubbished this as a pre-poll gimmick.
Officials said Sunday that Singh took this decision after he had gone through a gloomy World Bank report on the socio-economic conditions of Dalits and tribals in the state.

Sources said the proposal has been sent to the central law and company affairs ministry, and the commission will be formed only after the centre's approval.

But like some other decisions taken by Singh since president's rule was imposed in the state in March, this latest decision has also drawn flak from opposition parties.

State Bharatiya Janata Party leader Giriraj Singh said Buta Singh's decision is a gimmick, coming just a few months ahead of the assembly polls.

"It has nothing to do with improving the condition of Dalits and tribal people but is intended to fool them into voting for the Congress and its allies," said Singh.

Janata Dal (United) leader Upendra Kushwaha also said the governor's move to form the commission smacks of politics rather than a genuine concern for the oppressed.

Dalits constitute around 15.7 per cent of the state's population of 83 million and tribals 0.9 percent.

A recent World Bank report 'Bihar: Towards a Development Strategy' stated that the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the state are likely to be around three times poorer than the upper castes, and appreciably poorer than other backward castes and Muslims.

The report says that per capita household expenditure and landownership of these two communities was significantly lower than that of other castes in both urban and rural areas in 1999-2000, and the gap has remained virtually unchanged since 1993-94.

It said that more than 70 percent of the head of households from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes were illiterate in 1999-2000, as compared to about half from other social groups.

Similarly, job opportunities for them tend to be restricted to low paid ones, as around 60 percent of them were engaged in agricultural labour, compared to only 30 percent in the case of other households.

The World Bank says the abject poverty in rural Bihar, where almost 87 percent of its population lives, is a result of low landholding among the people.

This has left 40 percent of the state's population below the poverty line, the report said.

Land ownership is closely associated with poverty in rural areas, not just because it provides the main source of income, but also since it is seen as a means for economic and social opportunities.ik/sc

(IANS)

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