Skip to main content

Official indifference: National SC Commission's Gujarat office is non-functional; 3,500 cases are pending

Why is the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSCs) unable to function normally in Gujarat to inquire into different human rights issues involving Dalits? If NCSC officials are to be believed, it is because it does not have “adequate staff”, or “basic infrastructure”, or even a car, or, worse, a “proper office to function from”. All this and more has come to light in a Right to Information (RTI) reply to NGO Navsarjan Trust’s senior activist Kirit Rathod. The reply revealed, as a result of all this, more than 3,500 complaints has been pending before the NCSC for the last several years.
NCSC’s Gujarat office, says the RTI reply, was established in 1991, and has been functioning from a two-room office of the Mavlankar Mansion near Lal Darwaja, Ahmedabad. Despite the fact that the NCSC’s head office requested state social justice and empowerment secretary Sanjay Prasad to urgently look into the transfer of the NCSC office operating from an “old office situated in a very congested area of Ahmedabad” to Gandhinagar, the state capital, more than two years have passed, nothing has happened.
Prasad was particularly told why it is important to shift the office – because it should work in close cooperation with the Gujarat government. “All the information and data etc. is to be collected from state government departments”, he was suggested in the letter written in November 2011. Even space needed for NCSC office in Gujarat noted down – 2,500-3000 sq feet “approximately”.
The RTI application further reveals that the NCSC does not have a car of its own – the one it “owned”, has been sent back to Delhi, as it was in such bad state that it couldn’t even run for 100 km. While the vehicle was disposed of, the RTI reply says the NCSC does not have a new one for quite some time now, one reason why “it is possible to carry out on-the-spot inquiry into cases of atrocity and the VVIPs are unable to move around to find out realities.”
In a statement, Rathod said, “I decided to visit the NCSC office, and found that the office routinely forwards complaints a fortnight or a month after it gets one, and does no follow-up. The result is, the complaints are continuing to pile up. “I asked deputy director of the NCSC A Satyanarayana about it, and he said replied he could not do anything because he did not have any staff. He told me, the office did not have any vehicle either”, Rathod said, adding, “The office runs on a monthly rent of Rs 12,549. And, Satyanayana often visits the office of the district collector in auto rickshaw. Often, he just avoids going to any meetings.”
The Ahmedabad office has an approved strength of 15 officials, and only seven posts have been filled up. “The director’s post has been vacant for several years”, Rathod said, adding, “The Chandigarh director holds additional charge of the Gujarat office. Not without reason, it has failed to look into several cases, into the killing of three Dalits in Thangarh, exodus of Dalit families from their villages, and other such incidents.”

Comments

TRENDING

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor. 

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Environmental concern? Global NGO leads campaign urging banks to cut ties with Odisha steel project

A decade after the withdrawal of the South Korean multinational POSCO from Odisha following large-scale protests, questions remain about whether India-based JSW Steel, which took over the project, can successfully revive the 13.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel plant and coal-fired power plant. POSCO initiated the project in 2005 but exited in 2017 due to sustained local opposition.

Adani Group a key player in Indo-Israel defence cooperation: Tel Aviv daily

Said to be one of the most influential Israeli dailies, "Haaretz" (literally: News of the Land) has identified the Adani Group—known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi—as one of the key Indian business houses engaged in defence cooperation with Israel. Pointing out that India supplied the Israeli military with Hermes 900 drones, the daily reported that this advanced aerial vehicle came off “the production line in a factory set up in Hyderabad, as part of the cooperation between the Israeli Elbit and India's Adani Group.”

Beyond Indus water treaty suspension: A 'nationalist' push despite harsh climate realities

The suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) appears to have pushed the middle classes, at least in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, Gujarat, further towards what the powers-that-be would consider—a "positive" direction. As usual, during my morning walk, I tried talking with a neighbour about what impact it would have. Ignoring what is widely considered a "security lapse," this person, who had just returned after buying milk, compared the Modi move with Trump.

Despite Hindutva hold claim, 18% Hindus in US don't want to be identified with Hinduism!

Scanning through news items on the Google News app on my mobile — which is what I do almost every morning — I came across a story published on India.com, which I found somewhat misleading. The headline said, "Muslim population drops significantly in THIS country as over 25% Muslims leave Islam due to…, the country is…"