Skip to main content

Gujarat govt "reserves" sanitation workers' job only for Dalits: Activists protest

By A Representative
A Gujarat government advertisement in Gujarati for appointing four sanitation workers in Khambhaliya municipality in Devbhumi Dwarka district of Saurashtra region has said that only scheduled caste (SC), popularly Dalit, candidates should apply for the fixed pay job.
The advertisement, signed by top local body officials, has created furor among Dalit rights activists, who wonder whether the state government believes sanitation work is meant only for Dalits.
In a Facebook post, well-known Dalit rights activist from Ahmedabad, Kirit Rathod, citing the advertisement, has said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just reserved 10% seats in government jobs for the economically weaker sections belonging to the dominant castes. Why is Gujarat government shying away from the 10% criterion bypassed here? It seems,  the state government believes, cleaning gutters is the job that only Dalits should do."

Comments

TRENDING

Civil society at a crossroads: Service delivery vs. rights in the fight for social change

Counterview News   In the latest episode of the podcast Unmute , hosts Gagan Sethi and Minar Pimple convened a profound conversation with two veteran development practitioners to dissect a persistent tension within civil society: the perceived divide between service delivery and the struggle for rights. The episode, titled "Beyond Service Delivery: Civil Society, Rights, and the Politics of Social Change," featured Apoorva Oza , a development practitioner with decades of experience in rural development and institution-building, and Professor Dipa Sinha , a development economist known for her work on food, nutrition, gender, and social policy.

Arrests of Odisha activists raise wider concerns over criminalisation of dissent: CASR

By A Representative   A coalition of civil liberties, human rights, student, labour organisations,  Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), has condemned the arrest of Dr. Randall Sequeira, a doctor providing healthcare in Odisha’s Kalahandi and Rayagada districts, and Laxman Nayak, an activist associated with the Maa Mati Mali Surakhya Manch, and demanded their immediate release.

Bangkok IMF-World Bank meetings: New reports put India's debt, climate, accountability crisis in focus

Counterview News   As the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded their Annual Meetings in Bangkok this week, civil society groups and policy experts outside the official proceedings released two critical documents challenging the institutions' legacy and prescriptions for Asia, calling for a fundamental overhaul of the global financial architecture.