Several Dalits will lose land for SEZs
Tanveer Kazi
BANGALORE: The much-hyped Special Economic Zones (SEZs), which are aimed at triggering economic development, will come as a nightmare to thousands of poor Dalit families in Karnataka, according to an expert at the Bangalore University.
Jogan Shankar, Director of the Babasaheb Ambedkar Research Institute, said the SEZ's would result in a sizeable number of Dalits in Karnataka losing their agricultural lands, which had been given to them by the Government some time ago to provide them social and economic security under a welfare scheme.
Inaugurating a State-level conference of the Dalit Sangharsha Samithi (Samyojaka-group) in Bangalore on Tuesday, he said the proposed SEZs in Karnataka, especially those around Bangalore, would acquire nearly 8,000 acres of land belonging to poor Dalits. What is shocking is that this land had been given by the Government itself to these families under a welfare scheme.
He expressed concern over such acquisition of Dalits' land.
"We are trying to make the corporates, NRIs and foreign agencies more prosperous by creating SEZs for them at the cost of poor Dalits and farmers," he said. He described the proposed SEZs as "islands of prosperity amidst an ocean of poverty and pain."
The problem of displacement was more around Bangalore as nearly 87,000 acres of agricultural land was being acquired for the SEZs. Of this, the land holding of Dalits was about 8,000 acres, he said.
He urged the Dalit organisations to launch a struggle against SEZs and also other projects that displace poor farmers for the sake of development of the corporates.
Dr. Shankar alleged that the Dalit victims of various atrocities were yet to get compensation to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore, which is due from the state as well as the Centre over the years.
Stressing the need for providing reservation for Dalits in the private sector, he sought to dismiss the view that such a measure would affect the efficiency of the private sector.
Keeping the 166 million Dalits and 600 million backward classes out of the private sector is actually a loss to the sector as its options would be limited when it comes to scouting for the talents, he argued.
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Mr. Tanveer Kazi
National Advocacy Secretary
National Campaign On Dalit Human Rights
8/1,2nd Floor, South Patel Nagar
NEW DELHI-110008 ( INDIA)
Ph/ Fax:- 91-11-25842249/ 25842250
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Email:- tan...@ncdhr.org
tan...@gmail.com
Website:- www.dalits.org