On 10 March CPIML Agiaon MLA and member of the SC-ST Welfare Committee in Bihar Manoj Manzil raised his voice forcefully inside the Bihar Assembly on the issue of oppression and atrocities being committed against dalits, adivasis and OBCs.
Making his points on the floor of the Assembly Comrade Manoj Manzil emphasized on the following points:
- Once in every 4 hours an SC/ST woman becomes a victim of rape.
- According to the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, 65-69% of persons jailed under the prohibition law are from SC/ST/ OBC categories.
- More than 80% of jailed persons in Bihar are from SC/ST/ OBC categories.
- Only 9.3% of SC/ST students in Bihar are able to avail themselves of higher education.
- 1, 11, 098 landless parcha holders have not been given possession by the government. The government had promised 5 decimal land to every landless SC/ST; they should bring out a white paper on how many people have been provided land by the government.
- The government should release figures on vacant SC/ST posts in every department.
- Improve conditions in Dr Ambedkar residential schools and Kasturba Vidyalayas.
- Implement uniform school system. Children from all sections should study in government schools.
- B.Ed fees in Bihar have been hiked to Rs 1.5 lakhs, preventing children of the poor from becoming teachers.
- Education has been made into a business. Youth constitute 57.2% of the people in Bihar, but the State has the highest unemployment rate in the entire country.
- 4, 37, 310 teacher posts lie vacant in schools. 60% teaching and non-teaching posts in universities are vacant. 61% doctor posts are vacant.
Despite all the above, the BJP government in the center and BJP-JDU government in Bihar which called itself a double-engine government is boasting about development while perpetually harming the interests and attacking the dignity and rights of the oppressed poor. There is need to raise more voices for the rights of dalits, adivasis and OBCs.
