MAY 28: It was not a typical gathering of slogan-shouting politicos, but of intellectuals, former and current government servants, lawyers, academicians and other professionals from the scheduled castes. They were all gathered at the Convocation Hall of the Univeristy of Mumbai, on May 27 and 28, to provide ``opinion leadership'' to Dalits.This `National Seminar 2000 on Dalits in the 21st Century' was organised by the Bombay Scheduled Caste Improvement Trust headed by former municipal commissioner J D Jadhav. As the organisers clarified at the outset, ``We are not affiliated to any political party. We, especially those are fortunate to reach some position in life, come together not to express emotions but to influence the country's policy-makers so that the government is able to strengthen the infrastructure of justice.'' Among the `influential Dalits' who attended the seminar were senior police officer Sudhakar Suradkar, IAS officer Sanjay Chahande, retired civil servant S G Daithankar, university reader Dr Suresh Mane and lawyer Sanghraj Rupawate. Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal was also present on the occasion.Incidentally, the Trust was established by Dr B R Ambedkar in 1938 as a centre of development activities for Dalits. However, this aim has not yet been achieved. The seminar is being viewed as a fresh impetus to the near-defunct trust. The new vice-chancellor of Mumbai University, Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar, the first Dalit to hold the post, inaugurated the seminar. He was also felicitated on the occasion.The first session was devoted to `Social justice for Dalits'. Jadhav said the government must allocate 25 per cent of the plan outlay for the infrastructure needed to grant self-confidence and social status to backward communities in India. He said the government will have to invest in education and health opportunities of the disadvantaged. He said Dalits and other backward communities must come together and form a power bloc. Dalits must be seen as a ``force to reckon with, else our agenda of development will never be taken seriously,'' he noted.Writer-cum-political activist Arjun Dangle said the seminar served two purposes. First, it is a legitimate platform for opposing review of the Constitution. Second, it gives us ideas for coping with forces of globalisation and privatisation. ``We are trying to see how we fit in the new scheme of things. There is no point opposing new global forces for the sake of it.''There was a special session on employment opportunities for Dalits beyond the wage boards. Former state chief secretary Dinesh Afzalpurkar said members of the scheduled castes must look for self-employment avenues. The state is likely to create 25 lakh empoyment opportunities in the tertiary service sector in the next five years, he added. He gave the example of the flourishing institute in Thane which markets mushrooms. ``Earlier, the institute did not do well, as it was not processing and marketing mushrooms properly. But now that the technique is learnt, it is doing big business. Similarly, there are many unexpoited areas Dalit youth can look into.'' He said dependence on employment exchanges for jobs was not advisable.There are about 35 lakh unemployed youth in the state. Naturally, all will not get absorbed in government and conventional jobs, he added. He said the SC trust should start vocational training of Dalit youth on the lines of the Rural Development and Self-Employment Training Institute, Mangalore. This institute has been able to give jobs to 51,000 youth out of the total 80,000 applicants.Development Commissioner of Industries Azeez Khan also called upon Dalit youth to look into self-help government schemes. He said the schemes aided by nationalised banks must be studied properly by youth. ``There is a regional imbalance in awareness levels of backward class youth. For example, youth send very aggressive applications to banks in some regions like Nagpur, whereas in Marathwada, youth are not even aware of the welfare schemes.''Bhujbal said Dalits should integrate into the mainstream in the age of computers, where talent is capital.
