Thol. Thirumavalavan, VCK president, speaking at a conference organised by Social Awareness Society for Youth in Chennai on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: B. VELANKANNI RAJ
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi founder Thol. Thirumavalavan, on Tuesday urged the Tamil Nadu Government to enact a legislation on Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe sub-plan, similar to the one enacted by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments recently.
Mr. Thirumavalavan said the VCK would organise protests to press for the enactment of a legislation in the Tamil Nadu State Assembly.
Speaking at the State-level conference to enact legislation on Scheduled Castes sub-plan and Scheduled Tribes sub-plan organised by SASY (Social Awareness Society for Youth) in Chennai, Mr. Thirumavalavan recalled how Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekara Rao spoke to him about Dalit Bandho scheme when the two met during the launch of Bharatiya Rashtriya Samiti recently.
“CM KCR played an audio-visual of what the scheme is about and how it will be implemented. I was gobsmacked. In fact, he told Kumaraswamy Gowda (Karnataka leader) that if he announces this scheme, he could become the Chief Minister of Karnataka. I asked him about the criteria that a Dalit person needs to meet to avail of the grant of ₹10 lakh, and he responded that there are no conditions. He further said that nobody will raise a question if it is for the development of the SCs,” he said.
He said that sub-plan for SC/ST prescribes spending the percentage of Budget equivalent to the population of the SC/STs for development of Dalits. “It cannot be said that bus stops, schools and other infrastructure are being built when Dalit neighbourhoods don’t receive anything. Development has to be focussed,” he said. Mr. Thirumavalavan said that Dalits in India cannot achieve anything without protesting and they can ensure even the implementation of what is legal only by continuous protests.
“We cannot achieve anything without protests, especially the marginalised sections – Dalits, minorities and Scheduled tribes. We can shake those in power – Union government or State government – only by protests and struggle. Indira Gandhi announced the SC/ST subplan, which was a turning point. While the legislation ‘Prevention of Atrocities Act’ are two most important steps taken by the Union government for the development of SC/ST,” he said.
He added, “But, implementation is important. The economical development is a must. Government schemes are worth several lakhs of crores but they all stop with the ‘ooru’ and Dalit neighbourhoods seldom get any benefit.”