The sharp criticism of the State administration by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes for perceived inadequacies in enforcing the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and in implementing various welfare measures aimed at empowering Dalits has put the Tamil Nadu government in a tight spot. Despite denials by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who is also a top leader of the United Progressive Alliance which is in power at the Centre, NCSC Vice-Chairman N.M. Kamble’s remarks after a review meeting in Chennai on February 18 have triggered a fresh debate on a wide range of Dalit-related issues. These include different forms of discrimination against Dalits, the lacunae in enforcing the S.Cs and S.Ts (POA) Act, non-distribution of adequate cultivable land and house sites to the oppressed sections, non-clearance of the backlog of promotions, introduction of 3 per cent internal reservation for the Arunthathiar community, and the lack of political will to end manual scavenging.

The Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF), led by functionaries of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and several Dalit organisations, which participated in the review meeting, made their submissions to the commission. The NCSC dropped a bombshell by pointing to the large number of pending cases and the low rate of conviction in the State under the S.Cs and S.Ts (POA) Act. It did not take lightly the failure on the part of the police to complete the investigations in time in many cases. The commission also pointed out that the details pertaining to the grounds for acquittal in many cases were not made available to it. It substantiated its claims with a year-wise break-up of pending cases, disposals and convictions.

The commission pulled up the government for not furnishing district-wise and ward-wise information regarding the implementation of welfare schemes for Dalits. The non-appointment of a liaison officer to take care of the interests of Scheduled Caste government employees particularly earned the NCSC’s ire. The commission also expressed anguish over the lack of initiative on the part of the authorities to retrieve lands that were assigned to the Scheduled Castes but were still in the possession of non-Dalits. There are as many as 8,000 such cases.

Top officials of the State government who attended the meeting assured the NCSC of submitting the information required by it in a month. But Karunanidhi took issue with the criticism the next day by announcing that he would apprise the Centre, particularly Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, of his government’s performance in promoting the welfare of Dalits.

Refuting the NCSC’s “barbed comments”, Karunanidhi came out with a detailed statement highlighting the various welfare measures implemented by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government after he assumed office as Chief Minister for the first time in 1969. These include decisions to raise the quantum of reservation for the S.Cs and the S.Ts from 16 per cent to 18 per cent in 1971 and to earmark a quota of 1 per cent exclusively for the S.Ts in 1990.

He said the State government had allocated more funds under the Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) than the earmarked 19 per cent. He further said the allocations for divisible expenditure out of the State Plan funds had grown from Rs.567 crore in 2005-2006 to Rs.2,615 crore in 2009-2010. It was his government that named the Law University in the State after B.R. Ambedkar, he recalled. On the commission’s contention with regard to the low conviction rate in cases registered under the S.Cs and S.Ts (POA) Act, Karunanidhi said just blaming the government counsel and the courts appeared to be the motive behind the criticism.

Several Dalit organisations in the State, however, do not seem to be convinced by the Chief Minister’s claims. Addressing a joint press conference, Dalit leaders including Puthiya Tamizhagam president K. Krishnasamy and Republican Party of India’s State general secretary S.K. Tamilarasan accused the DMK government of attempting to find fault with the NCSC.

They urged the government to come out with a White Paper in three months giving district-wise and block-wise details on reservation in jobs and education, distribution of land, and retrieval of ‘panchami’ land to promote the socio-economic conditions of Dalits in the State. They also wanted the data on the allocation of funds under the SCSP and development projects executed for Dalits in villages to be released without delay.

P. Sampath, State convener of the TNUEF, said there was nothing wrong in the NCSC Vice-Chairman’s observations regarding the manner in which S.Cs and S.Ts (POA) Act cases were handled in the State. He said compromises were reached in many cases at the intervention of the police, who register counter-complaints from the dominant communities against the Dalit victims. The bail applications of offenders are seldom objected to by the police, he alleged.

He said State and district panels set up by the government to monitor the implementation of the Act had become dysfunctional. In many cases, investigations were not done by deputy superintendents of police as laid down by the rules, he alleged.

Official data show that the rate of conviction in cases of atrocities against Dalits is very low. According to information provided by the Inspector-General of Police (Social Justice and Human Rights), there were 18,752 cases – 4,445 fresh cases and 14,307 “brought forward” cases – involving S.Cs before special courts between 2003 and 2009. Of these, only 412 ended in conviction, whereas there were 3,354 acquittals. In 2009 alone, there were 420 acquittals against 29 convictions; 2,656 cases were pending at the close of the year.

Official sources acknowledged the prevalence of injustices such as denial of rights to Dalits to worship in temples, bury or burn their dead in common burial or cremation grounds; denial of passage to graveyards; and denial of land, water and promotions.

An issue that has come to the fore now is the 3 per cent special reservation in the State for Arunthathiars in education and employment. Replying to a query at the press conference held after the review meeting, Kamble held that the sub-quota announced without consulting the commission was “unconstitutional” and could be challenged in a court.

However, Karunanidhi strongly defended the internal reservation for Arunthathiars, who “are still at the lowest rung in terms of socio-economic and educational status”. Recalling the Chief Secretary’s letter to NCSC Chairman Buta Singh in this regard on November 25, 2008, he said that though, according to rules, any such proposal should be brought to the notice of the commission, it was not mandatory to get its consent. The Tamil Nadu Arunthathiars (Special Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions including Private Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in Services under the State within the Reservation for the Scheduled Castes) Act, 2009, was enacted after consulting a one-man panel, he pointed out.

The TNUEF has welcomed the Tamil Nadu government’s stand on this issue though some Dalit organisations have threatened to challenge the Act in court. Referring to the High Court’s direction that the Act must be implemented with effect from April 29, 2009, when it came into force, the TNUEF has urged the NCSC to ensure that it is carried out in tune with Clause (5) of Article 338 of the Constitution. It also wants a State Commission for S.Cs to be formed. The front has stressed the need for raising the quota for Dalits by 1 per cent as the Scheduled Castes constitute 19 per cent of the State’s total population of 624.06 lakhs as per the 2001 Census.

Sampath said the most contentious issue was the redistribution of surplus land and wastelands to Dalits as land had become a status symbol and was an important factor in solving livelihood issues. Official sources say the government is keen to provide house site pattas to roofless Dalit families.

According to them, 1,74,952 Dalit families were given house site pattas from April 1, 2006, to May 31, 2009, under the one-time special scheme to regularise encroachments on government poramboke lands. And 44,522 acres (one acre is 0.4 hectare) was distributed to 41,064 Dalit families in five phases, from September 17, 2006, as part of implementing the Chief Minister’s pet scheme of distribution of two acres of wasteland to families of the landless poor. The government has also announced that 11,660 house site pattas will be issued during 2009-2010. But Sampath said all these were only on paper and in many places Dalits found it difficult to take possession of the lands which were in the hands of dominant communities.

The NCSC’s review in the State has also paved the way for the revival of the demand for retrieval of several thousands of ‘panchami’ lands gifted to Dalits during British rule in the 1890s. According to informed sources, only 1.26 lakh acres of the 12 lakh acres of panchami lands were available now and most of these were occupied by non-Dalits and industrial houses.

Significantly, the TNUEF and leaders of some Dalit organisations have demanded that the Tamil Nadu government give serious consideration to the Scheduled Castes Sub Plan and other special assistance provided by the Centre. They say that only by doing so will the government be able to reduce the gap between Dalits and the rest of society and speed up the process of integrating them with the mainstream.

The government has been claiming that the allocations are made under the SCSP as per guidelines. Official data show there has been a steady rise in the allocations from the earmarked 19 per cent in the last four financial years. For instance, it was 20.87 per cent in 2008-2009, up from 19.09 per cent in 2005-2006, it says.

However, the TNUEF and the Dalit organisations have been accusing the government of not allocating funds adequately under the scheme besides diverting them to other schemes. The Chief Minister time and again has attempted to allay the apprehensions of the Dalit organisations by promising them that he would take the responsibility to see that not even a small portion of the funds allotted for improving the status of the S.Cs was diverted to other schemes.

But the TNUEF feels that Dalit organisations and political parties should be vigilant as funds earmarked for Adi Dravidar welfare have been diverted in the past. They allege that, for example, the construction of quarters 10 years ago for 44 legislators representing reserved constituencies was done with funds so earmarked.