Activists and parties championing the Dalit cause want those heading the Department of Adi Dravidar Welfare to be proactive in dealing with cases of atrocities committed against the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
The Ministers for Adi Dravidar Welfare — be it under the DMK or the AIADMK — have been silent on such issues as caste killings and humiliation of Dalits. They have rather been focusing attention on government schemes. A case in point is the recent incident of a Dalit government employee falling at the feet of a caste Hindu man at Ottarpalayam in Coimbatore.
“The problem lies in the selection of candidates for the post. The political parties do not opt for a candidate capable of handling issues independently...,” says V. Sivakami, a former IAS officer, who served as the Secretary of the Department. The Minister and the Department have the duty to intervene when such incidents occur. “Even there is the protection of civil rights wing, headed by the IGP (Human Rights and Social Justice-CID), under the supervision of the ADGP (Social Justice-CID). This wing suo motu can inquire into the issue,” she says.
In Tamil Nadu, the protection of civil rights wing enforces the Protection of Civil Rights Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
She recalls that when there were complaints of police excesses at Sankaralingapuram, she had asked the then Commissioner of the Department, P. Shanmugam, to conduct an inquiry. “Mr. O. Panneerselvam was the Chief Minister. Jayalalithaa, after taking over the position from Mr. Panneerselvam, visited the family of the policeman killed in the incident, but not the villagers.”
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi MP Ravikumar, too, questions the selection of candidates for Minister for Adi Dravidar Welfare. But he argues that the larger part of the problem is the allocation of the Ministry to candidates of the Devendrakula Vellalar community. “When the community is demanding that it be excluded from the Scheduled Caste list, how do you expect a Minister from that community to function in a proactive manner while dealing with atrocities against the Dalits? The post should ideally go to a member of the Paraiyar-Adi Dravidar community, which constitutes 15% of the Adi Dravidar population,” he reasons.
Another problem is the style of functioning of the State-level high-powered vigilance and monitoring committee, constituted under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act. “It should meet twice a year. In the districts, it should meet once in three months. It never met when Edappadi K. Palaniswami was the Chief Minister. Now, the reconstituted committee is going to meet on August 17,” he says.
