C O U N T E R V I E W . O R G

Two recent studies have found that Dalits are at receiving end in the delivery of health services in Gujarat and Rajasthan. An analysis by counterview.org team:

Is discrimination of Dalits in the delivery of basic services an international human rights issue which needs a much deeper exposure than has been the case so far? The question is significant, because, despite lobbying at various levels on the part of the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) during recent years, the Government of India has strongly refused to acknowledge caste discrimination as an international human rights issue, which should be dealt with in the UN. Whether it is water, sanitation or health, the discrimination continues, and government sops have failed to do anything to subdue its impact. A recent www.counterview.org report (click HERE to see it) highlighted how discrimination in the provision of water in the Indian state of Gujarat has meant untold hardships to Dalit women, who cannot access water from the common source in Ahmedabad’s rural areas.    Read more…

A recent survey, jointly carried out by Navsarjan Trust and Pani Hak Rakshak Samiti, has found that the areas around Ahmedabad which the Gujarat government wants to project as the future model of development — by developing a special investment region and an automobile hub — are also stigmatized by untouchability practices.  A report by counterview.org team: 

A survey of five talukas of Ahmedabad district – Dholka, Dhandhuka, Sanand, Bavla and Viramgam – has once again proved, if any proof was needed, about how untouchability is coming in the way of the rural Dalits’ failure to access water in the immediate neighbourhood at a time when drought-prone situation prevails in parts of Gujarat. The survey, carried out by Navsarjan Trust, Ahmedabad-based human rights organization, says that the situation is particularly acute as scarcity has been declared in 10 of Gujarat’s district. While 939 villages have been declared scarcity hit, another 2,979 have been declared semi-scarcity hit.  “Dalit women have to particularly suffer, as they have to walk long distances in order to get water. They are unable to access water at the source nearby because of the continued prevalence of untouchability”, says a report prepared on the basis of the survey. Read more…