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New Maha Dalit list angers Paswan

Angry man: Ram Vilas Paswan

PATNA: While Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan is busy railing against the Nitish Kumar government’s move to include Ravidas in the list of Maha Dalit castes, the State Administration insists that there are no political machinations behind the move, it is only aimed at economic uplift of the most backward classes.

“It is not a political stunt as alleged by the Opposition,” said K. P. Ramaiah, Secretary of the Maha Dalit Commission.

Speaking to The Hindu, he said the Bihar government was “merely providing an economic package for the benefit of the socially, educationally and cultural backward castes in the State”.

“We have decided not to follow the policy of bifurcating the castes as done in States like Punjab, Haryana and in the case of the Mallas and Madigas in Andhra Pradesh,” said Mr. Ramaiah. “The Commission first tackled the smaller castes which totalled 18 in number. Then Pasi and Dhobi, who had no numeric representation and no colonies of their own, were added to this list,” said Mr. Ramaiah.

“We decided to include the most populous of them – that is, the Chamars (Ravidas) as they themselves had demanded to be included in this list on grounds of benefits being provided to the Dhobis and Pasis,” he said.

According to him, the government’s first mission is to give land to the homeless.

The government also plans to give a radio to each of the 3 lakh-odd Maha Dalit families.

Meanwhile, Mr. Paswan warned the Nitish Kumar government of dire consequences of including the Ravidas caste in its Maha Dalit quota.

“The Paswans have not written either for inclusion. All they have repeatedly said is that they object to the use of the word ‘Maha Dalit’ as they deem it to be unconstitutional; they cannot quite understand what to do,” said Mr. Ramaiah, while commenting that even so, the Commission would be studying the Paswan caste.

Speaking to The Hindu, LJP spokesperson Shailendra Pratap Singh said, “We have written to the Governor saying that the use of the word Maha Dalit is unconstitutional.

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