In a rare show of unity, major breakaway groups of the original Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS) have joined hands to form a federation to take up common issues affecting Dalits and decided to fight all the issues concerning Dalits on a single platform.
The various Dalit factions which have become members of the federation are : Dalit Sangharsha Samiti headed by Lakshminarayan Nagawar, Dalit Sangharsha Samiti headed by Guruprasad Keragod, Dalit Sangharsha Samiti headed by D.G. Sagar, DSS (Ambedkar Wada) headed by Mavalli Shankar and DSS headed by M. Jayanna.
CM issue
Addressing a joint press conference here on Monday, Mr. Sagar, along with the others, blasted a section of Dalit leaders making a demand for replacing Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister of the State and appointing a Dalit CM in his place. They said that Siddaramaiah, who belongs to an oppressed community, has been doing a good work and had always been a pro-Dalit in his approach.
They said that there was no need to replace him and said that the demand made by a section of Dalit leaders for the appointment of Dalit CM has no meaning. Such a demand is being made to create unnecessary confusion, he said.
The Dalit leaders also welcomed the socio economic survey, which would begin on April 1, and said that this was not a mere caste-based census, but a comprehensive survey to know the economic and educational status of every individual. He said all the scheduled castes should mention their religion as Buddhism and mention their caste and sub-castes in the respective columns in the census.
They welcomed the higher allocation of Rs. 16,356 crore for the Special Component Plan (SCP) and Tribal Sub Plan for the year 2015-16.
