Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar on Thursday said the Modi-led BJP government was involved in corporate corruption while the Congress stuck to individual corruption.
Speaking at the State-level meeting on social justice organised by the Kula Vivaksha Porata Samiti and the Dalita Hakkula Porata Samiti here at the Tummalapalli Kalakshetram, he said all the sordid acts of corruption by the BJP and RSS would be exposed soon.
“Give us six months time, we will expose them. Under the garb of corporatisation both are involved in big deals. During demonetisation, the RSS changed huge number of old notes into new,” he alleged.
Going hammer and tongs at the Modi government, Mr. Prakash Ambedkar, who is the grandson of Bharat Ratna Babasaheb Ambedkar, said under his (Mr. Modi) regime, suppressive acts against Dalits and other Backward Caste communities had increased, and cited the examples of cow protection committees and anti-Romeo squads. “These groups are aimed at harassing and harming Dalits.”
Mr. Prakash Ambedkar said under the Modi regime education sector had gone into the hands of private entities.
“With the government also joining hands, it is increasingly getting difficult for the poor and the middle class to pursue higher education. The fee is so exorbitant, the higher education [is] out of the reach of backward sections,” he pointed out.
Mr. Prakash Ambedkar said because of the BJP government’s curbs on foreign NGOs, more than 20 lakh students pursuing education on donations were put to hardship.
“The ban on NGOs has impacted their careers severely.”
He said a systemic agenda was being pursued to prevent promotions to Dalits and other weaker sections. “As several public sector departments are being privatised, the weaker section employees are deprived of promotions.”
He said the gradual privatisation of government departments had sounded the death knell of the weaker sections.
“We have launched a fight in Parliament seeking reservation in private sector but our efforts are yet to bear fruits.”
“Negative politics”
He said the RSS was anti-Muslim first and later sharpened its knives to fight against reservation that empowered the weaker sections.
“Now it is keen on painting all the Opposition parties as corrupt. It [RSS] wants to project Modi is a clean and non-corrupt man and project the Opposition as corrupt. It always plays negative politics.”
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said Mr. Modi, who came to power with a promise of providing two crore jobs, had failed utterly.
“Lakhs of IT employees are being rendered jobless. The scene is bleak in the IT sector,” he pointed out.
He alleged that scholarships worth more than ₹15,000 crore were not being paid to students forcing them to give up education. “All the sub-plans were made redundant as the Planning Commission was scrapped under the Modi rule.”
He exhorted the Left parties, Dalit outfits along with units seeking social justice to come under one umbrella to launch a fight against the forces of Hindutva.
CPI national secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, several Left leaders and Dalit representatives took part in the seminar.
