BJP Member of Lok Sabha Udit Raj on Friday demanded a slew of measures for Dalit outreach, including the release of Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad 'Ravan' and for providingreservation in the lateral entry of joint secretaries that the Centre hadjust proposed.
“The leader of the Bhim Army Chandrashekhar Azad should be released. He has been adequately punished. We demand his release,” he told reporters.
“There should be SC, ST and OBC reservation in the 10 joint secretary posts that are being opened for lateral entry.” Mr. Raj said adding that he would meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press for thedemand.
He also demanded that reservation be extended to the private sector.
However, he said that he was saying this not in his capacity as a BJP member or a Lok Sabha MP but as a citizen and a social activist whose organisation hd been working for Dalit causes for long.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Raj condemned the attack on a minor Dalit boy in Gujarat for wearing the Mojdi, a traditional type of shoe.
Expressing concern over the “dilution” of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court, he claimed attacks on Dalits had increased after that.
Mr. Raj also demanded that cases slapped on Dalits after the Bharat Bandh to protest the introduction of procedures for the application of the SC/ST Act should be withdrawn.
