Standard and poor? SCs, STs in Kerala, Tamil Nadu better off than others

May 6, 2012
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New Delhi, May 6: New census data on asset ownership among different social groups has shown that a far higher proportion of scheduled castes and higher still of scheduled tribes do not own basic consumer durables like a phone or bicycle as compared to "others".

Three states however buck this trend; across caste groupings in Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the rate of ownership of basic consumer durables is high. In fact, the asset ownership rate for scheduled castes in these three states is better than that of OBCs and upper castes in all other states.

Newly released census 2011 data shows that while 17.8% of households across India do not own a phone, computer, TV, radio, bicycle or any vehicle, this proportion is 22.6% for scheduled castes, 37.3% for scheduled tribes and 14% for "others".

While more than half of "others" own a television, less than a quarter of scheduled tribes own a TV. Less than 2% of SC families own a TV, phone, computer and some mode of transportation, the usual signifiers of a "middle class" Indian family.

This new data fits in with the argument that economist and Indian Council of Social Science Research chairman Sukhadeo Thorat has been making. Thorat is critical of the view that economic liberalization has narrowed the gap between scheduled castes and others.

Yes, poverty is declining, but the rate of decline of poverty is much lower for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes than for upper castes. There has undoubtedly been growth, but SCs and STs are not getting to participate equally in it," Thorat says.

There is considerable regional variation in the new census data.

Scheduled tribes are worst off in Madhya Pradesh, followed by in Rajasthan, Tripura and Maharashtra, where over 40% of STs do not own any basic consumer durable. Dalits are worst off in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Orissa, where a third do not own any such asset. Unlike with the SCs, asset ownership for STs is worse than other social groups in all states.

While poverty among STs is fairly widespread across all states with a significant ST population, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Punjab are the only states where the proportion of SCs who do not own basic assets is around 10% or lower, lowest of all in Tamil Nadu. Asset ownership among SCs in these three states is higher than that among "others" in all other states.

While part of the explanation for Tamil Nadu's status as the best state for dalit asset ownership might be that the previous state government ran a scheme giving free television sets to poor households, this is not the only explanation, as ownership of other consumer durables like phones and computers is also among the highest in TN. In comparison, in Bihar, where the state government ran a scheme to give all school-going girls a free cycle, less than half of all households own a bicycle.

Research by Institute of Applied Manpower Research director-general Santosh Mehrotra has shown that the human development indicators of SCs and OBCs in Kerala and Tamil Nadu are better than those of upper castes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Moreover, all four states have a similar proportion of 'backward castes' in their population: so the key determinant of each of these states' human development situation is not its caste composition, but its politics and governance, Mehrotra says.

"A combination of social mobilization and good governance has lifted all boats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu," Mehrotra said. Social mobilization alone is not enough, Mehrotra adds, or the last twenty years in Uttar Pradesh would have led to tangible outcomes like improvement in health and nutrition, and not just intangibles like dignity and a sense of empowerment, as important as they are.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: India witnessed a single-day spike of 52,050 COVID-19 cases as the total cases in the country reached 18,55,746, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Tuesday.

803 COVID-19 related deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. The total cases include 5,86,298 active cases, 12,30,510 cured/discharged/migrated and 38,938 deaths, the Health Ministry added.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state as it has a total of 1,47,324 active cases and 15,842 deaths. A total of 4,50,196 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the state up to Monday, according to Union Ministry of Health.

Tamil Nadu reported 5,609 new COVID-19 cases and 109 deaths on Monday, taking total cases to 2,63,222 including 2,02,283 discharges and 4,241 deaths, the state Health Department said.

The total cases in Delhi have risen to 1,38,482 including 1,24,254 recovered/discharged/migrated cases and 4,021 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, India recorded the highest single-day testing by conducting over 6.6 lakh tests to diagnose COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
"In its fight against COVID-19, India scales a new high of 6,61,715 tests in the last 24 hours," said the Health Ministry in a tweet.

A total of 2,08,64,206 samples for COVID-19 have been tested across the country so far, said the Health Ministry.

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News Network
June 26,2020

New Delhi, Jun 26: Petrol prices in the national capital have reached Rs 80.13 per litre on June 26, up by 21 paise from yesterday’s Rs 79.92 per litre; while diesel prices in Delhi also rose to Rs 80.19 per litre – up by 17 paise compared to yesterday’s Rs 80.02 per litre.

This is the 20th consecutive day that fuel prices have been hiked by oil marketing companies (OMCs). The hikes began from June 8 after a 83-day halt on revised pricing during the lockdown period.

The state government’s increased value-added tax (VAT) on diesel since May is causing the fuel’s prices to soar in Delhi. VAT was increased to 30 percent for both petrol and diesel from 27 percent and 16.75 percent, respectively.

Coupled with the Centre’s hiked excise duty of Rs 3 per litre since March 14 and then Rs 10 per litre on petrol and Rs 13 per litre on diesel since May 5 has affected prices.

The hike on diesel prices is unusual, as the government traditionally keeps the price for the fuel low due to its impact on agriculture and other high consumption economic activities.

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Agencies
February 23,2020

Rajghat, Feb 23: The maternal uncle of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was recently arrested for allegedly making inflammatory statements during anti-CAA protests, was shot dead in front of his house at Bankatichak in Rajghat area, police said on Sunday.

Dr Nusratullah Warsi aka Dada (55), a property dealer, was shot dead on Saturday night at about 10:45 pm and an FIR against two people was filed in this connection on a written complaint of his family members.

According to police, it appears to be a case of murder due to monetary and property dispute and they are searching for both the accused.

Dr Kafeel Khan, suspended doctor of Gorakhpur BRD Medical College, was last month arrested under charges of giving a provocative speech during a protest against the CAA and NRC at Aligarh Muslim University and was later charged with the National Security Act.

Warsi on Saturday evening had gone to his lawyer Siraj Tariq's house, a few metres away from his own house, and was returning home on foot when a man shot him in his head, killing him on the spot.

"On the written complaint of family members, case of murder against one Imammuddin and Anil Sonkar has been registered and police has initiated probe and is searching for both the accused. Police met the women in their house and is interrogating them," Circle Officer VP Singh said.

Prima facie it appears to be a case of property and money dispute, he said, adding, three teams have been constituted to investigate the case and soon the accused will be caught.

Dr Kafeel Khan had last month raised apprehension in a Mumbai court about being killed in an "encounter" by the Uttar Pradesh police after claiming that he had been "falsely" implicated in the case by them.

The paediatrician had come to the limelight in 2017 when a controversy broke out after the death of over 60 children in less than a week at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, where he was posted.

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