Jignesh Mevani says he will appeal Dalits not to vote for BJP
Bengaluru: Jignesh Mevani, Independent MLA from Gujarat and Dalit rights activist has raised a clarion call against the BJP, claiming that he would appeal to the Dalit community not to vote for the party. “Mr. Modi claims to have honoured B.R. Ambedkar. But, the reality is that he has done the most insult to Ambedkar and his ideas,”said Mevani.
While an injury would keep Mevani away from campaigning for the Assembly elections in Karnataka, he said he would raise the anti-BJP pitch in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan which are due for elections later this year.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a protest held in the city on Wednesday against the Supreme Court’s order, Mr. Mevani said the intentions of the BJP-led government at the Centre on the issue “did not seem right”.
“When the Advocate-General received a notice on the case, he did not respond in detail, nor did they highlight the atrocities and socio-economic conditions (of Dalits and adivasis). It is only when lakhs of people from the Dalit communities took to the streets in protest, and it hit the BJP that there will be electoral consequences that they filed a review petition,” he said.
Mr. Mevani termed the Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Atrocities Act, 1989 as “unconstitutional” and “encroached” on the jurisdiction of Parliament. “In case the review petition is rejected, we have to see whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led government at the Centre will bring in an Ordinance to protect this special legislation like they had contemplated to do with triple talaq,” he said.
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SIT to be set up to identify forest, revenue land as per SC directions: Karnataka Minister Gowda
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Saturday said a SIT will be constituted at the district level to identify forest and revenue land and submit a report in compliance with directions of the Supreme Court.
Speaking after inaugurating the Mulki taluk Administrative Centre 'Praja Soudha' near here, the minister said the long-pending issue of classification of forest and revenue land has caused hardship to farmers and the government is taking steps to resolve it on priority.
Joint surveys are being conducted to demarcate forest and revenue land in areas earlier granted to farmers, he said, adding that instructions have been issued to all deputy commissioners in the state to expedite the process.
Gowda said many farmers had faced problems as land granted to them earlier had not been formally regularised. The government has now taken up the task of completing the process. A special investigation team (SIT) will be constituted at the district level to identify forest and revenue land and submit a report in compliance with directions of the Supreme Court, he added.
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Between 2018 and 2023, plotting was completed for 1,948 beneficiaries in the district, while in the last two years, plotting under the 1-5 scheme was carried out for 60,943 beneficiaries, he said. Of these, 23,620 farmers have been issued pahani documents.
He said title deeds have been distributed to 2.20 lakh beneficiaries under the regularisation provisions of certain sections relating to house sites.
Under the e-Pouthi campaign, about 60,000 legal heirs have been granted mutation of land records that were earlier in the names of deceased persons, the minister said.
He also said a special drive has reduced cases pending for over two years in Tahsildar courts from 10,774 to 130, while similar cases in Assistant Commissioner courts have been brought down from 73,624 to 2,299.
Land records are now accessible online round-the-clock, eliminating the need for people to visit offices for certified copies, he said, adding that nearly 73 crore pages of revenue records across the state have been scanned at taluk offices in the past two years.
Gowda said taluk administrative offices have been named 'Praja Soudha' to bring governance closer to people. An additional Rs 1.60 crore has been sanctioned for compound construction and other facilities at the Mulki centre.
State Health and Family Welfare Minister and Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said efforts are being made to boost investment and tourism in the district.
He said the recent state budget has announced a Global Capability Centre for the district and steps will soon be taken to implement it.
A sum of Rs 70 crore has been sanctioned for a new OPD block at Wenlock District Hospital, while discussions are underway with three private medical colleges to strengthen clinical services at taluk hospitals in Moodbidri, Bantwal, Vitla and Belthangady.
Lok Sabha member Brijesh Chowta urged the revenue minister to resolve forest and revenue land issues in Puttur, Sullia, Kadaba and Belthangady taluks and said approval has been given for development of the national highway from Talapady to Kundapur with service roads on both sides.
