Memorandum submitted by Voice of Dalit
International (VODI)
Voice of Dalit International (VODI) works to
internationalise the discriminatory practices of caste, which
is estimated to affect 260 million people who live in the Indian
Subcontinent, including .2 million in the UK. VODI champions the
rights of all individuals to development equality and freedom.
As an organisation it seeks to bring together Dalits of varying
religions living in the Diaspora to work for the development and
human rights of their fellow Dalits in South Asia who form 40%
of the global poor. During the last Gujarat earthquake VODI, with
the co-operation of local communities in UK, brought the practice
of caste discrimination in relief before the media and assisted
BBC to high light this evil. It had also written to DFID, aid/relief
agencies about the need for addressing discrimination in relief
and rehabilitation. In UK we network with the Dalit communities
and facilitated forming CASTEWATCH-UK to address caste discrimination
in different walks of life, including in UK educational institutions.
VODI is also conducting a one year Dalit Development/Justice
and Development (Course) in the UK for the leaders and future
leaders of Dalit communities of South Asia. This is done in association
with Southall School of Languages and Missionary Orientation,
Southall, Middlesex. At present we have 12 such students.
As many well-intended international development
aid were not really reaching and making an effective impact on
Dalits of whom 90% live in extreme poverty situations, VODI associated
with Dalit Solidarity Network—UK (DSN-UK) in developing
a position paper on Dalits and International Development Aid.
[14]This
paper has been discussed at various levels and at various places
including in India, where a Delhi Declaration was the result.
This subject is further going to be discussed in an international
Conference in London on 17-18 September 2004 at School of Oriental
and African Studies (SOAS), London. Along with inviting the Members
of International Development Committee Enquiring into DFID's Bi-lateral
Assistance Programme to India to this Conference, we give below
our recommendations based on the Delhi Declaration and
the paper on Dalits and International Development Aid:
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Before Bilateral assistance to India
DFID should first, ensure the caste dimension is explicitly reflected
in its country policy paper, for India.
2. DFID should review its policies and strategies
to explicitly reflect Dalit perspectives.
3. DFID's should incorporate the affirmation
policies of Indian Constitution including laws and policies in
favour of Dalits in its Bilateral Assistance Programme and ask
the Indian Government to put them in practice in DFID assisted
Programmes.
4. Aid to India in proportion to the population
in poverty should be allocated to programmes that focus on Dalits.
This is because out of some 300 million poor people in India 90%
of Dalits fall under this category and a majority of bonded and
child labourers are also Dalits. (See DSN paper on Dalits and
International development Aid.)
5. All person specifications for staff recruited
to India desks in UK should require a good knowledge of and sensitivity
to Dalit issues as main criteria for selection.
6. All staff in the UK responsible for the
relevant aid programmes at decision-making level should undergo
special training or exposure to Dalit issues.
7. DFID should ensure adequate representation
of Dalits at senior levels both in, in DFID and in all those Indian
and UK organisations who are the channelising agencies of aid.
8. In-house training programmes of DFID
should have in-built Dalit sensitisation aspects so that current
staff may gain a proper Dalit perspective.
9. Adequate support and funds should be
allocated in developing leadership skills, capacity and professionalism
among the Dalit youth in the hope that they may be in a position
to fill posts at a senior level in the future.
10. Bilateral aid also should take care
of exposure training and studies of Dalits in UK as their international
exposure and studies have much to do with their confidence and
leadership building. (Arguments contrary to this are only anti-Dalit
propaganda.)
11. As development consultants play a big
role in advising Bilateral aid Programmes, we strongly urge adequate
representation of Dalits in the selection of consultants.
12. We strongly recommend that DFID review
its development programmes in India and include an integrated
rights-based and service-oriented approach.
13. Equally important is a focus on Dalit
development and empowerment. These emphases should be recognised
in funding programmes. This area should be one of the conditionality
with the government.
14. We recommend that DFID allocate money
for local development education programmes and programmes that
help strengthen civil society. It should negotiate with Indian
government for such initiatives to be inbuilt into the systems.
Civil society bodies should campaign with political parties to
include human rights issues with particular reference to caste
discrimination in their election manifestos.
15. We recommend that the DFID give priority
to building the capacity of Dalit leadership at various levels.
We encourage agencies to support south-south, south-north exchange
programmes to learn from each other's experiences and help build
networks among similar groups/initiatives at national, regional
and international levels.
16. We recommend that DFID initiate research
and impact assessment studies of various Dalit programmes with
a view to learn from experience and to build the findings into
their future policies and strategies. One of the terms of reference
in any evaluation or study should be the impact of aid programme
on the Dalit cause. This is an ongoing exercise that should be
built into all programmes of assistance.
17. Bilateral assistance Programme should
have provisions to involve Dalit-lead local NGOs along with the
state.
18. DFID should ask the Red Cross and Red
Crescent to amend their existing CODE OF CONDUCT to address caste-based
discrimination during times of relief and rehabilitation.
19. DFID should also take steps to instruct
all UK based Aid agencies working in India to incorporate these
recommendations in their India country policies as pre-requisite
to receive aid from DFID.
20. As the UK based Aid agencies, educational
institutions etc. pretend the ignorance of "caste caused
poverty" and social exclusion due to caste discrimination,
adequate funds should be allocated through Development Education
Programme to educate the UK public on caste discrimination so
as to ensure an informed development aid participation of different
sections of UK population, including its unreached sections.
21. We recommend the implementation of the
following relevant portion of Early Day Motion No. 346
dated 6 January 2004 addressed to DFID—; "recommends
that the Department for International Development and all UK-based
international aid agencies re-evaluate their development policies,
programmes, co-operation agreements and use of aid on the basis
of their effect on Dalit communities".
22. DFID should allocate sufficient funds
for the education of UK public on the implementation by the UK
Government of recommendations on descent-based discrimination
made by the UN Committee for Elimination of Racial Discrimination."
23. We strongly recommend DFID to examine
the suggestions made above and urgently to incorporate them into
its programmes and processes.
Voice of Dalit International submitted other
background information. Not printed. Placed in the Library.
May 2004
14 Copy placed in the Library. Back
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