Memorandum submitted by Voice of Dalit
International (VODI)
1. VODI works to internationalise the discriminatory
practices of Caste, which is the cause of poverty of over a third
of the global poor, otherwise called "Dalits" living
in the Indian Subcontinent, including 0.2 million in the UK. 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 and tsunami 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 highlight this evil practice. It had also written to DFID,
Aid/Relief agencies about the need for addressing discrimination
in relief and rehabilitation. In the UK we network with the Dalit
communities and facilitated formation of CASTEWATCH-UK to address
caste discrimination in different walks of life in UK, including
educational institutions. VODI is also involved in conducting
a one year Dalit Development Course (DD Course) in the UK for
the leaders and future leaders of Dalit communities of South Asia.
2. As, most of the 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 became instrumental for Dalit Solidarity Network—UK
(DSN-UK) to develop a position paper on "Dalits and International
Development Aid". Subsequently VODI initiated discussion
on this at various levels and at various places including in Nepal
and India, where Delhi Declaration was brought out. The
same subject was discussed in 2002 in a Conference in Birmingham
on this subject involving Ms Clare Short, the then Secretary of
State for International Development. In 2004 DFID used this position
paper for its Seminar on "Caste, Social Exclusion and Development
in South Asia". In 2005 DFID released its Position Paper
on "Reducing Poverty by Tackling Social Exclusion".
This subject is further going to be discussed in a National Conference
of Aid Agencies in London on 29-30 October 2007, wherein DFID
has agreed to present its position paper. We invite all the members
of International Development Committee to participate in this
Conference.
3. The above Policy Paper of DFID categorically
states that 891 million global poor face various forms of social
exclusions, which include "Caste'. It also categorically
states that Caste "causes poverty" and "gets in
the way of poverty reduction". Caste "causes the poverty
of particular people leading to high rates of poverty among affected
groups'. It reduces the productive capacity and rate of poverty
reduction of a society as a whole". The position of DFID
opens new avenues to a vast scientific enquiry into the poverty
of people living in South Asia. Their poverty is caused due to
caste reasons. However, disregarding this position, DFID continue
to approach poverty of South Asia in a classical way prescribing
general medicine to a disease caused due to a particular reason.
Due to this approach valuable time and resources of Government
of UK is wasted and DFID annual report 2007 comes out with flowery
but apologetic statements such as "India has also made recent
trends in combating poverty. However, progress is lagging against
majority of the goals" (1.10), "The UN MDG's Traffic
light assessment (1.16 & 1.18) Progress towards Millennium
Development Goals in 9 key countries in Asia—1.18.2 (page
13)—"some/negligible progress".
4. In the international development history,
the success or failure of poverty reduction in South Asia, more
particularly in India is almost the same as above. An analysis
of the development history reveals that DFID was only interested
to spend transparently the money in South Asia, but not bothered
about achieving the targets. This is a total betray of UK taxpayer
as well as the poor in India. As far as the poverty reduction
in South Asia is concerned the proclaimed policy of DFID such
as, "Using Science in Fight Against Poverty"
is a failure and the coherence of DFID's policies and practices
with its own Position Papers and policies are very contradictory,
leave alone those of other Government departments.
5. Since decades the poor in South Asia
have been raising their views regarding the reasons of their poverty
to their local masters and later to the international benefactors,
but all that fell into deaf years. However, we are happy to note
that the UK Parliament has debated this issue more than once under
different names—first being on 22 November 2004, with title
"Caste Discrimination Overseas"—Web: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm05112/halltext/5112ho2.htm
; Second one by House of Lords on 26 March 2007 "India :
Dalits" : Column 1434 (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200607/ldhansrd/text/70326-0001.htm);
and the third one in the House of Commons 8 May 2007 (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070508/halltext/70508h0007.htm).
Even the Prime Minister of India has equated "Caste"
With Apartheid regime (www.guardian.co.uk/India/story/o,,1979157.00.html).
The EU in which the Government of UK plays a central role also
has taken a strong stand regarding the role of Caste in the human
rights and poverty of the masses in India. In spite of all these
declared positions of UK government, there seems to be a total
disregard by DFID in the case of caste caused poverty, affecting
over a third of the global poor.
6. To expand further, how DFID Annual Report
2007 is incoherent with its own policies and terms and conditions
of Programme Partnership Agreements (from copy of DFID-Christianaid
Partnership Programme Agreement 2005-11 March 2005), which amongst
others declares the following agreed outcome areas:.
6(a) "Poor people and their organisations
are empowered and equipped to participate in decision making process
that affect their lives and to challenge the systems and structures
that keep them poor".
6(b) The fact is that generally very few
Aid Agencies follow a policy in coherence with this outcome area.
The poor people are not even provided opportunity to take decision
regarding the funds given to NGOs/or other civil Society Organisations.
It is beyond the imagination of an ordinary person with commonsense
how DFID could make a dream like the one mentioned above without
ensuring that the poor gets an opportunity and a first hand lessons
of participation in the decision making process at least through
the use of the grants given by DFID.
6(c) Suggestions: When the grants
are disbursed to the NGOs (Civil Society organisations) in South
Asia, DFID should ensure whether these NGOs and recipient organisations
have proven record or the capacity of absorbing the target population
in its decision making bodies; the assets created by its grants
are controlled by the target population and finally the decision
making on the handling of at least the funds from DFID by the
target population.
6(d) "The movement for global justice
is strengthened through increased public awareness in the UK of
the root causes of poverty and injustice and increase support
to local national and international networks".
6(e) As far as the root causes of poverty
and injustice of over 1/3rd of the global
poor living in South Asia, particularly India, the general public
in the UK are ignorant about the Caste caused poverty. There is
very little importance found exist to make the UK public and their
institutions including NGOs who are capable of influencing the
general public opinion to be aware of this fact. Further this
peculiar poverty is categorised under the general category, thereby
hiding the real reason. In short there is a total ignorance perpetuated
in the international development world about the situation of
Dalits and their Development. Even the well recognised organisations
to impart Development Awareness in the UK show very little commitment
to this matter.
6(f) Suggestion: If poverty reduction
is an important target, then DFID needs to train its staff and
related persons in charge of South Asia Section to be aware of
the "Caste caused poverty" and its repercussions. The
Development Professionals, Experts, Advisors in charge of South
Asia particularly should be trained in this field of Social Science
-Dalit sensitisation. The existing staff should be given in-house
training on Caste caused poverty and its remedies etc. DFID also
should insist on the training in Caste caused poverty for the
staff of those Aid Agencies receiving funds for addressing Poverty
in South Asia.
7. In 2002 VODI initiated a training programme
for providing International Exposure and training to the leaders
and future leaders of Dalit communities and to be campaigners
in the West. In this connection, we have approached world renowned
Universities and other Development Training Centres in the UK
to see if there is any syllabus with Dalit perspectives. To our
shock no educational institution in the UK has such an area of
study. This is the most unscientific situation in a scientific
world for the disciplines of Development and Human Rights. This
indicates the continued existence of lack of scientific knowledge
in the field of development and human rights. It also indicates
the quality of the present Development professionals, Experts,
Advisors etc.
7(a) Suggestion: If UK Government
is serious about reducing poverty, not necessarily within the
prescribed years, some amount of emphasis has to be given for
developing science to address different causes of poverty—to
scientifically enquire into to the "caste caused poverty"
and its remedies. This would help build up a body of scientific
information which could be imparted to those in charge of Development/Human
rights in South Asia and other students interested in global poverty
issues. Currently VODI is negotiating with a UK University to
develop a Dalit development Course—with four stages—Diploma,
Degree, Post Graduation and Research. This could be used as model.
8. In order to address a massive problem like
poverty of a sheer number of people, there has to be a proper
Statistics. The statistics that exist with DFID needs to be updated
and corroborated with reality. According to the DFID Strategy
paper for South Asia—it is mentioned that 47% of the Children
in India are suffering from malnourishment. This indicator could
be used to cross check the actual figure of people living in extreme
poverty situations in this country. Taking various into account
of the development preventive and development punitive institutions
and mechanisms inbuilt within Caste reasons, one could easily
establish that 47% of the population of India or a percentage
above could be living in extreme poverty.
8(a) The news on "A Broken People"
in Booming India Low-Caste Dalits Still Face Prejudice, Grinding
Poverty" By Emily Wax Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday,
21 June 2007; Page A01 with the photo of a weeping mother Chandrika,
a 24-year-old Dalit, lost her two children to starvation after
doctors at a health center refused to issue a card that would
provide her with free milk. (By Emily Wax—The Washington
Post). This is an example of daily lives of Dalits in India. Their
poverty is not due to the scarcity of material resources or unwillingness
from the part of the affected. But the poor are prevented from
reducing their poverty. In other words, their poverty is made
on gunpoint. No amount of poring in of money can reduce this poverty
unless something is done to change the "general mindset"
in favour of poverty reduction. A new understanding and approach
to reduce the poverty of this section should be adopted.
The undersigned spent 30 years in the field
organising the poor and realised that in the Caste ridden India,
95% of the development time is spent on combating oppositions
against development of the poor and actually only 5% is available
for actual developmental work.
8(b) Suggestions: —(i) DFID
needs to engage new and different Dalit organisations with the
responsibility of corroborating the so called official statistics
with real life in India and engaged evaluations of its programmes
from Dalit perspectives. As Caste caused poverty affect over 1/3rd
of the global poor, a proportionate allocation of international
development resources be made to address their poverty. As this
is a single category poor, it is only fair for DFID to have separate
Dalit Department in DFID headed by a specially qualified person
in the field, preferably Dalit or a White British.
8(b) Suggestions: —(ii) As
Caste always excludes a vast number of persons based on birth
from the mainstream and prevent them from joining the mainstream,
the most caste affected country, India follows an affirmative
action policy to provide opportunities for Dalits in education,
jobs etc. DFID could take these examples an follow such an affirmative
action policy in its country offices in south Asia, including
its head office in the UK. This could be also followed up by the
INGOs receiving funding from DFID.
9. In the latest meeting of CERD, the Government
of India has taken the view that Caste is part of the Culture
of India. If this is practiced as a culture, the discrimination,
human rights violation, deprivation, poverty etc. of the masses
are also accepted aspects of culture in this country. During times
of natural calamities vast amounts are sent for relief and rehabilitation
in India. Reports show the continued discrimination experienced
by Dalits even during these occasions. When we enquire with the
Aid Agencies who are disbursing help from DFID during these times,
explain that they are bound by RED CROSS Code of Conduct, wherein
to follow the local culture is one of the Code of conduct.
9(a) Suggestion: DFID should direct
the British Red cross and later Red Crescent to amend their Code
of Conduct permitting discrimination even during times of rendering
relief.
10. I hope to submit other suggestions during
the time of oral evidence.
PREVIOUS SUBMISSIONS
AND PUBLICATIONS
1. A written representation to the "House
of Commons International Development Committee on DFID's Bilateral
Programme of Assistance to India"—giving concrete recommendations
to tackle Dalit poverty. (Ref: Third Report of Session 2004-05).
2. In 2005 VODI contributed an article titled
"New Understanding and Approach of Ending Poverty Required"
to Asia 2015 Conference Discussion Forum (Ref: www.asia2015conference.org).
3. New Paper Publication- in -The Universe-
"Aid Agencies are Ignoring the Plight of the Poor"—7
May 2006. (Published in the Back Page. This is copies on the seventh
page of the newsletter of VODI—May-June 2006) http://www.vodintl.org.uk/newslettersix.htm.
4. Article in the newsletter of BOND in
2007—("Out of sight, Out of mind—Aid Agencies
Failing to Address the Needs of 1/3rd of
the Global Poor".
(Ref:—http://www.bond.org.uk/networker/feb07/opinion.htm
)
R Eugene Culas
Director, Voice of Dalit International
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