Job quota for Dalits, Harijans mulled
The government is planning a national policy to introduce quota system for Dalit and Harijan communities in different government and private organisations, Social Welfare Minister Enamul Hoque Mostofa Shaheed said yesterday.
People of these communities will also be brought under different social safety net programmes (SSNPs) on priority basis, he told a conference at Bangladesh Shishu Academy auditorium in the city.
The minister said the initiatives have been taken as per the prime minister's instruction to rehabilitate Dalit and Harijan communities for protection of their rights.
Now many Dalit people are entering different sorts of jobs as sweepers and cleaners intensifying unemployment problem in the communities, said Shaheed, adding that to overcome the problem, quota system for them will be introduced soon.
"I have talked with the expatriates' welfare ministry about sending human resources abroad from Dalit communities. I hope, you [Dalit people] will get fruit in this regard soon," he said.
BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan at the National Harijan-Dalit Conference-2011 urged Dalit people to merge their movement with different labour movements in larger scale to secure their demands.
Bangladesh Harijans Oikya Parishad, Bangladesh Dalit Parishad, and Antyaja Parishad jointly organised the national conference.
Ranjit Kumar Biswas, secretary-in-charge of the social welfare ministry, promised to take necessary measures to assist Dalit communities to minimise their miseries.
Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation, urged Dalit communities to continue their movement to end discriminations against them. She also called upon the Dalits to educate their children and resolve their internal disputes to get social dignity.
At the conference, Bangladesh Harijans Oikya Parishad secretary general Nirmal Chandra Das placed a 10-point demand including formation of Dalit commission, making an anti-discrimination policy, preserving 80 percent quota in different jobs of sweeping and cleaning, and arrangement of permanent accommodation for them.
Workers' Party of Bangladesh President Rashed Khan Menon expressed solidarity with the demands.
Bangladesh Harijans Oikya Parishad president Krishna Lal chaired the function while several hundreds of Dalit people from across the country attended it.
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