The Gujarat government has refused to table a survey report on the state’s untouchability. The argument was that it was a report prepared by a university and not a commission.
The 2013 report was supposed to be presented at the state Legislative Assembly. The report was made by the Cept University five years ago. CM Vijay Rupani said that the government has taken the adequate steps as prescribed by the report to reduce untouchability. Congress’ Pravin Maru asked the government if it had received the report and acted on it.
Social Justice and Empowerment minister Ishwar Parmar, responded that the Cept University was asked to do some ‘fact-finding’ on the matter of untouchability because the Navsarjan Trust submitted a ‘one-sided’ report in 2010. Recently the Union Home ministry cancelled the Trust’s license, the NGO was working for the upliftment of the Dalits. Parmar insinuated that the Trust had prepared the report solely to ruin Gujarat’s image. Therefore, Cept University was to conduct a fact-finding survey of the report and the final report was received in April 2013.
No details were given of the report and what it contained, all that was said was that the recommended suggestions were taken into account and that the concerned departments were notified of the same. The government saw no reason to table the report during the assembly. Not satisfied, Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar asked that the government elaborate on the findings of the report and what adequate steps were taken. He insisted that Dalits were still not given the status they deserve in the state. Rupani assured the assembly that untouchability in any form will not be tolerated in the state. He said that the report suggested that children of all castes take meals together and that the government should formulate schemes keeping the caste factor in mind.
When prodded to reveal the report, the reply was that the government didn’t see the necessity in revealing each and every report at the assembly. But if there was truly nothing to be concerned about in the report, then the government would have no problems discussing it. Especially having been asked a couple of times, it might be necessary and even the communities concerned would have liked to know.