Dalits to observe Bharat Bandh on August 8

Vijayawada: State SC/ST Commission chairman Karem Sivaji has said that the all India bandh would be observed on August 9 protesting the attacks on Dalits in the country. 

He said various Dalit organisations gave a call for the nation-wide bandh as attacks on Dalits were on the rise in the country under the BJP rule. He said the Dalits were also demanding the Centre to pass the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act in the current monsoon session of Parliament. 

Addressing media at SC/ST Commission’s office at NTR administrative block in RTC complex here on Thursday, Karem Sivaji said a protest march would be taken out from Gokavaram near Rajamahendravaram to Kovvur on August 8 as part of condemning the attacks on Dalits.

Alleging that the Union government was responsible for dilution of SC/ST Atrocities Act in the country, he demanded that the Act should be passed in Parliament in its original form. 

He demanded that the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act should be included in the 9th schedule of the Constitution and added the Commission was making efforts to fill backlog posts lying vacant in various departments of state government.