There is lot of insecurity among Dalits in Bihar: NACADOR chairman C Ashok Bharti

CAshok Bharti, chairman of NACADOR, a confederacy for Dalits and tribals said Dalits ar allay real backwards in Bihar and that many could shift support in the coming elections.Both the NDA and the Grand Alliance are wooing Dalits with sops and promises.In Bihar, every fifth person belongs to Scheduled Castes (SCs). Our reports find that there is huge dissatisfaction among Dalits. There are livelihood issues. The government has developed many infrastructure projects, but other sections of the society have reaped benefits while Dalits have been uprooted. They don’t have employment and have very little land. We feel that a substantial part of the SC community may shift their support.Do you think the attack on CJI BR Gavai can become a poll issue in Bihar?There is a lot of insecurity among Dalits. Now, an IPS officer in Haryana has committed suicide. Hari Om Valmiki was lynched in Raebareli. People from the Scheduled Castes want dignity. These are such high-profile cases...the news has circulated among the community. If the Chief Justice of India is not safe, if an IPS officer is not safe, then a poor, common man is not safe at all.Mayawati has praised the BJP-led UP government.I understand it was a big rally and she praised the upkeep of the Kanshi Ram memorial. But, she lost an opportunity because her vote-bank is solidly against Hindutva politics. She knows that many Dalit intellectuals are leaving Hindutva and going towards Buddhism or Christianity. But I think Mayawati could not take advantage of the rally. She had a golden opportunity.The socio-economic standard of Bihar’s SC population is lower than the national average. Does this not show that to a large extent, the pro-SC pitch of political parties is mere tokenism.Absolutely. There is tokenism. Be it literacy, land ownership, government jobs — in all these matters, parties of both sides have failed. Their development paradigm does not recognise the fault lines in the society. Different caste groups require different levels of intervention. The dominant SCs enjoy most of the fruits of development. Remember only 1.3% of Dalits have government jobs in Bihar and only 21% of Dalits have full-time employment, according to labour data and census.Poll data shows PM Narendra Modi and CM Nitish Kumar are popular choices for Dalit voters.Both of them have very high visibility due to their posts. But of late, Nitish Kumar has limited presence in public or political events. But NCRB data shows 48% rape cases against Dalit women happened in the last three years in Bihar. Atrocities against Dalits have increased. 57% of SCs are landless. Nobody is denying that the government is making efforts. But, we are saying t they are not enough.