Ramadoss clears reservation for SC/ST in medical and dental courses
Tuesday February 26 2008 00:00 IST
NEW DELHI: Union Health and Family Welfare Minister A. Ramadoss on Monday widened the ambit of reservations, by saying that the Government will introduce quota for SC/ST candidates for admission to undergraduate medical and dental courses from this year under the All India entrance examination.
"We have decided to introduce quota for SC/ST students in the Under Graduate courses for the All India examination, Ramadoss told reporters on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi on Monday.
"Last year we had introduced a similar quota for Post Graduate entrance examinations," he said.
Officials said the Health Ministry has issued directions to the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) to implement 15 percent reservation for Scheduled Castes and 7.5 percent for Scheduled Tribes in the exams conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
"Nearly 700 students in both PG and Under Graduate courses would benefit from this year," he said, adding that the total number of seats would not be increased.
In 2007, the total MBBS/BDS seats were 2,075, which were filled up on the basis of merit exclusively.
The decision was taken after the Supreme Court, hearing an application in this regard filed by the Health Ministry, left it to the Centre to take a policy decision on the matter.
Seats in government medical and dental colleges across the country that are under the All India quota are filled up on the basis of the All India Entrance Examination.
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MP to get India's first ever tribal university
Feb,26, 2008
http://www.indiaedunews.net/Madhya_Pradesh/MP_to_get_India%27s_first_ever_tribal_varsity_3550/
New Delhi: In a first of its kind initiative, Madhya Pradesh will soon have a tribal university to promote studies and research in the art and culture of tribal communities. The Central Government will set up Indira Gandhi National Tribal University at Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh.
This information was given by President Mrs Pratibha Patil yesterday while addressing the Joint session of Parliament on the opening of the Budget Session.
The proposed university will work towards encouraging studies and research in the field of art, culture, traditions, languages, customs and medicinal systems of the tribal communities, Patil said.
"My Government has placed great emphasis on the empowerment of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes through increased access to education," Patil said.
Mrs Patil also said that about Rs 900 crore has been earmarked for scholarships for about 30 lakh children belonging to the Scheduled Castes and an amount of over Rs 225 crore has been provided for more than ten lakh children belonging to various tribes. A separate university for the tribal would certainly create better educational opportunities for them.
The Government has introduced various plans and schemes for SC/ST students. The Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship and schemes for special coaching for SC/ST students are being implemented.
In her speech, Mrs. Patil also mentioned about the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act that was recently enacted. She further termed it as landmark legislation which is meant for correcting the past deprivations of the tribal and traditional forest dwellers and restoring their rights on land.
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From peon to lecturer, a tribal's success story
February 09, 2008
http://indiaedunews.net/In-Focus/February_2008/From_peon_to_lecturer,_a_tribal's_success_story_3382/
Ranchi: Coming from an impoverished tribal background, he worked as a peon in a Jharkhand university. But now Sushil Tudu has beaten all odds to qualify as a lecturer in the same varsity.
Tudu, in his 30s, is to be a lecturer in the Santhali language in Siddhu and Kanhu University in Dumka, around 400 km from here.
"My selection has fulfilled my long cherished dream. I passed through some tough times in life," Tudu told IANS on phone from Dumka.
He qualified for the post by sitting in the competitive Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examination. Three tribal lecturers have been appointed in the Santhali language and Tudu is one of them.
Tudu, who hails from the Simildohi village of Pakur district in Jharkhand, had been appointed a peon in Siddu and Kannhu University on compassionate grounds in 2004 after his elder brother died. Tudu lost his father at the young age of eight. He cleared his secondary examination in 1991 and despite financial difficulties continued his studies.
He did his post-graduation in Santhali from Ranchi University and cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the UGC in 2002. NET is a must for one to become a lecturer.
But he was unable to get a job until the peon's job came his way. The highly qualified Tudu said: "It was indeed a difficult decision to work as a peon."
He never gave up and finally Tudu qualified for the lecturer's post.
Victor Tigga, the vice chancellor of Siddhu and Kanhu University, said: "It is a matter of great happiness that a tribal person has qualified for the lecturer's post.
"I came to know that he was working as a peon in my university only after media reports on the matter. We will felicitate him later."
Tudu, however, does not want to attract too much attention right now.
He points out that candidates who did not make it in the JPSC exam have moved the Jharkhand High Court against the appointment of lecturers.
"I will talk to you at length after I get the appointment letter," said Tudu.
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More seats for SCs, STs
Hemant Patel
A net addition of six seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in Parliament and 68 in the Assemblies has occured.
Date : 6/4/2007
Innovative model to run tribal schools in Gujarat
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The state government plans to make the capital investment and provide the funds required to meet the schools’ running costs The Gujarat government has asked two private school operators to run tribal residential schools for the next five years on a non-profit basis. The Narendra Modi-led government is still looking for eight more firms to engage in a public-private partnership, a relatively new model in education management. Such partnerships are more common in infrastructure projects, especially construction of roads and highways. The state government plans to make the capital investment and provide the funds required to meet the schools’ running costs. The private schools that will take part in the programme say they have introduced stringent norms to make sure the government pays on time. “Besides building the school, we will give funds for everything from teacher salaries to student uniforms,” said A.M. Tiwari, secretary of the tribal development department in Gujarat. The state has pegged the annual running cost of a 400-seat residential school at Rs70 lakh. The first such residential tribal school will be run in Panchamahal by the management of the elite Navrachna International School in Vadodara. It will start its academic session this month. The state government also plans to sign an agreement with Singapore-based Global Indian Foundation to run a second school in Tilakwada. The foundation runs schools in cities such as Tokyo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, as well as in India. Government officials said they feel private management will bring the much-needed professionalism into the state-run school system. “I am a non-resident Indian, and this is my chance to do something for the Indian community,” said Atul Temurnikar, chairman of the Global Indian Foundation which has an annual revenue of Rs25 crore. “It will be a challenge as we will have to change our curriculum to meet this school’s needs”. Temurnikar said that he was wooed aggressively by Gujarat state officials to partner in the project. He was worried that the government may not adhere to payment deadlines, and says he introduced strict guidelines in the memorandum of understanding that he plans to sign with the Gujarat government later this month. Many state governments, including Gujarat and Maharashtra, have experimented with partnering non-government organizations in running tribal schools called Aashramshalas. But officials say those have not been run well. Experts say the Gujarat cases are still too few to make a case for private-public sector partnership in education. “One or two schools do not make a difference,” said Madhav Chavan, programme director for Pratham, a non-governmental educational organization that has studied rural education. “The question is how to get the system going.”
Source : http://www.livemint.com/2007/06/14003615/Innovative-model-to-run-tribal.html
We aren’t Hindus, assert Gujarat tribals
Rathin Das (Gandhinagar, May 5), Provided by Hemant Patel
UNDER pressure from the Hindutva protagonists, it seems that the tribals of Gujarat have started asserting their independent identity. The latest in the series of manifestation of tribal identity is a leaflet being circulated in the tribals areas.
The leaflet, circulated without mentioning the printer or publisher's name, has appealed to the tribals to register themselves during the current census only as tribals and not fall prey to the propaganda that they are Hindus.
This appeal is apparently in retaliation to a recent circular of the Gujarat Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad, one of the many Sangh Parivar constituents working among the tribals, reminding the tribals about their Hindu identity.
While the Gujarat Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad leaflet, distributed mainly in the tribal areas of south and east Gujarat, has talked about Hindu heritage, its Gods like Sri Ram and Hanumanji, the anonymous circular has categorically mentioned that they do not need any more Gods and Godesses and pilgrimages.
As all Sangh Parivar documents list the tribals as "Vanvasi" (inhabitants of the jungle), the anonymous circular of the tribals begins with the heading "Ame vanvasi nathi" (we are not vanvasi). The fine distinction between "vanvasi" and "adivasi", as the tribals like to call themselves, becomes crucial when the question of sharing the forest resources crops up.
The anonymous tribal leaflet makes it amply clear that they have finally seen through the game plan behind calling them "vanvasi". As anybody living in jungle can be termed "vanvasi", the tribals have developed a feeling that the move may be aimed at dislodging the "adivasis" from the jungle land and other resources.
The leaflet, calling upon tribals not to enumerate themselves as Hindus, has also questioned the Sangh Parivar contention about the Gods being basically the same.
After beginning with the assertion "We are Adivasi and we are proud of that," the leaflet After beginning with the assertion "We are Adivasi and we are proud of that," the leaflet has asked "you call us Hindus, then tell us in which caste do you classify us? Shudras, Vaishyas, Kshatriyas or Brahmins?" Then further it asks "would you allow your daughter or son to marry us?"
It has also reminded every one that "we were the first to live in the jungles. Everything of the jungle - its trees, rivers, streams, water, land, hills and grass — belong to us". Warning that none can take any of these without the tribals' permission, it also promises to give whatever the people require from the jungle.
But it is categorical in reminding that 'what to give, how much to give and when to give, would be decided by the tribals.