Rattled by the spate of atrocities on Dalits and its likely fallout on the political front, the government has begun working on a blueprint to free the country of untouchability within the next four years.

Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar said at the Inter State Council meeting on Saturday that work has begun on a plan to rid the country of atrocities on Dalits and tribals by 2010. She also suggested a plethora of steps to ensure speedy justice and punishment to perpetrators of crime. Expressing concern that acts of violence against Scheduled Castes were on the rise, Kumar argued for an annual judicial review to assess the pendency of cases and number of acquittals. She also requested Home Minister Shivraj Patil that incidents of violence against the lower castes be passed on to her ministry on an institutional basis.

Echoing Kumar at the conclave was Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Ram Vilas Paswan who proposed that a prime minister’s trophy be given every year to the state where no incidents were reported. To ensure expedition of pending cases, he explained the merits of having “exclusive courts” instead of the present system of special courts.

The tenth meeting of the Inter State Council was held in the backdrop of a Dalit backlash in Maharashtra, following the desecration of an Ambedkar statue in Kanpur. The Congress-led UPA government is worried over the negative fallout of the movement, especially since Assembly polls in four states including Uttar Pradesh are scheduled early next year.

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