PR ENGLISH SHORTHAND DICTATIONS: ENGLISH SHORTHAND DICTATION-382

Hon. Speaker Sir, I thank you for giving me an opportunity to speak on the Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024. Sir, I think India is probably the only country where people are discriminated from their birth itself. For several hundreds of years, people have been discriminated on this ground. You can say that this particular community is not going to ever grow in life. They were oppressed to such an extent that we had the horrible crime of untouchability being practised in this country. It took several great leaders to be able to¹⁰⁰ bring in a law against untouchability. Baba Sahab Ambedkar brought in a law where he said that untouchability is a¹²⁰ crime, and it should not be practised. But we have to acknowledge that despite this law the practice of untouchability is still in vogue in several parts of India. I think the appropriate way to bring that down is to empower those people through reservation. But we have reservations only in elected bodies like Parliament, State Legislative Assemblies and local bodies. We are trying to empower those people who have been oppressed for several centuries. Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was the²⁰⁰ leader who wanted to decentralize the power and give it to the local bodies, and for this he introduced the Panchayati Raj system.

Sir, this Government is talking about the local bodies in Jammu and Kashmir where they want to²⁴⁰ empower OBCs. I commend this Government for that. It is a very great move. But the problem is that for several hundreds of years these people have been put down and now for 75 years only we have this policy of reservation through which we encourage the oppressed people to grow up in life. But we do not have³⁰⁰ a clue about what has happened with this reservation policy. For 75 years, we have been giving reservations to several communities. If you look at OBCs, it is not just two or three communities. There are hundreds of communities which fall within that OBC category. Unless we have caste-based census, we will not be able to understand the³⁶⁰ effects of reservation and find out which communities have benefited and developed out of this, and which particular communities are still being oppressed. We have to find out such communities which have not been benefited so that they can be⁴⁰⁰ brought up in the society. Sir, if you want to recollect, Tamil Nadu is the first State to have the highest number of reservations. We have 69 per cent reservation, and we feel that proportionate reservation is necessary. We have to first identify what all the communities are. When the Government says that this reservation is for OBCs, I feel that we should also have reservation for several communities within OBCs itself. The Government of India has a creamy⁴⁸⁰ layer concept. They say that if a person of one generation has grown or graduated, his son is not eligible⁵⁰⁰ for these benefits. The Government should understand that these communities have been oppressed for hundreds of years. But they are saying that if one particular family has got the benefits of reservation, these benefits should not be given to the next generation of that family. So, I would suggest that this Government, which has brought in the concept of creamy layer, should say that those who are not from the creamy layer would be given the first preference, and that reservation quota should be reserved for those people even if they are from the creamy layer, and it would be⁶⁰⁰ provided to them.

Sir, I also want to say that in the Railway recruitment, in order to overcome the reservation policy, they have gone for two examinations. Sir, these are the points which are being raised regarding this. The Government was talking about empowering OBCs. If they really want to have reservation happening in respect of OBCs to the people who deserve it, we need to have a caste-based census. In 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated, we opposed it because we felt that India is more of a continent where we have several regions speaking different⁷⁰⁰ languages and we have our own cultural identities. It is great to say that we are one nation. We are⁷²⁰ all part of the nation. If you talk about Tamil Nadu, we will say that we are Tamils first and Indians next. But if you come within Tamil Nadu and‍ go‍ to‍ Madurai, the‍ Madurai‍ person‍ will‍ say‍ that‍ ‘I‍ am‍ a‍ Madurai‍ person‍ first and‍ then‍ only‍ a‍ Tamil’.‍ So,‍ these‍ are‍ certain‍ identities‍ which‍ we‍ are‍ living with and that identity should be respected. When we oppose the abrogation of Article 370, we are saying that each⁸⁰⁰ and every State in this country, be it UP, be it Tamil Nadu, or be it Kerala, should have their freedom and independence to run their States the way they want to. You cannot say that we can have⁸⁴⁰ one concept of nation and that every State in this country should be following that concept. Sir, I would like to end by saying that first, you should give back Jammu and Kashmir the statehood and then, let the people over there decide about this. As a country, what you could probably do is to have a caste-based census. If⁹⁰⁰ a State Government does it, it is only called a survey and it will not be officially acknowledged. So, I would like to ask this Government whether a caste-based census is on their agenda or not.⁹³⁷