Rahul meets Dalit leaders to discuss their issues

In what is being seen as a focused approach to the problems of Dalits and tribals in various states, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has begun interacting with some select legislators belonging to these categories.

The exercise is to get feedback from them on the problems being faced in their areas and whether the state governments are fully sensitive to these problems and whether they are being tackled on a priority basis. After calling seven Dalit MLAs from Haryana, Rahul Gandhi met five scheduled caste and scheduled tribe MLAs from Rajasthan.

They were hand-picked by his office and then called to New Delhi for a meeting with the Congress leader. The basic focus of the discussions was the problems being faced in their areas, what are the development works there either by the state or central agencies and the progress of the programmes launched there.

The MLAs from the tribal areas of the state listed education as the first priority in terms of development and told the young leader that facilities in tribal schools must be upgraded and that science and technology must be added as a subject in all tribal schools.

They spoke about irrigation projects, the needs of the agricultural farmers, the need for new tubewells and upgrading of old wells suggesting that the work can be undertaken under the NREGA programme.

Those who attended the meeting were Kanta Garasia, Mamta Bhupesh, Manju Devi, Zahida and Mahender Kumar.

Sources say Rahul has been focusing on the Dalit agenda for the last few years, particularly in Uttar Pradesh where he has gone and spent the night with Dalit families in a bid to understand their problems.

In Haryana, Rahul  has shown concern at the manner in which Dalits are being victimized by the Jats under the leadership of Hooda and he called 7 Dalit MLAs to Delhi to receive their feedback on the functioning of the government and the treatment meted out to the Dalits.

And moving on from Haryana, Rahul has now trained his eyes on nearby Rajasthan, another crucial state for the Congress in the Hindi heartland.