SC commission to investigate atrocities on Dalits in Jhalrapatan

Jaipur, May 25 (UNI) The National Commission for Scheduled Castes will investigate the alleged atrocities committed on Dalits in Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's constituency of Jhalrapatan.

State Chief Secretary Anil Vaish and Director General of Police A S Gill were asked by the Commission to furnish facts and information regarding the removal of 30 Dalits from Devnagar village under Jhalrapatan tehsil within five days. The Commission's directive came on May 23 on a complaint by former minister and Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC) general secretary Ashk Ali Tak.

The Commission also directed that, ''compensation may be awarded to the uprooted Dalit families immediately and necessary arragements be made to rehabilitate them''.

Ashk Ali Tak in his complaint said the district administration on May 5, in an early morning operation with the JCB and bulldozers, demolished the dwellings of 30 families in the village.

He said other Dalits who were uprooted belonged to three categories. While some of the Dalits families have pattas issues on their name, others were alloted houses under the government scheme of Indira Avas Yogana. The rest were in occupation of land between 20-30 years.

He also alleged that the district administration adopted a ''pick and choose policy'' as only the houses of the Dalits were targetted while non-Dalits were spared.

UNI