India, Vietnam discuss strategic partnership

Dang Dinh Quy, the vice-foreign minister of Vietnam, met external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday and held discussions on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and on ways to further boost ties. “Vice Foreign Minister Dang Dinh Quy of Vietnam called on EAM @sushmaswaraj today. They discussed comprehensive strategic partnership between India and Vietnam and the plan of action to further expand our relationship,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Starting April 14, the birth anniversary of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, the central government will hold camps in more than 21,000 villages with a substantial Dalit population to distribute income and caste certificates to members of “socially disadvantaged” communities.

These certificates are mandatory for members of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) to avail of benefits offered under central- and statesponsored schemes such as admissions to educational institutions, scholarships and quotas in government jobs.

Camps will be organised in villages with a population of more than one thousand, of which at least 50% belongs to SCs and STs, said the official cited above, who works at the ministry of social justice and empowerment — the nodal ministry for drafting and implementing schemes for the welfare of SC/STs and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

The initiative comes at a time when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is confronting protests by Dalits over a Supreme Court order banning automatic arrests and registration of cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which is aimed at protecting socially marginalised communities from abuse and harassment.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government has accused the Opposition of stoking the protests. Some members of the NDA too have been critical of the government.

Union minister and Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan said in an interview to HT (published on April 9) that the government suffers from a “perception” problem that it is insensitive to Dalits.

That perception is something the government is trying to dispel by reaching out to the communities. “As part of the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, piloted by the ministry of rural development, from April 14 to May 5 officials will travel to villages to ensure income and caste certificates are provided to those who need them and to open bank accounts linked to Aadhar so that benefits are transferred,” the official cited above said.

The process of distributing income and caste certificates has been largely streamlined in the southern states where gram panchayats have been able to digitise the records and efforts are underway to replicate the effort across the country.

These villages that have been identified by the rural development (ministry) in collaboration with the Registrar General of India have been picked for universalisation of seven schemes.

At the camps, the ministry will also draw up a list of out-of-school children and those who are eligible but have not been receiving pre- and post-matriculation scholarships offered by the Centre. “The data will be helpful in getting the correct picture of dropout rates among SC and STs, which is higher than the national average,” the official said.

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