Dalit students made to sit separately while serving mid-day meals in Rajasthan schools

Jaipur: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has received a complaint regarding alleged discrimination while serving of midday meals in some schools in Rajasthan. NCSC chairman Vijay Sampla claimed that atrocities against Dalits in Rajasthan have gone up and the commission will hold a review meeting of various departments of the state government in Jaipur on August 24-25.

According to the complaint, the schools have made separate seating arrangement for children from Scheduled Castes (SC) while serving midday meals, Sampla told reporters here. During a programme of the All India SC/ST Welfare Association, I was informed that in some schools, people from the SC community are not being allowed to prepare midday meals, he said.

“I have sought a list of such schools and a report on the matter for the verification of the allegations… If such things are happening in government schools, then it is unfortunate,” he said.

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“We are writing to the rest of the states in the same way that when schools are given recognition, an affidavit should also be taken from the management of that school that their awareness towards Scheduled Castes should be of such level that no discrimination is held. Teachers should also be trained in this regard,” he added.

He said the Jalore incident, where a nine-year-old Dalit boy at a private school was thrashed by his teacher for allegedly touching a water pot, was unfortunate. The state government has taken action in the matter and has arrested the teacher and registered an FIR against him, he said.