[Reader-list] "No Dalit cook for students in this UP school"

[Kshmendra Kaul]

Shame on my India and shame on those who call themselves Hindus and in the name of religion indulge in such inhuman and disgusting practices.
 
Kshmendra
 
 
1.
"No Dalit cook for students in this UP school"
 
Lucknow:  Another shameful incident has brought the caste inequalities in an otherwise modern India to the fore. Parents rioted outside a school in Uttar Pradesh after discovering that the cook who prepared food for their children under the mid-day meal scheme was a Dalit. 
 
The Government middle school in the newly created Ramabai Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh has 191 students, nearly half of them who belong to so-called upper castes refused to eat food cooked in school.
 
Shanti, the Dalit cook was hired by the school 3-4 days ago. When children found out she was a Dalit, they complained to their parents.
 
Furious parents came out to ensure the school does not forget the age-old caste divisions. Fearing trouble, the school principal fled from the spot.

"These children will go out to study in other schools like even if they get food there or not, but they will not study here," said Biru Dubey, an angry villager.
 
Villagers have even forced the district administration to toe their line and attacked the police jeeps with stones.
 
"We have not received many application forms that is why we are giving them 3 more days. If there are any more women who want to apply, they can send in their applications," said Govind Raju, District Magistrate, Ramabai Nagar.
 
In Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, Dalits comprise over 20% of the population and it's shameful that such an incident has occurred in a state ruled by a Dalit chief minister.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/no-dalit-cook-for-students-in-this-up-school-37033?cp
 
 
2.
"Upper caste students refuse meal prepared by Dalit cook"
 
Sanjay Pandey, Lucknow, July 9
 
Students belonging to the upper castes have refused to eat the food cooked by a Dalit woman at a primary school in Uttar Pradesh’s newly created Ramabai Nagar district, about 200 kilometres from here.
 
The incident came to light on Thursday, when it was found during a routine inspection of the school that the upper caste students were not eating the mid-day meal as it was prepared by a dalit woman. “There are 137 upper caste students in the school and all of them had refused to eat the food prepared by a dalit woman,” education department officials said.

The officials were shocked and surprised to know that the students were asked by their parents to refuse the food. “My parents have asked me not to eat the mid-day meal as it is prepared by a lower caste woman,” said Shivam, a second standard student at the school. 

“The parents have made it clear that they will prefer to withdraw their wards from the school than allowing them to have meals prepared by a dalit woman,” the officials said. The dalit cook Shanti Devi is deeply hurt. “I repeatedly requested the upper caste children to eat the mid-day meal but they refused,” she said.

District basic education officer Sanjai Shukla said that the officials were trying to persuade the parents to allow their wards to eat the meal. Principal of the school Maan Singh has been suspended for trying to cover up the issue.

“It has been like that for many days but the principal, instead of contacting the senior officials and trying to resolve the matter, tried to cover it up,” the officials said. The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education, also known as Mid-Day Meal Programme, is a centrally-sponsored scheme and was launched on August 15, 1995.
 
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/80467/upper-caste-students-refuse-meal.html