Coming down heavily on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for allegedly shielding Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Damodar Rout by not complying the order of the National Commission for Schedule Caste (NCSC) for his repeated derogatory remarks against Dalit people, hundreds of Dalits under the banner of the Dalit Mahasabha sought intervention of Governor SC Jamir in the issue.
“On August 18, 2010 at a public meeting at Kujang in Jagatsinghpur district, Rout, the then Agriculture and Cooperation Minister, had used derogatory remarks against Jagatsinghpur MP Bibhu Prasad Tarai, MlA Bishnu Das and the then ADM Upendranath Mallick. An FIR was lodged on August 21, 2010 at the Kujang police station under Section 3 (1) (x) SC / ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 and we too brought the issue to the notice of the NCSC. Again on October 24, 2012, Rout also uttered derogatory remarks against the SC community,” said Ashok Mallick of the National Confederation of Dalit Organisations, Odisha State Unit.
Though the NCSC on many occasions has appealed to the Chief Minister to remove Rout from his Cabinet and directed the Chief Secretary and the DGP to initiate legal action against him, unfortunately no action has yet been taken against him, he said. “It clearly proves the tacit understanding between Rout and the BJD supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik,” alleged Mallick.
“Hence, we urged the Governor to invoke his Constitutional power for upholding, preserving, protecting and defending the rights and interests of the Dalit community of the State as envisaged in the Constitution by removing Rout from the Cabinet,” said Mallick.
“Astonishingly enough, a person who has been elected by the people to mitigate their sufferings is acting in a manner which hurt the sentiments of crores of Dalit and Adivasi people of the State,” said Ashok Mallick.
“The megalomaniac and condescending demeanour of Damodar Rout is quite unbecoming of himself for holding a responsible berth in the Ministry as he is engaging himself in a perpetual caste divide on a sensitive issue in our pluralistic society,” lamented advisor of Phule Ambedkar Vikash Parishad, Jagatsinghpur Madhabendra Gochhayat.