Punjab Congress legislature Party (ClP) leader and leader of the Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday blasted the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre and the Parkash Singh Badal Government in the State for being anti-dalit.
He attacked the Modi Government holding it responsible for the refusal by the Chandigarh administration to install statute of Dr BR Ambedkar in the premises of the Punjab Assembly.
“Chandigarh is a Union Territory directly administered by the Modi Government. The bylaws that were framed at the time of the founding of this city needed to be changed in response to the changing situation. Moreover, the society was dynamic and the administration too should change its attitude accordingly,” he said.
Channi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Chandigarh Administration to allow installation of the statute saying that Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal had already placed order for the statute.
He pointed out that the demand to this effect had been raised by the Congress in the recent Assembly session.
Channi also lambasted on the Badal Government on different issue but pertaining to the Dalits. He referred to the recent police recruitment in which the quota of the dalits had been reduced.
In an advertisement for the recruitment of 7,416 constables released on May 31, 2016, 21 per cent of the posts had been reserved for dalits while as per the State’s reservation policy, it should have been 25 per cent.
He also referred to the cooperative inspectors where the cut off percentage in graduation has been kept at 60 per cent for all the categories whereas it should be 40 per cent for dalits.
Channi pointed out that the dalits have been protesting at Sangat Darshan programmes in Badal’s home constituency, lambi, that further reinforced the charge of his being anti-dalit. It was not without reason that Badal was facing angry protests from dalits in his own constituency, he added.
Demanding that the Punjab government’s both decisions should be reversed, he said that the reservation policy, relating to quota and qualifications, should be implemented in toto.