New Delhi: In a fresh advisory issued to media houses, the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi has asked them to desist from using the word "Dalit" and stick to constitutional term "Scheduled Caste" while reporting.
“Media should refrain from using the word Dalit while referring to the members belonging to the Schedule Caste community in compliance with the directions of the Bombay High Court and the constitutional term Schedule Caste in English and its appropriate translation in other regional languages should alone be used for all official transaction, matters dealing, certificates etc., for denoting the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes notified in the Presidential orders issued under Article 341 of the Constit-ution of India", the ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.
The advisory was issued to TV channels on 7 August, said one executive working in one of the news channels. In March this year, the government had issued a similar directive for the central and state government staff.
“The central government/state governments and its functionaries would refrain from using the nomenclature ‘Dalit’ for the members belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as the same does not find mention in the Constitution or any statute", the directives to government staff said.
Meanwhile, Dalit rights groups have opposed the I&B ministry’s order, asserting that the term holds political significance and a sense of identity.
“It marks the shift from brokenness to strength and power. We see this as part of the larger scheme of what the government is doing to the community, the anti-reservation discourse, the attempt to erase our identity little by little. We will file a PIL against the move in the Supreme Court if need be,” Asha Kowtal, who is part of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights said.
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