PATNA: Bihar minister for SC and ST welfare Santosh Kumar Suman on Wednesday handed over a charter of demands to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking, among other things, reservations for Dalits and tribals in the higher judiciary and the private sector.
Suman, who is the son of former Chief Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha founding president Jitan Ram Manjhi, is at present on a trip of the national capital.
According to information provided here by the party, Suman met the PM this afternoon and handed over to him a two-page letter which also included the demand for conferring "Bharat Ratna", posthumously, on Dashrath Manjhi.
A stone-cutter by profession, Manjhi had come to acquire the status of a legend after he toiled away for years to flatten a hill in his native district of Gaya, anguished over a fall from the mound that left his wife fatally wounded.
Other demands raised in the letter include placing the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act in the ninth schedule of the Constitution, raising the centre's contribution for pre-matric scholarship scheme to 90 per cent and centrally assisted schools, modelled after Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, specially for Dalit and tribal boys and girls.
Introducing reservations for SCs and STs in promotions, special central assistance for entrepreneurs hailing from the depressed classes and effective safeguards against and central grants to those suffering atrocities have also been sought.