SHIMLA: Himachal Preadesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today asked officers to effectively check "caste-based" discrimination in schools and Anganwadis and ensure that there was no discrimination against Scheduled Caste students in serving the "mid day meals".
Taking serious view on the complaints of the members of the Koli Samaj and Ravidass sect regarding discrimination, Singh said this was a criminal offence and action should be initiated against those teachers or Anganbari Sahayikas/workers who were found guilty as per the law. Presiding over the first meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Koli Welfare Board and Himachal Pradesh Sant Ravidass Kalyan Board, here today, he also directed the officers to re-circulate all the circulars issued by the Government to check caste based discriminations and take action against the guilty.
The Chief Minister said the State Government had constituted these Boards to consider and address the problems of these communities separately and added that 56 castes had been included in the list of Scheduled Castes (SCs) in the State and given reservation in government jobs.
Singh said the state government was implementing protection of Civil Rights and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Protection of Atrocities Acts in an effective manner and no person would be allowed to violate these Acts or discriminate with the SCs. Singh informed that in a major initiative, the state government had taken a decision to provide three Biswa and two Biswa of land in rural and urban areas respectively to the landless people of the state to construct their houses.
He said the grant was also being provided under housing projects and these decisions had helped a large number of people to fulfill their dream of own house.