Dalit activists demand Karnataka release and implement Rohith Vemula Bill in budget session
Dalit groups, academics and students warned of protests if the Congress government delays the draft of the Rohith Vemula Act, seeking safeguards against caste discrimination in educational institutions. BENGALURU: Even as the Congress government in Karnataka has delayed releasing the draft of the Rohith Vemula Bill, Dalit activists, academics, and students have demanded that it be made public and implemented in educational institutions during the upcoming budget session. Activists have warned of massive protests if the government fails to act. The “Campaign for Rohith Vemula Act,” active for the past two years, has prepared a “People’s Draft” aimed at providing equal educational opportunities for SC/ST students and eliminating caste discrimination in institutions. This draft has already been submitted to the state government during previous meetings. Condemning the delay, Mavalli Shankar, State Convener of the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (Ambedkar Vaada), said, “The state government has already promised to implement the Rohith Act. It is regrettable that the draft has not yet been made public or discussed in the Assembly. This Act is essential to ensure equal opportunities in higher education for Dalit and Adivasi students. The Congress party, which swears by the Constitution, must take concrete steps to realise the values of the preamble. Enacting the Rohith Vemula Act would mark a historic step toward ensuring dignity, equality, and justice in Karnataka’s universities and colleges.” Ashna Singh, Assistant Professor at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, who conducted research for the draft, said, “To break the caste hierarchy, reservation in government jobs was first implemented during the reign of the Mysore Wodeyars. Karnataka has a history of protecting Dalits, Adivasis, and Bahujans through special laws such as PTCL, KTPP, the abolition of the Devadasi system, and anti-social boycott laws. In this same spirit, implementing the Rohith Act is a necessity.” Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https:/thenewindianexpress.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
In a first, Jharkhand’s Ramgarh gets cafe run by transgender persons
An initiative of the district administration, the cafe will be managed by a group of 10 transgender persons In a first, Jharkhand’s Ramgarh gets cafe run by transgender persons In a first-of-its-kind initiative in Jharkhand, a cafe has been set up in Ramgarh district that will be run exclusively by members of the transgender community. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Faiz Aq Ahmed Mumtaz inaugurated ‘TransCafe’ at the district collectorate park on Tuesday. An initiative of the district administration, the cafe will be managed by a group of 10 transgender persons. “For far too long, members of the transgender community have faced social exclusion and economic marginalisation, and it is time we correct these historic injustices through concrete action,” Mumtaz said after inaugurating the cafe. “Our initiative aims to integrate them into the mainstream while respecting their identity and rights. We are committed to creating an inclusive Ramgarh where everyone can live with respect, safety, and opportunity,” he said. The DC said dedicated OPD services are being provided to the transgender community at the district hospital every Saturday afternoon. “Three dedicated toilets have been opened for them recently at different public places. We have also employed two members of the community, one in the DC office and another in Sadar Hospital, through outsourcing,” he added. A self-help group has been formed, and it will run the cafe, the DC said. SHG president Himanshi Pradhan said the initiative would help transgender persons to lead a respectful life. Himanshi, who is pursuing an MBA from IGNOU, said the steps taken by the district administration would help the overall development of the community and uplift their social strata. Courtesy : Mid-Day Note: This news is originally published on https:/mid-day.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Relief for Rahul Gandhi as Karnataka HC quashes BJP’s defamation case over 2023 ‘graft’ advertisement
BENGALURU: In a big relief for Rahul Gandhi, Karnataka HC Tuesday quashed proceedings against the Congress MP in a defamation case filed by BJP on a ‘corruption rate card’ advertisement against then state BJP govt in 2023. Allowing a petition filed by the leader of the opposition in LS, Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav said continuation of proceedings would amount to abuse of process of law. The court said, “Imputation itself is by way of innuendo, and such imputation is sought to be stretched to the party. Sans the tweet, the advertisement makes no reference to the party; rather (it) makes an imputation to the functionaries mentioned in the advertisement.” CM Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar were arraigned as accused in the case. BJP’s complaint had alleged that, in the advertisement given on May 5, 2023 in all mainstream newspapers, the accused made “fanciful, baseless, foundationless, and irrational allegations” against the complainant party. Case reveals casual approach of complainant, says court The court pointed to procedural lapses, including that there was no inquiry under Section 202 of CrPC, which is mandated where the accused is outside the court’s territorial jurisdiction. This revealed “a very casual approach” of the complainant in not insisting on such an inquiry before summons was issued to the accused (Rahul), the judge said. In his petition, Rahul Gandhi said there was no prima facie material placed by the prosecution to prove the charges against him and that the complainant failed to produce any documentary evidence to show he circulated the alleged advertisement on his Twitter handle. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Revanth to brief Rahul, Kharge on govt performance, poll wins
Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy is heading to Delhi on Feb 19 along with his entire cabinet and TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud to meet the Congress high command, in what is seen as a key political review ahead of upcoming electoral battles. A meeting with senior leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal is scheduled at AICC headquarters on Thursday. Sources said Revanth is expected to inform the leadership that voters across rural and urban Telangana backed the Congress in recent polls, dealing a major setback to the BRS and BJP. The chief minister is also likely to present a report on the govt’s two-year performance, detailing promises and guarantees already implemented and those planned for the remaining three years of the term. He is expected to convey that public response to welfare schemes has been positive and that the party’s winning streak continues in assembly by-elections as well as panchayat and urban local body polls. The AICC has been conducting similar review meetings with state units to assess the political situation, strengthen grassroots organisation and prepare for upcoming elections. According to sources, consultations have already been held with 14 state units under the ‘Sanghatan Srijan Abhiyan’, which includes the appointment of new district Congress committee presidents. Progress reports Ministers from Telangana are reportedly preparing detailed progress reports of their respective departments ahead of the meeting. “If inquired by the AICC, the ministers will present their progress report too,” a source said. Discussions may also touch upon other sensitive issues, including internal differences among senior leaders and ministers, allegations related to coal mining tenders, and campaign planning in states such as Kerala and others heading for assembly elections in the near future. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘Chinese products showcased’: Rahul Gandhi calls AI Impact summit ‘disorganised PR spectacle’
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday slammed AI Impact Summit, terming it a “disorganised PR spectacle.” In a social media post on X, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha claimed that Indian data is up for sale in the event while Chinese products are being showcased. “Instead of leveraging India’s talent and data, the AI summit is a disorganised PR spectacle – Indian data up for sale, Chinese products showcased,” Rahul said. Rahul also quoted a post by Congress which said that Modi government has made a “laughing stock of India globally”, with regard to AI. “In the ongoing AI summit, Chinese robots are being displayed as our own. The Chinese media has mocked us. This is truly embarrassing for India. What is even more shameful is the fact that Modi’s minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is indulging in the same falsehood, promoting China’s robots at the Indian summit,” the party said. “The Modi Government has caused irreparable damage to the image of the country – they have reduced AI to a joke – a field in which we could be world leaders given our data power,” it added. This comes after Galgotia University showcased a robotic dog labled “Orion” at the AI Summit expo. However, the university faced backlash as critics claimed that the product was actually a Chinese-made Unitree Go2 and not an in-house innovation. Meanwhile, Galgotias University has been asked to vacate its stall at the AI Summit Expo immediately, news agency PTI reported citing government sources. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Odisha caste row ends; children return to anganwadi centre, consume food cooked by Dalit employee
“I hope caste discrimination will not lurk its ugly head in the village anymore,” Sharmistha Sethy, the woman anganwadi employee said A three-month-long caste row at an anganwadi centre in a village in Odisha’s Kendrapara district ended on Monday (February 16, 2026) as children from upper caste families returned to the facility and consumed food cooked by a Dalit woman helper. Of the 20 children on the roll, 16 came to the anganwadi centre in Nuagaon village under Ghalimala gram panchayat with their parents and ate the food cooked by the helper, with the absentees reporting ill. Villagers in Odisha boycott anganwadi over appointment of Dalit employee The anganwadi centre remained shut since November 21 last year, following the appointment of Sharmistha Sethy, a Dalit woman, as a helper, with several upper caste families refusing to send their wards to the facility or even accept nutritious food items supplied by the government for pregnant women and lactating mothers. The caste row triggered nationwide outrage, and the matter was even raised in Parliament, with Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, voicing concern over caste discrimination in the workplace. On Monday (February 16, 2026), Kendrapara Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) Dipali Mishra and Rajnagar MLA Dhruba Charan Sahoo were present at the anganwadi centre to welcome the children. Anganwadi employee on caste discrimination “I served ragi ladoos to the children. Later, I cooked rice and ‘dalma’ (vegetable curry) and served the children. Seeing them eat the meals made me overjoyed. They also played with toys, bringing back life to the centre, which was left deserted for around three months,” Ms. Sethy said. Caste row over Dalit woman’s engagement at anganwadi centre in Odisha resolved, says official “I hope caste discrimination will not lurk its ugly head in the village anymore,” she added. CDPO Mishra said the children, flanked by their guardians, had joyous moments at the centre. “The centre functioned sans the children for almost three months due to some villagers’ disagreement over the appointment of Sharmistha Sethy as the anganwadi centre helper. Now, the vibrancy is back,” Ms. Mishra said. On the absentees, the CDPO said they could not join as they are not well. “We hope the absentee children will come to the centre on Tuesday as the dispute has been resolved. People have decided to relegate the differences to the background. This is heartening,” she added. Rajnagar MLA Dhurba Charan Sahoo said, “The issue is now a thing of the past. I hope the camaraderie among the villagers will remain intact.” Taking to X, Kendrapara MP and BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda said, “Delighted at children having a nutritious meal today at the Nuagaon anganwadi which I had reviewed yesterday and had a wonderful lunch along with local leaders and villagers. It was heartening to see the community coming together to ensure great beginnings for their children.” Mr. Panda and other villagers joined a feast where Ms. Sethy served food to the guests on Sunday. State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) member Sujata Nayak hailed the children’s return to the centre and said the commission will launch an awareness drive aimed at safeguarding the rights of the children. Kendrapara district sub-collector Arun Nayak had earlier said the matter was resolved in the presence of stakeholders, including members of the SCPCR and Odisha State Commission for Women, as the officials sensitised villagers on the matter. Courtesy : The Hindu Note: This news is originally published on https:/thehindu.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Save child nutrition from caste prejudice
The shocking episode of villagers in Odisha boycotting a Dalit cook appears too commonplace, with such discrimination dotting the social landscape—from ostracisation in villages to discrimination in elite educational institution campuses; from workplaces to reservations in jobs In Nuagaon village of Odisha’s Kendrapara district, Sarmista Sethi’s forlorn figure at the anganwadi centre, ready to cook a meal but with no child willing to eat it, will remain a lasting image of the deeply entrenched caste prejudice prevalent in India. For about three months, the 23-year-old Dalit woman waited for students to turn up, but barring a couple, the rest from upper-caste families gave the classes a miss. The social boycott began when she was appointed cook in November last year. Villagers protested, notwithstanding her merit, and asked her not to cook. When she stuck to her ground, the village committee instructed families to stop sending their children. Her pleadings fell on deaf ears as pregnant and lactating women also did not show up. The matter caught the attention of the media and even Parliament, but the villagers initially did not budge. It all appears too commonplace, with such discrimination dotting the social landscape—from ostracisation in villages to discrimination in elite educational institution campuses; from workplaces to reservations in jobs. Even Constitutional guarantees have not made much cut. So deep-rooted is the caste hierarchy that it has left in its trail violence, oppression and economic deprivation. Turn a newspaper page or switch on a TV channel, and one story or the other pops up. In Uttarakhand, a similar episode took place and even ended in reverse ostracisation by the Dalit community. Notwithstanding this history of discrimination, affirmative action has helped. In Kendrapara, the district administration and the Odisha State Commission for Women ended Sethi’s ordeal through awareness camps and street plays. Residents were reminded that their discriminatory approach had brought the village a bad name. Kendrapara MP Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda shared a meal cooked by her as a gesture. However, the administration’s subtle yet stern stance on legal action eventually resolved the issue. The incident demonstrates how caste can impede access to nutrition for disadvantaged children. The anganwadi exists to feed and support those who need it most. When parents refuse meals because a Dalit woman cooks them, children lose first. Social rigidity undermines efforts to deliver free nutrition and expand public employment for women from disadvantaged communities. Caste-based prejudice remains a blot on India’s socio-economic progress and must be fought with strong administrative action and wider conversation. Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https:/thenewindianexpress.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Odisha’s Nuagaon Anganwadi dispute ends as children return, Dalit helper welcomed
A three‑month-long caste dispute that paralysed an Anganwadi centre in Nuagaon village of Odisha’s Kendrapara district has been resolved, as children returned to the facility and parents agreed to accept food prepared by a Dalit helper, restoring normal operations to the rural childcare and nutrition centre. Nuagaon, located under Ghalimala gram panchayat in Rajnagar block , is a small riverside village with roughly 450 residents . The population is predominantly upper caste, with only a handful of Dalit families—about seven households. The community depends largely on agriculture, and traditional social hierarchies have historically influenced access to public services and communal life. The village anganwadi serves about 20 children , providing early education, supplementary nutrition, and support to pregnant and lactating women under India’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. The centre had remained non-functional since November 21 last year after 23-year-old Sharmistha Sethy , a Scheduled Caste graduate, was appointed as a helper-cum-cook. Several upper caste families refused to send their children or accept government-supplied nutrition for mothers, leaving the centre deserted and disrupting services for the community’s most vulnerable members. The standoff drew national attention, with Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge , raising the issue in Parliament. He said, “In the 21st century, when we talk about social development, social reform, and the unity of Hindus, people of a particular community are refusing to let their children eat food cooked by a Dalit woman… That Anganwadi centre has been boycotted for the last three months.” His statement highlighted persistent caste-based discrimination in public welfare delivery. To resolve the deadlock, the district administration , Odisha State Commission for Women, the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) , and local leaders engaged with the community. Officials including sub-collector Arun Nayak , CDPO Dipali Mishra , and member of the State Women Commission Kalpana Mallick held multiple rounds of door-to-door outreach and community meetings. Cultural initiatives, including pala (folk) performances and street plays , were organised to sensitise villagers about equality, inclusion, and the harmful impact of discrimination on children’s health, education, and development. A breakthrough came when over 150 residents attended a key meeting on Saturday , where they took a pledge to send children back to the centre from Monday and ensure its smooth functioning. The villagers also participated in a community meal , where Sethy served food to parents and local leaders, signalling reconciliation. On Monday, 16 of the 20 enrolled children returned with their parents and consumed meals prepared by Sethy, while four were absent due to illness. CDPO Mishra and Rajnagar MLA Dhruba Charan Sahoo were present to welcome the children. Officials had previously visited households to reassure families and emphasise the importance of uninterrupted services. Expressing relief, Sethy said she was overjoyed to see children back at the centre and play freely after nearly three months of closure. She hoped the dispute would not recur and that the centre would continue serving the community effectively. Kendrapara MP and BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda , a member of the Brahmin community, visited the village on Sunday, shared a meal prepared at the Anganwadi, and lauded the community and administration for coming together to prioritise children’s welfare. Members of the State Women Commission reiterated that constitutional guarantees of equality and the abolition of caste-based discrimination must be upheld in public services. Officials stated they will continue monitoring the centre to ensure regular attendance and proper functioning. Villagers expressed hope that the dispute is permanently behind them, and authorities plan to improve the anganwadi’s infrastructure to better serve children and mothers in the future. Yekkirala Akshitha Courtesy : The Morning Voice Note: This news is originally published on https:/themorningvoice.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
AI knows how caste works in India. Here’s why that’s a worry
When Usha Bansal and Pinki Ahirwar — two names that exist only in a research prompt — were presented to GPT-4 alongside a list of professions, the AI didn’t hesitate. “Scientist, dentist, and financial analyst” went to Bansal. “Manual scavenger, plumber, and construction worker” were assigned to Ahirwar. The model had no information about these “individuals” beyond the names. But it didn’t need any. In India, surnames carry invisible annotations: markers of caste, community, and social hierarchy. Bansal signals Brahmin heritage. Ahirwar signals Dalit identity. And GPT-4, like the society whose data trained it, had learned what the difference implies. This was not an isolated error. Across thousands of prompts, multiple AI language models, and several research studies, the pattern held. The systems had internalised social order, learning which names cluster near prestige and which get swept towards stigma. Sociologists TOI spoke with were unsurprised. Anup Lal, associate professor (sociology and industrial relations), St Joseph’s University, Bengaluru, said: “Caste in India has a way of sticking on. Even when Indians convert to religions with no caste in their foundation, the caste identities continue. I am not surprised that AI models are biased.” Another sociologist added: “If anything, isn’t AI being accurate? It is, after all, learning from us.” Far-reaching implications The need for bias-free AI becomes critical as AI systems move into hiring, credit scoring, education, governance, and healthcare. The research shows bias is not only about harmful text generation, but about how systems internalise and organise social knowledge. A hiring tool may not explicitly reject lower-caste applicants. But if its embeddings associate certain surnames with lower competence or status, that association could subtly influence ranking, recommendations, or risk assessments. Beyond surface-level bias The bias was not merely in what models said. Often, surface-level safeguards prevented overtly discriminatory outputs. The deeper issue lay in how they organised human identity within the mathematical structures that generate responses. Multiple research teams have documented that large language models (LLMs) encode caste and religious hierarchies at a structural level, positioning some social groups closer to terms associated with education, affluence, and prestige, while aligning others with attributes that attach to poverty or stigma. “Although algorithmic fairness and bias mitigation have gained prominence, caste-based bias in LLMs remains significantly underexamined,” argue researchers from IBM Research, Dartmouth College, and other institutions in their paper, ‘DECASTE: Unveiling Caste Stereotypes in Large Language Models through Multi-Dimensional Bias Analysis’. “If left unchecked, caste-related biases could perpetuate or escalate discrimination in subtle and overt forms.” Most bias studies evaluate outputs. These researchers examined what happens under the bonnet, as it were. LLMs convert words into numerical vectors within a high-dimensional “embedding space”. The distance between vectors reflects how closely concepts are associated. If certain identities consistently lie closer to low-status attributes, structural bias exists, even if explicitly harmful text is filtered. The DECASTE study used two approaches: In a Stereotypical Word Association Task (SWAT), researchers asked GPT-4 and other models to assign occupation-related words to individuals identified only by Indian surnames. The results were stark. Beyond occupations, the bias extended to appearance and education. Positive descriptors such as “light-skinned,” “sophisticated,” and “fashionable” aligned with dominant caste names. Negative ones like “darkskinned,” “shabby,” and “sweaty” clustered with marginalised castes. “IIT, IIM, and med school” were linked to Brahmin names; “govt school, anganwadi, and remedial classes” to Dalit names. In a Persona-based Scenario Answering Task (PSAT), models were asked to generate personas and assign tasks. In one example, two architects, one Dalit, one Brahmin, were described identically except for caste background. GPT-4o assigned “designing innovative, eco-friendly buildings” to the Brahmin persona and “cleaning and organising design blueprints” to the Dalit persona. Across nine LLMs tested, including GPT-4o, GPT-3.5, LLaMA variants, and Mixtral, bias scores ranged from 0.62 to 0.74 when comparing dominant castes with Dalits and Shudras, indicating consistent stereotype reinforcement. Winner-takes-all effect A parallel study, that included researchers from the University of Michigan and Microsoft Research India, examined bias through repeated story generation compared against Census data. Titled, ‘How Deep Is Representational Bias in LLMs? The Cases of Caste and Religion’, the study analysed 7,200 GPT-4 Turbo-generated stories about birth, wedding, and death rituals across four Indian states. The findings revealed what researchers describe as a “winner-takes-all” dynamic. In UP, where general castes comprise 20% of the population, GPT4 featured them in 76% of birth ritual stories. OBCs, despite being 50% of the population, appeared in only 19%. In Tamil Nadu, general castes were overrepresented nearly 11-fold in wedding stories. The model amplified marginal statistical dominance in its training data into overwhelming output dominance. Religious bias was even more pronounced. Across all four states, Hindu representation in baseline prompts ranged from 98% to 100%. In UP, where Muslims comprise 19% of the population, their representation in generated stories was under 1%. Even explicit diversity prompts failed to change this pattern in some cases. In Odisha, which has India’s largest tribal population, the model often defaulted to generic terms like ‘Tribal’ rather than naming specific communities, demonstrating what researchers called “cultural flattening”. Embedded in structure Both research teams tested whether prompt engineering could reduce bias. The results were inconsistent. Asking for “another” or “different” story sometimes reduced skew, but rarely corrected it proportionally. In Tamil Nadu birth stories, even explicit diversity prompts still overrepresented general castes by 22 percentage points. For religious representation in UP weddings, all prompt types produced 100% Hindu stories. The DECASTE study found similar limits. Some models avoided generating personas when caste names were explicit, but this avoidance did not reduce implicit bias — it simply sidestepped engagement. The core problem lies deeper. Bias exists at the representational level — in how models internally structure knowledge. Researchers found that uppercaste identifiers showed stronger similarity to high-status and education-linked attributes. Historically marginalised caste identifiers showed stronger similarity to economic hardship or lower-status occupations. These separations persisted even when context was tightly controlled. Safety fine-tuning reduced overtly harmful outputs but did not eliminate underlying structural disparities. “Filtering affects what
Kerala: Why did a Dalit priest have to resign after just four months on the job?
P.R. Vishnu, a Dalit priest with the Travancore Devaswom Board, has resigned. He alleged caste discrimination and ongoing threats. This harassment began after a police complaint was filed two years ago. Kochi: P.R. Vishnu, a Dalit priest from Alangad Koduvazhanga Pallathuparambil, who worked with the Travancore Devaswom Board, has resigned. Vishnu was the priest at the Vathurkkavu Devi Temple, which falls under the Tiruvallur sub-group of the Paravur Group. Vishnu explained that two years ago, while working as a substitute priest at the Thathappilli Bhagavathy Temple, he filed a police complaint alleging caste discrimination. Following this, he faced threats and taunts. Vishnu also stated that he was receiving pressure and threats from various quarters to withdraw the complaint he filed at the time. He also clarified that the money paid for union membership was returned. It is reported that complainant Vishnu faced renewed threats after the gold jewelry at the Vathurkkavu temple where he was currently working was found to be fake. He had received the job four months earlier through the Travancore Devaswom Recruitment Board. Vishnu clarified that this was the reason he decided to leave. Author: Satyam Bhardwaj Courtesy: Hindi News