National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairman Vijay Sampla on Sunday said the colleges and universities can’t withhold the degrees and certificates of Dalit students who have passed their courses for want of pending fees and other charges.
The commission will take a strict note in case of a complaint, he asserted.
The issue rocked the budget session of the Vidhan Sabha that concluded recently. Nearly 7,000 students are awaiting handing over of their degrees by their colleges, the House was informed.
Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Sampla said, “The national commission works independently of the state panel as the SC students can take up their cases directly. Also, efforts are made to being bring to an end manual scavenging that is going on with impunity in some parts of Punjab. Besides, there is a pendency of 67,000 cases of atrocities on Dalits with the national commission. We will make sure the cases are settled in a time-bound manner. The pendency of different cases in Punjab is 5,000 and I am sure the state panel will also expedite redressal of these cases.”
The national commission has a regional office in Chandigarh which caters to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh.
{{/usCountry}}The national commission has a regional office in Chandigarh which caters to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh.
{{/usCountry}}‘Farmers heckling me are anti-Dalit’
On opposition he is facing in Punjab from the state farmers, Sampla said heckling him as chairman of the commission means that farmers and their leaders are opposed to the Dalits. “I was chased and gheraoed by farmers and others. This is not the right way to protest,” he added.