INCREASING STAKE/PROTECTING RIGHTS
CADAM has worked closely over the years with the policy-makers and influenced the decision-making process. It continued to provide critical inputs to the Members of Parliament in Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indias’ Parliament) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Indian Parliament). CADAM President and NACDAOR Chairman, Ashok Bharti, led the WNTA delegation to the Minister of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Arjun Singh, on Right to Education Bill on 3rd May 2008. CADAM mobilised leaders of different political parties to take up the issues pertaining to the essential services such as education, health, employment etc. D Raja, MP and Leader of CPI, Ramdas Athavale MP and President of Republican Party of India, Annie Raja, General Secretary of National Federation of Indian Women, Subhashini Ali, General Secretary of All India Democratic Women Association, Sudhakar Reddy MP and Leader of CPI in the Lok Sabha, Raghuvnash Prasad Singh, Minister for Rural Development, Shailja Kumari, Minister of Urban Poverty Alleviation, Mani Shankar Aiyyar, Minister for Panchayati Raj are among the few whom NACDOR represented. CADAM organised two consultations on increasing Dalits’ stake in the economy through reservation in the private sector, one on 25th November 2009 during the winter session and the other on 4th March 2010 during the budget session of the Parliament. Held in Delhi’s Constitution club on 25th November 2009, the first consultation introduced the idea of Fair Share in Economy to the SC/ST. In the budget session on 4th March 2010, CADAM organised a policy dialogue on “Inclusion of Marginalised in Economy: Perspectives, Programmes and Challenges” at the Constitution Club in New Delhi. This was organised as a step to build the consensus of political leaders cutting across political parties, and other stakeholders involved in the process for justice, dignity and equality to SCs and STs. The dialogue was hugely successful. The leaders of the Employee Associations of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes also shared their viewpoints and demanded inclusion of SC/ST in the economy, especially in the private sector.