The Hindu : Sonia lauds Bhopal document

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Sunday, Apr 14, 2002

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Sonia lauds Bhopal document

By Our Staff Correspondent

BHOPAL APRIL 13. There is considerable excitement in Congress circles here over the party president, Sonia Gandhi's special word of appreciation for the Dalit agenda that emerged from the Bhopal Conference held earlier this year at the initiative of the Madhya Pradesh Government.

According to available reports, the Congress president has lauded the Bhopal document devoted to the cause of the Scheduled Tribes and Dalits while reviewing the performance of the Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled States at Guwahati on Friday.

The officials who had worked overtime for the success of the Bhopal Conference have reason to be happy since Ms. Gandhi made a special reference to the measures envisaged in the Bhopal Declaration for socio-economic and educational development of Dalits and to provide land for them . The 21- Point Bhopal Declaration aims at ensuring that each Dalit family gets enough land to support a family. Ms. Gandhi said that this will give a fresh impetus to the upliftment of Dalits and described the Bhopal Declaration as a significant step to put Dalits on a better footing.

A two-day convention was organised here on January 12 and 13 this year to chart a new course for Dalits for the twenty-first century and intellectuals drawn from all parts of the country had joined the extensive debate to evolve a strategy for development of Dalits. The Bhopal Declaration emerged at the end of this debate

Meanwhile, a task force headed by the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, has already been constituted to implement the Bhopal Declaration.

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Sonia lauds Bhopal document