BJP flays Bihar minister over allegations of Dalits’ plight in Gujarat

The BJP on Saturday attacked JD(U) for alleging that 12 lakh people were still engaged in manual scavenging in Gujarat on the basis of ‘false’ data whereas the truth was that according to latest survey the number was more in Bihar than the western state.

Reacting to charges made by senior JD(U) leader and Bihar Food Minister Shayam Rajak early this week that a whopping 12 lakh people were still engaged in manual scavenging in Gujarat, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said it was based on “false” statistics.

“The minister made the allegations on Gujarat government on the basis of a seven year old report which is baseless and false,” Modi, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister said in a statement.

The senior BJP leader said “the truth was that as per 2011 survey, around 9,765 persons were engaged in manual scavenging in Bihar whereas the figure for Gujarat is 1,408.”

Union government’s Sanitation and Drinking Water department Secretary had through a letter corroborated this figure, he claimed.

Contesting Rajak, he said the Gujarat government had got a survey done by Tata Institute of Social Science in the state in 2006. Based on this survey started many schemes under “Nirmal Gujarat mission”.

Besides, the World Bank, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh had lauded the mission, he claimed.

The senior Bihar BJP leader advised JD(U) leaders to “see their own faces in the mirror before showing it to others.”

Courtesy: IBN Live