BSP condemns penalty to dalits in Rajasthan

Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh today termed as 'saddening' and 'discriminating' the imposition of Rs 45,000 as penalty on three dalits for drinking water from a public tap in Bikaner district of Rajasthan. UP BSP president and state cabinet secretary Swami Prasad Maurya today raised question on the functioning of the National Scheduled Caste Commission and said the Congress-ruled states was least bothered about it. 'It is 'sorrowful' to know that the panchayat of village Randhesar in Bikaner district of Rajasthan imposed the fine of Rs 45,000 on three dalits only for drinking water from a tap,'' he asserted. He charged National SC Commission's new chairman P L Punia with ignoring the wrong done to the dalits.