Vandana Katariya And the Political Play
Ever since hockey matches came to an end during the Tokyo Games, the players have been getting rewards from across the board. The hatrick-star Vandana Katariya was one among them.
Along with the cash rewards, she was named as the brand ambassador of the Centre’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme for Haridwar district, Uttarakhand, by the state's Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. She was also announced as the brand ambassador of the Women and Child Development department of Uttarakhand.
However, this announcement came soon after Katariya’s family was subjected to casteist remarks.
Silence over action
Just like any other player, Katariya’s name was supposed to be in the news for her performance and efforts in the hockey matches during the Tokyo Games. But, she dominated news headlines for all the wrong reasons — where her caste took precedence over other things.
However, this is not the first time when a Dalit sportsperson was under casteist attack. Boxer Thulasi Helen was also a victim of caste-based discrimination. Even then, the boxing federation and Sports Authority of India (SAI) did not come forward to support her but rather preferred to be silent.
Katariya’s case was on a similar line. Although the Haridwar police had arrested three men after the family filed a complaint, the silence from the government and sports authorities has been quite upsetting.
Even while the government was rewarding players, no one seemed to have spoken against the casteist abuse that Katariya's family was subject to as if the issue never happened. Instead, she was hailed as the brand ambassador of the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ program.
While that surely is a progressive move, one can’t overlook the fact that it seems to be politically motivated. This announcement seems to have come with an intention to shift the focus from the casteism remarks to the government’s women-centric schemes and programs. By not acknowledging and officially slamming the attack or the nature of it, the administration has only furthered its wilful silence by deciding to compensate its lack of action with a political offer.
Also read: Mirabai Chanu, MC Mary Kom, Manika Batra: Why Are Female Athletes Hailed As ‘Bharat ki Beti’?
Behind the Beti Bachao program
The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme, launched in 2015, is a large-scale awareness program that aims to reduce the preference for male children and empower girls through education.
As part of the program, several activities are conducted at the district-level including communication campaigns via radio in regional languages, SMS and social media messaging, and regular monitoring of interventions on gender empowerment outcomes. All the districts have also been instructed to start innovation awareness programs after studying their works.
Under this, a budget of Rs 50 lakh is given annually to each district to conduct awareness programs, but due to lack of progress in awareness programs in many districts, even half the budget has not been spent.
Many districts of the state have not been able to spend even Rs 25 lakh received as the first installment of the scheme.
Incidentally, in 2019, Uttarakhand was attributed as one of the country's five best performing states in 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao'.
However, it is reported that in the financial year 2019-20, till the month of November, this amount has not been spent in some districts in Uttarakhand including Haridwar. There have also been reports that suggested that more money was spent on promotions rather than the actual schemes.
Hence, while the scheme’s effectiveness is yet to be proven, we wonder if Katariya's appointment is just another gimmick to promote the program.
(Edited by Sanhati Banerjee)
