Government employees boycott work over mistreatment of Dalit

LUCKNOW - Hundreds of government employees in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district decided to boycott work Wednesday after a sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) slapped a Dalit class four government employee, police said.

Shouting slogans against Shyam Bahadur Singh, SDM (Sadar) Bijnor, hundreds of government employees of various departments converged in front of the Collectorate’s office, demanding that Singh be booked under the SC/ST Act.

“Chandrapal, a class four employee of the Revenue Department has alleged that the SDM Sadar Tuesday evening not only slapped him, but also made casteist remarks against him,” police inspector R.K. Gautam told reporters in Bijnor, about 400 km from Lucknow.

“He (SDM) manhandled me inside his room at the collectorate’s office and also hurled abusive and casteist words at me. When I voiced objections, he openly challenged me to initiate action against him,” Chandrapal told reporters Wednesday.

To protest against the incident, employees of the Revenue Department announced that they would boycott work and were later joined by employees of other departments.

However, Singh avoided commenting over the incident but told reporters that Chandrapal managed to sign some documents and certificates through fraudulent means.

Meanwhile, District Magistrate A.V. Rajamouli told reporters that an enquiry has been initiated into the matter and that the district administration was trying its best to sort out the issue by holding talks with government employees.