P. V. Rao

P.V Rao or "Pothula Vigneswara Rao" spearheaded the Dalit Mala Mahanadu movement in Andhra Pradesh to fight against the categorisation of Scheduled Castes into A, B, C, D groups.

Background

Born in a Dalit family in Devaguptam village near Amalapuram in East Godavari district, Rao was influenced by Ambedhkar's ideology since his childhood days. After his graduation he entered the state government service and served in the Information and Public Relations Department for about two decades. Mr Rao was also the editor of Telugu edition of Andhra Pradesh journal.

Mala Mahanadu Movement

The 20% Dalit population in the state has always been a traditional vote bank of congress since the time of Independence. Chandra Babu Naidu of the TDP party had a different game plan in 1998, he felt the traditional Dalit vote bank of the Congress in Andhra had to be split if he has to establish his party strongly in the state. Sowing the seeds of separate reservations benefits Naidu enticed the Madigas with separation of welfare, seats in educational institutions and reservation. He brought in a former naxalite, manda Krishna Madiga to superhead the MRPS movement for the categorisation of Scheduled Castes into A, B, C, D groups. The then Chandrababu Naidu government classified 59 sub-castes in four groups according to their population and allocated their share. Thus, 12 castes in group A got 1 per cent, Madigas and 17 other castes in group B got 7 per cent, Malas and 24 others in group C got 6 per cent and four castes in group D got 1 per cent.

Malas now have to limit their share to only 6% out of 15%, this has led to a wide resentment among Malas. Rao opposed former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu's division of scheduled castes in the state into sub-groups. He was dismissed from service for opposing the Naidu government's divisive politics. Rao later formed the Mala Mahanadu and led the caste consolidation of the Malas, a numerically significant and educated community.

The Mala Mahanadu's fight against classification of SCs began in 1997 when it first contested a GO issued by the Chandrababu Naidu government.^[1] When the High Court struck down the GO, the government promulgated an ordinance which was later enacted by the Assembly.^[2] A five-member bench of the High Court upheld the legislation.^[3] In 2001, Mala Mahanadu went to the Supreme Court the movement knocked the doors of the courts and a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Friday 07/11/2004 unanimously decided in the E V Chinnaiah vs State of A P case that such a micro-classification of scheduled castes into sub-groups was unconstitutional. The court said untouchability being the sole criterion, further classification of scheduled castes violated Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. It thereby affected the basic structure of the Constitution.

After the Supreme Court struck down the order in 2004,^[4][5][6] the present Congress government saw political sense in keeping the Dalits divided. It supported Naidu's scheme and passed an assembly reso-lution in 2005 asking the Centre to take up the matter.

Unity among Malas and Madigas

The agitation by Madigas had created deep divisions between the Mala and Madiga dominant castes over the issue. Rao has always advocated for the unity among Malas and Madigas.^[7] He appealed to Madigas, the largest SC group that had waged a long-drawn struggle for categorisation, to put behind their differences and join hands to fight for the larger cause of empowerment of SCs.

Death

Rao died of a massive heart attack in New Delhi on 22 December 2005.^[8] At the time of death He was in New Delhi to meet several party leaders to fight against the categorisation of Scheduled Castes into A, B, C, D groups.^[9] He died at the age of 56 and was cremated according to Hindu customs. He is survived by wife and two daughters. His wife Prameela Devi contested on a PRP ticket for Amalapuram Lok Sabha constituency but lost.

References