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Companies operating in South Asia are to be invited to sign up to principles that will commit them to tackling discrimination against Dalits, or 'untouchables', who stand on the lowest rung in the Hindu caste system.
The Ambedkar Principles, drafted in Katmandu last December, will be finalized shortly and then taken to companies operating throughout the region, chiefly in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Signatories to the principles, which are voluntary, agree to curb discrimination against Dalits both in their own operations and their suppliers' by developing:
- employment policies stating that caste discrimination is unacceptable and which commit the company to its eradication
- a plan of action in parts of their business where Dalits are under-represented as employees in relation to the local population. This should include measures to remedy caste discrimination in employment conditions, wages, benefits and job security
- training for Dalits to help them 'fulfil their potential'.
Each signatory will be expected to designate a manager responsible for carrying out such measures, plus a board member to oversee them - and to develop monitoring and verification mechanisms to establish progress. They must also agree to publish a regular statement on that progress, preferably in their annual report.
The principles - named after Babasaheb Ambedkar, an Indian politician and campaigner for Dalit rights - have been developed by the International Dalit Solidarity Network, an umbrella group of Dalit and human rights organizations from several countries, including Human Rights Watch, Anti-Slavery International, Minority Rights Group and the Asian Human Rights Commission.
There are 270 million Dalits, more than 160 million of whom are in India. Many work in unsafe and poorly paid jobs. They cannot live with, marry or drink the same water as caste Hindus.
A recent study by a coalition of seven Indian non-governmental organizations of the iron ore and granite mining industry in Karnataka in India, where child and forced labour are rife, estimated that as many as eight in ten of the workforce were Dalits.
It found that while most of the mining was carried out by small local companies, they supplied a number of multinationals.
The Ambedkar Principles, drafted in Katmandu last December, will be finalized shortly and then taken to companies operating throughout the region, chiefly in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Signatories to the principles, which are voluntary, agree to curb discrimination against Dalits both in their own operations and their suppliers' by developing:
- employment policies stating that caste discrimination is unacceptable and which commit the company to its eradication
- a plan of action in parts of their business where Dalits are under-represented as employees in relation to the local population. This should include measures to remedy caste discrimination in employment conditions, wages, benefits and job security
- training for Dalits to help them 'fulfil their potential'.
Each signatory will be expected to designate a manager responsible for carrying out such measures, plus a board member to oversee them - and to develop monitoring and verification mechanisms to establish progress. They must also agree to publish a regular statement on that progress, preferably in their annual report.
The principles - named after Babasaheb Ambedkar, an Indian politician and campaigner for Dalit rights - have been developed by the International Dalit Solidarity Network, an umbrella group of Dalit and human rights organizations from several countries, including Human Rights Watch, Anti-Slavery International, Minority Rights Group and the Asian Human Rights Commission.
There are 270 million Dalits, more than 160 million of whom are in India. Many work in unsafe and poorly paid jobs. They cannot live with, marry or drink the same water as caste Hindus.
A recent study by a coalition of seven Indian non-governmental organizations of the iron ore and granite mining industry in Karnataka in India, where child and forced labour are rife, estimated that as many as eight in ten of the workforce were Dalits.
It found that while most of the mining was carried out by small local companies, they supplied a number of multinationals.
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