Dalits of town near Ahmedabad protest against 5-yr delay in allocating housing plots set aside for them

Hundreds of safai karmacharis, mainly belonging to the Dalit Valmiki community, have protested against the failure of the Gujarat government to allocate them land for building houses in Viramgam, a town situated in the neighbourhood of Ahmedabad, whose vicinity is likely to see major industrial activity in the near future. The local municipality gave a nod for two plots of land – Survey Nos 377 and 178-- measuring 21,954 square metres way back in 2010, so that they could build their own houses. But so far nothing has been done to allocate the land to the "neglected" families, many of whom are permanent members of municipality, while others are daily wagers.

Headed by Safai Kamdar Hak Rakshak Samiti, and supported by Ahmedabad-based Dalit rights NGO Navsarjan Trust, five representatives of the rally – Shanti Shankar, Rajesh Makwana (both of the Safai Hak Rakshak Samiti), Kirit Rathod, Ramilaben Parmar and Jayaben Parmar (of the Navsarjan Trust) – represented to the chief officer of the Varamgam municipality with a signed letter to bring an early solution to the long-pending issue. The representation said that the delay in allocating plots has been happening despite repeated reminders by the district collector Ahmedabad to hand them over to them.
Kirit Rathod told Counterview at the end of the rally that the last plea by the district collector reminding the local officials of Viramgam to act was sent on May 23, 2014, “and so far he has sent as many as three other reminders over the last three years.” However, he added, “The local officials are not sensitive towards the issue at all. They have simply ignored the Dalits’ right to get the plots under a government scheme, forcing us to take out a rally to pressure the officialdom to act.”
Rathod said, the plots are not being allocated to the Dalits despite the fact that Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel, as former revenue minister last year “assured during her visit to Viramgam that the plots would be allocated.” He added, “This was not for the first time that she gave the assurance. She did this at least twice earlier. Yet, the local officialdom has failed to act, and the Dalits are not being allocated any land.”
Rathod said, this is not the only issue that the Dalits face. “Even if they get land, it would not be easy for them to build houses. What they will get is just about Rs 40,000 from the government, while the rest of the amount – Rs 60,000 – they would be given as soft loan. You cannot be expected to build even a small room with Rs 1 lakh. They will have to shell our rest of the money from their own pocket. It is indeed a tall order.”
Rathod further said, unlike in the big cities, where the slum-dwellers are being offered free flats, the government has “no scheme for the smaller towns, operating under as municipalities, where the poor could get their own house free of cost.” He added, “There is a clear effort to neglect the plight of the poorer sections of smaller towns, which are fast becoming part of the fast industrial process around Ahmedabad.”

Comments

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Whither Jeffrey Sachs-supported research project which 'created' Gujarat model of development for Modi?

Even as Donald Trump was swearing-in as US President, a friend forwarded to me a YouTube video in which veteran world renowned economist Prof Jeffrey Sachs participated and sought an answer as to why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "afraid to fly" despite being invited to Donald Trump's swearing in ceremony. This took my memory to 2003, when I -- as representative of the Times of India -- had a short tet-a-tat along with a couple of other reporters with Sachs in the chief minister's office in Gandhinagar.

Busy taking books to the needy, this rationalist exposes miracles in a superstition-infested Gujarat society

I knew his name as a campaigner against the sheer wastage of the large amounts of ghee brought by devotees from across India for a major religious ceremony conducted every year in Rupal village, near Gandhinagar, the Gujarat capital, on the ninth day of Navratri. I had seen him at several places during my visits to different NGO meetings as well as some media conferences.

No to free thought? How Gujarat's private universities are cowing down their students

"Don't protest"—that's the message private universities across Gujarat seem to be conveying to their students. A senior professor told me that students at the university where he teaches are required to sign an undertaking promising not to engage in protests. "They simply sign the undertaking and hand it over to the university authorities," he said.

'Potentially lethal, carcinogenic': Global NGO questions India refusing to ban white asbestos

Associated with the Fight Inequality Alliance, a global movement that began in 2016 to "counter the concentration of power and wealth among a small elite", claiming to have members in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, the Philippines, and Denmark, the advocacy group Confront Power appears all set to intensify its campaign against India as "the world’s largest asbestos importer".

To be or not to be Sattvik: Different communities' differing notions of purity and fasting

This is a continuation of my last blog on Sattvik food. When talking about Sattvik, there is a tendency to overlook what it may mean to different sections of people around the world. First, let me redefine Sattvik: it means having a "serene, balanced, and harmonious mind or attitude." Derived from the Sanskrit word sattva, it variously means "pure, essence, nature, vital, energy, clean, conscious, strong, courage, true, honest, and wise." How do people achieve this so-called purity? Among Gujarati Hindus, especially those from the so-called upper castes who are vegetarians, one common way is fasting. On fasting days, such as agiyarash —the 11th day of the lunar cycle in the Vedic calendar—my close relatives fast but consume milk, fruit juices, mangoes, grapes, bananas, almonds, pistachios, and potato-based foods, including fried items. Another significant fasting period is adhik maas. During this time, many of my relatives "fast" by eating only a single me...

Sattvik Food Festival: Shouldn't one question notion of purity, cultural exclusion in food choices?

Recently, I visited the Sattvik Food Festival, an annual event in Ahmedabad organized by Anil Gupta, professor emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A). I have known Prof. Gupta since 1993, when I sought an appointment to meet him a few months after joining The Times of India in Ahmedabad—one reason why I have always been interested in the activities he is involved in.

Would Gujarat Governor, govt 'open up' their premises for NGOs? Activists apprehensive

Soon after I uploaded my blog about the Gujarat Governor possibly softening his stance on NGOs—evidenced by allowing a fisherfolk association to address the media at a venue controlled by the Raj Bhawan about India’s alleged failure to repatriate fishermen from Pakistani prisons—one of the media conference organizers called me. He expressed concern that my blog might harm their efforts to secure permission to hold meetings on state premises.

World Bank approved $800 for Amravati despite negative internal view, court, NGO objections: CFA

Despite over 170 representatives by civil society organisations, hailing from 17 countries, all of them written to the World Bank’s executive directors calling upon the top banker to defer its approval, even as seeking further detailed studies, the Bank’s board of directors has approved $800 million for the Amaravati Capital City project.

Search This Blog