Skip to main content

Delayed rains in Gujarat: Official intervention sought to end anti-Dalit bias in sourcing drinking water

Exclusive well for Dalits in Panva
While the officialdom seems worried about failure of rains in Gujarat, fresh information from the state’s rural areas suggest it is starting to affect the marginalized communities the most. A case in point is the plea to the Surendranagar district collector by a local women’s organization of Panva village, Patdi taluka of the district, seeking the top officialdom’s direct intervention to ensure that the Dalits get equal share of water supply. The Panva Mahila Adhikar Panch in its plea has alleged prevalence of untouchability practice against Dalit women in accessing water from the public well of the village.
Handed over to the district collector by a group of women under the leadership of Hansaben Rameshbhai Makwana, the representation said, the problem has become particularly “acute” as the Narmada canal-based water supply from the neighbouring Vanod village is available to Panva just once a fortnight. “There is an overhead tank”, the letter said, adding, “However, water is filled up in the tank once in 15 to 17 days. While water is available till the tank is emptied, it trickles down to the Dalit area just once in 15 days, that too for just 15-20 minutes, because it is situated in the remote corner of the village.”
Pointing out that it forces villagers to heavily depend on the common village well, the letter said, “There are two wells in the village. One of them, from where the Dalits previously lifted water, has become unusable. In fact, the spot near it is being used to wash clothes, all the dirty water flows into it. The village panchayat has not cared to keep the well clean. Notorious elements have thrown dirt in into. It’s so dirty that it cannot be used for drinking purposes at all.” There are 52 Dalit households in the village with a population of 2,000.
Common well not allowed to Dalits to fetch
As for the other public well, the representation said, it was traditionally used by the non-Dalits, and even today the Dalit women are not allowed to uplift water from it. “The Dalit women must wait for hours till the higher caste women lift water for them and pour it into their buckets. It is a clear case of untouchability practice and against the law. The dominant caste does not allow the Dalit women to fetch water from the public well because they believe that it would pollute the well. This kind of practice of discrimination is unacceptable.”
“Even after 67 years of India’s independence, such untouchability practice continues, which is against the law. We demand that police make an on-the-spot inquiry about it, because our repeated requests to end the practice to the local officials has fallen on deaf ears. We also demand that those responsible for continuing untouchability in fetching water from the well should be punished under the anti-atrocities Act and other laws. As an immediate step, we should be allowed to use the public well”, the representation insisted.
Giving details, the letter said that the the Panva Mahila Adhikar Panch had earlier represented to Patdi taluka mamlatdar, taluka development officer, deputy collector, executive engineer, district health officer, Surendranagar, and others, “but none of these officials intervened in the matter. This is the reason that we want direct intervention by the district collector and the development officer. We believe that the local panchayat is directly responsible for encouraging the untouchability practice”, it insisted, adding, “The panchayat must immediately put up huge boards that the local well is available to all caste people.”

Comments

TRENDING

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.  

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.  As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

Unchecked urbanisation, waste dumping: Study warns of 'invited disaster' as khadi floods threaten half of Surat

An action research report, “Invited Disaster: Khadi Floods in Surat City”, published by two civil rights groups, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti and the People's Union for Civil Liberties, Surat, states that nearly half of Gujarat's top urban conglomerate—known for its concentration of textile and diamond polishing industries—is affected by the dumping of debris and solid waste, along with the release of treated and untreated sewage into the khadis (rivulets), thereby increasing the risk of flood disaster.

Guha plans book to counter Dalit, Marxist, and right-wing critics of Gandhi, recalls Modi’s 'pernicious lie' on Patel

Let me first confess: writing about an event three weeks after it has taken place is no good, especially for a newsperson. However, ever since I attended the public lecture by well-known historian Ramachandra Guha on May 18, organised by Sarthak Prakashan for the release of the Gujarati edition of his book monumental book "India After Gandhi", frankly, I kept wondering if he had said anything newsworthy apart from what had already appeared in the media ever since the book's first edition came out in 2007. Call it my inertia or whatever.

Two decades on, hunger still haunts Gujarat: Survey exposes stark gap behind poverty claims

A Niti Aayog report , released about two years ago, estimated that in Gujarat — which our powers-that-be have long considered a model state — 11.66% of people are "multidimensionally poor," a term referring to an index that seeks to estimate "multiple and simultaneous deprivations" at the household level across three macro categories: health, education, and living standards.