From denial of chairs and permission to hoist national flags to being disallowed from participation in temple festivals and unwanted interference in work, Dalit panchayat presidents in Tamil Nadu face 30 different kinds of discrimination as they officiate the administration of local bodies in the state, says a study report. While the discrimination was bad enough for men, women presidents had to face physical assaults at the hands of dominant caste men, said the report released on April 20. Four of them also faced sexual harassment.
The report by Evidence, a Madurai-based Non-Government Organisation focused on the rights of Dalits and Tribal communities in Tamil Nadu, records the experiences of 114 Dalit panchayat presidents in the state. The study was carried out by a team of 17 members in 19 districts across the state in March 2023 to ascertain the ground reality of caste discrimination against Dalit panchayat presidents in the wake of several such complaints.
Out of the 114 panchayat presidents surveyed, 51 are from the Paraiyar community, 31 are from the Pallar community, 24 are from the Arundhathiyar community while eight belong to other Dalit communities. Nearly 70% of the respondents of the study were women (79) while the rest (35) men.
The report found that a Dalit panchayat leader was killed and seven others were assaulted while four are survivors of sexual harassment. Forty of them reported being yelled at with casteist slurs. For this study, the Evidence team spoke to 113 presidents and the family members of one Panchayat leader who got killed in 2022. The study also listed the kind of harassment that the presidents have faced since they were elected to the chair.
A survey undertaken by the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) in 2022 too had found several kinds of discrimination against panchayat presidents belonging to Scheduled Caste communities. In Tamil Nadu, there are 12,609 panchayats, out of which 2,250 are reserved for Dalits.
The report highlights several incidents, since 2019, in which the Dalit panchayat presidents faced severe forms of discrimination, threats, and physical assaults. In one such incident, Narasimmamoorthy, a Dalit Panchayat president of Dharavendram Panchayat in Krishnagiri district, was killed in 2022. The report said, Narasimmamoorthy tried to eliminate corruption in panchayat-related works, which was not liked by other officials, who are non-Dalits. The police had maintained that he was killed over an alleged financial dispute but it was his attempts to weed out corruption that resulted in his murder, the report said.
The 20-page report lists several incidents which show how the work of Dalit women panchayat presidents are hindered by men belonging to dominant castes. The atrocities range from physical attacks on them and their family members. They also face interference from others while doing their duties. The report also points towards instances when the police were inactive and failed to protect the victims of caste discrimination.
The Saptur police station in Madurai failed to register a case when Pazhaiyur Panchayat president Vidya tried to lodge a complaint against unidentified persons who allegedly contaminated a water tank with human excreta near Pazhaiyur ration shop in 2021. Vidya, a graduate, became the president of the panchayat in 2019. She faced threats from dominant-caste people when she tried to conduct a Gram Sabha in a Dalit colony. Other officials belonging to non-Dalit communities in the panchayat locked the office door to stop Vidya from getting to the office to work, the report said
This year, on February 10, cow dung was thrown at the panchayat board which had Vidya's name. Saptur police registered a case only after a direction from the district administration. Later, she sent complaint letters to the Tamil Nadu state Chief Secretary, Adi Dravidar Welfare Department and the Director General of Police in this regard.
The report also narrates the story of Valarmathi, a Dalit woman panchayat leader who was targeted continuously after she won the local body election in 2019. On the night after the election results were announced, Valarmathi, who won from Oothumalai Panchayat in Tirunelveli district, was threatened by a dominant-caste man. The person who threatened her was Malaiyarasan, a relative of former panchayat president Karuppasamy. On several occasions, Valarmathi and her husband Ayyanar faced caste discrimination and were beaten by the dominant caste men. All the atrocities happened after the president’s post in Oothumalai panchayat was reserved for Dalit women in 2019.
In another incident in Arakkonam, a Dalit Panchayat leader’s husband was beaten by dominant caste men. Moorthy, husband of Vedal panchayat leader Geetha, had to be admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital after dominant caste men barged into their house and pelted him with stones. The assault happened as Geetha had refused to grant permission for poultry farming for a dominant-caste man named Rajagopal.
Panchayat leader Annapoornam from Muthukulathur in Ramanathapuram district lost her son Ponnivalavan after men belonging to the dominant caste thought he had informed the police about their involvement in illegal sand mining.
While 58 elected representatives reported facing interference from caste-Hindus while passing resolutions in the Grama Sabha, 79 of them alleged facing obstructive acts by caste Hindus while they were engaged in daily office work. The report said 11 persons were denied entry to the offices while six found their offices being locked by others. The study also revealed the plight of 11 panchayat presidents who were not allowed to sit in chairs.
They also faced issues like office ledgers being kept away (23 instances), non-cooperation by other officials in projects or schemes meant for the welfare of Dalits (52 instances) and caste-based ostracism in panchayat offices (41 instances). Nearly 30 of them said they were denied participation in public events. In addition to this, 41 of them reported destruction of properties related to projects they had initiated in the panchayat. The report states that in spite of damage to the public properties, police booked none under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.
In 12 Panchayats, namely Deviyagaram, Udayanandhal, Kanjapalli, Aathukaraipatti, Thottikuppam, Ka Elamangalam, Dhalavaipuram, Melakkal, Pazhaiyur, Kalloorani, Pillaiyarkulam, and Aathupatti, panchayat presidents are not allowed to hoist the national flags during days of national importance. Some presidents were able to hoist the flags after intervention from senior government officials, the study observed.
Out of the 114 panchayat heads, 45 persons said they are not allowed to attend temple festivals. It is painful that 39 percent of the presidents are affected by such discrimination, the report noted.
Out of the 114 panchayats, 94 did not have a common crematorium. When asked whether they received permission to set up separate burial grounds for Dalits, 80 of them answered yes. However, permissions for separate crematorium for Dalits were denied in 34 panchayats.
The survey revealed that the Dalit panchayat presidents had cooperation from officials in the majority of local bodies (77). Only 37 of them said they faced issues due to non-cooperation
Despite such challenges, the report said many Dalit panchayat presidents successfully implemented creative action plans and brought improvements in their panchayats. Nadiya, president of Nedungulam panchayat in Sivaganga district, brought 11 roads to her village. Nadiya also recovered land from encroachers and converted it into a park. She also constructed an Anganwadi for the kids in her village and sanctioned money to construct toilets in two schools located in her panchayat.
The evidence report also suggests several remedial measures to prevent discrimination against Dalit Panchayat presidents. It listed 16 recommendations to the state government of Tamil Nadu, including a youth volunteer who should be appointed in every village by paying Rs 5000 per month as an incentive to monitor whether the programs and schemes that are going well to the people and report back to the government. These volunteers should be answerable to a high commission instead of government authorities. Only then government schemes can reach people with full potential. It also suggests the monthly salary to the Panchayat presidents and pension. It recommended a Rs 10,000 salary to each Dalit Panchayat leader and Rs 5,000 pension.