TNUEF survey report exposes bias against dalit presidents of village panchayats

“TO leave those disparities untouched and to enact laws relating to economic problems would make a mockery of our Constitution and build a palace on a dunghill.”

(From Dr B R Ambedkar's speech in Parliament on October 10, 1951, on his resignation as law minister).

The survey conducted by Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front brought out shocking facts about how dalit panchayat presidents are subjected to caste bias and oppression.

The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments made it compulsory to ensure participatory democracy in local governance. It mandated 33 per cent reservation for women and reservation for SC’s and ST’s as per their population in the respective state. Twenty state governments have extended the reservation of women to 50 per cent. Tamil Nadu is one of them.

In Tamil Nadu, there are 12,526 village panchayats, of which 50 per cent is reserved for women. For Scheduled Castes, 3,204 seats were reserved. There are 38 districts in Tamil Nadu.

Trouble broke out in the Tiruvallur district on the issue of hoisting the independence day flag in 2021. Members and officials such as the former panchayat president,  panchayat vice president, and panchayat secretary objected that Athuppakkam panchayat president, Amrithammal, being a dalit, should not hoist the flag. Due to the intervention of the TNUEF, the district collector directly intervened.

In 2021, a dalit woman panchayat president elected in CuddaloreTherkuThittai panchayat was made to sit on the floor by the panchayat secretary belonging to the dominant caste during the council meeting. The secretary was sacked after the intervention of organisations including the TNUEF.

Following such incidents, TNUEF decided to do a survey to expose the plight of dalit panchayat presidents across the districts of Tamil Nadu. The survey was conducted in  386 village panchayats in 24 districts by TNUEF. This survey was done by 400 and above trained volunteers with 22 questions.  

While celebrating the 75th anniversary of the independence day, this study reveals that the Scheduled Caste leaders elected to the panchayat government to strengthen grassroots democracy are facing caste-related challenges that are too much to manage. The details are given below

·        Survey covering 386 village panchayats of 24 districts

·        Villages where dalit presidents not allowed to hoist national flags - 20

·        Not allowed to have name board - 42

·        Presidents not allowed to sit on chairs - 22

·        Presidents not allowed to sit in offices - 33

·        Office keys not handed over to presidents - 14

·        Records/ Maps not accessible to them - 39

·        Vice presidents not cooperative in decision making - 38

·        Attacks/threats being faced - 34

·        Physical untouchability against them - 25

·        Women dalit presidents facing gender discrimination - 17

·        Disrespect - 23

·        Bias practised by union councillors - 33

·        Bias practised by government officials - 37

·        Non-dalitsnot attending village general body meetings - 17

·        Vice presidents seeking separate rooms - 32

·        Presidents are not allowed to act independently – 11

The report was released by K Samuelraj, general secretary, and Chellakannu, president TNUEF and received by S K Mahendran, former MLA. Mohana, treasurer, K Swaminathan, deputy general secretary, and Krishanveni were also present.

TNUEF urged the state government to take immediate measures to ensure all dalit presidents hoist national flags on August 15.

It urged state governments to take steps to ensure the independent functioning of dalit presidents and stop all caste bias measures.

Following the release of the report, Tamil Nadu chief secretary,  V  IraiAnbu wrote to all the collectors in the state to ensure that Scheduled Caste panchayat presidents are not prevented from hoisting the flag.

In many places, the district administration has intervened on independence day and ensured that they hoist the national flag.

The community's response to this study has given the impetus to move forward with confidence.