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Bhumikuppam
– small yet significant victory for Dalit families
If
we go by economic indices alone, all seems well with our country. But a closer
look at the goings on in
India
’s interiors shows a stark disjunction between the haves and have-nots.
Bhoomikuppam,
a quaint little village tucked away in the folds of Kanchipuram district in
Tamil Nadu, houses 31 Dalit families. Three
generations of these families have worked for the Reddiar family who owns about
2000 acres of agricultural land. Even as the Tamil
Nadu Land Reforms
Act, 1961, was instated to reduce the concentration of land in the hands of a
few, rich landowners continue to flout this rule by buying land on behalf of
their relatives. And Dalits and other marginalised communities find themselves
short-changed.
Kadambadi
is 75 years old. She belongs to this village. She and her husband have five
children – two daughters and three sons. For their entire lives, they
toiled for the Reddiar family, but their employers did nothing for them.
The
campaigns organised by ActionAid partner Dalit Manuurimai Kootamaippu (DMK) has
changed things for the better, says Kadambadi. DMK
had started work in Bhoomikuppam five years ago. “Initially people were scared to even open their mouths and talk about
their problems. After many visits, they slowly came out with their
grievances,” says Dhanapal, a DMK activist.
Winds
of change
Dalits
were encouraged to fight for their own rights. “Government did not even have
this village on its map. Crores of rupees
from the development schemes meant for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
have not reached this village, as this is in the jurisdiction of the town
panchayat. Protests and sit-ins have been held for basic amenities like light,
water and road facilities,” adds Dhanapal.
The
tsunami exacerbated the problems of these people.
Most of them are landless agricultural workers, tenants, workers on trawlers,
daily wage labourers in salt pans, farmlands and fishing villages, and Dalits.
The government’s relief work is focussed on coastal communities of fishermen,
who suffered maximum casualty and bigger loss of livelihood.
Narrow
definition of who is hit by tsunami
Relief,
as per government instructions, is to reach those who were ''hit'' by the
tsunami, which indicates a death in the family, mainly of the breadwinner or of
those who lived within one kilometre of the coastline.
But
for each ''tsunami-hit'' area and family, there are many surrounding
''tsunami-affected'' areas where people supporting the fishing community –
carpenters, traders, shopkeepers, cleaners, craftsmen, farm workers, ice plant
owners, fish net and boat menders – have lost their sources of income. For
instance, agricultural lands got swamped and salty, which in turn meant no work
for farmers. Add to that, the long-standing social inequities.
On
the way to homes
Constant
dialogue between the Reddiar and Dalit families has borne some fruit. Reddiars
have given Dalits 10 acres of land. Each Dalit family will now own 33 cents of
land. DMK is proposing to build houses for them.
“For
three generations we have suffered. And we thought that generations to come will
be miserable. Our dreams are coming true.
We are going to have houses,” says
Muniyamma, a Dalit, with tears in her eyes. Men and women gave desired models of
houses to the project architect. It was endearing to see the women arguing with
the men about what designs to adopt for their soon-to-be homes.
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