Dalit women panchayat presidents seek more support from government, NGOs
The Hindu
If villages in Tamil Nadu should witness any robust activity, the State government should extend more support to them, said Scheduled Caste women panchayat presidents here on Saturday.
If villages in Tamil Nadu should witness any robust activity, the State government should extend more support to them, said Scheduled Caste women panchayat presidents here on Saturday.
Participating in a State-level convention - Dalit Panchayat Presidents Speak Out - organised by Evidence, an NGO working for the rehabilitation of the SC/ST community, the participants pointed out functional issues and difficulties faced by them while discharging their duties as elected representatives.
The programme was categorised into three sections - atrocities against Dalit panchayat presidents in Tamil Nadu, challenges in the panchayat administration and untouchability issues faced by the panchayat presidents.
The Evidence Executive Director A. Kathir, in his introductory address, said that the organisation had recently conducted a research involving 114 elected panchayat presidents from the SC community across 19 districts. As a follow-up to the research and the outcome of it, the participants were brought here to address and share their tales.
Except for a few, a majority of the women panchayat presidents expressed concern over the disrespect and disappointment from people around them, who included the vice-presidents of the panchayats, officials such as panchayat secretaries and BDOs (Block Development Officers).
Venkatesh, a relative of a panchayat president Narasimha Murthy from Tharavendiram panchayat in Krishnagiri district, narrated the manner in which his uncle (Narasimha Murthy) was brutally murdered by a 11-member armed gang in August 2022.
“The deceased panchayat president had introduced a number of people-friendly programmes. He shared the income and expenditure of the panchayat on WhatsApp with people and opposed giving commission or taking bribe for public works.”
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