Families who migrated from Tamil Nadu have no records to receive govt. benefits

Dalit families in Shivamogga denied government benefits due to lack of identity cards, including Aadhar, face bureaucratic hurdles.

Around 15 Dalit families at Kalasavalli in Sagar taluk, who migrated to Karnataka, decades ago have been denied basic facilities and government benefits as they do not have any identity cards, including Aadhar. Their attempts to get residential proofs from the local panchayat have failed.

The families claim to have been staying put at Kalasavalli Camp in Tumari Gram Panchayat limits for the past two-three decades. Several of them were born here. They work on others’ plantations for a living.

However, without an Aadhar card, they have not been able to claim facilities offered by the Department of Women and Child Development, Revenue Department and other benefits under the guarantee schemes. “Our women do not get Taayi Card,” said Balaram, a resident of the locality. The card is necessary to get Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Balaram said he was born in the same village, like many of his neighbours. “With no documents in our name, we just do not exist in the eyes of the government,” he said.

As they do not have an Aadhar card, they will not be enrolled in the voters’ list either. Similarly, the benefits of Shakti, Gruhalakshmi, and Annabhagya remain out of reach for them.

Following their repeated demand for the Aadhar card and other benefits, the Taluk Office at Sagar wrote to the Tumari Panchayat to consider issuing the residential proofs, based on which other cards could be given. Similarly, the Booth Level Officer (BLO) had also prepared a list of 36 people from the camp to be eligible on the voters’ list.

The panchayat members, in a meeting held in December 2023, refused to issue them residential proofs. The record of the meeting states that considering the villagers’ opposition, the panchayat decided not to include them in the voters’ list as well.

Former president of Tumari Gram Panchayat Sathyanarayana G.T. told The Hindu that there was no difficulty for the Gram Panchayat to issue residential proofs for the residents, as they had been living in the village for decades. “Decades ago, they came from Tamil Nadu. A handful of them got the residential proofs when I was the president of the gram panchayat. A few students have enrolled at the local school. The Gram Panchayat should have given the residential proof to the remaining by now. Our system should not treat the poor workers this way,” he said.