Monday, December 13, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Dalits to boycott local body polls

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/120235/dalits-boycott-local-body-polls.html

Dalits to boycott local body polls
Challakere/Mandya, Dec 12, DHNS:

Voters in two villages of the State have chosen the election time to
give vent to their ire against the government.


As many as 35 Dalit families of Budihalli in Challakere taluk of
Chitradurga district have decided to boycott the taluk, zilla
panchayat polls as a mark of their protest against atrocities by upper
castes.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the families alleged that they had
been ostracised by the upper castes for years together. Landless
Dalits were not being allowed to eke out livelihood by collecting wood
from the gomala. The Dalits have been leading miserable lives in huts
on the outskirts of the village.

Accusing the Deputy Commissioner (Chitradurga district) of
'anti-Dalit' stand, they said rehabilitation has become a mirage as
nothing has come out of the Rs 63 lakh released by the government for
the purpose. The district administration, instead of responding to the
woes, has been denying that the atrocity took place, they said. The
Dalits said it was a travesty of democracy that their plight had not
come to the notice of any elected representative and hence they would
not cast vote in the local body polls.

Eluding road

The residents of Haluvadi village in Mandya taluk will also refrain
from exercising their franchise, but for a different reason. They have
also gone a step further by deciding not to allow any vote-seeking
politician into the village. The reason: two decade slumber on their
demand to repair a road.

Haluvadi, which comes under Taggahalli ZP constituency has more than
1,800 voters. The residents had been demanding repair of the road
leading to their village and what followed is plethora of promises
only to be reneged on time and again.

Transport Minister Ashoka, during his recent visit, had promised to
repair the road at a cost of Rs five crore, which however, is yet to
be translated into action. The villagers have also decided to stage a
dharna in Mandya on Tuesday to draw the attention of the authorities.


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