Raw deal for dalits

BIJAPUR: Don Budihal in Sindagi taluk has around 200 houses. But now, half of them have collapsed. The government officials have enumerated all the houses, except six. The reason is not difficult to understand: these houses belong to dalits and officials did not count them in, for reasons best known to them.
"Officials did not go house to house, assessing damage.They held a meeting of villagers in the temple and asked them about the damage each had suffered. Since we are not allowed inside the temple, we could not speak to officials. Neither did they ask us about the damage after the meeting," said Anasubai Yamanappa Walikar. Similar is the case with the other five dalit families in Don Budihal.
Two walls and a part of the roof of Anasubai's house have collapsed. She now lives in a small, dry part of the house, with eight of her family members. With jowar and millets stored in the kitchen rotting, she now depends on the gruel centre in the village for the food.
Seethavva's parents are old. Her parents Marilingappa Pujari and Bheemabai work in the fields. Though both knew that officials had arrived at the village temple to assess flood damage, they could not attend it due to a ban on their temple entry. Seethavva, who has studied up to high school, is angry. "I don't think we should not approach government officials to seek relief. The government should be proactive in helping flood victims," she said. She feels that this must be the fate of dalits who suffered damages in the flood across the district.
DC R Shantaraj said he would instruct the officials to revisit the village and re-assess the damage. It is understandable that such corrective action would help the members of the deprived community in Don Budihal.
But who can guarantee that dalits have not got such unjust treatment in other villages?
When contacted, district minister Govind Karjol said it was unfortunate that caste-based oppression had raised its ugly head even in such trying times as the floods. "We will ensure that dalits are given an equal opportunity to be heard. We will ask the officials to double check if dalits have been left out of flood loss assessment before they finalize the report on loss," he said.
Anasubai with her grandchildren in front of her house. She has put up plastic sheets to cover the front wall after the roof partially collapsed