The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Ending an obnoxious evil

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Friday, Aug 03, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Ending an obnoxious evil

Staff Reporter

The State SC and ST Commission directed officials to set up a barber shop in the Dalitwada of Terpole, a backward village in Medak district

— Photo: Mohd Arif

Erasing untouchability: State SC and ST Commission Chairman M.Nagarjuna and members watch a barber cut a Dalit’s hair in Terpole of Kondapur mandal.

Sangareddy: The chairman of the State SC and ST Commission, M.Nagarjuna, and members of the commission on Thursday made a barber in Terpole village of Kondapur mandal give a haircut to a Dalit of the same village. The commission also ordered the local revenue and police officers to set up a barber shop in the village, especially in the Dalitwada. The symbolic haircut to Kishtaiah seemed to send signals of the end of the age-old evil of untouchability in the village.

Later, addressing reporters here, Mr Nagarjuna and members R.Pratap, Srinivasulu and Kishan Singh Nayak observed that Medak district had a deep-rooted caste system that still implements the ‘two glass’ system and persecutes Dalits in the name of Bhanamati and black magic.

Strict instructions

He directed the district administration to strictly implement Government Orders 103 and 128 in their true spirit. Later, reviewing the implementation of the acts with the department heads at the Zilla Parishad conference hall, Mr. Nagarjuna asked them to allot due share to the SCs and STs in the distribution of land. The commission expressed concern over the lack of burial grounds for Dalits in many villages in the district.

Mr Nayak said that the commission had noticed that the villagers of Koyaguda tanda of Sangareddy mandal had boycotted the local fair price shop because a Dalit woman, Vijaylakshmi, manages it.

He wanted the district administration to intervene and help the harassed woman of the Tanda. Another member, R. Pratap, informed that the commission so far received 2,000 petitions over the past three months, mostly from the Telangana districts.

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