The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : After the filth come the flaws

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Wednesday, Apr 20, 2011
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

After the filth come the flaws

Bageshree S.

Government's promise of permanent jobs still elude the Bhangis of Savanur

They work as pourakarmikas on contract basis
Houses given to them have developed cracks

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

With purpose:Members of the Bhangi community from Haveri district have come to Bangalore to meet the Minister concerned to alleviate their problems.

Bangalore: There was shock and disgust on July 20, 2010, when the people of Bhangi community poured faeces on themselves in protest against denial of rights over the land on which their houses stood for about 80 years. In the aftermath, there was a flurry of damage-control activity and promises galore.

Nine months later, the promises made by the Karnataka Government have evaporated into thin air, while the few that were seemingly kept have proved useless.

Where are the jobs?

The biggest and most crucial promise after the incident was that the people of the Bhangi community (manual scavengers) would be given alternate jobs by the town municipality. However, all they have got so far are temporary jobs as pourakarmikas, on contract basis, on a salary of Rs. 3,000 per month.

“Though they had promised nine permanent jobs to members of our community out of 13 vacancies, we are now being told that they can be filled only ‘as per the rules' whatever they mean by that,” says a distraught Manjunath Babu Bhangi.

There have been several exchanges of letters between the Deputy Commissioner and the Commissioner of Municipal Administration on the issue of jobs, but nothing has materialised yet.

The affected families were given houses after the incident, but the condition of the houses are pathetic, says Lakshmi Honnurappa Bhangi. “There are already cracks on the walls and the houses are leaking,” says Nagamma Babu Bhangi. “There are no toilets and no power connection.”

The families were given a cow and a sheep each, only to realise later that they would have to pay for them in instalments. “What would we be left with out of our salary of Rs. 3,000 if we have to repay a loan by instalments, and how do they think we can maintain the cows?” asks Ms. Nagamma.

No change

“An army of swamis, politicians and bureaucrats came to Savanur just after the incident, but what they have got at the end of nine months is a big zero,” says Veeranna Madivalara, a social activist from the town.

Seven members of the community were in Bangalore on Tuesday knocking on the doors of S. Suresh Kumar, Minister for Law, Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs, demanding that the Government keep the promises made to them. The Minister held a meeting with them late on Tuesday evening.

Protracted struggle

It may be recalled that the shocking protest of last July at Savanur in Haveri district was the last ditch effort by members of the Bhangi community to save their homes, after the corporation threatened to demolish them and erect a commercial complex.

Their demand to the municipal authorities for ‘pattas' (land records) of their houses, drinking water and drainage, went in vain.

In an act of desperation, the members of the community poured filth on themselves to draw attention to their problems.

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