TN Government Says Dalits In Pudukottai Village To Get New Water Tank

The Tamil Nadu government announced that a new water tank would be built for the Dalit residents of Vengaivayal village, because some people had put human excreta in the tank that supplied potable water to them.

V Meyyanathan, the minister for environment and climate change, who visited the village said that the new tank would be ready in 20 days.

At present, the Dalit residents are sourcing potable water from a mini-tank and a 30,000 litre overhead tank that is common to all villagers.

Feces were found on inspection of the water tank after some Dalit residents of the village fell ill and doctors suspected water contamination.

The announcement comes after the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court asked the police to file a status report in the case.

The extent of caste-discrimination in the village came to light when the District Collector Kavitha Ramu and Superintendent of Police Vandita Pandey had gone to the village for enquiry after receiving a complaint against the ‘two-tumbler’ system prevalent in tea stalls at the village.

When they reached, they found that the Dalits were also disallowed from entering the Ayyanar temple in the village and so they facilitated their entry. Many Dalits said that they had entered the temple for the first time in generations and hoped that they would be allowed to enter in future too, when media attention dies down.

Reacting to the news, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state vice president, Narayanan Thirupathy had written on Twitter that it is a failure of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)’s much touted Dravidian model of social justice.

He said that those who say that ‘this is the land of Periyar’ and they were the ones who had established a ‘caste-less’ society should hang their heads in shame.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu: Collector And SP Facilitates Temple Entry For Dalits In Pudukottai; BJP Leader Says, 'Failure Of Dravidian Model Of Social Justice'