A delegation led by Social Welfare Minister Nakka Anandbabu on Tuesday made the two warring groups of Garagaparru village to shun their differences and work together.
Representatives of the two groups shook hands in the presence of the Minsters, elected representatives and officials at the peace talks held at the Mandal Parishad Development Officer’s office at Palakoderu. In the village, the trouble began when people from the Scheduled Castes were allegedly subjected to social boycott by the other castes following an altercation over the issue of installing the statue of B.R. Ambedkar on the village tank bund.
With the media highlighted the social boycott issue, Dalit rights activists from all over the country visited the small village and expressed their solidarity with their fellow Dalits, besides demanding that the government render justice to them. Following an inquiry conducted by the member of the National Scheduled Castes Commission, K. Ramulu, who found that the Dalits suffered boycott and asked the officials to sort out the issue, the State government swung into action and deputed a committee of Ministers to the village to restore normalcy.
Along with Mr. Anandbabu, Ministers Pitani Satyanarayana, Kothapalli Jawahar and the SC Corporation chairman Jupudi Prabhakar initiated dialogue separately with the SCs and the other castes from the village late on Monday. The talks were resumed in the MPDO’s office on Tuesday in which members of the Village Peace Committee with the representatives of the Dalits and the other castes were present. The meeting decided that the Dalits should be given their works back including the tenancy of farm fields and the statue of Ambedkar be installed on the tank bund.
From the government side, Mr. Anandbabu announced that cement concrete roads coupled with underground drainage system would be laid in the entire village and an English medium school opened. Distribution of house sites and cultivable lands to the eligible Dalits was the other promise made by the government. He further said that the welfare schemes would be extended to the eligible unemployed youth from the village.
Local MLA Vetukuri Venkata Sivarama Raju and others were present.
