A 12-year wait for residents of a Dalit colony in Aruppukottai ended on Wednesday after the State submitted before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that it was re-instated with Sukkilanatham panchayat, thereby restoring government welfare schemes to them.
The State submitted that both Ambedkar Colony and Narikuravar Colony were re-instated with Sukkilanatham panchayat and a Gazette notification was issued bringing the order to effect.
A Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and P.D. Audikesavalu observed that the State government should have taken the step much earlier. The court had sought appearance of the Principal Secretary, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, if no steps were taken in the case.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed in 2007 by K. Samuelraj, Virudhunagar district convenor of Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front. The petitioner complained that the people of Ambedkar Colony were marginalised over want of jurisdiction. He said the colony was part of Sukkilanatham panchayat.
In 2007, the then panchayat president refused to collect property tax from residents, claiming that they were part of Aruppukottai Municipality. Hence, there was no jurisdiction for the panchayat to collect the tax for houses built under the Group House Scheme. Aruppukottai Municipality also did not collect tax since the colony did not fall under its jurisdiction.
Unable to pay the tax, the residents were made to run from pillar to post and were subsequently denied government welfare schemes. He sought a direction to restore the government welfare schemes to residents and put an end to discrimination and victimisation. Taking into account the plight of the people, the court had earlier directed the authorities to restore basic amenities to the colony.
