Four sisters and their parents who have been living without electricity or a toilet for 18 years got some relief after the eldest daughter — an 18-year-old diploma student — appealed to the authorities at a Makkala Grama Sabhe (children’s gram panchayat).
The family was allegedly prevented from building a toilet or improving the house at it stands on a disputed site with other relatives staking claim to it. At the sabhe recently, the student, Ranjitha C.R., told authorities that their relatives were not allowing them to build a toilet.
In her appeal, she said that she and her three minor sisters are forced to relieve themselves in an open space before sunrise and at night when it’s not safe. “Sometimes, people throw stones at us when we go to relieve ourselves at night. It is not safe. We eat less and drink very little water as going outside is traumatic,” said Ms. Ranjitha.
Though she is not part of the Makkala Grama Sabhe, the matter reached Tumakuru Zilla Panchayat CEO Shubha Kalyan, who has promised to rectify the situation. “We will treat it as a special case. We will send the executive officer and the police to inspect the property at Chikkathottalukere.”
The dispute over ownership of the property is in court. The student’s father, Ramaswamy, works as a valve man for the Chikkathottalukere Gram Panchayat. He says that the case was filed by his cousin.
“Though the court ruled in our favour, there is an appeal in the High Court. We are suffering without electricity and toilet. We hope that our lives will improve now since the authorities have taken up the matter.”
