Kottakatchiyendal, a reserved village panchayat that became infamous for rejecting Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates for the top post of panchayat president for two successive terms, is getting ready to elect another president to be a “puppet” in the hands of the dominant intermediary caste populace.
Two Dalits, from among the village’s 12 voters belonging to the Arunthathiyar community, have been put in the fray by the dominant caste for the local body, that has a total of 1,043 voters.
The caste Hindus successfully avoided electing an SC man as president for the first two terms, ever since the State government reserved the post in this local body under the Narikudi panchayat union in 1996.
For the first term in 1996, no one got elected to the panchayat as a mark of protest. “We had only a dozen families belonging to the SCs while all others were caste Hindus,” said Karu. Pichumani, a former panchayat union member of Narikudi. Even now, only 12 out of the 1,043 votes belong to SCs.
In the next election in 2001, only the ward members were elected and a vice-president, P. Karuppasamy, donned the role of the panchayat head. Even a high-level committee, led by then Minister, O. Panneerselvam, that visited the village could not ensure a change of heart among the villagers to accept a Dalit as their leader.
But the next government formed by the DMK increased development assistance to the village including by improving connectivity through a bus service to the nearby Manamadurai and adding a new approach road connecting to Narikudi Road. The administration also got a ration shop shifted from the distant Dharmam to Kottaikatchiyendal.
“In return, the district administration and the State government sought our help to elect a Dalit as our president,” said Mr. Pichumani. “As a result, S. Karuppan [an Arunthathiyar] was elected as president unopposed by us in 2006,” he added.
“Neither that [S.] Karuppan, nor I could act on our own, but remained puppets in their [caste Hindus’] hands as they were the majority community in the panchayat,” said V. Karuppan, who became the president in 2011. He was one of two candidates put in the fray by the caste Hindus.
All that Mr. Karuppan could do was get a house with government subsidy for himself. “Only the vice-president could run the show. It was also because I am an illiterate,” he said.
The approach road that was laid in 2006, has since not received even patchwork repairs. The pothole-riddled road is an eyesore when compared with the motorable roads seen in other interior villages in the district.
“Even drinking water is a distant dream for the village,” said Mr. Karuppan. “We get Tamirabarani river combined drinking water once in 4-10 days,” he added. He admitted that he could do nothing even for his own street. “A public drinking water tap that was put in our [Dalit] street was removed by local people. Now, there is one on the main road,” he said. Even a mini power pump plant set up near the Dalit street never served them. “The motor and the huge drum are not here,” said Sumathi, whose father-in-law, V. Alagar, is now one of the contestants for the post of president. “I have now been proposed as a candidate for this post by a section of caste Hindus,” said Mr. Alagar. “Another person, Mariappan, from my street has been put in the field by another section of caste Hindus. Whoever wins will only have to abide by what they [caste Hindus] say, because they are only spending for our electioneering,” he asserted.
Mr. Pitchumani claimed that the last two terms had not brought even an iota of development to the panchayat. “Probably, the ruling party is neglecting us for we did not support them when they wanted us to elect a Dalit as president then. Besides, they do not want DMK MLA, Thangam Thennarasu, to get any credit for any development now,” he contended.
The panchayat does not have an overhead tank operator. “Even the bus service introduced earlier has been withdrawn,” he rued.
Govt. promise
“We do not know what sin our people had committed. The State government had agreed to de-reserve the post of panchayat president, when it sought the High Court’s intervention citing that it had been reserved for two successive terms. But, that promise too has not been honoured,” he said.
Mr. Pitchumani said that he would try to help Mr. Alagar, if he won, to act independently and do something good for the panchayat’s people. “If people vote for our candidate, it will bring more good to them,” he said.
