Anger has been simmering amongst the schedule caste (SC) population of Dandi-A panchayat in Bhaderwah town against a government order that declared the area reserved for Schedule Tribe (ST) allegedly after filing of nomination papers for the Panchayat polls.
In order to express their, the locals of Dandi-A village also held a strong protest against the authorities on Wednesday.
Dandi village, located on the hill slope, 5 km in the east of Bhadarwah town, mainly inhabited by poor labour class is going to polls in 6th phase on December 1 of the 9 tier Panchayat elections.
According to the notification issued by returning officer (RO) panchayat halqa Dandi on November 6, it was clearly mentioned that Dandi-A ward of said Panchayat is reserved for SC open, after which a local SC youth Deepak Kumar after completing all the formalities filled his nomination papers against a proper receipt but on November 13 he was telephonically informed by the returning officer to surrender the receipt as the said ward (Dandi-A) has been changed for ST open.
The sudden development did not go well with the SC population of the village, as according to them, the abrupt change is discrimination, aimed at to demoralize their morale and to keep them away from their democratic right.
“We were happy as for the first time in the history, we were given representation in Panchayat as according to the notification issued our ward was reserved for SC and villagers unanimously decided that I should contest, for which they also made contributions,” said Deepak Kumar.
“After filling my nomination papers on November 12, now I am being compelled to withdraw and surrender the receipt. This is completely biased attitude of the authorities and if the order is not immediately withdrawn, no one from our village will participate in the election,” Deepak added, saying that we are even ok if the seat is kept open for all.
“Even after 7 decades of independence, we are still being treated as second class citizens and influential people keep on bullying us. In the given circumstances, when don’t have the right to choose our representative even at Panchayat level, then it’s better to stay away from the process itself,” said Om Raj (65) of village Duggi-Dandi.
When contacted, DDC Doda Anshul Garg said, “Reservation for Panchayat elections on caste basis is being carried out as per the house to house census conducted by education department and there are least chances of any error.”
“As for Dandi Panchayat is concerned, I think there is some printing mistake, which created confusion and unrest among a particular section, but I will look into the matter personally and needful will be done accordingly,” officer added.