Dalits' woes at Devaragudda remains unheard

Dalit families in Devaragudda in the limits of Kalasa Gram Panchayat, carried out voluntary work to repair bad roads at the village, to protest against irregularities and lack of basic amenities.

The pot-hole ridden road was not repaired since many years and though dalits have been living in the place from hundreds of years, they are not been provided with basic amenities, they complained.

Auto rickshaw and jeep drivers refuse to come to the village, on rent as the roads are in a very bad condition, they said.

The villagers repaired the road filling mud into the potholes in the stretch of three km.

No power
The people also said no electric supply has been given to the water supply tank and pipeline, even after the well has been dug one year back. The water woes have been turning serious day to day and the concerned have turned a deaf ear to out problems, said youth of the village Anand.
He further said 40 housed in the area are troubled by the bad condition of the roads and concretisation of the road could have been a solution. But the concerned officials are not responding to the problems.

Another youth Raghavendra said elected representatives who give a number of assurances during elections do not turn up after elections.

The villages meanwhile complained that there is  no own building for anganwadi and it is being run in a house. Several houses are in a bad condition. The eligible are not getting Ashraya houses from the government. We are fed up of giving applications, they said.

The conditions worsen during the rainy season. The electricity supply will b e disrupted for many days, after Acacia trees fall on electric wire. But, the forest department is not giving us permission to cut Acacia trees, said another resident Bhaskar.

He said that in connection with Inam land problem the forest department has also served notices to the dalits here, to clear the encroachments from five cents till one acre.

Another villager Anthony said they have not been provided the title deeds and ration cards.  The government had neglected them completely.

The street lights, installed two years ago in the village, have become defunct. The solar lights which have been provided to other colonies have not been provided to the particular colony, some residents alleged.

The people in the dalit colony seek answer to many such questions.