Dalit leaders stage snap stir against absentee officials

DC came late, while SP and ZP CEO walked in after unruly situation

Pandemonium prevailed at Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Thursday, when a section of dalit leaders staged a flash protest alleging negligent attitude of the officials.

A preliminary meeting was convened at Deputy Commissioner’s Office to discuss about the celebration of Dr B R Ambedkar Jayanti. The dalit leaders, who were attending the meeting were angry as the Superintendent of Police Raman Gupta and Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Venkatesh Kumar had skipped the meeting.  Irked, the leaders termed it as undue negligence on their part and accused them of avoiding the community-related meetings.

They also complained that no meeting had been conducted since a year to hear their grievances and took the opportunity to express their unhappiness over the attitude of the officers against dalits, across the district, in general.

They turned impatient when the deputy commissioner Umesh H Kusugal who turned up bit late to the meeting said that the meeting could have been started as the Additional Deputy Commissioner K M Janaki was representing him. When the deputy commissioner tried to defend saying every official was busy with their works, the leaders, who were in no mood to listen, mocked the deputy commissioner saying “Additional deputy commissioner is overburdened, for discharging most of the duties of deputy commissioner.”

In the meantime, the deputy commissioner contacted Superintendent of Police Raman Gupta and Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Venkatesh Kumar over phone and told them to attend the meeting. When the SP arrived in a hurry at the hall, the dalit leaders vented their ire on him.

Pacifying them, Gupta said he was not informed about the meeting in prior and he also had several engagements in the day including a meeting on Police Flag Day.

The ZP CEO Venkatesh too joined the meeting later. Finally, it was decided to hold Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14 at Hasanamba Kalakshetra. The meeting also decided to observe Babu Jagjivanram’s birth anniversary on April 5 and a procession would begin from the DC’s office premises. Competitions will be conducted for college students as part of the jayanti.