Dalit lady officer refused water in UP

A lady veterinary doctor, who is a diabetic, was allegedly not served water by "upper caste" members during an official visit to a village in Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district as she is a Dalit.

Seema, who is posted as deputy veterinary officer in one of the development blocks in the district, said the secretary and 'pradhan' (panchayat chief) of Ambawan Purab village refused to serve her water.

The incident occurred while she was on an official visit to the village on Tuesday to review development works.

"I was feeling thirsty and had run out of my own stock of water... I asked for a glass of water... the pradhan and secretary, both from the 'upper caste', refused to serve me water...they also told other villagers not to give water to me," she said.

"Their utensils would have become dirty and impure had they served me water," she said.

Seema lamented the prevalence of such social practices in the country. "The laws will not yield anything positive until we change the attitude of the people....if something like this can happen to a government official one can easily imagine about the common Dalits," she said.

Panchayat chief Sampat, however, denied the allegations. "The lady official had asked for a glass of water.....there was dome delay...she left the meeting midway," he said.

Seema said she has lodged a complaint before senior officers from her department. The district officials said a probe would be conducted and the guilty would be punished.