While close to 3,900 villages of Gujarat have been officially declared scarcity affected, the condition of dalit communities facing social discrimination in rural areas is even worse. Findings of a survey conducted by dalit rights organisation, Navsarjan Trust, indicated that only in Ahmedabad district nearly 1,200 dalit families in 22 villages of the district were facing a severe water crisis. It is not only because of drought situation but also because of social discrimination by non-dalit communities. A group of 20 women representatives from these villages submitted a memorandum to the Ahmedabad district collector on Saturday to voice their water woes.
Kirit Rathod, chairperson of water right protection committee of the Navsarjan Trust, talked about the findings of the survey.
“These 22 villages are located in five talukas of Ahmedabad district that includes the assembly constituency of state panchayat minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama. Dalit women are facing social discrimination over drinking water... Dalit women cannot wash clothes near the village tank.
A police complaint was lodged against dalit women by non-dalit women at Arnej village in 2011 over the belief that they were getting polluted by the water drops from the washing of clothes by Dalit women,” he said.
“At Bhurkhi village, though a pipeline for water has been laid, water is not flowing through it. People still have to go to the well to fetch water. They have to use dirty water of the village pond to wash their clothes and utensils,” added Rathod.
He further stated that the right to water is a fundamental right to live. We want the village panchayats of those villages, where untouchability is practised, should be superseded by the government. The dalit areas in the villages should be given water by utilising the funds of the scheduled caste sub-plan scheme of the government.
“We have submitted our memorandum to additional collector KK Dudhat, who has promised to solve it,” said Rathod.
