RAIPUR: In Chhattisgarh's Bemetara district, a family has been socially boycotted and their house demolished, allegedly based on a directive from the sarpanch for 'not voting for him' during the panchayat polls held this year.
Both the victim's family and the sarpanch belong to the Satnami (Scheduled Caste) community in Gadamod gram panchayat, Navagarh tehsil of Bemetara, about 80 km from Raipur.
“We are a family of 10 members, living in fear. Our house where we lived for 25 years has been razed to the ground using a bulldozer on the instruction of the sarpanch Mahajan Manhare and in the presence of the tehsildar and local police station incharge. We were not given any opportunity to challenge the order of the sarpanch,” said Vijay Laxmi Manhare, who lodged a complaint to the sub-divisional magistrate, district police chief, tehsildar seeking justice and compensation.
The sarpanch had earlier served a notice on vacating the allegedly illegally occupied land where the house was built several years ago but the distressed family refused to accept 'advance warning', questioning the authority of the sarpanch on issuing such a command to remove the unproven 'encroachment'.
“We have earlier lodged written complaints to Navagarh tehsildar and the police station incharge but they didn't receive it and instead told us to follow the dictates of the sarpanch,” the woman added.
The family alleged that Mahajan Manhare is nurturing strong grudges against them for not extending support during the panchayat elections and was warned of dire consequences for reportedly not voting for him.
The family said that their children are not getting meals under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) in school and are not allowed to play with other kids in the village.
Bemetara collector Ranbir Sharma said that the gram sabha has the authority to get the illegal encroachment removed following a due course of law in their jurisdiction area.
“I am not aware of the incident. But we will take action if the affected family is socially ostracised and ensure they are not deprived of the entitled social welfare schemes,” the collector told TNIE.
Lawyer J P Shukla, counsel for the aggrieved party, said that the family members were dislodged from their house in an inhuman way. “The sarpanch can only make reference on the issue of encroachment and the executive power on removing it lies only with the tehsildar. The vengeful sarpanch seemingly has colluded with the local authorities in demolishing the house and boycotting the family,” Shukla claimed.
“The place where they lived was years ago earmarked for constructing our Satnam bhawan (community hall). The family was not vacating despite repeated notices. I have no issues regarding their support to my candidature during the panchayat polls and there is no social boycott”, the sarpanch countered.