MADURAI: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has issued notice to Adi Dravidar & Tribal Welfare Department seeking action on encroachment of burial grounds of SCs and other communities.
Speaking to TNIE, Dalit Liberation Movement (DLM) state secretary C Karuppiah, who filed the complaint said, ‘There are a lot of common burial grounds across Tamil Nadu. While some allow burial of SC persons, others don’t. Many times, we can find many villages have burial grounds for SC communities. But many such sites are encroached upon. SC families are extremely upset when they take their loved ones for burial.”
Further, stating that the situation was widely prevalent across Tamil Nadu, he sought a special compliance plan to look into the issue. “In order to implement the structured framework to resolve the issue we seek a direction from the commission to issue directions to the state government.”
Based on his petition the NCSC has sent notice to the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare department asking for a list of burial grounds which are encroached.
Speaking to TNIE, Dr S Ravivarman, Director of NCSC said, “The notice was sent since the charges levelled by the petitioner were serious in nature. Local officials from the District Adi Dravidar Welfare Department should be aware of such issues. Based on the report, we will be conducting a hearing in our commission.”