BENGALURU: Despite circular issued to various government departments, Devadasi system-affected mothers and their children face the brunt of compulsorily including father’s or husband’s names in all government applications and forms.
A group of Devadasi mothers and their children, including various other NGOs assembled in Bengaluru on Thursday to share their grievances and sought government intervention in the implementation of circulars issued on February 6 and pass them as orders to make it optional to add names. The group also demanded a new survey on the number of Devadasis in Karnataka.
The group advocated that Devadasis’ children should be allowed to pursue higher education free of cost, provide hostels, reservations for site and housing and apply for bank accounts.
“The last survey conducted on the number of Devadasis was back in 2007-2008. There is an urgent need for a new one as they are left out of so many benefits. Even after the abolition of the practice, the community still lives under social constraints and is considered taboo,” said T Ramanjaneya, director, SNEHA NGO.
A booklet was also released by the Children of India Foundation for all the representatives of the community and NGOs working to uplift them.
Vasudev Sharma, executive director, Child Rights Trust said, “The booklet will help individuals to create awareness and go to government offices and banks and show a copy in order to remind officials that it is not compulsory.”
He also spoke about how the survey is misrepresented in terms of numbers. He claimed that as per activists on the ground, 50,000-60,000 have been left out and the government needed to take corrective measures for the welfare of the community.
Sharma explained, “The circulars are small wins in a big battle for the community. Social acceptance is a big factor in completely doing away with this exploitative practice.”The 2007-2008 survey identified 46,660 Devadasis in Karnataka.