CHENNAI; For these 197 dalit families in the village of Sethilpakkam, for whom,as farmhands, work is few and far between, this could be their only chance at owning a piece of land.
Now living in makeshift houses on a Poramboke, the families have been fighting for three years to reclaim the Panchami land in their village, which is about 50 kms from Chennai, near Gummidipoondi
The case came up for hearing at the National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC's) open hearing on Thursday and the revenue officials have been asked to file a report.
Of the 35 acres of Panchami land that has been built upon for various purposes, not a square feet belongs to a dalit presently, the petitioners said.
“Most of these lands are now owned by people of intermediate and upper castes from Andhra Pradesh,” said Sivakumar, a member of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front, who has been helping the villagers in their fight.
According to the 1942 Madras and Chingleput Gazette, a copy of which is available with Express, the survey numbers of these lands in Sethilpakkam (then Chedulpakkam) is listed as Panchami lands.
“We find work only if there is rain. We don’t get work under MGNREGA frequently either; it's not like before. My husband and I are barely able to eat one meal a day,” said Santhi C, a farmhand.
“Even if we go to work, we work from 9 am to 2 pm continuously in the farm to get paid Rs 130. They do not give us lunch,” said G Selvarani.
The Panchami land had been distributed for dalits in 1892 by the British and can neither be sold nor reclassified. However, it has not been the case so far with the lands being frequently ‘purchased’ and ‘sold’.
K Samuvel Raj, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) said that there were several parcels of Panchami lands around the city including Orathur, Vinayaganallur and
Athur that has been lost to other purposes.
In 2017, all 197 families from Sethilpakkam submitted separate petitions before the district collector. Since then, barring a few rounds of talks with revenue officials, there has been no significant development.
When contacted, the revenue officials concerned told Express that his office did not have records to show that the land had been categorised as Panchami lands.
“The case came up for hearing at the National Human Rights Commission and we have been directed to file a report within four weeks. The complainants may submit to us any evidence that they might have,” said an official.