MADURAI: Calling attention to decades of societal discrimination and official apathy, over 20 Scheduled Caste (Arunthathiyar) community members from Peryampatty village petitioned District Collector Dr S Aneesh Sekhar during the grievance redressal meeting on Monday. Lack of basic facilities, including toilets, drinking water, crematorium, road and drainage, and restriction on entering temples have plagued these families all their lives.
Over 500 families reside in Peraiyur taluk's Perampatti panchayat. Among these, around 150 families belong to Scheduled Caste (Arunthathiyar) community and they have been living here for generations. Speaking to TNIE, P Priya (27), one of the villagers, said people from the Arunthathiyar community reside at Eswaran Kovil Street in the village. Families of caste Hindu, SC Pallar and Paraiyar communities also inhabit the village.
"Nearly 10 years ago, the state government constructed colony houses for us, but they are all in disrepair now. Moreover, there is no drainage facility in the area. Sewage water keeps stagnating and becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes. We have petitioned the district collector raising several such issues, but no action has ensued, she said.
Most of the Arunthathiyar community members here are employed as farmhands or conservancy staff. 37-year-old Muthumari said the families have a hand-to-mouth existence. "Even for a pot of drinking water, we have to walk half a kilometre to the caste Hindu area, where a common water pipe is situated. Also, for relieving ourselves, we have to walk to a vacant area where poisonous scorpions, snakes and other insects are present," she added.
The villagers also said theirs was the only community that did not have a crematorium space in the village. "At present, we use a one-cent area on the roadside to lay to rest our loved ones. If any of us die in the hospital, we can't conduct final rites or a funeral ceremony for the deceased at our houses, since the caste Hindus won't allow us to bring back the body from the hospital through their streets. So, we have to directly cremate the body in the one-cent land. Similarly, we are not allowed to enter the Kaliamman temple and Mariamman temple. Though we are trying our best to fight the social injustice, the officials are not paying attention to our plight," they added.
When TNIE contacted Peryampatti Panchayat President Chellammal Sundaram, her husband Sundaram picked up the call. "My wife doesn't know anything about the panchayat. I only handle all the affairs. The civic body does not have any land to build facilities for the Arunthathiyar community. Even they themselves were not willing to hand over any land for constructing roads. As for the temple entry issue, this is the tradition from time immemorial. Ban on their entry is not a new restriction," he said.
Speaking to TNIE, Thirumangalam RDO Ravichandran said he had only assumed office a week ago, and would soon look into the villagers' demands.