COIMBATORE: Scheduled Caste residents of Anna Nagar in Thondamuthur have alleged the Coimbatore district administration is defying the orders of Tamil Nadu State Commission for SC/ST to extend government bus service (21 and 21B) from Kembanur to their locality, and have alleged caste discrimination.
They charged that by neglecting the commission's order, the district administration started operating only afternoon trips of 21B and 64C buses, and questioned why the officers refuse to operate route 21 to Anna Nagar, located 400 metres from Kembanur.
On August 22, TNIE published an article titled 'TNSTC buses skip village due to caste bias: SC locals’, after which the SC/ST commission took up the issue suo motu and ordered the district collector and TNSTC officials to operate the buses to Anna Nagar and submit a report on September 24.
C Punitha (name changed) from Anna Nagar told TNIE, "After media reports of caste bias, officials visited our area on August 25. They only promised buses from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm, though we specifically asked for buses (21 and 21B). On September 1, they arrived with police and a local AIADMK functionary. About 20 residents were present, and some were in favour of the dominant caste persons. Officers obtained a letter from them, which stated that the operation of buses from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm is sufficient.”
She alleged that the officers did not give any notice about their visit, held no meeting and did not seek the majority’s opinion.
Another resident, M Saranya (name changed) told TNIE, “Officers visited our area on September 3 and began operating service 21B to Anna Nagar at 12.45 pm for namesake, but night service was never extended. When we asked about the non-operation of route 21, the RDO did not respond. Since Friday, officers started been operating a bus (64C) to Anna Nagar at 1.45 pm. 21 and 21B are operated seven times and four times, respectively. These services should be extended to our area as well.”
NV Nirmal Kumar of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam told TNIE, "Due to caste discrimination, caste Hindus of both Dravidian parties refuse to allow bus (21) to Anna Nagar. They treat it as a matter of prestige, claiming the bus service is only for their people. Even after the commission's order, officers have sided with caste Hindus. We will soon stage a mass sit-in protest at the collector's office over this injustice," he said.
South RDO Maruthi Priya told TNIE that as per the commission's report, the issues have been resolved. A TNSTC official also echoed Priya’s claims.
Human rights activist Henri Tiphagne urged the SC/ST commission chairperson to take action against all officers, who failed to follow its orders, under the SC/ST Act.
Repeated attempts to reach District Collector Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar and Transport Minister SS Sivasankar went in vain.