It was attended in huge numbers by women but boycotted by Maravar men. With a Rs lakh grant, she set up a swanky, air-conditioned panchayat office in Madhavakurichi. In this story, it becomes clear that even though the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution created institutional spaces for women from the marginalised groups like dalits and adivasis, they still have to deal with entrenched caste beliefs, discrimination and harassment.
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Dalit and adivasi women in panchayat politics have to negotiate three kinds of oppression--rigid caste structures within the village, patriarchy within and outside their families and feudalism, where they are in a dependent economic relationship with the dominant caste in the village. Among these women too, those who rank higher in the caste hierarchy have the advantage of economic and social mobility brought by political organisation.
They have the powers to resist land-owning castes such as the Mukkalathors collective name for three dominant castes Thevars, Maravars and Kallars , Gounders, Vanniyars and so on. They are also discriminated against by the Pallars and Parayars. Caste oppression begins with the election process where the dominant castes directly sponsor candidates for seats reserved for scheduled caste women.
A katta panchayat , one comprising men from landed communities, picks a woman candidate, usually a daily wager Arunthatiyar who works on the farm of one of these landlords. These women are expected to be pliable, and once elected, take the back seat while their sponsors take charge. George Dimitrov, a lecturer at Gandhigram Rural University near Dindigul in central Tamil Nadu, who has documented dalit women presidents in the district for his PhD thesis, found that nine of its 25 dalit women presidents had been sponsored by katta panchayats. Of these, seven are from the Arunthatiyar community and the other two from communities even lower in the caste order.
Once the katta panchayat decides, the women have no choice but to contest.
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They often have to borrow money from the local money lenders on interest for contesting elections , pushing them into further debt and feudal dependence. Angammal 37 , a daily wage labour from the Arunthatiyar community, was forced to contest by the Gounders of the Appipalayam panchayat in Dindigul. Her predecessor, Selvi, had been chosen in this manner but she had begun to resist the dominance of the Gounders once she took office so the panchayat stopped backing her. They banked on Angammal being more pliant.
In areas where Pallars or Parayars contest elections, dominant castes often sponsor an Arunthatiyar woman to create a further divide within the dalit block. Podhum Ponnu, the president of R Vellodu panchayat in Dindigul, is still angry with the Arunthatiyar woman who contested against her in the elections.
Podhum Ponnu, the Parayar dalit president of R. Vellodu panchayat in Dindigul district, is angry with the Arunthatiyar woman who contested against her. The dominant castes retain the job of the vice president for themselves, it has been observed. As joint signatories of panchayat cheques, they are in a position to create roadblocks when dalit and adivasi women leaders assert themselves. They also ensure that a bulk of state funds are diverted to areas they are invested in.
The katta panchayat sponsors a pliable candidate and asks for bids to decide who gets to control her actions once elected. Balamani Veeman of Kudikulam panchayat in Madurai district was auctioned off, despite her protests, to the local Thevar landlord Karuppasamy, the Indian Express reported in November The practice came to light in , according to this October report in Frontline , and it continues to-date.
The most recent case was reported from three villages in Paramattivelur taluka in Namakkal district, for the panchayat elections, which have since been postponed. There are historical cases of Pappapattti, Keeripatti and Nattermangalam villages in Madurai district and Kottakachiyenthal in Virudhunagar district, where the local dominant castes blocked dalits from assuming power for ten years between and They ran a parallel system that flouted every principle of democracy without being held accountable.
When the marginalised castes resist, the dominant castes use a very high handed structural tool-- Article of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act--to discredit them and have them dismissed. Muthammal 68 , the president of Veerappanaikampatti panchayat in Harur block of Dharmapuri district, is still traumatised by the sustained harassment at the hands of three local Vellalar men during her tenure between and These men were the vice president, the panchayat secretary and the chairman of the district panchayat the highest tier of rural local governance. Muthammal, a Parayar, owns 15 acres of land and her family members hold good positions in civil service, police and judiciary.
In spite of this, she faced the axe of Article , which gives the district collector power to dismiss the panchayat president. The secretary, a government functionary whose job is to keep records and accounts, then fudged accounts over a long period, Muthammal alleged.
Muthammal, the dalit president of Veerappanaikampatti panchayat in Dharmapuri district, had her financial powers suspended under Article of Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act, for standing up to the dominant caste panchayat functionaries. In the five years between and , Other presidents had to go to the court to get their powers restored.
Reservations for dalit women are often seen as opportunities for male relatives to realise their own political aspirations. Panchayat politics, for these men, is a good opportunity to access power in party organisations that are highly competitive and dominated by upper castes. Women are persuaded to contest, despite little interest, by male members of the family.
Panchayats' working women
And if the women start showing real interest in their work, they are threatened and abused. Muthumariammal 32 of T Puthupatti panchayat in Dindigul was persuaded to contest in by her husband Perumal, a daily wage worker. Though she was politically aware, she was expected to hand over all control to her husband. When she started showing signs of resistance, Perumal became oppressive and even confiscated her mobile phone. After three years, Muthumariammal filed for divorce and took back control of her chair. But unlike her, most women have no choice but to navigate between their roles as wives, homemakers and leaders.
Dominant caste women who become panchayat leaders struggle with patriarchy too. But then they are spared the kind of oppression dalit women are subjected to. The two-decade old chronicle of dalit and adivasi women panchayat leaders in Tamil Nadu is at once a story of oppression and resistance. Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi. Empowering Women for Reproductive Rights, in H.
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Why Muthukanni, A Dalit, Had To Build Her Own Panchayat Office
Empowerment of Women through Panchayati Raj Institutions: Abstract Empowerment of women is essentially the process of upliftment of economic, social and political status of women, the traditionally underprivileged ones, in the society. From Oppression to Assertion: Women and Panchayats in India. Education and Empowerment of Women: