Securing land, rights and dignity

India Explained, India Empowered

Securing land, rights and dignity

PARIMAL DABHI

AHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 19 Dinesh Hamir Chavda, a Dalit from Bharad village in Surendranagar district, owns 13 acres land and harvests crops worth at least Rs 2 lakh every year. But till 1998, he along with his four brothers was a daily wage labourer, working in the fields of upper caste people. The land he got under the Agricultural Land Ceiling Act, 1960, was usurped by upper caste people in his village who did not allow him to enter what used to be his field. There are many Dalits like Chavda who were given their right to ownership of land thanks to the Ahmedabad-based organisation, Council for Social Justice and its secretary Valjibhai Patel. Patel, a Dalit, has become synonymous with the Dalit struggle in Gujarat. He has worked tirelessly to get justice through the law in a number of cases, for the empowerment of the Dalit community across the state. Valjibhai prepared the villagers to fight against the upper castes to claim their rights, and got 138 acres of land for various Dalit farmers of Bharad after a long struggle of three years. Now the Dalits live with respect and pride alongside the upper castes. Devjibhai Chavda, for whom Valjibhai got 4 acres of land back, says,‘‘Earlier, we were afraid of high caste people, but with the support of Valjibhai we feel empowered. He has taught us the spirit of struggle. Now, no upper caste person speaks to us in a high-handed tone. They have understood that we know the law and can land them behind bars.’’ Bharad is a village of 4,000 population, and Dalits contribute 350 people to the total population. In all, the Council for Social Justice and Valjibhai have secured 1,400 to 1,500 acres of land in 230 cases in Surendranagar district for Dalit farmers, who are now engaged in farming this land. Apart from the possession of land, Valjibhai has effectively used the mechanism of the Public Interest Litigaton (PIL) to guard the rights and interests of Dalits and backward communities. So far, he has been directly or indirectly involved in almost 50 PILs and in a number of them the decision has been in favour of the Dalit community. Consider: How the CSJ works for Dalits • Upper caste people in the Gujarat village of Bharad usurped land from Dalit farmers • Ahmedabad-based Council for Social Justice and its secretary Valjibhai Patel got 138 acres of land for Dalit farmers of Bharad after a long struggle • The Council got possession of 1,400 to 1,500 acres of land in 230 cases in Surendranagar district for Dalit farmers • Valjibhai has effectively used the mechanism of the Public Interest Litigaton (PIL) to guard the rights and interests of Dalits and backward communities • A Dalit girl from Moksi village of Vadodara district was allegedly raped by the nephew of an MLA in 1998. Valjibhai got a case of rape registered and sought justice for the girl. He also arranged for her rehabilitation. The girl recently married. • CSJ had two Dalit children, who lost their parents in an accident, rehabilitated through a PIL in 1998. • CSJ organised compensation for seven persons (including six women and mostly Dalits) who lost their vision in faulty cataract operations in 1999-2000 at a cataract removal camp. • The High Court ordered an engineering company on the outskirts of Ahmedabad to stop the practice of manual scavenging on its premises following a petition by the safai workers of the company and CSJ in 1998. • CSJ filed a PIL demanding the consideration of reserved category students in the open category if they qualified on merit in medical colleges in 2000. The request was upheld by the Gujarat High Court. The government issued a circular in this regard. • In 1998 CSJ challenged the government’s resolution to take Rule No. 6 off the list of admission rules for medical and engineering courses. According to Rule 6, Socially and Economically Backward Class students get admission on reserved seats provided the difference between the marks obtained by the SEBC students and those by open category students is not more than 5 per cent. • When the state government decided to utilise the services of non-government and voluntary organisations to monitor students appearing for their board exams in 1998, Valjibhai, anticipating harassment of minority and Dalit students by organisations like the RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal, challenged the order. The government filed an affidavit to cancel the order. • CSJ filed a PIL to exempt minority educational institutions from central admission rules in 1992. The plea was accepted. Unlike other NGOs, CSJ does not accept financial aid from the government or from funding agencies. It functions on its own money and the service of like-minded people. Valjibhai, who took early retirement from the ONGC says, ‘‘Basically, I’m a man of struggle and believe more in field agitation and demonstrations to secure rights. But with the changing political and social scenario it is becoming more and more tough. Being a post graduate in law, I have sought justice through the law for the last 10-12 years.’’ A 70-year-old Valjibhai says, ‘‘I will get this done before I die.’’

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