Rehabilitate Devadasis and bring them to the mainstream of society, State govt. urged

Members of Dalit Hakkugala Samiti, Karnataka State Cemetery Workers Association and Devadasi Vimochana Sangha stage protest

Members of Dalit Hakkugala Samiti, Karnataka State Cemetery Workers Association and Devadasi Vimochana Sangha staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Thursday demanding that the government end the Devadasi system, rehabilitate Devadasis and bring them to the mainstream of society.

State convener of Cemetery Workers Association U. Basavaraj, district president of Devadasi Vimochana Sangha Chandamma Gola, district president of Dalit Hakkugala Samiti Sudhama Dhanni and activists K. Neela, Sharanabasappa Mamshetty have, in a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge, sought the release of pension dues of Devadasis.

The agitators demanded that the State government conduct a survey of Devadasis and their daughters as many of the former have either been abandoned by their husbands or have been widowed.

Cemetery workers (grave-diggers) should be included under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme and paid ₹3,000 for digging each grave, they said.

The government should also conduct a survey of cemetery workers aged above 45 and pay them a minimum monthly pension of ₹3,000.

Their other demands include the introduction of schemes for providing financial aid of ₹10,000 a month to unemployed Dalit youths, steps to provide interest-free loans to Dalit women entrepreneurs and five acres of agricultural land to each Dalit family for livelihood.

The Centre should implement the SCP-TSP scheme effectively and make allocations in the Union Budget in proportion to the population figures of the Scheduled Castes, they said.

Published - September 26, 2024 07:45 pm IST