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FOURTEEN FAMILIES of the Gond tribe residing in a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat district had to face social boycott for greater than two weeks as they might not afford to contribute Rs 200 each in direction of celebration of Durga Puja within the village.
These families, who had been badly hit by the Covid-19 lockdown, had volunteered to pay Rs 100 each as an alternative nevertheless it was not thought-about.
Deprived of all amenities like shopping for ration and denied work, the families lastly approached the district administration, which resolved the difficulty this week.
On October 14, native puja organisers Sarwajanik Durga Puja Sanstha held a gathering in Lamta village of Balaghat the place it was determined that each one 170 families within the village will contribute Rs 200 each in direction of the celebration. But as many as 40 Gond families, lots of who labored as migrant labourers and walked for days to attain residence after the lockdown, expressed lack of ability to pay the cash.
Under social stress, 26 of the families lastly relented. The remaining 14 families supplied to pay Rs 100 nevertheless it was refused.
After the Durga Puja, one other assembly was held on November 3, when representatives of the village unanimously issued a diktat for ‘paani-tanga’ – no villager was allowed to converse to or go to the 14 families. They weren’t allowed to buy ration and even the village physician – a non-public practitioner – was warned towards treating them.
According to Dhan Singh Parte, a member of one of many affected families, not one of the staff on the Lakdi depot, the place his father labored as a labourer, had been allowed to work with him. “No one would come close to my father at the depot. The wooden logs are heavy and people usually work in groups and carry them but my father was asked to work alone in a corner, if at all,” stated Parte.
For 39-year-old Lakshmi Wadkhade, who works as a labourer after her husband fell sick to fend for her household of seven, paying Rs 200 was subsequent to unattainable. “I was in Allahabad looking for work when my ill husband and daughter back home were boycotted. I had walked six days to return from Nashik after the lockdown. We had no money for days and starved until we were given 5 kg ration,” she stated.
She stated they supplied Rs 100, which was refused. “Even last year, my family was boycotted and I had to return to work in the city and send Rs 500 to my family to pay to the Sanghatan to get the boycott lifted.”
As the boycott continued from November 3 to November 17, the families headed by Radhelal Madsole, zilla president of Gond Samajh Mahasabha, submitted a memorandum to the police inspector at Lamta police station. As the villagers remained undeterred after two rounds of conferences, the families approached the Balaghat Collector together with the Superintendent of Police and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
Collector Deepak Arya instructed The Indian Express, “These families approached us and we held a meeting with the villagers. They have been warned that if this continues, action will be taken against them. The matter has been resolved and situation has normalised.”
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