Dalit panchayat prez in TN alleges caste abuse from her deputy

VILLUPURAM: A Dalit woman panchayat president of Avvaiyarkuppam village under Tindivanam taluk, K Mahalakshmi, has alleged that vice-president Veeramani has been preventing her from discharging her duties and verbally abusing her using casteist slurs.

In a complaint to district collector C Palani on Tuesday evening, Mahalakshmi said, “Veeramani, who belongs to Most Backward Class, has been verbally abusing me from the day of assuming office. He does not even let me sit in my designated chair at the office.

Recently, we planned to carry out two drinking water infrastructure works at a cost of `8.2 lakh in our village. Construction of water tanks is almost over. In order to complete the project, I have uploaded my digital key (a kind of password to get funds from government) on the government website for sanction of remaining funds, but Veeramani has refused to upload his.” When asked, Veeramani allegedly abused Mahalakshmi with casteist slurs for questioning him and also said that he is not liable to answer her.

On Wednesday, Villupuram MP D Ravikumar met Mahalakshmi and assured her of speedy action from the government.

Talking to TNIE, Palani said, “An inquiry was initiated after receiving the complaint. Veeramani filed an objection and requested certain documents for perusal, which were also provided to him. However, he is not uploading his digital key.

On Wednesday, Mailam BDO gave him a final deadline of two days. If he fails to comply, his financial power will be withdrawn and transferred to the BDO. The panchayat president alone hoisted the national flag and conducted grama sabha meetings. No discrimination was observed in the office chamber.”

Courtesy : TNIE

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