Karnataka: Dalit families of Gandhi Gram in Channapatna still await promised homes amid election fever

In Gandhi Gram, where Gowramma lives, the hope of permanent housing in the Dalit locality has long been a matter of empty promises. For over two decades, elections have come and gone and candidates have been promising permanent houses, yet 10 families from the Adi Karnataka community in this settlement are still living in unsafe thatched huts.

BENGALURU — Every evening, around 5:30 pm, Gowramma, a 40-year-old daily wage labourer, leaves her shanty near the Bengaluru-Mysore Expressway to begin her night shift at a local eatery. However, her mind remains fixated on the instability of her home, as those homes, located on the outskirts of Kolluru village in Channapatna, have been under threat since the devastating floods in November 2022 that nearly submerged the area.

Gowramma, a widow, leaves her young son with her sister-in-law, and is struggling to make ends meet.

In Gandhi Gram, where Gowramma lives, the hope of permanent housing in the Dalit locality has long been a matter of empty promises. For over two decades, elections have come and gone with candidates promising permanent houses, yet 10 families from the Adi Karnataka community in this settlement are still living in unsafe thatched huts.

The colony has around 171 voters, with politicians often seeking their votes during election season, but concrete progress remains elusive.

The challenges faced by residents are further compounded by the lack of basic amenities in the colony. Although a shared water line provides some access to potable water, the settlement lacks individual water and sanitation facilities, forcing residents to defecate in nearby fields.

Solar panels provide a modest source of electricity, yet issues of cleanliness, pests and poor hygiene persist. Most residents work as construction labourers or in other low-paying, informal jobs, limiting their ability to afford better living conditions.

In 2017, the then Siddaramaiah government announced a bold initiative to make Karnataka a “slum-free” state. However, after the 2022 floods, which some blamed on the elevated expressway, residents of Gandhi Gram lost their meagre possessions—caste and income certificates, school mark sheets, Aadhaar cards and other essential documents—to the floods. Slowly, young women like Sneha, who dropped out of college due to financial constraints and now works in a nearby shop, are trying to reconstruct their documents.

The stench and mosquitoes have made life difficult and unhealthy, though residents of Gandhi Gram near Kolluru in Channapatna taluk say they have no other place to go as they cannot make a living from their livelihood. | Photo credit: K Bhagya Prakash

Expressing disappointment, Indiramma, another resident, said, “Both Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar know our plight. But no one comes forward to help us.”

The government gave each family a compensation of Rs 10,000 for lost livestock, but promises of housing assistance by prominent leaders, including then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, are yet to be fulfilled.

Forty years ago, Dalit families originally from Koluru village settled on its outskirts. While about 50 families have since been settled on land around 2.1 acres, a plot of about half an acre, where 10 families still live in huts, remains disputed.

A person who has tenancy rights on this land is demanding payment to transfer ownership to the residents, said former village panchayat member Lokesh Beeraiah. Despite a resolution by the Mudigere village panchayat urging the government to intervene, no action has been taken.

Sneha’s mother Kempamma admits that the families’ refusal to move has caused problems, but she insists that her community cannot be uprooted. “The government has funds for the upliftment of Dalits; they should help us. None of us can afford to buy land or build houses here,” she said.

As the electoral battle in Channapatna heats up, with candidates such as Congress’ CP Yogeshwara and NDA’s Nikhil Kumaraswamy promising to build houses for those living in Gandhi Gram, residents remain cautiously optimistic.

Though they have grown accustomed to broken promises, they still have a hope – albeit faint – that this election may finally bring the long-awaited miracle.

Courtesy : Hindi News