Ahmedabad: A 50-year-old school teacher in the district of Surendranagar Gujarat was forced to travel 150 kilometers every day to school and return – because of his castle.
Panchayat village where he posted officially stated that he could not get a house locally because there was no resolving housing for Valmicis, classified as caste scheduled (SC), in the village.
Blatant discrimination has caused social justice and the State Empowerment Department to write a letter to the Ministry of Education last week, acknowledging that “teachers from caste scheduled have become victims of torture, discrimination, inequality and cashiers”.
Kanhaiyalal Belaiya, who lives in Chhatriyala Village in Surendranagar Regency, was transferred to a school in Ninama Village, which was located 75 kilometers away, in the same district.
“When I left and reported to be on duty, I began to ask to rent a house.
I was told that there was no Valmiki settlement in the village and therefore I could not get a rental house in the village,” he said.
In fact, Talati and Sarpanch – the head of the administrative and elected village – gave this in writing in the official newspaper Panchayat Village on December 16, 2020 to Relaylaya.
“I have made official complaints for all departments concerned – social justice, education and other departments – about this.
Finally, the Department of Social Justice last week wrote to the Ministry of Education to move me,” Belaiya told Toi.
Dalit activists say discrimination based on caste is common.