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न्यूज क्लिपिंग्स् | Development package still eludes Kambalapalli victims by KV Subramanya and Vishwa Kundapura

Development package still eludes Kambalapalli victims by KV Subramanya and Vishwa Kundapura

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published Published on Mar 9, 2010   modified Modified on Mar 9, 2010


Even a decade after the horrific episode in which seven Dalits were burnt alive by “caste” Hindus in Kambalapalli village of Chintamani taluk in the then undivided Kolar district, 66 families of the victims are still struggling to lead a dignified life.

The State Government, which relocated the 66 Dalit families at a new hamlet called Mini-Kambalapalli on the outskirts of Chintamani town, has not made good on its promises of providing the means for a decent living.

“Our dreams of living with dignity are slowly melting due to the apathy of the Government,” a frail Venkatarayappa (75) told The Hindu. His wife, two sons and a daughter were among the seven victims.

Witnesses united

Even as the appeal for the retrial of the Kambalapalli Dalit carnage case is pending before the Karnataka High Court, one of the key witnesses on Tuesday said that they were now united and would come out with the truth. Five of the prosecution witnesses had turned hostile resulting in the acquittal of all 32 accused by the Kolar Sessions Court in 2006.

Asked about the change in his stand, Saakala Gangalappa (65), the second prosecution witness said: “Fearing for our lives, we did not say the truth then. But now the situation has changed and we feel we have the Government's protection.”

Mini-Kambalapalli has wide roads, well-built houses with toilets, a school, a community hall, a police outpost, solar street lights, borewells and mini-water supply tanks.

Although these facilities have come as a relief to the residents, they are still disappointed as successive governments have failed to fulfil the promises made to them. According to a Rs. 3-crore package that was announced by the S.M. Krishna Government, all the 66 families were to get two acres of land each, jobs for unemployed youth, bullock carts, and a bore well per every four acre of land, among other benefits.

But so far, only 44 families have been sanctioned one-and-a-quarter acres of land near Kurbur Farm, some 6 km away from Mini-Kambalapalli. “It is practically impossible to visit the land regularly and take up cultivation as we have to pay a bus fare of Rs. 12 to reach the fields,” said Mr. Gangalappa.

The Government had got eight borewells sunk for the 55 acres of land it allotted to these families. Of them, only two bore wells are yielding water. Pumpsets and pipes fitted to these tube wells have been stolen, said Shankarappa, whose mother, Subbamma, was also killed in the violence.

“This will not help one in taking up agriculture activities. Many other assurances too have remained on paper,” said B. Jagadish, a Dalit activist.

Residents of Mini-Kambalapalli work as labourers at cement warehouses and rice mills in Chintamani to earn their daily bread.

 

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