By Matters India Reporter
Daringbadi: The residents of at least 10 villages in Odisha declared that their places are free of the menace of untouchability.
“It has been our long cherished dream and effort to make the area untouchability-free,” said Kailash Chandra Dandapat of Jagruti (awareness), a local NGO.
The villages come under the Daringbadi block of Kandhamal district.
The gram sabha (village council) approved the decision of their wards on October 2, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of India’s freedom struggle who strove to abolish untouchability in the country.
Dandapat and his NGO expect more villages will declare as untouchability-free village. The main indicators of a untouchability-free village are it must have people of different communities and castes; it should not have any physical form of untouchability; and all the public facilities such as drinking water source and community hall are free for everybody to use without discrimination.
All religious places such as temples, churches, traditional places for worship should be open to all. All villagers can participate common functions such as marriage, festivals, celebrations and funerals.
Like other parts of India, Odisha is basically caste-ridden society. Many cases of intense discrimination of people even in remote areas of Kandhamal were reported in the past.
The villagers that got rid of untouchability are : Sundradanda of Pliheri Gram Panchayat (GP), Sripanka of Daringbadi GP, Ganadkamba and Sikaketa of Badabanga GP, Padanketa of Danekbadi GP, Sangudimaha, Sikapata and Jidingmala of Greenbadi GP, Budanpipali of Bhramarbadi GP, and Penapusi of Siangabali GP.