Arappor Iyakkam is an organization working towards Transparency and Accountability in Governance. Arappor Iyakkam over the last several years have been doing social audit of various schemes that is intended to benefit the people. Through such social audits, we identify the gaps between the intention of the scheme and its implementation inorder to improve the Governance. Arappor Iyakkam recently undertook a small study to understand the functioning of the ‘Award to villages where caste free burial grounds are in use’. The results of the study show that on the contrary award of Rs 10 lakhs is given to villages where caste free burial grounds are not practised largely thus defying the very purpose of the scheme. Arappor Iyakkam through this study and recommendations is appealing to the Government to ensure caste free crematoriums in TamilNadu.
1. Introduction: Award to Villages where caste free burial grounds are in use:
Chief Minister under Rule 110 had announced in the Assembly in August 2021 that there are several burial grounds that are caste free in TamilNadu and therefore to serve as an example that there should not be any caste discrimination during the final rites of the dead persons, such role model villages practicing caste free burial grounds will be awarded an amount of Rs 10 lakhs each for their development works.
Based on this announcement, the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare department of Government of Tamil Nadu passed a GO அரசாணை (நிலை) எண்:93 dated 23.11.2021. The GO stated that the Government is allocating Rs.11,10,00,000 for a total of 111 role model caste free villages (3 villages per district) at the rate of Rs.10 lakh per village. (Annexure 1)
The procedure to identify the villages and finalize them for awarding has been detailed in the GO. The villages shall be identified by the welfare officer of the Adi Dravidar and tribal welfare department and sent to the Collector of the respective district. The Collector shall forward the list to RDO for verification of the villages and thereafter based on the report of the RDO, the Collector finalizes the list of villages.
For the year 2021-22, a list of 60 villages have been identified and awarded Rs 10 lakhs each, the list of which was accessed through Right to Information by Arappor Iyakkam and attached in (Annexure 2).
2. Methodology:
Arappor Iyakkam volunteers visited 13 of the above listed 60 villages in a total of 8 districts to understand if the award of Rs 10 lakhs given were given to genuinely caste free villages or not.
The methodology followed was to visit the burial ground in the above villages and check whether there is different burial grounds for other castes and scheduled castes. Secondly, interaction was done with locals to understand if the burial ground is caste free as claimed.
The following is the list of districts, taluk and villages visited as part of the study. These villages were visited between October 2022 to July 2023.
| S.No | District | Taluk | Village |
| 1 | Tiruvallur | Poonamalee | Karunagareseri |
| 2 | Tiruvallur | Ponneri | Athipattu
|
| 3 | Tiruvallur | Ponneri | Thadapperumbakkam |
| 4 | Madurai | Madurai East | Othakadai |
| 5 | Dharmapuri | Dharmapuri | Kadakathur |
| 6 | Dharmapuri | Kariyamangalam | Begarahalli |
| 7 | Dharmapuri | Dharmapuri | Sinthalpadi |
| 8 | Tiruppur | Udumalaipettai | Kudimangalam |
| 9 | Tiruppur | Madathukulam | Kumaramangalam |
| 10 | Tenkasi | Sivagiri | Ullaar |
| 11 | Coimbatore | Pollachi | Kondaikavundampalayam |
| 12 | Trichy | Manapparai | Nallampillai |
| 13 | Erode | Sathyamanagalam | Konamoolai |
3. Findings of the Study:
The findings regarding the caste free nature of the burial ground in 13 villages across 8 districts visited by our team is described in detail below.
District: Thiruvallur
| District | Taluk | Village | Findings |
| Thiruvallur | Ponnamalee | Karunagareseri | During the field visit, it was found that, there are 2 cremation ground, one for scheduled caste communities and other for rest of the communities. In the cemetery compound, for burying the deadbody as well, there is a clear-cut bifurcation between the Scheduled caste and other caste communities. It is found from interaction with local people as well that Discrimination based on caste is said to be followed in this village.
|
| Thiruvallur | Ponneri | Athipattu | During the field visit, it was found that there are 4 seperate cremation grounds in different places within Athipattu village. One is for scheduled caste and others for rest of the communities. Based on interaction with locals, it was found that Discrimination based on caste is said to be followed in this village.
|
| Thiruvallur | Ponneri | Thadapperumbakkam | During the field visit, it was found that there are 2 separate cremation grounds in Thadapperumbakkam village, one for scheduled caste communities and other for rest of the communities. Based on interaction with locals, it was found that Discrimination based on caste is said to be followed in this village. |
District: Madurai
Date of Award of Rs.10 Lakh : 24.02.2022
| District | Taluk | Village | Remarks |
| Madurai | Madurai – East | Othakadai | During the field visit, it is found that in this cremation ground, scheduled caste community are not allowed to cremate here. Only other communities are allowed to use this cremation ground. Discrimination based on caste is said to be followed in this village. |
District: Dharmapuri
Date of Award of Rs.10 Lakh : 10.02.2022
| District | Taluk | Village | Remarks |
| Dharmapuri | Dharmapuri | Kadakathur | During the field visit, it was found that all communities are allowed to cremate in the same burial ground.
Discrimination based on caste is not said to be followed in this village |
| Dharmapuri | Kariamangalam | Begarahalli | During the field visit, it was found that separate areas are allotted based on the caste for scheduled caste / other communities within the same burial ground.
Discrimination based on caste is said to be followed in this village. |
| Dharmapuri | Dharmapuri | Sinthalpadi | During the field visit, it was found that there is clear cut partition within the burial ground. Except Scheduled caste, other communities are buried on one side and Scheduled caste communities are buried on other side of the ground.
Discrimination based on caste is said to be followed in this village. |
District: Tiruppur
Date of Award of Rs.10 Lakh : 24.02.2022
| District | Taluk | Village | Remarks |
| Tiruppur | Udumalpet | Kudimangalam | During the field visit, it was found that the majority communities are buried on one side of the ground and scheduled caste people are buried on the other side of the ground.
Discrimination based on caste is said to be followed in this village. |
| Tiruppur | Madathukulam | Kumaramangalam | During the field visit, it was found that there are 2 burial grounds in this village. The first burial ground is located around 2 km from the village where people other than SC communities are using this place for cremation. Another burial ground is located farther away from the first burial ground and this ground is used by scheduled caste community. Discrimination based on caste is said to be followed in this village. |
District: Tenkasi
Date of Award of Rs.10 Lakh : 16.02.2022
| District | Taluk | Village | Remarks |
| Tenkasi | Sivagiri | Ullar | During the field visit, it was found that, there are 2 cremation ground,
Discrimination based on caste is said to be followed in this village. |
District: Coimbatore
Date of Award of Rs.10 Lakh : 29.03.2022
| District | Taluk | Village | Remarks |
| Coimbatore | Pollachi | Konde Koundampalayam | During the field visit, it is found that major communities in that area like Gounder, Naidu are buried/cremated on one side and scheduled caste community people are buried/cremated on the other side. There is a pathway in between these 2 places. Discrimination based on caste is said to be followed in this village. |
District: Tiruchirappalli
Date of Award of Rs.10 Lakh : 29.03.2022
| District | Taluk | Village | Remarks |
| Trichy | Manapparai | Nallam Pillai | During the field visit, it was found that majority communities are buried on one side and scheduled caste community people are buried on the other side of the road. Discrimination based on caste is said to be followed in this village. |
District: Erode
Date of Award of Rs.10 Lakh : 29.03.2022
| District | Taluk | Village | Remarks |
| Erode | Sathyamangalam | Konamoolai | During the field visit, it is found that, this Crematorium is not used much. Since there is an electrical crematorium in Satyamangalam town which is around 4 kms from this village, most of the people from all caste cremate the bodies in the electrical crematorium, Therefore the presence of electrical crematorium seems to have solved the issue of caste discrimination in this village. |
4. Key Findings:
- Out of the 13 sample villages audited by Arappor and its volunteers, it was found that caste discrimination was said to be followed in 11 villages and only 2 of the 13 villages were seen to be caste free with respect to burial grounds. This shows that caste discrimination is followed in 84.6% of villages covered in our study.
- Therefore, based on the data collected in our study it is clear that the selection of villages for awarding incentive of Rs 10 lakhs claiming they are caste free role model villages are incorrect and improper. Such gross errors in selection of villages seem to defy the very purpose of the scheme.
- During our filed visit, it was observed that the villagers and those working in the burial grounds in most of the villages were not aware of the Government’s initiative on caste free burial grounds.
- It was also found in a few places that the workers of the burial grounds are forced to follow caste discriminatory cremation by a few caste discriminatory people in the village.
- The Erode example of electric crematorium solving the caste discriminatory practice is a positive example that we found during the study.
6. Recommendations:
We request the Government to take serious note of the following recommendations and also work towards caste free burial grounds in Tamil Nadu.
- The process of identifying the caste-free cemeteries should be error free in the future and it requires proper monitoring by the District Collectors in charge. There should be ways for local public to provide feedback on caste free nature of the burial grounds.
- Officials should be held accountable for awarding funds to villages that are still following discrimination based on caste in their burial grounds.
- The district administration should carry massive awareness in the villages for caste free burial grounds.
- Training against caste discrimination during cremation/ burying should be provided to the workers of the crematorium.
- The experience in both Erode as well as electric crematorium in many towns and cities suggest their potential to make cremation caste free. The Government should provide a budget and implement electric crematoriums, at least at the rate of 1 electric crematorium for each block. An electric crematorium has the potential to make it caste free in the last ride of the human being.
7. Conclusion:
In our constitution, as per Article 15(1), the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. Article 15(2) states that no citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with respect to access to any public places. Therefore, there can be no discrimination or restrictions against any caste with respect to access to crematorium/ burial grounds. However, it is extremely distressing to see that discrimination based on caste is followed in most of the burial grounds questioning the dignity of those even after their death. It requires immense political will for the Government and the ruling party to voice and act against the brute force of the other caste people discriminating against the schedule castes without worrying about the vote bank. If we have to walk towards the path of creating a just and equitable society, it is minimal that the right and the dignity of those who all through their life have been discriminated for being born in a particular caste is at the least allowed to rest after their death without any discrimination!
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