‘Poverty stamp’ on tribal homes in MP taken down
Stamps of poverty marked on the walls of tribal homes in Shivpuri that read “Mera parivar gareeb hai (My family is poor)” were removed by the district administration on Monday, sources told Hindustan Times on Wednesday.
HT had reported on December 16 that a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) brought to light an incident in Binega village, under Chandanpura panchayat, in which local administration had branded Shahria tribals poor by writing on the walls of their homes.
A team led by panchayat secretary Deepak Sharma reached the village on Monday night and plastered white paint over the message that was written about two months ago to identify the villagers below poverty line.
Rakesh Adivasi, a resident of the village, said about a dozen people came on Monday night with Sharma.
The panchayat secretary told the villagers that a new transformer for better electricity supply to the village and a new hand pump for drinking water would be installed soon.
After this assurance, those accompanying him went door to door and removed the message.
Sharma said the message was written on about 70-80 houses
BHOPAL/SHIVPURI: A TEAM LED BY PANCHAYAT SECRETARY DEEPAK SHARMA REMOVED THE MESSAGES ON MONDAY
and such messages had been posted in other villages also.
He added that the villagers were getting their ration regularly.
District collector Tarun Rathi had earlier denied issuing instructions to put up the signs and said he would institute an inquiry to find out who was behind the matter.
Sunita Adivasi, another resident, said they had protested when people were writing the message.
“Likhne se kya hoga jab ration hi na mile. Hame ration chahiye jo kabhi milta hai kabhi nahi. Sarkar ko ration dena chahiye (What is use of writing the message if we don’t get ration? We need ration which we don’t get regularly. The government should ensure this),” she added.
Rathi said there was still no clarity on who wrote the message. However, since it was brought to his notice, he got the message removed.