A 50-year-old government school teacher in Gujarat’s Surendranagar district is forced to travel 150 km to and from work every day.
This is because he is a member of the Valmiki community, which is categorized as a Scheduled Caste (SC), and the panchayat of the village where he is assigned as a teacher has claimed that he will be unable to find a home locally because there is no Valmiki housing settlement.
Because of the blatant injustice, the state’s social justice and empowerment department wrote a letter to the education department last week, stating that “the scheduled caste teacher has been a victim of torture, discrimination, inequity, and casteism.” The social justice department has requested that he should be transferred as quickly as possible to the education department.
Kanhaiyalal Baraiya (50), a resident of Chhatriyala village in the Chuda taluka of Surendranagar district, was relocated to a school in Ninama village, 75 km apart. “When I went to report for duty, I started looking for a place to rent. I was asked which neighbourhood I belonged to. When I responded that I was from the Valmiki community, I was told that the village has no Valmiki settlement and that I would be unable to rent a house there!
On December 16, 2020, the Talati and sarpanch, the village’s administrative and elected leaders, gave this to Baraiya in writing on the village panchayat’s official letterhead. “I’ve filed official complaints with all relevant departments – social justice, education, and others – about this Finally, the social justice department last week wrote to the education department to transfer me. Baraiya stated.
Baraiya said that he had also informed Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel of his condition and asked a transfer. “The CM informed me that he will look into it,” Baraiya stated.
When contacted, Surendranagar district collector Amrutesh Aurangabadkar said that he is presently on leave and will investigate the matter.
According to Dalit activists, discrimination based on caste is widespread, and it is particularly regrettable that even teachers are not immune. “By January 26, 2022, I have addressed a letter to the Prime Minister, requesting that he declare any village in the country free of discrimination.” Such incidents occur frequently in Gujarat, according to Kantilal Parmar, a dalit rights campaigner.