Following complaints of alleged caste-based discrimination in ongoing relief work for people affected by landslides in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath town, its officials, including the chairman of the Uttarakhand State Scheduled Castes Commission, will visit Joshimath this week.
According to the Times of India, commission chairman Mukesh Kumar said on Monday, “Some residents of Gandhi Colony, where most of the residents belong to the Scheduled Castes, have complained of being neglected during the relief work because of their caste.”
Administration officials have been asked to verify these claims. Commission officials including me will review the ground situation this week and will take action if the allegations are found true.
Kumar said that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had asked him to visit Joshimath to review the relief work.
Joshimath’s SDM Kumkum Joshi said on the matter, “The administration has not yet received any such complaint on caste discrimination.”
He said, ‘At present, in the ongoing relief activities, we are focusing on those areas where mainly daily wage laborers and poor families live. We will verify the allegations and ensure that there is no discrimination, if any, happening here.’
The latest development comes days after the commission asked all 13 district administrations to inform them about temples that bar Dalits from entering on caste lines.
According to the 2011 census, 95.9% of Joshimath city’s 16,709 people are Hindu, with 14% belonging to the Scheduled Caste community.
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