Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

300 VINALINI MATHRANI AND VANI PERIODI
proceeded to break the tank. At this juncture, an SC schoolteacher filed a
police complaint alleging that the women were destroying a public facility.
In reality, he wanted to acquire the land for himself. A police constable
and some other officials arrived at the site, and requested the women to
stop breaking the tank till they verified the claims. They contacted the
panchayat members who clarified that the women’s claims were valid.
Kurukunda, Raichur District: The women contacted the sahyogini,
who advised them to go to the GP. In September 2000, the women put in
an application. At the same time, the MLA visited the village to canvass
votes for the forthcoming election. All 30 sangha women agreed to vote
for him on the condition that he help them construct their sangha mané.
He agreed, provided they identified and acquired the land themselves. The
women identified a plot on the grazing land of the village. They asked
the MLA and the Gowda to assist them in getting it sanctioned. Two women
from the Panchayati Raj Committee took the responsibility for getting
the title deeds. In December 2000, two sangha women went to the
panchayat meeting. A sangha woman was the panchayat adhayksh (head).
She ensured that the plot was sanctioned. In February 2001, the GP secretary
came to the village and marked out the sanctioned site.
Dotihalla, Koppal District: The process of land acquisition began in
June 1995. A sangha woman was a member of the Panchayati Raj Committee
in the mahila sangha. She contested for the gram panchayat elections
and won, because she had the required experience and the support of the
sangha women. The elections took place while the land acquisition process
was underway. Hence, the two processes fed into each other. The women
approached the GP for this purpose on numerous occasions. Their requests
were rejected on the grounds that there was no land available. The
women identified a plot in the SC colony, but the GP refused to consider
this application as it was a part of the gaothan land. The women asked
the GP secretary to issue a letter stating this. He refused. In the meantime, the
sangha woman who had been elected to the panchayat went to Bangalore
to attend a training programme. With the help of the Mahila Samakhya
state office team, she got in touch with the chief secretary on this matter.
He agreed to look into the case. Finally the GP issued the title deeds to
the same plot in June 1996.
Banikuppe, Mysore District: The sangha women contacted the village
Gowda in 1993. He in turn approached the men’s sangha (Adi Jambava