Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Aug 6: A protest was held under the aegis of Kundapur Taluk Anganwadi Workers and Assistants Association on Wednesday August 5, seeking to evict a family living in a house that belongs to women and child department. The family has been living there since the last five years, and it has been resisting efforts to drive them out of the house.

The protesters, who got wild at the stubborn attitude of the family, barged inside the house, even as the Child Development Project Officer looked on helplessly. They then threw out household items from the house. The incident occurred near the gram panchayat office of Tallur near here.

Arunakumari, wife of Kumar Kharvi, had been posted to Tallur in 2010 as health assistant. As she wanted accommodation, Tallur gram panchayat rented out a vacant house which stood in the land allotted to women and child welfare department to her. Thereafter, Arunakumari was transferred to Kundapur, but she and her family continued to stay in the said house. After some locals objected about this situation, the gram panchayat had asked the occupants to vacate the house, but Arunakumari succeeded in procuring stay order from the court against the gram panchayat, arguing that the gram panchayat does not have the right to ask her to leave a house that is not in its possession. This spoiled the relationship between the family and gram panchayat administration.

On Tuesday, staff manning the Anganwadi centre which operates near the said house, complained to the panchayat office and their association, alleging that husband of Arunakumari had been behaving indecently opposite the Anganwadi centre, and also throwing garbage from his house into the compound of Anganwadi. In this connection, a protest had been planned at Tallur on Wednesday. Workers of various Anganwadi centres, parents of the children attending Anganwadi and others prepared for the protest under the guidance of Tallur gram panchayat, demanding the family to vacate the house. Women and child welfare department officer was also present.

At around 12 noon, the protesting women suddenly broke open the door lock of the rented house when no one was inside, and expressed their anger by throwing things out. The police, who were supervising law and order situation, immediately kept these things back in and locked the door again.

President of Kundapur Taluk Anganwadi Workers Association, Philomena, president of Tallur gram panchayat, Anand Billava, member of gram panchayat, Udayakumar Talulur, and over 50 women took part in the protest.