Mysuru: The caste divide at chief minister’s alma mater, the govt. school at Kuppegala, has worsened. A standoff over the appointment of a dalit cook at the school has taken an ugly turn, with parents not permitting their children to eat their midday meal at the school.
Kuppegala is 35km from Mysuru, and falls in Varuna assembly segment represented by the CM. The school, established in 1950, is 2 km from Siddaramanahundi, the CM’s village. The village has a population of over 4,000 — dalits form the majority community, followed by Vokkaligas. There are Lingayats and Kurubas too.
On Monday, some parents objected to lunch being served at the school, and the kids, caught in the crossfire, ate food packed from home. Dalit students, however, continued with their meal.
The fracas threatens to drive the caste wedge deeper in the school even as the CM champions the cause of social justice.
Last week, upper caste families had pulled their children out of the school. Attendance at the school, which slid to 60% last week after upper-caste parents desisted from sending their kids to class. However, it subsequently rose to 90%, and the school authorities heaved a sigh of relief.
The appointment of the cook on September 22 had led to simmering discontent. leading to a problem after the school reopened on October 24. Upper-caste students gradually started skipping classes, till the issue reached a flash point last week, when attendance dropped to 60%.
On Monday, as usual, at 12.30pm, school authorities asked students to sit in a row and started serving them. Trouble started when a couple of upper-caste parents rushed into the school and shouted at the authorities, accusing them of forcing their kids to have lunch cooked by a Dalit woman. When they ordered their kids to stop eating, a majority of other upper-caste children also abandoned their meal. They later ate homemade lunch.
However, the parents didn’t ask upper-caste students to sit separately while having lunch, and classes resumed after the incident.
Headmaster B. Chikkadev said that of 133 students, 85 students had meals in school. The school has 82 Dalit students of whom six were absent. Chikkadev reported the incident to the higher authorities.
The district administration directed officials to initiate action as per law.
Siddaramaiah is due to visit his constituency, Varuna, on Tuesday.
Some members of the School Development and Management Committee (SDMC) and education and social welfare officials were present, but could do little. SDMC member VD Manjunath said they were planning to approach Siddaramaiah on Tuesday. “Social discrimination must end,” he said.
Sources said it isn’t mandatory for kids to have food cooked in school. “But the issue here is different. The students are not having lunch after the appointment of a dalit cook,” they stated.
Contentious issue
The dalit woman’s appointment came after the district administration stepped in and asked the SDMC to follow norms specified by the government. It also received complaints that dalit families were denied entry into the village temple. According to DC Shikha, officials visited the village and held discussions with leaders of various communities, and resolved the issue.
“While lunch was being served, two people including SDMC member Siddegowda objected to it. This led to students abstaining from lunch. This cannot be allowed and we are initiating action against the duo. We are verifying whether we can book a case as per provisions under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.,” C Shikha, deputy commissioner said.
