Since these
communities stay in large makeshift settlements, the question of possessing
permanent address proof, electricity bills; birth certificate or school leaving
certificate (most of the children are first generation school goers) does not
arise. Under such circumstances depriving them of a document that entitles to a
gamut of government benefits that work towards pulling them out of the cycle of
poverty and marginalization becomes felonious
When VSSM
began working with NT and DNTs majority of the population from these
communities had no legal documents. However, over the years acquisition of one
document has led to another. The first
break through came with Voter’s ID cards. The path breaking changes in the
guidelines and new resolutions by the Election Commission made the task of
procuring Voters ID card relatively easy.
VSSM has been advocating with the Food and
Civil Supply Department to make the process of getting Antyodya Ration Cards,
NT-DNT friendly (in tune with process of Election Commission for NT-DNTs).
Consequent to continuous lobbying, demanding that Voters ID Card be treated as
one of the ID proofs to issue the Antyoday Ration Cards, the Joint Secretary of
Food and Civil Supplies Department passed a resolution No. 132012/3097/K stating that if
the applicant has Voters ID cards along with Caste Certificate, Antyoday Ration
Card be issued to the family. In this case inclusion of Caste Certificate
was not necessary, firstly, because Ration Cards enable economically
marginalized families to procure ration at minimal cost hence economically
marginalized families are equally eligible to receive a Ration Card secondly,
getting a caste certificate is as challenging as getting a Ration Card and most
families from NT and DNTs do not have caste certificate. Inclusion of ‘Caste Certificate’ has rendered
the entire notification impractical.
VSSM
strongly criticized the requirement of ‘caste certificate’ for processing the
application of Ration Card, demanding a pull back of the earlier resolution.
The authorities recognized the validity in our arguments. One of the major
argument being when the families fail to present basic documents to get a
Ration Card where are they going to have documents to acquire a Caste
Certificate that required ‘school leaving certificate of patriarch of the
family’. While the irony being the
current generation of these communities are first generation school goers!!!
