A name to remember

Surrounded by lush greenery, this tiny hamlet located about six km from Kundapur in Udupi district, saw changes in landscape, amenities, and later, its name. ‘Priyanka Nagar’, in Kandavara gram panchayat is one of the model villages or ‘adarsh gram’ in Karnataka. It was noted for its effective socio-economic rehabilitation of survivors related to cases filed under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Rules, 2016.

Six years ago, Priyanka Nagar was a barren government land in the possession of local landlords. Landless families, mainly from the Adi Dravida scheduled caste community, relocated to the area and filed applications seeking land to build houses. But local authorities demolished their homes and evicted the families in January 2018. 

The families, who were thrown out to the streets, filed a case, expecting a familiar outcome of justice eluding the marginalised community. “But we came into contact with Kundapur-based advocate B S Kalavarkar, who was earlier practising in the Supreme Court,” says an elderly resident, Eshwar.

The advocate met then Udupi Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis and apprised her of the demolition drive. After consulting with experts, Priyanka effectively utilised Rule 4(5) of the SC/ST Rules to appoint Kalavarkar, an eminent advocate as the public prosecutor.

Priyanka Mary Francis

“DC Priyanka visited our colony and gave orders for the revenue officials to earmark 4.6 acres of land for the rehabilitation of 28 families, including 21 families from the SC community,” explains Dinesh, a resident of the village. 

As prescribed in the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, a contingency plan for implementing basic facilities was submitted to the government, he adds. Kalavarkar tells DH that he lost count of the times he had to travel to Bengaluru to get the model contingency plan notified in the official gazette. Yet, they all soldiered on.

Landmark judgement

During this time, the Act was amended to include additional measures for relief and rehabilitation. “We filed a case and argued before the judge that the families should be rehabilitated under the Act to make the village the first ‘samarasya’ (harmonious) grama,” Kalavarkar says.

The high court upheld the arguments of Kalavarkar and, in its landmark judgement, declared: “It is the paramount duty of district administration to, not only provide rehabilitation but also provide basic amenities like drinking water, sanitation, electricity among others.” Following the court’s order, the panchayat provided electricity, water and toilet facilities, says a smiling Eshwar.

The title deeds to the land are now ready, says Kundapur Sub Division Assistant Commissioner Rashmi S R.

Kalavarkar says the Priyanka Nagar victory has shown that relief and rehabilitation for SC/ST communities is mandated, and can be effected judicially. 

“When we began knocking on doors seeking justice, none came to our rescue. It was DC Priyanka who personally visited our locality, issued orders to reserve land and formulated the first-ever model contingency plan under the Act,” says Eshwar. This is why residents decided to name the colony Priyanka Nagar. 

When contacted, Priyanka says she only initiated some simple steps. She credits her successors with taking the issue up and ensuring progress.

This is not the first time a village in Karnataka has been named in honour of a proactive official. IAS officer Gauri Trivedi, while serving as DC of Ballari district, had helped rehabilitate over 500 people, many of them women from the SC/ST communities.

The families wanted to name the locality Gauri Nagar to express their gratitude. “Following my opposition, they named it DC Nagar,” says Gauri.

Other examples include a village in Holalkere in Chitradurga district named after the 2012 batch IAS officer Vinoth Priya, and a village in Raichur district named after officer K Ratna Prabha.