Before Yogi Adityanath’s visit, Dalit villagers got shampoo, soap to ‘clean themselves’ // GST’s Cultural Statement: Sindoor Is Pure, Blood Is Dirty
NB: No amount of soap can cleanse the minds of patriarchs and racists - DS
A DAY before Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath’s visit on Thursday, the 100-odd Musahar Dalit
families of Mainpur Deenapatti village in Kushinagar district received two bars
of soap, ‘Lifebuoy’ and ‘Ghari’, a sachet of shampoo, and instructions to
“clean themselves” before attending the public meeting. “I got the soaps from
the Anganwadi women. I didn’t get the shampoo, but others did. I was told to
take a bath with the soap before going for the meeting. We already use soap
which we buy from the local shop. What’s going to change with just two bars of
soap,” said Keshri, a villager in her sixties.
The village, mainly
consisting of thatched huts, saw a lot of activity in the week leading to
Adityanath’s visit. Villagers pointed out the new pavement made of cement and
bricks, about a dozen freshly-dug pits for construction of toilets, repaired
hand-pumps and posters of Swachh Bharat Mission. “About two years ago,
the area was in the grip of cholera. The handpumps were installed then, after a
visit by the district magistrate. Many people don’t bathe for two or three
days. We are trying to change that, but not much can be done when we live in
such poverty. We are all labourers, we don’t have enough land to construct a
house. Many children still don’t get adequate nutrition. Yogi Baba ke aane se
fark padega (Yogi’s visit will make a difference),” said Dharmendra Prasad, a
school dropout who works as a farm labourer.
Prasad said they had
informed officials that most of the handpumps pump out water which is yellow
and stinks. “Earlier, many children used to get Japanese Encephalitis. Many got
tuberculosis. The situation has become slightly better in the last few years.
Officials have assured us that they will do something. This is the first time
that there is focus on our locality. We have also been given new ration cards
to help us get wheat and rice,” he said.
Most of the huts are
not more than 15X8 feet. Each family has about four to six children. “My
husband works as a labourer in Chennai. I have to feed four children. I
sometimes work as a labourer. If we earn Rs 50-60 in a day, we need to buy
wheat and rice with that money,” said Durgawati. Her youngest child is six
months old, while the oldest is an 11-year-old girl.
Dinesh, another
villager, and his wife, Keshri Devi, have five children. “The hut leaks when it
rains, and we have to seek shelter in the corners of the hut all night. We
don’t have any money to buy a tarpaulin,” said Devi, adding, “the two bars of
soap are not going to last forever.” Dinesh said he and his
children often suffer from diarrhoea. “It gets better when we take tablets, but
then starts again,” he said. Meanwhile, Anganwadi worker Asha Kushwaha said she
did not have any information on who distributed the bars of soap and shampoo.
Pointing out that poverty is the primary concern, she said, “They earn so
little. Their main worry is food.”
District Magistrate
Andra Vamsi said the administration did not issue any orders in this regard.
“But it was a programme organised to promote cleanliness. It included making
villages open-defecation free and maintaining hygiene. All Anganwadi workers
and ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) were given instructions to promote
cleanliness, which is crucial to stop diseases like kala azar. So, whoever
distributed the soaps has to be appreciated,” he said. Village pradhan
Bhagwat Yadav said he was not aware about the distribution of the bars of soap
and shampoo. However, he said that in the past too, the Musahars, all landless
labourers, have been given instructions about maintaining hygiene.
Under the new GST regime to be effective
from 1 July 2017, sindoor, bangles and bindis have been exempted
from tax. However, sanitary pads are still considered to be
"luxury" goods and will be taxed at the rate of 12% (lower than the
earlier 14.5%). The campaigns run and petitions signed to exempt sanitary
napkins from taxes did little to stir the patriarchal mindset of the ruling
regime. What does this imply about
the attitudes of the Hindu majority in India? Firstly, the sindoor-choodi-bindi
trio is a traditional Hindu metaphor for a married woman. Indeed, assertion of
marital status is hardly so explicit in female followers of other religions.
Unmarried women are not required to adorn themselves with these accoutrements
and widows are prohibited from wearing them
Now on to sanitary
pads—according to a study by AC Nielsen in 2011, sanitary pads are used by merely
12% of the 355 million women who menstruate in India. Nearly three quarters
of women admitted that their families could not afford sanitary pads. Yet the
ruling regime has evidently put the needs of Hindu married women before those
of every female in the country who has attained puberty and menstruates.
Healthcare and education have always been the last priority for India,
exemplified by its meagre allocation of GDP towards these sectors. We are
obviously a lot more proactive about safeguarding cultural practices… read
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