Free 750 Indian families from debt and deprivation

Kothalpatti is a densely populated village near Andipatti. The Arunthathiyars there have been forced into living in a separate colony away from the Gounder caste people. Living conditions are cramped with 80 families sharing 40 houses. There are often five or six people sharing a two-room house. They need more room for housing, but the Panchayat (local government administration) says there is no spare land. They must wait for wasteland to open up for housing in another Panchayat. Unfortunately, few Panchayats are willing to help the Arunthathiyars, a community at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Our partners have helped the women in the colony form a self-help group. As India’s constitution reserves 18% of seats for Dalits like the Arunthathiyars, the group managed to get one of its members elected as Panchayat president. In theory she should have some control over distributing resources to help the Arunthathiyars, but in reality she is controlled by the Gounders as a kind of puppet. As we often see, the Indian state is providing resources, but at the local level those resources are unevenly spread along caste lines.

The biggest issue for this community is getting proper drainage for wastewater and public toilets. Without proper drainage, the wastewater accumulates and mixes with trash, becomes stagnant and carries diseases. Getting proper drainage is the next priority for the group, after finding a panchayat willing to give some land for housing. Self-help groups bring women together. United, they can petition officials for infrastructure improvements. Their greatest success so far in Kothalpatti has been to secure a water pipeline from the tank at the far end of the village to their homes. Now at least they have accessible water for washing, cooking and drinking.