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Tamil Nadu sets up village panels to end caste clashes

The Tamil Nadu government today decided to set up peace committees at the village level, in a bid to check recurrence of caste clashes in the state, and allocated Rs 10 million for taking up a vigorous campaign to abolish the menace of untouchability.

Announcing the decisions taken on the basis of the recommendations of the all-party meeting held in Madras yesterday, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, in an official release, said the campaign against untouchability would be carried out through the state information and public relations department.

As suggested by leaders of political parties in the meeting, the village-level peace committees would be headed by the panchayat president and comprise not more than seven important dignitaries of the village as members.

These committees would be vested with powers to prevent untouchability in their respective villages and in the event of their inability to prevent the same, they could report the matter to the police. They could also directly report the matter to the district collector or to the government if the police failed to act as desired.

UNI

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