Caste harassment leaves anganwadi jobs out of reach for Gujarat Dalit women

Caste-based discrimination has come to the fore in Gujarat once again after a Dalit woman complained that she faced harassment — and her husband, threats — from men belonging to the higher-placed Darbar community after she continued to work at an anganwadi centre.

What is worse is that such an allegation has surfaced at a time when the government of Gujarat has unveiled plans to recruit around 9,000 anganwadi workers and helpers across the state.

Sarojben Parmar, a 38-year-old Dalit woman from Saroda village in Dholka Taluka of Ahmedabad district, who works as an anganwadi worker, gave a memorandum on August 18 to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel detailing her ordeal, along with around 30 other Dalit women.

It was just a week earlier that the government’s anganwadi recruitment plan was announced.

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OBC, upper caste protests

Sarojben said she joined her village’s anganwadi centre as the first Dalit woman and continued to work despite resistance from women from Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and upper castes who resented her social identity. And it eventually resulted in harassment and threats.

“Initially, a Dalit woman’s presence in the anganwadi centre was met with protest by women belonging to OBC and upper castes. Women stopped sending their children to the centre. But I continued to work as I needed money. That’s when some Darbar men threatened my husband,” Sarojben, who joined the work as a helper in 2020, told The Federal.

The protesting woman, who is a member of the Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, a Gujarat-based Dalit rights organisation under whose aegis the memorandum was submitted, also said many Dalit women who work at anganwadi centres at their respective villages sought protection at work from the upper-caste and OBC villagers.

“Dalit women have been facing caste discrimination at anganwadi centres. Many Dalit women are hesitant to take up the job despite facing financial crisis,” Sarojben said.

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She also had monetary woes to deal with. Compelled to step out of the house to earn a living after her husband met with an accident in 2019, Sarojben first joined a school in Dholka town as a cleaner. After working there for about a year, she joined the anganwadi centre in Saroda, a village dominated by people of the Darbar (Kshatriya sub-caste) community.

It was here that she faced problems.

'Cops did nothing'

“My husband used to skin dead animals. But he quit after he met with a motorcycle accident, leaving him bedridden for about six months. I had to work to feed the family and ensure my husband’s treatment. I took up a job as a cleaner in a local school in Dholka town, but travelling every day was getting difficult.

“In 2020, I quit my job at school and was recruited as an anganwadi worker, but it has not been an easy journey. When threats did not work, Darbar men would harass me. They would stand in a group outside my house and would make lewd comments at me every day. I even tried filing a police complaint, but local police told me to call when they (Darbar men) were passing remarks at me. However, they never came despite repeated calls. After a while, I stopped trying to call the police,” Sarojben added.

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She isn’t the only Dalit woman who has faced discrimination while working at an anganwadi centre in Gujarat.

'Wasn't paid for months'

“It is not unusual for Dalit women to be at the receiving end of caste-based face discrimination and sexual violence at the hands of upper caste and OBC men. When I got recruited as a helper in an anganwadi in May 2021, men from the Rabari (OBC) community stopped me from entering the building," Usha Vaghela, a resident of Dhulera village in Himmatnagar taluka in Sabarkantha district, told The Federal.

"Despite getting the job, I was unable to join for seven months. It was only after the intervention of some activists, the local police filed a complaint. I started working as a helper in September 2021. All these months I wasn’t paid,” she added.

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As Sarojben said, many Dalit women are hesitant to take up an anganwadi job despite facing financial woes. Savritiben Parmar, 22, a resident of Devaliya village in Thangad, Surendranagar district, is one of them.

She has been working as a daily-wage labourer for three years. Her work fetches her around 200-250 rupees a day, which isn’t enough to support her family of seven.

Living in fear

“In Thangad, Dalits live in fear after the incident of September 22, 2012 (three Dalit youths were killed in police firing). Dalit women are scared of coming out of their homes lest they face sexual assault by men belonging to the upper caste. Even for using the toilet, women go in groups at night with men escorting them,” Savritriben told The Federal.

Her village Devaliya is dominated by the Darbars and where the Dalits are still not allowed to have toilets at their respective homes and are forced to use one community toilet on the outskirts of the village.

“If I get a job in anganwadi, I would be able to earn around Rs 10,000 a month. My husband is also a daily wage earner and does odd jobs throughout the year. The income isn’t enough for our family. I have four children and parents-in-law who depend on our income. Sarojben encourages me to apply for the job of a helper in anganwadi. I want to take up a better job and help my family, but I also don’t want to earn the ire of upper-caste villagers,” she added.

Financial crisis

“Most Dalit families face financial crisis throughout their lives. The Dalit women are forced to work to feed their families. Especially after 2016, more Dalit women are coming up to take up local government jobs. After the Una flogging incident in 2016, many Dalit men quit their traditional job of skinning dead animals. While men have often found it difficult to find an alternate job, many Dalit women have become primary breadwinners of their family,” Martin Macwan, the founder of Navsarjan Trust, the oldest Dalit rights organisation in Gujarat, told The Federal.

Each anganwadi centre technically has three positions – a worker, a cook and a helper (sahayika). However, the majority of angwanwadi centres across Gujarat have two staff members – a worker and a helper, who also serves as a cook. While a worker earns Rs 11,500 a month, a helper gets Rs 4,839.

'Parents reluctant'

“It is more difficult to work as a helper-cum-cook at an anganwadi centre in Gujarat. No parents want their child to eat food cooked by a Dalit woman,” Laxmiben Parmar, a resident of Halvad village in Surendranagar district, said.

In 2023, Laxmiben applied to work as an anganwadi worker. Within a week, the village sarpanch called her husband to issue a warning.

She said, “The anganwadi centre in our village has been functioning with just one worker for years. A woman from the Koli Patel (OBC) has been handling the centre alone. We were in a financial crisis when my husband lost his job as a construction worker in 2021. He began doing odd jobs as a daily wage earner, but the money was not enough. That’s when I decided to join the anganwadi centre.

“I went to my neighbour’s house, who has a computer, to fill out the form. The next day, my husband was called by the sarpanch. They threatened to throw us out of the village if I joined the anganwadi. I did not want trouble for my family, so I did not pay for my form.”

Stressing that safety is more important than money, Laxmiben said she would never try to work in an anganwadi in her village again.