An Assigned Utopia: Samathuvapuram

In a caste-ridden country, how do you propose to bring people from different communities to live together?  How do you materialise the concept of equality corporeally in a place that is rooted in the principles of segregation and social hierarchy? Inspired by E.V. Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar, Samathuvapuram or equity village project might be the answer to these questions.

A view of Samathuvapuram in the Madurai district; Image Source: The Hindu

We have often heard the expression “Tail should not wag the dog.” Bringing it within the context of caste, one can say: the surname of an individual should not decide his status of respect in society. Such was the teaching of E.V. Ramasamy or as he was fondly called: Periyar. Periyar, throughout his life, fought for social justice, equality, and women’s rights. He was stringently against cast discrimination and often encouraged inter-caste and religious marriage. To accommodate the marginal population within the centre he encouraged low-class people to conjure an agency of their own via his Vaikom Satyagraha and Self-Respect Movement.

Periyar’s influence in Tamil Nadu has been momentous. The Father of the Dravidian Movement lit up a fire that has not been extinguished even today. The fire of striving for social equity. Following his footsteps, M. Karunanidhi launched the Periyar Ninaivu Samathuvapuram Project in 1998. The project, focusing on eradicating casteism, was about creating equity villages where people from all walks of life will be provided free housing and other amenities. Each equity village has 100 houses, that house people from different castes who share a primary school, a library, a commercial complex, a community hall, and a burial ground.

In India, Dalits and other backward classes are still considered untouchables in many regions and they fall lowest in the social hierarchy. Symbolic of their margin and lower status, their dwellings also fall on the margins of the main city or near the downstream of the main village. Annihilating this segregation is the prime goal of these equity villages. Each village has designated 40 houses for Dalits, 50 houses for backward and extremely backward castes, and 10 houses for other communities.

Samathuvapurams or Equity villages remain an idealistic place with different communities coming to live together. Before the allotment of the houses, every potential resident is made to submit an undertaking pledging they will not practice religion or install religious symbols outside their house. They are also directed to not rent or sell their house. Each village has its own post office, town bus stopover, telephone booth, and dairy farm. Truly checking all the boxes of an egalitarian society.

To date, there are about 235 equity villages in the state of Tamil Nadu. However, the materialisation of the imagined utopia can, perhaps, remains to be questioned. A scheme of an equal society that can not only transform the state of Tamil Nadu but the whole nation can not function without people’s conscience and resolution to bridge societal gaps. According to various District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) reports, it has come to light that many people mortgaged or rented their houses illegally and have gone back to their villages to live with their community.

In many places, this whole project of rehabilitating Dalits and backward classes has given rise to scams and schemes of moneymaking by non-Dalits. In 2022, the CM of the state, M K Stalin, launched another project of an equity village in Shivganga, TN with a reaffirmation to restore faith in the Samathuvapurams by providing state aid to improve ramshackle houses and other rundown amenities as well as acting against actors that still participate in segregation inside the village. To make the project successful government authorities and local leaders should make these Samathuvapurams a priority again!