Dalit activist S.P. Anand speaks at the SC/ST grievance redressal meeting held at the office of the Mangaluru Police Commissioner in Mangaluru on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: H.S. Manjunath
Questioning the Dakshina Kannada district administration for not holding an SC/ST grievance redressal meeting for nearly two years, Dalit activists said the district administration should hold the meeting once every three months.Speaking at a SC/ST grievance redressal meeting on Sunday, held jointly by the Mangaluru City police and Dakshina Kannada district police at the office of the Mangaluru Police Commissioner, activist Jagadish Pandeshwar said many of the grievances raised during meetings held by the police related to revenue matters. “We cannot have unnecessary discussions about revenue matters in this meeting,” he said.He said that while the Udupi district administration held meetings once every three months, the Dakshina Kannada district administration had not held grievance redressal meetings for nearly two years. Mr. Pandeshwar said he had met Revenue Minister G. Parameshwara and apprised him of the issue.Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) H.N. Mithun said he would convey the demand for a grievance redressal meeting by the district administration to Additional Deputy Commissioner K. Raju.When an activist spoke about a dispute related to land in Kunjathbail village, Mr. Mithun asked Dalit organisations to render legal assistance to Dalits in protecting their legal rights. The DCP appreciated the efforts of para legal volunteers from the District Legal Services Authority in participating in SC/ST grievance meetings at the Mulki police station and rendering legal assistance to affected parties.Dalit activist S.P. Anand said people were still facing issues in getting caste certificates as Adi Dravida. “Though the government has notified sub-castes under Adi Dravida, officials are still not issuing caste certificates,” Mr. Anand said.On the demand for deployment of home guards across the district, Additional Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar S. Bhoomraddi said that against the sanctioned strength of 800 home guards, only 640 were working, while the remaining 160 posts were vacant. He said only people keen on serving society for an honorarium could come forward to work as home guards. In the last 10 months, only 24 people had come forward to serve as home guards. A home guard is paid ₹800 per day by the police, while other departments pay ₹500 per day, Mr. Bhoomraddi said.A woman said the city police had so far not succeeded in tracing her husband, who had been missing with another woman for the past 26 days. The Bajpe police have registered the missing case of her husband, while Mangaluru Women’s Police have registered a case of the missing woman. A police inspector from Mangaluru South police station said a team had gone to a lodge in Kukke Subrahmanya a few days ago, but the two escaped from the lodge, he said. Published - July 26, 2026 07:45 pm IST
