Dictations, boycotts and the fight for rights

For more than two years, 45 toddy-tappers and 10 Dalit families in Nizamabad’s Tallarampur allegedly faced a total social boycott for defying the orders of the Village Development Committee (VDC). Denied access to food, medical care and social gatherings, they were pushed to the margins of everyday life. Growing influence of VDCs and nearly 90 complaints of alleged excesses before the Backward Classes Commission, as found by Ravi Reddy during a ground visit