Eviction of women’s kiosks sparks protest at Jangaon Collectorate
Political parties and civil society groups staged a protest in Jangaon against the removal of kiosks run by Dalit women under the Indira Mahila Shakti scheme. The stalls, including Vanitha Tea Stall and Vijaya Dairy Parlour, were dismantled overnight by municipal authorities on Collector Sandeep Kumar Jha’s orders.
Jangaon: Political parties and people’s organisations staged a protest against the removal of Vanitha Tea Stall and Vijaya Dairy Parlour kiosks at the district collectorate here on Wednesday.
Municipal Commissioner Maheshwar Reddy acting on the directives of the district Collector Sandeep Kumar Jha, engaged workers to remove the stalls during early hours on Wednesday and dumped them near a wall at the police quarters, they said.
CPM leaders Jogu Prakash, Moku Kanaka Reddy, MSP leader Gaddala Kishore, MRPS leader Guvvala Ravi, BRS councillor Panuganti Suvarta, High Court advocate Mohammed Sadiq Ali and JAC leader Mangalampalli Raju along with the affected families took part in the dharna.
They recalled that the kiosks were established at a corner of the collectorate compound wall by the previous district Collector Rizwan Basha Shaik under the Indira Mahila Shakti scheme on March 6, 2025.
An attempt to remove the stalls was made on March 11 following orders from the Collector Jha targeting the dalit women, Palamakula Chinna Manjula and Putkanuri Vijayalakshmi, who were the beneficiaries of the scheme, out of apparent vindictiveness, they noted.
The women approached the High Court, which directed the authorities to identify and provide alternative sites to them by May 1 to run their businesses. Instead of doing so the district administration issued an eviction notice on Tuesday.
Without granting a single day’s grace period, the stalls were removed overnight even though the Court had not ordered forcible removal of the stalls. A contempt of court case should be registered against the Municipal Commissioner for this act and he should be suspended, they demanded.
Though the Congress party boasts that feudal rule has ended and ‘people’s rule’ has begun the Jangaon collectorate has become a ‘Gadi’ (a feudal lord fortress) a symbol of the very feudalistic rule they claim to have abolished.
When visiting the Collectorate one has to undergo security checks as rigorous as those required to enter the Raj Bhavan. The Collector should give up his alleged dictatorial methods; they said warning that failure to do so would compel the public to launch intense protests across Jangaon.
