Workers Day Event
On May 1, IRDS organized a Workers Day event at Mattapparai Village — the place where 41 of our Dalit women successfully reclaimed 9 acres of Panchami lands. Workers from surrounding villages also came together for this event.
Before the event began, Gramsabha meetings — official assemblies of all adult registered voters — were held across several villages. In these meetings, participants unanimously passed resolutions demanding adequate funding for MNREGA work and an increase in the number of working days.
Following these Gramsabha sessions, the Workers Day event commenced. During the program, the Dalit women shared their inspiring collective efforts in reclaiming the Panchami lands and expressed gratitude to all who supported them on this journey.
Many participants emphasized the urgent need to strengthen and expand unity among all sections of the working people, highlighting that only through solidarity can basic rights be won. The presence of workers from all castes in the village added great value to the gathering.
As the Workers Day event drew to a close, we received the encouraging news that the Central Government had allocated 30,000 million rupees for MNREGA work in Tamil Nadu. This announcement was joyfully celebrated by all. The people of Mattapparai marked the occasion by sharing milk curd with all participants, a gesture that renewed and energized the spirit of everyone present.
Participation in the Annual Land Tribunals
In May, for two weeks, our team, together with members of the Village Action Committee, actively supported the IRDS women members in attending the Annual Land Tribunals. They engaged in negotiations with the Tribunal Heads across all our working Taluks, advocating for the reclamation of lost Panchami lands.
This year, during these negotiations, the concerned officials forwarded the women’s petitions to the district authorities and called for immediate action to restore the Panchami lands to our Dalit women.
Joe Ashwin, who completed his internship with IRDS, also participated in several of these tribunal sessions. He showed great enthusiasm and dedication during his two weeks in the region, learning valuable lessons from the experiences of the women.
South India Consultation of India Land Development Conference
On the 30th and 31st of May, some members of IRDS participated in the South India Consultation of the India Land Development Conference held in Bangalore. Among the participants were three representatives from the coastal district of Nagapattinam, including Kumaravelu representing the fisher folk, and three from the Nilgiris district representing indigenous communities — two of whom were young people who had previously attended the Moving School (MS) India. Mr. Nicholas Chinappan, also had the opportunity to be one of the speakers during the consultation.
IRDS was pleased to see the MS participants actively engaging in the discussions — a reflection of the positive impact of the Moving School program.
Currently, the Natural Resource Based Communities Network in India has invited IRDS to host a consultation on the organic links between nature and humans. This event will take place at IRDS center from the 22nd to 24th of June, with 32 participants from across India expected to attend. IRDS are in the midst of preparing for this session. The Network will cover all related expenses.
