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Lower-Caste Politician A Lofty Symbol in India
"Slowly things are changing," says Mayawati, a Dalit, or untouchable.
(Photo By Emily Wax/twp - The Washington Post)
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She wants to get them examined, but the local government health clinic is an empty, crumbling structure. In the nearest town's district hospital, only two full-time doctors serve nearly 300,000 people. Stray dogs wander in and out. There are no surgeons or eye doctors.
The clinics are basically drug dispensaries. Serious health issues are treated at hospitals in New Delhi, an overnight train ride from Lucknow. In effect, the clinics are like the government schools, more symbolic than functional.
"We are like pilots without planes," said Vijay Parkash, one of the two doctors at the health clinic. He said he hoped that Mayawati's recent promise of a 30-bed hospital would be more than election-year prattle.
With the aim to increase her national profile, Mayawati has embarked on several high-profile development projects, including the construction of a $9 billion highway connecting her home state to New Delhi. She wants to provide round-the-clock electricity to the state.
Critics say Mayawati's goals are too lofty for a state more in need of basic projects, even if those projects don't have the high-profile panache befitting a political leader who might soon be the country's prime minister.
"I like her for her anti-caste ideology. I like her as a woman who has become an icon for untouchables," said Kancha Ilaiah, an author who has tried to raise awareness about the injustices of caste. "But that shouldn't erase the painful lack of clean drinking water, education and health care."
For Shakuntala and many other Dalits, the symbol of Mayawati is enough, for now at least. The symbol itself gives hope to a people broken by generations of discrimination. It's a symbol that keeps Shakuntala in school, even if she wishes her school taught English and the teachers showed up more often.
"I am happy just to go," she said, shrugging.
