more-in C.B. Vedamurthy, Superintendent of Police, Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement, said on Tuesday that the construction of a parallel temple, with the name of Danagunda Ammamalasavari, had been stopped at Kotathattu village in Udupi district. The Karnataka Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (DSS) had objected to the construction of a temple by a group of “upper castes” (“savarniya”)with the name of the deity, Danagunda Ammamalasavari as a “daiva sthana” named ‘Danagunda Ammamalasavari and Parivara Daiva Sthana’ was already existing. The DSS had also alleged that the temple was being constructed by the group of “upper castes” because the daiva sthana had Dalit “archaks.” Speaking to presspersons after a review meeting, Mr. Vedamurthy said that according to the information gathered from officers, there were two groups at Kotathattu village. There were members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on both the sides. The temple under construction was at a foundation level. The construction of the temple had been stopped and the gram panchayat had not given permission for it. The enquiry in this matter was on, he said. He had directed the officers to install boards outside the gram panchayat offices so that people belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes knew about the government facilities available for them. He said that there were some complaints of false Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes certificates being given to persons who did not belong to these communities. The officers had been told to do proper study on the ground before issuing caste certificates. If false caste certificates were given, then cases would be booked both against the tahsildar concerned and the person to whom it was given.

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