Our Work in Aau village

Our intervention in Aau village has taken place in this general background; and it is this background that provides context to all our activities. Broadly speaking, we have positioned ourselves to strengthen and articulate the forces already at work to weaken the stranglehold of feudalism and help democratise rural India.

In the initial stages we worked directly with landless labourers and led them towards the election of a landless Dalit Pradhan named Lalloo. He did splendid work for all castes in a very hostile environment. But his emergence created many powerful opponents for us – not only in Aau village but also in Banda district as a whole. The work at Aau has therefore been marked by many protracted struggles. These struggles culminated in the eventual political defeat of the landlords, the re-distribution of 191 bighas of surplus agricultural land to Dalit labourers, and the ending of absolute landlessness in Aau. So peace now reigns.

While the acquisition of tiny plots of land enables Dalits to resist landlord oppression, it is clearly not enough for moving up the social ladder. For that to happen, the Dalits must acquire education and related skills. We have therefore made education our main activity today.