Now a Very Legal Eviction Notice to the Dhobis

Hamara Manch Update: 7th Jan 2025

In the latest development the Institute has not only given a legally worded eviction notice, but also one that invokes a specific law, to the 17 dhobi families with whom the Institute has been formally communicating (in total there are more than 30 families working at the dhobighat). In this notice dated January 03, 2025, the Institute invokes Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971, and states that the dhobis are in ‘unauthorised occupation of the public premises’ and hence ‘should be evicted’. It further states that no house/ store was allotted to them. It also adds that they were not only staying unauthorisedly but using it for commercial activity. Apparently since it is required in this law to listen to the evictees (in this case the dhobis) before they are evicted, it has asked them to present their cases in person (or through their representative) on 20th January. The legal notice is available here and the earlier HM updates can be found here. In this regard Hamara Manch would like to make the following brief observations for the community:

1.     If it was not a question of livelihoods of more than 30 families (and life of close to 100 persons), then it has been an interesting drama that the authorities have unfolded so far in three acts:

a.     First, a notice that these structures at dhobi ghat and Type I residences allocated to a few of them are unliveable and a danger to the residents and hence need to be vacated. There is no mention of the fact that the structures have become unliveable because authorities have systematically refused to do any maintenance or repair there for a long period.

b.     Then calling the dhobis for a meeting with the authorities and threatening them in police presence to ‘cooperate’ by leaving, else they would face the consequences.

c.     And now this notice that their very existence and services on this campus for the past several decades have been ‘illegal’.

2.     Please note that it does not define how and when the dhobis living and working here became ‘illegal’. Please also note that generations of dhobis have multiple official allotments dating back to the 1960s and continuing to at least 2002 regularising the accommodations for various dhobi families in Type IA houses, godowns, and even allocating the haudas (tanks) at dhobighat. Till the Institute cared to take rent and electricity charges from them, they have been paying the same regularly to the estate office in whose name this notice has been issued. It has only been since Covid, when they had no occupation as the Institute and hostels were locked down, that there has been a break in their payments, that too because the Institute offered them that concession. Though even during Covid they kept doing the work for health centre and all the quarantine centres in the campus, and then the students as the hostels gradually reopened. They provided essential services during the pandemic without any protection and health benefits provided by the Institute. Post Covid after their regular services resumed, they have pleaded on more than one occasion to the Institute to begin deducting their rent and charges, but the authorities have refused to entertain such requests as they have been planning this eviction for a while now. Hamara Manch is in possession of a large number of documents belonging to various dhobi families that testify to all of the above.

This once again brings out the actual intentions of the Institute authorities that they are determined to evict the Dhobis by any means. And with community asking questions, they keep changing their narrative. In this regard we have four further observations to make:

1.     It is very remarkable that in spite of so much threat and intimidation, the dhobis have continued to stand by their demand for continuation of their livelihood with dignity and peacefully seeking community support, while continuously serving the community even under such odds.

2.     The Institute, instead of getting into a genuine dialogue with the dhobis, has been further threatening them and appears bent upon evicting them without any concern for their livelihood in future.

3.     So far dhobis have no clarity as to how they can continue working for the Institute community once they leave these premises. Please recall that they serve several thousands of us even on date and are collecting and delivering clothes on a regular basis door-to-door, wing to wing and house to house. Recall from our earlier updates that their work is almost round the clock, and they need to not only wash, dry and iron such large number of clothes in even severe weather conditions, but also keep our clothes secure during this whole process.

4.     Not only have the authorities refused to get into any dialogue with the dhobis in spite of so much support across sections for them – students, alumni, and the rest of the residents, but we are concerned that the Institute has even begun intimidating individuals among the support groups of dhobis as well.

Many of us have cherished and upheld the legacy of the Institute built over the decades.  This is not what the IITK that we identify with is supposed to stand for. We once again appeal to all concerned to stand with dhobis and seek formal and dignified resolution of dhobis’ problems so that they can continue their work uninterruptedly.