National Federation of Indian Women Urges Karnataka Government to Continue Survey of Former Devadasis

Bengaluru, March 4: The Karnataka unit of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) has appealed to the state’s Congress government to thoroughly and accurately continue the survey of former devadasis.

The devadasi system is an ancient practice culturally linked to certain parts of the country. It is widely regarded as an exploitative tradition, particularly affecting Dalit women, serving as a socio-cultural and economic curse that has subjected women and young girls from these communities to exploitation for generations.

Under the devadasi system, young girls and women were dedicated or symbolically “married” to temple deities, committing their lives to temple service. Over time, wealthy and powerful members of society have grossly misused this tradition, leading to sexual exploitation and forced prostitution of women from marginalized communities.

Although the devadasi system has been legally abolished, the practice and its associated forms of exploitation persist in some regions of the country.

On Wednesday, NFIW state president Jyoti A. stated in Bengaluru that reports indicate that Women and Child Development Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar submitted a report to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the second week of February. This report claimed that the re-survey identified 23,395 women, compared to 46,660 former devadasis recorded in the 2007-2008 survey.

Jyoti expressed skepticism, saying, “The minister has claimed that this re-survey was conducted under her supervision, yet there has not been a single meeting of the state-level monitoring and re-evaluation committee to address the complaints raised during the re-evaluation. I do not understand how we are expected to accept this. We cannot accept a survey that is so flawed concerning the most marginalized women in society.”

She added, “Those of us working with this community know that the re-survey is incomplete for several reasons. Names missed from the previous survey and new names have yet to be approved. Such genuine cases can be found in thousands across various districts.”

Jyoti further noted that supervision and re-evaluation meetings at the taluka and district levels are not occurring regularly. She stated, “Due to a lack of proper awareness programs regarding the re-survey, many former devadasi women are unaware of this process.”

Even those who are informed face challenges in providing the documents requested by department officials. Secretary K. Renuka alleged that despite multiple reports to Karnataka Women Development Corporation officials, no concrete action has been taken.

Renuka also mentioned that while the number of girls victimized by the devadasi system has decreased over recent decades, it cannot be conclusively stated that the practice has been entirely eradicated.

She emphasized, “Therefore, it is appropriate not to impose an age limit during the re-survey. We have repeatedly communicated this to the officials of the Karnataka Women Development Corporation during meetings.”

State committee member Shekamma alleged that during the re-evaluation, it was observed that some women who are not devadasis were included in the list, while genuine and eligible beneficiaries were excluded for various reasons.

Jyoti called for a comprehensive investigation into the matter and demanded justice for the victims. She stated, “We insist that the identification of beneficiaries under various rehabilitation schemes for former devadasis should not be based on the incomplete report submitted to the government by the Women and Child Development Minister.”

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