Mandya: GP president will continue rearing pigs, weave baskets

MANDYA: She may have been elected the president of the Dadadapura gram panchayat in Malavalli taluk, Mandya district but Muttamma is not allowing her success in politics get to her head. Belonging to a community historically engaged in rearing of pigs, Muttamma, in addition to following the traditional profession, supplements her income by weaving baskets, and she intends to continue with both these jobs.
Reiterating her commitment to serve society, Muttamma told TOI, “I am no novice to politics and administration. I was elected to the GP in 2015 and I have been re-elected again this year. And I am very grateful to the people in my village that I have been made the GP president. My assuming this office is testimony to the idea of social justice that must be the cornerstone of governance.”
Muttamma said her new position would prove no hurdle to her continuing with her two jobs. Admitting to feeling bemused with queries about her abandoning her jobs now that she was the GP President, she said, “I do not think my holding the post will come in the way of my pursuing my two professions of rearing pigs and weaving of baskets. They are the markers of my identity, and that of my family.”
KPCC general secretary Dadadapura Shivanna, also a native of the village, said that it had always been his dream to have social justice vindicated electorally in the village. “This has come true with a woman hailing from a community engaged in pig rearing. I attempted to get Mutamma elected as the GP president unanimously but there was some opposition to the idea from those unwilling to digest such a prospect. I hope Mutamma’s victory helps lift the morale of people in the vulnerable sections of society and encourage them to claim their space in public life,” Shivanna said.