The State Government will implement a special package for primitive tribes in the state. Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Tribes P K Jayalakshmi said that the package, at a cost of Rs 148 crore, would be implemented for the Kurumbar tribes of Attappady, Koragar tribes of Kasaragod, Cholanaikar of Malappuram, Kattunaikkar of Wayanad, Malappuram and Kozhikode districts and Kadar tribes of Thrissur and Palakkad districts.
She told a press meet, convened on the occasion of the second anniversary of the government, that steps had been taken to implement housing, electrification, soil conservation, drinking water, road, poverty alleviation projects and empowerment of tribal clusters, besides starting six tribal medical units, during the remaining tenure of the government.
The minister said that laptops were distributed to 251 second-year MBBS and BTech students. Sickle cell anaemia patients among the tribal communities of Kozhikode, Malappuram, Wayanad and Attappady were allotted Rs 1,000 per month for medical assistance. Jayalakshmi said that 7,768 acres of land were distributed, under the Forest Rights Act of 2006, among 7,223 tribal families.