Encouraged by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s pro-tribal image and the recent announcement in the Governor’s address that the Forest Rights Act will be strictly implemented, a group of adivasi leaders from across the state has drawn up a wish list to give him, ahead of the state budget.
The adivasi population in Karnataka, spread over 32 taluks of nine districts, is asking for a `3,000 crore package of socio-economic and developmental programmes in 1,300 haadis, apart from the 200 haadis in the coffee estates of Kodagu and Chikmagalur. The also want the Congress to commit itself to political representation for the smaller tribes.
‘’The ST reservation has been misused by dominant communities belonging to non-forest tribes and this has to be corrected. Also, we want an Adivasis Development Corporation set up, while the Forest Rights Act should be properly executed,’’ Sreekanth, convenor of DEED, a pro-tribal organization, told Express.
They feel Siddaramaiah might be inclined to support their cause, as he had listened to their demand and ensured that an adivasi woman, Jaji, became the vice-president of the Mysore Zilla Panchayat in 2004.
Sreekanth said: ‘’We are appealing to the government to elect an adivasi to the Rajya sabha and two adivasis as MLCs.’’
Tribal leaders are seeking the setting up of an adivasi parliament of 30 members to bridge the gap between the government and the people.In an attempt to get adequate representation and share of the governance pie, tribal organisations had fielded Gopala, a member of the Jenu Kuruba community and a neo-literate as their candidate from the H D Kote constituency in the recent elections. However, a non-forest tribe candidate has won that seat.
The tribals point out that haadis have witnessed a large scale migration and people are suffering from severe malnutrition. They want the government to give them agriculture land, inputs, programmes like soil conservation, forest development and `1 crore for development of each tribal haadi. They also want the setting up of co-operative societies in haadis. Tribal leader Somanna from H D Kote said a tribal academy should be started to promote their culture.
