KOCHI: The reservation of posts for tribal community in local bodies aims at integrating them to the mainstream society. Tribal people are often tagged as primitive and backward due to their isolation and low education. Though the reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in local bodies is an effort to make their voice heard, often the society imposes its decisions on them.
“Many tribal representatives who attended our training programme have complained that people don’t take them seriously. Even people who are elected president of the local body complain that the proposals made by them are not implemented,” said Mini P V, deputy director of Kerala Institute for Research Training and Development studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
“It is rather lack of support that stops the tribal representatives from asserting themselves,” said S Ramanunni, an activist working for tribal welfare and director of People’s Action for Educational and Economic Development of Tribal people, Wayanad. “Lack of education and inexperience in social work are the two hurdles faced by tribal people.
As they are isolated, these leaders are not able to present their opinion in a convincing way and often are forced to endorse the decision taken by the panchayat secretary or their political bosses. Even while holding the post of president, they are unable to give preference to projects for the community due to inferiority complex,” he said.
Mananthavady municipal chairman V R Praveej said as a tribal he had problems in presenting his opinion initially. “I overcame the difficulty within a year. I ensure that I study the issue before presenting my views and if our arguments are right, there is no question of inferiority complex,” he said. It is not discrimination or lack of cooperation but the complexities in government guidelines that pose hurdles to our efforts, said Mananthavady block panchayat president Geetha Babu.
“There are guidelines for utilisation of plan fund and it is difficult to comply with these guidelines while implementing projects in tribal areas. For Example, if we have to construct a cultural centre in a tribal settlement, we have to register the land in the name of panchayat secretary. But tribal land cannot be transferred,” she said.
Easwary Resan, former president of Attappadi block panchayat had resigned from the post and quit CPI in September this year following opposition from her own party leaders. She was the first woman block panchayat president in the state. “I had decided to keep away from politics. But CPI leaders launched a political witch hunt against me and I accepted an offer from the Congress,” she said.