KALLAKURICHI : They are always in the line of fire. From working for crime syndicates to manufacturing ale and cutting red sanders, the tribals of Kalvarayan Hills have always courted trouble. But most often, it is out of sheer desperation that they enter the corridors of crime.
Not just poverty, humiliation and neglect have a part to play in their making. Unfortunately, their story has no subscribers, both in the government and in public.
Their progress has been hindered by corrupt officials, who channel funds under different welfare schemes to their pockets and their lands are being acquired by the Forest Department in the name of encroachment drives.
The hill that straddles between Villupuram and Salem districts has 15 panchayats and 187 villages. Authorities who have continuously failed to carry out a census puts the total number of voters at 48,000.
Amid the whole country going digital, why have the officials failed to carry out a headcount? “It’s not an easy task. The tribes live in small groups in remote areas and the officials need a real determination to estimate head counts. They simply depend on rough data for carrying out welfare programmes,” said L Chinnathambi, former Kariyalur village president.
After repeated pleas, AIADMK government in 1983 distributed free agricultural lands and housing plots to many tribals. It served as a great respite for many families who took to agriculture to eke out a living. However, four years ago, the Forest Department began to acquire those lands in the name of encroachment drive, pushing many into misery.
Sharing their plight, Annamalai from Melvellimalai, said, “Forest department are taking our lands back. Many have already lost their sources of income. Middlemen are exploiting the situation and luring youth into ale manufacturing and red sanders cutting.”
Venkatraman, a 26-year-old from Melvellar village is an angry youth. “I blame officials for making
many among us tread the path towards destruction. One can find offices of almost all government departments here. But for tribals, finding an official and airing their grievances during the working hours, remains an impossible thing. “To avail of a government assistance, we need to produce many papers, including community, income, nativity and legal heir certificates. It is not easy,” he said.
Adding to their woes, corruption is rampant among the officers posted in these villages. “Officials are demanding exorbitant bribes, even for small things like giving certificates. How can these poor people, who hardly have any sources of income pay them,” he bemoaned.
Venkatraman attributed these factors as the reason behind hundreds of youth resorting to illegal activities to make money. “Every village has middlemen who does the recruitment. The youth are paid `500 per kg for 1kg of finished red sanders and the wage covers everything from cutting to loading.
“Any youth facing tough situations would easily get trapped into this easy-money making act.” Some who were involved in cutting of red sanders blamed their predicament. “First we flatten trees, then cut off their branches, slash tree bark, cut them into wooden logs before loading them onto vehicles that would be waiting kms away from the reserve forest,” they said.
They said it would hardly take two to three days for a 10-member group to load a 21-tonne capacity vehicle and the workers earn something between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000 a week.
Will these youth surrender their axes by giving up this lucrative job? District Collector Dr L Subramanian is optimistic. “Cutting trees from the forest is an inexcusable crime. But we believe we can end this soon through welfare measures,” he said.