B.M Lavakumar
Newskarnataka-Mysore
It has been almost 75 years since the members of the tribal community which had entered forest areas to plant saplings,chose to construct shelters for themselves on the edge of the forests at Kodagu. Since then the forest has been their home and they have been leading a pathetic life in the absence of basic necessities.
It is indeed tragic that the lives of these tribals living in the edge of the Kodagu forests have not been better despite the government dumping several crores of rupees in the name of several schemes. If on the one hand there are people who are leading luxurious lives in their posh residences,on the other hand these people are leading pathetic lives in small hutments like the people of stone age.
It may be no exaggeration to say that their lives are in darkness.The Forest Rights Act has not benefitted them and the several schemes launched for Girijans have failed to reach the target groups.There is also a reason for the same.These tribals are helpless and do not know to fight for their rights.They do not have title deeds of their lands and are deprived of various amenities.
Anyone visiting the tribal areas at Tattalli, Chottepare, Basavanahalli, Chikkareshme, Nagarahole, Kumbarakatte, Tattekere, Adagundi, Avaregunda, Dubare, Asthana etc will get to know of the sorry state of affairs. The hutments are crumbling and these people consume polluted water. There are some who even chose to have shelter atop trees fearing the menace of wild elephants.Their bodies are not fully covered, their faces say they are under nourished and education is far far away.Let alone electricity,they do not even have kerosene lamps to light their homes in the night.
The government is stating that it will have a state free from huts. But it is merely a slogan.These tribals do not have title deeds nor any ID card to say they are Indian citizens.The Government had introduced the Forest Rights Act 2006 (Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act). But the truth is that this has not been implemented here.The plight of these tribals are a testimony to this fact.
