Government to continue efforts to lift marginalised sections, says Minister

Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes K. Radhakrishnan has said that the government is continuing efforts to uplift marginalised sections, especially tribespeople, to the mainstream of society.

Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes K. Radhakrishnan has said that the government is continuing efforts to uplift marginalised sections, especially tribespeople, to the mainstream of society.

Speaking after handing over the keys of 47 newly built houses for the landless tribespeople at Paliyana and Nittamani in Wayanad on Tuesday, Mr. Radhakrishnan said the term ‘tribal colonies’ should be changed. Hence, the housing projects at Paliyana and Nittamani were named ‘Unnathi Gramam’ and ‘Bhoomika’ respectively.

The decentralisation policy that was implemented in 1997 could make a huge change in the living standards of the downtrodden, said the Minister. The participation of tribespeople should be ensured in development projects meant for them, he said, adding that the services of accredited engineers in civic bodies would be utilised for housing projects for tribespeople.

All efforts should be made to ensure the enrolment of all tribal children in schools in the next academic year, said Mr. Radhakrishnan. He added that the Akshaya Big Campaign for Document Digitalisation (ABCD) camp for tribespeople would be expanded to all districts. The project envisages providing ration cards, Aadhaar cards, voter’s identity cards, birth certificates, health insurance documents, and bank accounts to all tribespeople and keeping the documents in digital locker.

O.R. Kelu, MLA, presided over the function.