Malayali tribal community seeks inclusion in ST list
The Hindu
Inclusion of Malayali tribal community in Scheduled Tribe list, carving of new panchayat union in Kadambur hill area, digging of elephant-proof trenches, ensuring community rights under the Forest Rights Act and patta for farmers using the government poramboke land were the key demands put forth by the Tamil Nadu Tribal People Association here on Tuesday.
The association, led by its president K. Ramasamy, organised a meeting in Kadambur hills in which Tiruppur MP K. Subbarayan, Former Bhavanisagar MLA P.L. Sundaram and S. Mohan Kumar, District Coordinator for the association, spoke on various issues that affect tribal people. Five resolutions were passed at the end of the meeting.
A resolution said that there are over 30,000 Malayali tribal community people in Kadambur hills in Sathyamangalam Taluk who were categorised under Other Caste list while their counterparts in other districts in the State were categorised under Scheduled Tribe. Hence, they were denied reservation in education, government jobs and also for receiving government assistance and welfare schemes. The resolution said that a constitution amendment by Parliament is needed to include the community in the list and wanted steps to be taken by all the concerned authorities.