Tribals in Mysuru to mobilise themselves ahead of elections
The Hindu
MYSURU
Tribal in Hunsur and H.D. Kote have decided to make a fresh pitch for the fulfilment of their pending demands by consolidating themselves as a ‘’vote bank’’ in the ensuing State elections.
An effort that did not yield much results in the 2018 Assembly polls and the 2019 Parliamentary polls, the tribal leaders have decided to galvanise themselves once again and give another try in connection with which the community leaders have already begun their discussions.
‘’As the tribals are facing an existential crisis with the political parties and the elected government being apathetic to the implementation of the provisions of the Forest Rights Act or the rehabilitation of displaced communities, they have decided to group together as a voting block’’, said S.Sreekanth of Development through Education, an NGO working for tribal causes.
There are nearly 30,000 tribal votes in Mysuru district bulk of whom are in Hunsur and H.D. Kote while there are a few hamlets in Periyapatna and Nanjangud as well. But for Hunsur and H.D. Kote the tribal population is not strong enough to make a difference to the overall electoral outcome in other assembly segments in the district. But there is a sizeable tribal population in Kodagu and efforts are on to bring the community leaders on a common platform, Mr. Sreekanth added.
He said on top of the agenda is the recognition of the tribal rights over forests and other common property resources which has been denied to them despite the passing of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
The other key issue for tribals in Mysuru district is the rehabilitation of the displaced families as per the Muzaffar Assadi committee report which studied the tribal situation based on an order of the High Court of Karnataka and made suitable recommendations.
The implementation of the court order will require at least ₹500 crore apart from land to carry out the rehabilitation works, said Mr.Sreekanth and they recently submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as well.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.