The Hindu : Kerala News : Tribal healers seek access to forests

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Tribal healers seek access to forests

Special Correspondent

Kozhikode: A workshop held in Kozhikode attended by tribal healers from across the country has appealed to the State Forest Department and the Central government to issue identity cards and entry passes to tribal healers for collecting medicinal matter from forests.

A resolution passed by the participants at the end of the five-day event organised by the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Kirtads) on its campus also urged the government to modify the activities of Vanasamrakshana Samithis (forest protection committees) to make this possible. This was to ensure that sufficient medicinal plants were available for tribal healers to practice their profession.

The workshop also pointed out that the services of tribal healers could be utilised for improving healthcare facilities in isolated tribal pockets.

It was also recommended that the three-year certificate course in tribal medicine and the course for masseurs could be started in all the five centres of tribal medicine that were located in Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki, Palakkad, Wayanad and Kannur districts.

Concern was also voiced by the participants at the delay in getting loans for tribal healers for setting up dispensaries. The need for instructions from the government to local bodies to provide financial support for setting up medicinal gardens was also underlined.

In another resolution, the government was urged to allot funds for researches involving reputed research laboratories and the Society of Tribal Healers (IIPSS). The State Biodiversity Board could also be involved in such ventures, the resolution said.

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