Karnataka   

Tribal people living in penury here

Ramshackle: A house at a colony of the tribal people at Makutta in Kodagu.

MAKUTTA (KODAGU): Tribal people at Makutta on Kodagu-Kerala border are living in a pathetic condition.

They lack food, clothing and live in ramshackle houses.

They neither belong to Kodagu nor Kerala.

Despite various claims of development by panchayat bodies and the State Government, their status has not changed.

There are 20 houses in the Makutta Scheduled Tribes Colony.

Presspersons, who visited the colony, found only some children and elderly women in their houses.

Men and women had gone in search of work to Kerala. “We do not get work in Kodagu, so we go looking for work on the Kerala side,” Chellamma, an elderly woman, told The Hindu.

Most of the tribal people living here, except a few, speak only Malayalam. Chellamma came from Kerala after she married a man from Makutta several years ago. Her husband died a few years ago.

Another woman, who was with Chellamma, said men ventured into the forests and collected minor forest produce such as honey, soap nut, etc., and sold them to nearby shops on the Kerala side. With the money they received, they bought rice and other items.

A woman, who was carrying her child, said they were waiting for her husband, who had gone for work to return home, for food.

A gram panchayat member, who is referred to by the tribal people as “Babu Eta”, disappeared after collecting their below poverty line (BPL) cards issued to them two years ago, according to Sindhu from the colony.

They used to get foodgrains and other essential commodities at Kakathod on the Kodagu side with the help of BPL cards.

They were not getting foodgrains and other essential commodities now in the absence of BPL cards, she said.

The Virajpet Taluk Panchayat has built a water tank here.

But the tank is empty as the borewell is defunct.

Solar installations given to the tribal people a few years ago are not working.

Providing work to them under the National Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was difficult as they had to be transported to the place of work daily, said Abdul Latif, Kodagu Zilla Panchayat member representing the area.

Commuting to workplaces was difficult because of the appalling condition of Makutta Road.

Most of the tribal people had left for the rubber plantations in Kerala, he said.

The place, where the colony was located, was being claimed as forest and development work in the area could not be taken up because of objections by the Forest Department, he said.

Raghava, who could speak Kannada, said “Babu Eta” took away their BPL cards stating that they had to be renewed.

Though photographs had been taken for issuing voter identity cards, the tribal people were yet to get them, he added.

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