A Lot is learnt from tribals, which can be integrated into modern system, said secretary of Karuna Trust and Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra(VGKK) Dr H Sudarshan.
Addressing the gathering at a programme of inauguration of charitable trust in memory of Dr Vijayalakshmi Basavaraj, former director of All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), he said, the diversity of tribe should be respected and their strength understood. There is no need to bring them into national main stream. It is not homogenisation. They have to be empowered to manage their health.
The national scenario of our country is, though it has gained independence, equality, sustainable development and good governance do not exist. Social justice and inequity issues prevail to a large extent.
Huge number of people earn less than a dollar a day. There has to be greater response with greater economic growth. Food which would feed the needy is wasted. Many have no money to buy it, he said.
Number of Schedule Tribe has increased from 18 lakhs to 50 lakhs. It does not mean their fertility has increased. Many other communities has been added to ST group by Government.
The true tribes are now facing more competitions within their group. Just for the sake of benefits many other communities are taking reservation certificates of ST. Number of street children, disabled and homeless are also increasing. Human Development Index of our country is 119, which is a shame, Dr Sudarshan said.
“Our natural resources are being looted, mother earth is being raped. Illegal mining at Bellary is excellent example of this. Good governance in health sector is essential in present society. Corruption is ubiquitous. It is there from members of Parliament to members of Grama Panchayat. Thus the benefits fail to reach the truely needy. Corruption affects only the poor and the environment. Centralisation of corruption should not be done,” he said.
“It is after fight of 31 years, tribes have got the rights of the land. To get their benefits, the battle went on for a long time,” he recalled. It is not easy to win the confidence of the tribal community. Sometimes I wish that we had their strength and immunity. It was a difficult task to establish VGKK and organise programmes at B R Hills. But now it is serving the community there.
Different cultures
“Tribal community of various parts have their own culture. A group in Arunachal Pradesh will have sword with them always and irrespective of situation and place, they take out the sword,” Sudarshan said.
Dr Vibha Pavan Kumar, daughter of Dr Vijayalakshmi Basavaraj explained the objectives of Dr Vijayalakshmi Basavaraj Charitable Trust with the motto of reaching the unreached.
“The trust is already executing few welfare programmes for special children, animals and elderly. Though we cannot do the job to my mother’s perfection, we will surely do it to our satisfaction,” she said.
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