Assn flays CNC demand for special status

Letters have been written in this regard to Guv, Speaker among others

The Association has urged the government to announce the tribals as Scheduled Tribes and the region where they live as Scheduled land.

Letters have been written in this regard to the Governor, Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah, Forest Minister C H Vijayashankar, the Deputy Commissioner, opposition party leaders, the Zilla Panchayat President and others.

Based on 1951 census, the Government had announced Virajpet and Gokak taluk as Scheduled constituencies. But due to the game played by the members of upper community, reserved constituency status of Virajpet was cancelled, alleged District
Tribal Farmers Association President J P Raju. Nearly 75,000 tribal population who are residing in Kodagu district neither own any permanent asset nor have any basic amenities.

Despite the Panchayat Raj Act of 1996 mentioning the places resided by tribals as Scheduled land and directing to implement self-administration, the Government has declined to implement the process, he said.

He informed that if at all the Kodavas are included in the 5th Schedule among the list of Tribal Communities, then it would be an injustice for the real tribals.

The tribals are yet to progress in the social, political, cultural and educational front. The people from the forward communities who own 100 to 1,500 acres of land, have been provided with all the basic facilities, complained District Tribal Farmers Association Somwarpet Taluk President R K Chandru.