Siddaramaiah to seek legal opinion on separate panel for nomads

Siddaramaiah to seek legal opinion on separate panel for nomads also assured the delegation that he would examine their request to provide funds to various SC, SC and OBC corporations.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said his government is positive towards creating a separate commission for the Nomadic community, but a decision will be made after obtaining legal opinion.

Siddaramaiah said this at a meeting with leaders representing nomadic/semi-nomadic tribes under the SC, ST and OBC.

The CM also assured the delegation that he would examine their request to provide funds to various SC, SC and OBC corporations.

There are 120 nomadic communities - 51 SCs, 23 STs and 46 OBCs. The delegation told Siddaramaiah that the condition of nomadic tribes was worrisome. “They have no identity and government benefits are not reaching them. The government must recognise them. They face rejection because they’re not in government records. They even don’t have caste certificates,” the CM was told. The government was urged to observe August 31 as Nomadic Liberation Day.

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The delegation also said that ethnographic studies are completed for the Jogi and Pichchagantalu communities. “They must be included under an appropriate caste category. And, nomadic communities must get political representation,” they said.

Members of various progressive groups, including Akkai Padmashali, K S Vimala, Leela Sampige among others, met Siddaramaiah and urged the government to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the 2012 rape and murder of 17-year-old Sowjanya.

A delegation of the Kuluva community urged Siddaramaiah to develop Shehnai maestro Sanaadi Appanna’s grave into a memorial. They also sought a music museum among other facilities to help the growth of the community.