Saturday, Jun 15, 2002
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Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
The Opposition accused the Government of having turned a blind eye towards the Adivasi strike demanding land for landless Adivasis and took strong exception to the Government bid to term the stir as a cover for forest encroachment. Seeking adjournment of the proceedings to discuss the situation in Wayanad district consequent on a hartal being observed today, the Opposition alleged that the Government had not kept any of the promises it had given to Adivasis both during the discussions with leaders of the CPI(M)-led Adivasi Kshema Samithy and when settling the tribal land stir on October 16 last. Opposing the adjournment motion, the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, said the Government would give free ration to the tribals during the monsoon months and distribute land to the landless tribals in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Thrissur districts by September this year. Mr. Antony said interviews were on to select 300 tribal youth as forest guards. This was for the first time that so many tribals were being recruited to the Forest Department. The Government had also decided to set apart Rs.23 crores as a special fund for Adivasi resettlement. A Tribal Mission, headed by the Chief Secretary, had also been constituted to look into the welfare of Adivasis, he said. The Chief Minister said the Government had already distributed 1,554 acres of land to 554 Adivasi families during the last eight months. This included 363 acres distributed to 242 families in Marayur, 705 acres distributed to 341 families in Kundala, 41 acres given to 41 families in Pooppara and 145 acres given to 133 families. The State Government had also requested the Centre to release 12,000 acres of forest land for distribution among the tribals, he said. Mr. Antony said tribals under the Adivasi Kshema Samithy had encroached the forest land in nine reserve areas. He urged the Opposition to bring the strike to an end and cautioned them that if the tribals entered forcibly into the reserve forest areas, it would ultimately benefit only the forest mafia. Seeking leave for the adjournment motion, M.V. Jayarajan (CPI-M), said though the Government had given several promises while bringing the tribal land stir to an end, none of these had been acted upon. He alleged that 23 tribals had died of starvation in Wayanad alone. The police, he said, had registered cases against 1,597 Adivasis. Holding aloft what he claimed to be photographs showing the miserable plight of Adivasis in the district, he said the Government appeared to be totally insensitive to all this. The Government policy seemed to be to grant land to forest poachers and consign the tribals to prisons, he said. The Leader of the Opposition, V.S. Achuthanandan, said the Government was trying to shield forest poachers even while trying to evict the Adivasis from their land. Referring to the Government charge that the CPI(M) was using Adivasis as cover for forest poaching, Mr. Achuthanandan said not a single such instance had been reported. Nor was any case registered against any tribal so far on this count, he pointed out. Benoy Viswom (CPI), A. Neelalohithadasan Nadar (JD-S), K.C. Joseph (KC-J) and A.A. Aziz (RSP) also spoke. They regretted the Government's silence over when the Adivasis in Wayanad would be given land.
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