The Times of India 20.04.2013
Municipality constructing flats for 17 adivasi families
tall story but an action set in concrete – a step that won’t leave
anyone flat, at least the Paniya families for sure. The Kalpetta Municipality is building a residential flat for them to make them feel at home.
The new building with all the modern-day facilities is coming up at
Onivayal in Kalpetta in Wayanad. The beneficiaries will be 17 Paniya
families who are, at present, put up in a make-shift camp at Mundoor.
On Saturday, chief minister Oommen Chandy
laid the foundation stone for the flat, the first of its kind in the
state. The 1.5-crore flat is being constructed on 17 cents of land.
While the municipality will allot Rs 43 lakh for the project, Rs 75
lakh has been granted from the Backward Regions Grant Fund. An amount of
Rs 42 lakh will be provided from the ST Development Department corpus
fund.
“Initially the Paniyas were loath to the flat concept.
But we took them to Attappady to show them the houses constructed by
AHADS for the tribals. Now they are convinced and ready to be shifted to
the flats,” said Kalpetta Municipality chairman A P Hameed.
The 17 families were living in cramped and dingy surroundings at the
Onivayal colony. “Every monsoon we have to relocate them to make-shift
camps as the entire area is inundated with water. So we decided to find a
permanent abode for them – a dwelling that is safe and hygienic,” the
chairman added.
The Onivayal colony was demolished six months ago for constructing the flat.
“We want the work on the flat to be finished at the earliest. We are
finding it difficult to go out for job from this camp,” said Polan, the
chief of the Onivayal colony.
However, some tribal organisation leaders are sceptical about the motive of the project.
Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha leader C K Janu said the ‘flat culture’ would
lead to erosion of the tribal identity and culture. “We had expressed
our concerns when we saw the news of the project in newspapers. This
would only aggravate the woes of the adivasis and lead to more
suicides,” she said.
A Manibhooshan, deputy director
(anthropology), Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development
Studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (KIRTADS), said it does
not seem to be a good project.
“Ideally Paniyas should have
been given land and houses at different places. Bringing them together
again will not help in addressing issues like alcoholism,” he said.
