Girijan Advisory Board sought

Ongole: The Adivasi Girijan Associations Joint Working Committee has demanded the government reestablishment of the Girijan Advisory Board in the State along with recognising the tribal colonies as panchayats. The committee members staged a hunger protest on Monday at the Collectorate in Ongole.

Kudamala Ramachandraiah, Chairman of the joint working committee said, “The TDP government is not paying any attention to the needs and development of the tribals in the State. The government did not establish the Girijan Advisory Board, which worked till the bifurcation of the state.

If the board is exists, we can discuss the development activities for the STs and see them done perfectly. The TDP also neglected the STs by not appointing the tribal minister or nominated posts in the government. There are no review meetings at the district collector level on the development of the tribals for a long time.

The government should also setup the ST commission and appoint officers in the ST Corporation. We demand the government to come forward to address the issues of the STs, we are ready to intensify the agitation and protest until justice is done to us.”

Mudavath Vishnu Naik, general secretary of the committee said, “The government should drop the motives of including other castes into the STs immediately. It should implement the rule of reservation in the promotions of employees and Forest Rights Act, SC ST Atrocities Act perfectly.

It should immediately take up the recruitment of backlog posts pending for the tribal youth for a long time. It should take stringent action against people who got government jobs with duplicate caste certificates. It should announce the colonies with more than 500 ST population as panchayats and provide political reservation for tribals in the plain areas.”