ST Commission tastes ire of tribal groups

Karimnagar: The Scheduled Tribes Commission which visited the district to collect opinions from various groups on the State government’s proposal to include ‘Valmiki Boya’ and ‘Kaithi Lambadas’ into Scheduled Tribes category on Tuesday tasted the ire of tribal groups.

Members of various tribal groups stood on their feet and raised placards carrying slogans ‘Go back Chellappa Commission’ and raised slogans against it. Later, they staged a dharna outside the meeting hall. The ST Commission led by its Chairman Dr S Chellappa organized a meeting at the Collectorate to elicit opinions from various groups on the State government’s proposal.

After hearing the views of Valmiki Boya communities, the Commission members asked the Kaithi Lambada to express their opinion on the issue. Tribal Political Joint Action Committee (TPJAC) members strongly opposed the proposal and made it clear that State government has no right to either include or exclude other communities into the ST category.

How can the government appoint a Commission to include Valmiki Boya communities into the ST category when it has no power, they questioned. Stating that social, financial and educational conditions of the scheduled tribes were in a bad shape in the State, TPJAC district coordinator Guguloth Bheema Saheb opined that the existence of tribals would be in danger if other cases were included in the Scheduled Tribes category.

In order to prolong his promise to give 12 per cent reservation for the STs, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has hatched a conspiracy and appointed the ST Commission only to gather views from various quarters on the inclusion of Valmiki Boya and Kaithi lambdas into the ST category, he opined.

Welcoming the proposal, ‘Zilla Adivasi Hakkula Porata Samithi’ (Thudumdebba) demanded the State government that they should classify the STs into A,B,C,D. The Samithi’s district general secretary, Gurrala Ravinder wanted the government to allocate five acres of land to each tribal family and declare tribal areas as Agency areas and constitute the Integrated Tribal Development Authority (ITDA).

Speaking on the occasion, Chellappa said that in order to enhance ST reservation from 10 per cent to 12 per cent by including Valmiki Boya and Kaithi Lambada into the category, the State government has appointed the ST Commission to study the living conditions of the communities and elicit opinions of various groups. Commission would submit its report after visiting all the districts in the state, he added.