Encroachment in Attappadi; grievances of tribals should not be ignored

In India, tribals are the most cheated as a community. The amount spent by the central and state governments for them is immeasurable. No other group has been given so much land as compared to the tribals. A respected member of the tribal community has now reached the post of President. Despite this, the conditions of various tribal tribes are deplorable even in modern times. The lion's share of the funds allocated for them were taken by bureaucratic-political-local alliances. Everyone took advantage of the innocence of the tribal community.

All the government schemes tried to transform the tribals into modern people. That is the reason why it failed. They cannot be turned modern so quickly. They don't even know what a modern society is. At the same time, tribals have a lot of ancient knowledge that even the modern sections of India do not have. The government did not do much to encourage it! Even though only a handful, many of them are now entering all fields through education. That is a good sign. Tribals will never trust government officials because most of them have cheated them. Therefore, those among them who progress through education should deal with their problems and find solutions.

The life of the tribals living in Attappadi, Kerala, a state known to be highly advanced, is still not so advanced. A group of men and women from Attappadi approached the Chief Justice of the High Court recently and filed a complaint. They raised a serious complaint that some natives of Tamil Nadu had laid claim on the land they had been cultivating on for three generations and that they were under threat of eviction. Many people have been stealing their land for generations by turning them into debtors by lending very small amounts. The government usually does nothing to prevent this. They also claimed that outsiders have encroached on 375 acres of land, which they have been traditionally in possession of and have got ownership of.

The tribal group told the court that the police and officials are conniving with the encroachers and that is why the officials are constantly ignoring their complaints. They approached the court as a last resort as there was no other course. They complained in person to Chief Justice AJ Desai and Registrar General P Krishnakumar. The immediate intervention of the court in the matter is a commendable step. The Kerala Legal Services Authority has been instructed to take the complaint in writing and forward it to the Palakkad District Legal Services Authority to take further action and inform the High Court. In this context, the state government should also intervene in this problem and take steps to resolve their grievances.