No road, no house, no school; Is there any hope for Kammadi tribal families?

KAMMADI: 45 tenant tribal families of Kammadi Unnati on the Kerala-Kodagu border continue to live a life of misery, wholly detached from the outside world. Their idea of life is to venture into the forest daily and collect honey.

From Kallappalli to Kammadi, one has to amble across the dense forest for almost five kilometres. A jeep would tackle the clutter pathway but the journey is as miserable as it can be. The road, which was said to be built with MLA's fund, is clogged in slug and is perennially dilapidated.

Ten families have been rehabilitated by giving pattayam (original record of land ownership). However, the houses under construction for these families in Vattoli have been dragging on for aeons. With the sudden closure of a school functioning at the Kammadi Community Hall, the children's education came to a standstill. The school functioned with just one teacher and 12 children. However, no government representative gave ear to the demands of the tribal to retain the school in the area.

The sole teacher, who used to walk through the forest, got a permanent appointment and is now a last-grade employee at Kottodi School.

‘Thengramam’ is a project started two years ago by the Kudumbashree District Mission to nurture the livelihood of Scheduled Tribes. The goal was to produce 100 kg of honey from Kammadi.

The project is to train tenant women in modern honey farming. It started with 12 women. Jwala and Sneha were the honey units with five members each. 35 kg of honey was obtained in the first harvest. The brand ‘Kammadi honey’ was received well among the masses.

“Children from the closed schools have been admitted to Kallappally and Panathady schools. They are also given a vehicle for travel. Children who wanted to stay and study were also enrolled in residential schools. The construction of eight houses for those who received pattayam has been completed.” said Kallappally ward member Radhakrishna Gowda.