Condemning the alleged callous outlook of officials towards the problems concerning tribal communities, members of the Erumad Adivasi Kurumbas Munnetra Sangam staged a demonstration in front of the Collectorate here on Monday.
N.M. Balan, president of the sangam, said that though their grievances were many, they wanted the officials to take action on at least some of them.
SchemesThough the government had evolved several schemes, and enacted laws to uplift the tribal communities they were not being implemented properly by many of the officials.
Owing to this they were not serving their purpose. By misusing the schemes, the officials were defeating their objectives.
Many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were getting funds from the government and other agencies within the country and abroad for the uplift of tribal communities.
MisuseOf the amount, 80 per cent was used by the NGOs for paying salaries and meeting other expenses.
This gave the impression that the focus of the NGOs was not on tribal development but ensuring the livelihood of their employees.
Several complaints notwithstanding nothing tangible has been done to check the trend.
Referring to a scheme implemented recently by the Department of Adi-Dravidar and Tribal Welfare for the benefit of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Communities, he said that action should be taken against officials who allegedly distributed benefits to ineligible persons.
Education assistance for tribal students for 2012-13 should be fully disbursed.
The mystery surrounding the death of Govindan of Kallichal in Cherambadi at K.R. Pet in Karnataka in January 2010 should be unravelled.
The explanations given so far by the police were not satisfactory.
