The tribespeople in the district, under the aegis of the Adivasi Ekopana Samiti, staged a collectorate march and dharna, to press for their demands, on Monday. Inaugurating the march, Saji K.Cheramar, Dalit activist, called for implementation of the Forest Rights Act-2006 in toto.
Presiding over the dharna, P.S. Uthaman, samiti president, alleged that the government has deceived the poor landless tribal community by not implementing the Forest Rights Act even 10 years after its enactment.
He called upon the government to take immediate steps to rehabilitate all tribal families wandering in the forests of Pathanamthitta without any further delay.
He said the tribespeople who have been rehabilitated in various settlement colonies in the district should be provided with five acres of land each suitable for farming. Mr. Uthaman alleged that the government has prepared the existing list of landless tribespeople on the basis of false data and wrong methods. As many as 250 people took part in the tribespeople march which began from the private bus stand in the forenoon.
