Despite pumping more than Rs.500 crore in the last four years by the Central and State governments as special packages to fight poverty and malnutrition among Attappady tribal inhabitants, almost all welfare measures have been derailed largely due to the reluctance of the authorities concerned to depute full-time officers for their effective implementation.
Backtracking from its earlier promise of appointing a young IAS officer as head of the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP), the government last week gave additional charge to Ottappalam Sub Collector P.B. Nooh, who is already overburdened with other responsibilities.
Because of his busy schedule, the Sub Collector gets only very little time to look into the implementation of tribal welfare projects at Attappady.
Official transferred
As a block-level implementation agency, the ITDP handles tribal developmental works worth several crores of rupees. It was remaining headless for the last nine months after project officer P.V. Radhakrishnan was transferred following political pressure.
The officer, the first native to be appointed in the post, was transferred to Kasaragod district due to alleged pressure from the contractor lobby.
That prevents the government from appointing a full time project officer. Unlike in other parts of Kerala, the ITDP at Attappady is under the control of both the Rural Development and the Tribal Welfare Departments. In other parts, it is under the control of the Tribal Welfare Department alone.
Local committees
In the past, the ITDP had constituted local committees of beneficiaries to implement the projects in a corruption-free level and that had annoyed contractors. Now no such committees are getting formed.
The present situation has badly affected the implementation of the Rs.64-crore project to bring back 25,750 acres of fallow tribal farmland to cultivation under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
Projects stalled
Several drinking water and housing projects have been stalled following lack of monetary support. Most of the preventive measures announced for bringing down prevailing levels of malnutrition and poverty among the tribal population also seem derailed.
‘‘The AHADS is also remaining directionless because of the lack of a full time head. Over 180 buildings and 12 vehicles it had arranged for tribal village committees are getting destroyed. The AHAD’s tribal beneficiaries are now facing poverty,’’ said Attappady Vikasana Samithi chairman M. Sukumaran.
The loss-making cooperative farming society received Rs.10 crore recently from the State government for its revival, but the amount is now being used for building expensive accommodation facilities for senior officials.
