Tamil Nadu government’s COVID-19 relief measures, financial assistance of ₹ 4,000 and the kit of groceries, are not likely to reach many of the tribal families in Coimbatore district as they do not have ration cards.
Representatives from tribal settlements in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) areas, a landscape home to the highest number of tribal families in Coimbatore district, claimed that at least 10 % of families lack ration cards to get these benefits.
“There are 17 tribal settlements in Coimbatore district limits of ATR. As per official records with the Forest Department, which are several years old, there are 986 families. The actual number of families will be more than 1,000. Of these, around 100 families do not have ration cards,” claims V.S. Paramasivam, Coimbatore district president of the Tamil Nadu Tribal Association.
According to him, 10 families at Koomatti tribal settlement, around 40 km away from Valparai, do not have ration cards.
Some of them got married 15 years ago and they are also yet to have ration cards. They have to walk all this distance to buy provisions which is now not possible due to the lockdown, he says.
Activist S. Thanraj from Ekta Parishad, Tamil Nadu, collected lists of families from some tribal settlements who do not have ration cards and shared the same with The Hindu .
As per the list, 51 families from Kulipatti, Gopalpathi, Mavadappu and Kattupatti settlements do not have ration cards.
According to a woman from Kulipatti settlement, more than 10 families lack ration cards.
“Many of them are not aware of the procedures to be followed to get a ration card and its benefits. In such a case, authorities should have come to their assistance and help them get essential documents such as ration card, voter ID and Aadhaar. Due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 induced lockdown, the residents do not go out often. The financial assistance of ₹ 4,000 and the kit of groceries will be a huge relief for them. The government should make appropriate steps to ensure that these benefits reach them,” he says.
District Supply Officer R. Kumaresan, however, claimed that the department conducted special camps till January this year for tribal families for ration card.
“A very few tribal families, that of persons who got married after January, may not have ration cards. All other tribal families in the district have cards,” he said.
Mr. Paramasivam through the help of philanthropists have supplied provisions to 13 tribal settlements including Koomatti in ATR limits so far.
