H. Anjaneya, Social Welfare Minister, said on Sunday that the State government was providing funds for the education, healthcare and housing needs of the Koraga community.
The Koraga community, a primitive tribe of coastal Karnataka, is one of the most backward tribal communities in Udupi district.
Responding to queries from presspersons after visiting the Sri Krishna Mutt/Temple here, Mr. Anjaneya said that though funds for the welfare of the community had not been released by the Union government under the head of welfare of primitive tribes, the State government had stepped in and was providing it.
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“We have made alternative arrangements for such schemes relating to the welfare of the community,” he said.
To another query, Mr. Anjaneya said that he was not aware of the practice of Pankti Bheda at the Sri Krishna Mutt/Temple in Udupi. “It is incumbent upon all religious heads to treat all devotees as children of one mother,” he said.
Earlier, Mr. Anjaneya had lunch at the dinning hall of Sri Krishna Mutt/Temple like an ordinary devotee. Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, and Oscar Fernandes, MP, who were accompanying the Minister, used a chair and a table to have lunch.
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Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Paryaya Pejawar Mutt, who came to the dinning hall, himself served “badam puri” to Mr. Anjaneya.
Later, the seer felicitated Mr. Anjaneya at Badagu Malige in the temple complex. The Minister gave a briefing on the grama vastavya programme undertaken by him at Mururu hamlet in Kalthodu Gram Panchayat in Udupi district on December 31, where he stayed in the house of Marli Koraga from the Koraga community.