Though nearly half the population of the Koragas community in the district live in ramshackle houses, the government housing schemes to correct the statistics seemed to have hit a bureaucratic wall.
According to the 2012 census conducted by the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat, Koragas number just 4,457 in the district, living in 249 colonies, mainly spread across Mangalore and Bantwal taluks (70 per cent of the Koraga population reside in these two taluks).
However, the survey had also noted that out of 984 families, 305 Koraga families reside on government land, while 10 families live on forest land. The rest are on private land, while, just 446 families — or less than half of the Koraga families — own plots in the district.
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“Most Koragas do not have documents for the land, though they have been there for decades. For some, the land is in their forefather’s name, and the Revenue Department refuses to transfer it to the kin’s name…Others have never had land due to societal discrimination,” said Ramesh Koraga, a member of the Koraga Abhivrudhi Sangha.
In Malali village in Mangalore taluk, nine families, or around 50 people, reside in crumbling houses lining a steep hill face. Nearly two decades ago, the families were turned out by their landlord, and with no land of their own, they squatted on government land along the hill.
Though the panchayat granted them houses, none of the families have title deeds.
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“Because the land is not in our names, we cannot avail bank loans for the construction or repair of our house,” said Gulabi Koraga, a resident there.
Rigid rulesThough the zilla panchayat had adopted the Basava housing scheme — which gives a subsidy of Rs. 1.75 lakh for the construction of an 800sq ft house — Integrated Tribal Development Project official Sabeer Ahmed Mullah said the Koragas could not be beneficiaries as they do not possess the land.
“The only way the scheme can work is if alternative government land is given in their name,” he said at a meeting recently.
Chief Executive Officer Thulasi Maddineni believed there was a need for a drive to ensure that the particularly vulnerable tribal group can get land rights under section 94C (Grant of land in case of construction of dwelling house in occupied land) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act 1964.
Similarly, on the official’s suggestion that the Koraga community could be allotted forest land under the Forest Rights Act, B. Ramanath Rai, Minister for Environment, Forests and Ecology, said a State-level meeting would be convened soon where the matter will be taken up.