In all, 33 families of Koragas, a Scheduled Tribe, in Dakshina Kannada are homeless, and 406 houses in which Koragas live are not fit for living, according to a survey conducted by the State government.
As many as 489 families have no sites, the survey found. Koragas are considered as the most oppressed section of society.
Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat conducted the survey of 935 Koraga families on February 9 and 10in the jurisdiction of 203 gram panchayats, excluding the jurisdiction of Mangalore City Corporation, according to Y. Shivaramaiah, Assistant Secretary, zilla panchayat, who is in-charge Project Coordinator, Integrated Tribal Development Project, Dakshina Kannada.
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Mr. Shivaramaiah told
He said of the 489 families which did not have sites, 305 lived on government land and 10 on forestland. They did not have title deeds. The remaining 174 families lived on agricultural land owned by others and worked as agricultural labourers.
The Assistant Secretary said that of the families surveyed, only 446 owned land.
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He said that of the families surveyed, 406 were in houses which were not fit for living. They were living either in huts or houses having mud walls in a dilapidated state. Of the houses in which the families surveyed lived, 298 needed repairs and 198 were in good condition.
Mr. Shivaramaiah said that 477 houses did not have electricity.
The panchayat planned to build houses to the homeless and whose houses were in a bad shape under public-private-partnership. As the panchayat could not get funds directly from corporate companies, a trust would have to be formed to receive contributions from the companies. Chief Executive Officer of the panchayat K.N. Vijay Prakash had sent a proposal to the government seeking permission for constituting a trust. The government's approval was awaited.