There seems to be no end to the woes of the Hakki Pikki tribal families, who were evicted from the government land near Srirangapatna, with a local MLA launching a protest against a rehabilitation project for them on Thursday.
Around 150 Hakki Pikki tribals were evicted from government land near Mogerahalli in Srirangapatna a few days ago.
Following the development, A. Muniyappa, chairman, Karnataka State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, visited the place and instructed the district administration to provide shelter to the evicted persons.
Subsequently, the district administration planned to provide permanent shelter to the evicted persons near Channahalli, near Srirangapatna.
Protesting against the allotment of land to the evicted tribal community at their village, residents of Channahalli staged a protest outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner here on Thursday. A.B. Rameshbabu Bandisiddegowda, local MLA, led the agitation.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Bandisiddegowda, a rebel Janata Dal (Secular) MLA, said that he would not allow the State government to construct houses or issue residential sites to Channahalli in his constituency.
Speaking to Deputy Commissioner S. Ziyaulla, he also said that the villagers are against providing rehabilitation to Hakki Pikkis in their village.
“We have identified two acres of land at Channahalli and decided to provide electricity, drinking and other basic infrastructure,” B. Malathi, District Social Welfare Officer, told The Hindu .
According to the officer, the Social Welfare Department will provide tent-houses to the evicted tribal community families.
