Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa’s assurance to a delegation of Valmiki leaders, that he would constitute an expert committee to examine an increase in the Scheduled Tribes’ (ST) reservation, has sparked off a debate on only a section within the tribal community cornering most quota benefits in the State and the need to correct it.
It has led to a demand for internal reservation, which will ensure justice to small tribal communities. Tribal leaders have also demanded implementation of the Muzaffar Assadi Committee report on uplift of tribals.
At present, there are 51 tribes in Karnataka clubbed under the STs. The schemes that are meant for the welfare of tribes, it is alleged, are cornered by the dominant Valmiki community. It does not benefit those who are politically and economically weak, according to Shailendra Kumar, secretary, Karnataka Aranya Moola Budakattu Samudayagala Okkoota.
The High Court Committee on Tribal Issues of Rajiv Gandhi National Park, headed by Muzaffar Assadi, had recommended internal reservation for STs and exclusive quota for primitive and forest-dependent tribes.
Another tribal leader Vijay Kumar, coordinator of Primitive Tribals of H.D. Kote, said the dominant Valmiki community, which has more than its fair representation in the State legislature, has been putting pressure on the government to increase quota for them at the cost of primitive tribals. Members of the Valmiki community staged a protest in Bengaluru in June seeking increase in ST quota from 3% to 7.5% in education and jobs. “We have been neglected educationally and economically by the State and Union governments. We demand free education till class 12 and reservation in jobs for children of 12 primitive tribes of the State,” Mr. Kumar said. Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have been providing free education for children of primitive tribes, he added.
Tribal leaders claimed that primitive tribes such as Jenu Kurubas and Koragas have been at the receiving end, despite the fact that there were schemes exclusively for them. The Soligas, Yeravas, and Betta Kurubas have also been facing the same situation, who constitute forest tribes but have been clubbed under STs.
The Assadi report noted a debate as to whether “the five independent and different communities — namely Naik, Nayak, Beda, Bedar, and Valmiki — have been included owing to an incorrect understanding of the ethnography of these communities (and) were synonyms of the community mentioned in the ST list of Karnataka in serial no. 38 of the list, namely Naikda community.” Hence, there has been a demand to exclude “Naik, Nayak, Beda, Bedar, and Valmiki” words included in the Scheduled Tribes list during 1991 to protect the interest and give justice to the genuine Scheduled Tribes of Karnataka.”
Speaking to The Hindu , Prof. Assadi, who is also the Special Officer, Raichur University, said the High Court accepted his report and told the State government to implement the recommendations.
Mr. Kumar said: “We do not find any forest tribes, including the primitive tribes, in higher education or government jobs. Their exclusion from these sectors have pushed them into a corner again and again.”
To overcome the “development deficit”, tribal leaders demanded adequate quota for primitive and numerically small tribals in local bodies to ensure effective implementation of schemes for their community.
