The Tamil Nadu Tribal Association has alleged that there was not a single Scheduled Tribes (ST) member in the newly created Tamil Nadu State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
P. Shanmugam, a senior CPI(M) leader and State vice-president of the association, said though there was one woman member, Leelavathi, she was actually from Karnataka. Her husband Dhanraj works among the tribes, but mostly in Coimbatore district, he said.
‘No lack of options’
“We do not know how she finds a place in the commission. There are many organisations and tribes, and the government is not able to find one from them,” said Mr. Shanmugam, who was in the forefront in the struggle to get justice for the tribes subjected to brutality in Vachathi.
