Once again the tribals in erstwhile united Adilabad district were told to wait patienty until Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao comes to the district to personally take stock of the situation with regard to rights on cultivation of forest lands.
Forest Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy gave this assurance to Adivasis at the darbar conducted in connection with the 79th martyrdom anniversary of Kumram Bheem held at Jodeghat village in Kerameri mandal of Kumram Bheem Asifabad district on Sunday.
Adilabad MP Soyam Bapu Rao had specifically asked Mr. Reddy in his capacity as chief guest at the function and being Forest Minister to address the issue. He said Adivasis were facing lot of problems as many of them were being denied rights to till forest lands under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
Pending issues
Mr. Bapu Rao had also raised the issue of removing Lambada tribe from the list of Scheduled Tribes, a demand which the Adivasis had raised for over two years now. He urged the Minister to impress upon Mr. Rao to file the State’s reply to the notice issued by the Supreme Court in a case related with the two-year-old demand.
The annual event organised by the KB Asifabad district administration and the Integrated Tribal Development Agency was well attended. The number of tribals coming from Maharashtra and Chattisgarh to participate in the ceremonies associated with paying homage to the leader had increased this year.
Adivasis from across old united Adilabad paid traditional homage to Bheem along with the descendants of the martyr. They paid floral tributes at the Bheem memorial too.
Kolam aide
In a departure from the past, the chief guest at the darbar and other guests also attended the homage ceremonies of Kumram Suru, the Kolam tribe aide of Bheem. The predecessors of Kolams living in villages along the 22 km road between Hatti and Jodeghat had participated in the rebellion of Bheem against the Nizam of Hyderabad.
Kumram Sone Rao, the grandson of Bheem and his family were felicitated on the occasion. Among those who participated were Asifabad and Adilabad MLAs, Athram Sakku and Jogu Ramanna, KB Asifabad Zilla Parishad chairperson Kova Laxmi, Collector Rajeevgandhi Hanumanthu, ITDA Project Officer S. Krishna Aditya and Superintendent of Police M. Malla Reddy.
