An elusive quest for political representation
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Susheela Koraga Nada (Third from the Left), president of the Federation of Koraga Development Associations in Karnataka and Kerala, speaking to presspersons in Udupi.| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The upcoming Karnataka Assembly election has brought to the fore the question of the inadequate representation of tribal communities and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in the political process.
In the run-up to the poll, the office of the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) took up a special drive to enrol all eligible voters from the Jenu Kuruba and Koraga communities, both of which are PVTGs in the State. The drive achieved 100% enrolment as per the final electoral rolls published on January 5.
However, marginalisation in these communities is true not only with respect to the political process but also in terms of education, health, and employment.
Declining population
Susheela Nada, president of the Federation of Koraga Development Associations in Karnataka and Kerala, says that the Koraga communitys population was about 20,000 according to the 1991 census, but has declined since then. Decline in the population is a major concern but the reasons are not ascertained, she says while pointing to health issues, including the prevalence of rare diseases among the Koragas.
In the case of Jenu Kurubas, apart from the population decline, their life span is lower than the average life expectancy in the country. This calls for scientific studies to ascertain the cause and make appropriate interventions, says Prabha Urs, deputy director of the Karnataka State Tribal Research Institute (KSTRI). On educational parameter, the Jenu Kurubas are at the bottom of the ladder with just a handful of graduates; the Koragas are relatively better off, but only marginally.
Dominant STs snag benefits
While the Jenu Kurubas live in Mysuru, Kodagu and Chamarajanagar, the Koraga community mainly lives in Udupi and the Dakshina Kannada belt, apart from small pockets in Kasargod in Kerala. KSTRI has pegged the population of Jenu Kurubas at 36,076 while the population of the Koragas is 14,794, according to the 2011 census.
There is a strong perception that numerically dominant communities within the Scheduled Tribes in the State have cornered all political and socio-economic benefits.
Such rumblings are not new and came to the fore within 15 years after the affirmative action programme was launched in 1950. For instance, The Report of the Advisory Committee on the Revision of the Lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes authored by P.N. Lokur and submitted to the Government of India in 1965 noted that it has been in evidence for some time that a lions share of the various benefits and concessions earmarked for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is appropriated by the numerically larger and politically well-organised communities. The smaller and more backward communities have tended to get lost in the democratic processes though most deserving of special aid, noted the report.
In Karnataka, multiple communities have been clustered to make for 50 groups under the Scheduled Tribe category. Their cumulative population is 42,48,987 as per the 2011 census. The cluster of communities coming under a single group and comprising Naik, Valmiki, Parivara Talawara, Nayaka etc account for almost 33 lakh people. But the larger cluster, comprising 49 other groups, accounts for only 9.5 lakh people under the ST category, spread thin across the State.
This has led to a demand for internal reservation within the ST category, which was aired again when the Basavaraj Bommai-led Karnataka Government increased the reservation quota for STs from 3% to 7%. In fact, the government has recently recommended internal reservation among SC communities, but not STs. The Karnataka State Permanent Backward Classes chairperson K. Jayaprakash Hegde has called for a separate reservation for PVTGs like the Koragas, as their wards cannot compete with other ST children.
No permanent teachers
The lack of representation of Jenu Kurubas in government jobs, and their poor education levels can be traced to the state of affairs of Ashram Schools run by the Tribal Welfare Department, argues S. Sreekant, advocating for tribal rights through his Hunsur-based NGO, Development through Education (DEED). Of the 119 Ashram Schools run by the Department of Tribal Welfare, none of them has even a single permanent teacher, he says.
The Ashram schools for tribal children were launched in 1969, and classes have been being handled by temporary teachers since their inception, says Ms. Urs of the KSTRI.
Mr. Sreekant and P.K. Ramu of the Budakattu Krishikara Sangha, which means Tribal People Forum, argue that political representation alone can ensure policies that address socio-economic issues. Tribal groups have been airing their demand for reserving a few seats in the Assembly for communities with a forest-dwelling history to correct the historical injustice. Out of the 224 Assembly seats in Karnataka, 15 are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes. But the cluster with the Nayak-Naik-Valmiki-Pariwar communities constitute the electoral majority in all of them, leaving the rest including the PVTGs with little hope of political representation.
Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 1:52 pm