Hyderabad, August 09: The State Bharatiya Janata Party president, Mr G Kishen Reddy, on Monday, demanded that the State government set up a university exclusively for the tribals and a Special Tribal Commission for speedy development of that community.
Mr Kishen Reddy was speaking as the chief guest at the World Adivasi Day celebrations organised in the State BJP office here on Monday. Earlier, Mr Reddy garlanded the statue of great tribal freedom fighter Komaram Bheem and paid rich tributes to his memory.
Recalling that the United Nations Organisation had declared August 8 as the World Adivasi Day in 1994 with a noble intention of finding lasting solutions to the problems confronted by the tribal community, the BJP leader said both the State and Union governments had miserably failed to initiate steps to improve the lot of the hapless community. The governments have not only failed to protect their rights guaranteed by the Constitution, but also miserably failed in providing adequate security to their lives, he added.
The BJP leader lamented that because of lack of education and health awareness, the tribals were succumbing to viral diseases. He also pointed out that 85 percent of tribal students were not able to complete even Class X due to abysmal poverty, the remaining 15 percent were not able to go for higher education. Mr Reddy said that some hospitals in the tribal areas lack beds and even if there are beds, there are no doctors. When beds and doctors are available, there are no medicines, he quipped. Similar situation prevailed in the tribal schools, he complained and demanded that the government take immediate steps to open hospitals and schools in the tribal areas.
Stating that though there are guidelines that every Adivasi family should be provided with 10 acres of land for their livelihood, the BJP leader bemoaned that the Forest officials have not only trampled upon their legitimate rights over forest wealth, the poor tribals were being exploited by the officials and non-tribals. The absence of a single Adivasi in the Vana Samrakshana Committees proved the lack of sincerity on the part of the government towards uplift of the tribals, he said, adding that in spite of spending crores of rupees in the name of Integrated Tribal Development Authorities no tribal was being benefited.
Demanding that the State government immediately initiate steps to install a statue of the legendary tribal freedom fighter Komaram Bheem on the Tank Bund within a month, Mr Kishen Reddy warned that his party would install a statue in a month if the government failed to do so.
He also demanded that the hamlets inhabited by 500 girijans be notified as gram panchayats simultaneously providing road and water supply to such thandas.
The BJP Girijan Morcha state president, Mr Sriramulu, the BJP general secretary, Mr T Achari, Mr Mangya Naik and others were present. (NSS)