Chennai :
Tribal children from Wayanad got their first experience of a train ride when they travelled from Nilgiris to Chennai on Thursday to give cultural performances in front of academics and biodiversity authorities at a national conference on Forest, Livelihood and Tribal Development.
The conference, organized by the department of social work at Madras Christian College in Tambaram here saw researchers, academics and students from 15 states, including the northeast, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, discuss issues impacting tribals in different parts of the country.
Speaking on the Tribal Rights Act and its Implementation on Forest Dwellers, former Tamil Nadu principal chief conservator of forests C K Sreedharan said that if the concerned machinery expected to implement the Act did not believe in it, then the whole thing was bound to be a failure. “After a policy decision is made, the officials in charge of implementing it should accept the decision. Tribals need a lot of support from everybody. A lot depends on the sincerity and commitment of civic servants and local implementation organizations,” he added.
Responding to a question from the audience after his talk, Sreedharan said there were no loopholes in the Forest Rights Act 2006 but a lot had been denied to the tribals for a number of years.
Conference coordinator D Prince Annadurai said that the tribal population in India was at the receiving end because of several big corporate projects and that there was an increasing need to bring them to the limelight to provide intervention so that they could reap the benefits of development and to learn from their practices and ways. It was not an attempt to change their lifestyle overnight, he said.
Peter Ronald, project manager of the Nilgiris Wayanad Tribal Welfare Society, said that the trip gave the children, representing Paniya and Kaatunayaka communities of Wayanad, exposure to the world outside their communities. “After seeing the college, one of the children told me that he wants to study in MCC after he finishes school. That’s the kind of experience we want to give these children,” he said.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai> Tribals / M. Ramya, TNN / October 03rd, 2013