Bengaluru: It is not expected for children to learn while locked in a small room for about five to six hours. But it is clear that the seven children, aged 3 to 10, are really happy sitting inside the new anganwadi in Nagarhole Gadde Hadi, a settlement that houses about 60 families of the Jenu Kuruba tribe in the forests of Nagarhole. I am Karnataka.
The children know that it is fortunate that no one had enjoyed it before them – the Anganwadi is the only permanent building in that forest settlement.
Anganwadi worker J Bhagya said the 12x12 room opened suddenly in July last year, after years of persuasion, perhaps because elections were around the corner. "We also got a toilet.“Earlier we were working out of a shed,” he said, pointing to a bamboo structure with a tarpaulin for the roof next door.
'These few and far between concessions for votes' are the reason why the Jenu Kurub community, which has been fighting the government for decades even for basic amenities - like land rights, access to water and electricity - is losing its votes, JK said. Are worried about giving. Thimma is the head of the settlement as well as the president of Nagarhole Budakattu Jamma Pale Hakkustahapana Samithi, under the banner of which the community often holds protests demanding their basic rights.
According to the official website of Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, the forest is home to 45 tribal settlements or 'hadis' - 1,703 families belonging to the Jenu Kurubas Betta Kurubas, Yeravas and Soliga communities. It is further stated that the Central and State Governments have envisaged several welfare measures for the tribals living inside the forests.However Thimma has a different story to tell. “For years, they tried to evict you from these forests by depriving us of everything. Over the years, we have learned that even though there are many welfare schemes on paper, they rarely reach us. Forest Rights The Act was passed in 2006 to address the historical injustice done to us.
“We submitted our applications as per its provisions in 2009. But we are still waiting,” Thimma said.The people the government has appointed to implement those schemes get their salaries on time, but we hardly get any benefits from them."
The situation is much worse for the families who chose to relocate in the hope of a better life. In the 1970s, from near Nagarhole Gaddi Hadi, about 74 families were moved to Ponnampe taluk of Coorg district, earlier known as Begaru Parai. Now called Nanachi Gaddi Hadi, was transferred.
While the coffee plantations just across the road enjoy round-the-clock electricity and tap water, the Jenu Kurubas have to rely on primitive drainage pits dug by them – ironically, also deep in the forest, just outside their community. Members have access to proper wells and an NGO. Distributed solar set-ups that light one or two bulbs in their homes.But things go awry as election season approaches, said J S Ramakrishna, 43, who earns his living by working in the fields at nearby gardens as well as occasionally working as a driver. Earlier, vehicles could not enter our settlement due to the ditches built to prevent elephants from going to the coffee plantations. We had to plead for a bridge to connect with the road. After finally we were given permission during the last assembly elections,” Sai Ramakrishna.
Now, before the Lok Sabha elections, under the Jal Jeevan Mission, every household was given a tap connection six months ago and most have been sanctioned 400 sq ft pucca houses under PM Janman - some have started construction ."But there is no tap water yet. I think we will get water by the next election," Ramakrishna said. Things are so different in Erumad, a small town about 70 kilometers from Nagarhole, on the Tamil Nadu side of the Nilgiri biosphere. Are not. The Kurumbas living here have gained fame among the local people and nearby towns for their traditional bone-joining practices.
In a colony of Kurumbas, called 'Kudi' (each 'Kudi' has about 40 families), the tribals scoff at the mention of elections.However, they also know that this is the time when they have to be most assertive in their demands. Gradually over the years, through increased election campaigning, the Kurumbas in Eruma have secured access to water, electricity and pucca houses.
But Kannan, 64, who comes from a family of exorcists who were traditionally the only ones allowed to "heal" people, said the solution to the biggest problem still remains elusive. The demarcation of states after independence meant that the area where they lived came under Tamil Nadu and, according to Kannan, their community came under the Kurumba in Tamil Nadu. "We are Mulla Kurmans, originally from the Nilgiri biosphere. We are from the Kerala side, where 90 percent of our community still lives.The certificate classifying us as Kurumba is useless in Kerala, where our children are often married off. But they are not eligible for the benefits that the Mullah Kurmans get there.
Kannan said, "We have been struggling to get ourselves recognized as Mulla Kurmans even in Tamil Nadu since 1947. Before every election, politicians make promises to us, but we are still waiting."In Karnataka Lok Sabha elections will be held in two phases on 26 April and 7 May for 28 seats.
The children know that it is fortunate that no one had enjoyed it before them – the Anganwadi is the only permanent building in that forest settlement.
Anganwadi worker J Bhagya said the 12x12 room opened suddenly in July last year, after years of persuasion, perhaps because elections were around the corner. "We also got a toilet.“Earlier we were working out of a shed,” he said, pointing to a bamboo structure with a tarpaulin for the roof next door.
'These few and far between concessions for votes' are the reason why the Jenu Kurub community, which has been fighting the government for decades even for basic amenities - like land rights, access to water and electricity - is losing its votes, JK said. Are worried about giving. Thimma is the head of the settlement as well as the president of Nagarhole Budakattu Jamma Pale Hakkustahapana Samithi, under the banner of which the community often holds protests demanding their basic rights.
According to the official website of Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, the forest is home to 45 tribal settlements or 'hadis' - 1,703 families belonging to the Jenu Kurubas Betta Kurubas, Yeravas and Soliga communities. It is further stated that the Central and State Governments have envisaged several welfare measures for the tribals living inside the forests.However Thimma has a different story to tell. “For years, they tried to evict you from these forests by depriving us of everything. Over the years, we have learned that even though there are many welfare schemes on paper, they rarely reach us. Forest Rights The Act was passed in 2006 to address the historical injustice done to us.
“We submitted our applications as per its provisions in 2009. But we are still waiting,” Thimma said.The people the government has appointed to implement those schemes get their salaries on time, but we hardly get any benefits from them."
The situation is much worse for the families who chose to relocate in the hope of a better life. In the 1970s, from near Nagarhole Gaddi Hadi, about 74 families were moved to Ponnampe taluk of Coorg district, earlier known as Begaru Parai. Now called Nanachi Gaddi Hadi, was transferred.
While the coffee plantations just across the road enjoy round-the-clock electricity and tap water, the Jenu Kurubas have to rely on primitive drainage pits dug by them – ironically, also deep in the forest, just outside their community. Members have access to proper wells and an NGO. Distributed solar set-ups that light one or two bulbs in their homes.But things go awry as election season approaches, said J S Ramakrishna, 43, who earns his living by working in the fields at nearby gardens as well as occasionally working as a driver. Earlier, vehicles could not enter our settlement due to the ditches built to prevent elephants from going to the coffee plantations. We had to plead for a bridge to connect with the road. After finally we were given permission during the last assembly elections,” Sai Ramakrishna.
Now, before the Lok Sabha elections, under the Jal Jeevan Mission, every household was given a tap connection six months ago and most have been sanctioned 400 sq ft pucca houses under PM Janman - some have started construction ."But there is no tap water yet. I think we will get water by the next election," Ramakrishna said. Things are so different in Erumad, a small town about 70 kilometers from Nagarhole, on the Tamil Nadu side of the Nilgiri biosphere. Are not. The Kurumbas living here have gained fame among the local people and nearby towns for their traditional bone-joining practices.
In a colony of Kurumbas, called 'Kudi' (each 'Kudi' has about 40 families), the tribals scoff at the mention of elections.However, they also know that this is the time when they have to be most assertive in their demands. Gradually over the years, through increased election campaigning, the Kurumbas in Eruma have secured access to water, electricity and pucca houses.
But Kannan, 64, who comes from a family of exorcists who were traditionally the only ones allowed to "heal" people, said the solution to the biggest problem still remains elusive. The demarcation of states after independence meant that the area where they lived came under Tamil Nadu and, according to Kannan, their community came under the Kurumba in Tamil Nadu. "We are Mulla Kurmans, originally from the Nilgiri biosphere. We are from the Kerala side, where 90 percent of our community still lives.The certificate classifying us as Kurumba is useless in Kerala, where our children are often married off. But they are not eligible for the benefits that the Mullah Kurmans get there.
Kannan said, "We have been struggling to get ourselves recognized as Mulla Kurmans even in Tamil Nadu since 1947. Before every election, politicians make promises to us, but we are still waiting."In Karnataka Lok Sabha elections will be held in two phases on 26 April and 7 May for 28 seats.
