There are many Acts but no action on tribal welfare, says Khasi Chief

The Hindu: Visakhapatnam: Friday, 10 October 2014.

There are many Acts to protect the rights of tribals, but there is no action by either officers or the ministers. Chairman Grand Council of Chiefs of Meghalaya John F Karshiing said.

The framers of our Constitution realised the need to protect the rights of tribal people as they were a weak minority and the Government has created a separate National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST). However, justice continues to elude the voiceless tribal people, he said interacting with representatives of various ST employees associations at the Girijan Bhavan here on Thursday.

There is a need for the Government to take a re-look at the mandate of the NCST and strengthen it and also fix a time frame for the redressal of grievances of the tribals. When there is a time frame for response to RTI why can’t the Government fix a timeframe for redressal of grievances of tribals? He asked.

Further, there is a need for the people of all tribes to unite and fight for their rights. In Meghalaya they conduct a Maha Panchayat every three years and the people come at their own expense to attend it. “We have gone around the villages and explained the importance of attending the Maha Panchayat to ensure our rights,” he said.

He urged the assembled representatives to discuss it among their members and take steps to conduct a Maha Panchayat of tribal people in the State and make it a regular feature. A show of numbers would force the authorities to take note of tribal people and their issues and focus on redressing it. Further, people from other communities would think twice before harassing tribal employees like it is happening in the Girijan Cooperative Corporation here, he added.

President AP ST Employees Welfare Association K Rama Rao, secretary A Simhachalam Naidu, chief advisor Olesu Ramalingam and president Adivasi Reservation Porata Samithi R S Dora and a number of ST employees were present.