Foot kits delayed due to tender, procurement process
According to tribal community leaders, families from tribal settlements are migrating to Mangaluru, Bengaluru and Keralam in search of livelihood
Mysuru: The delay in the distribution of food kits under the Integrated Tribal Development Project, coupled with drought conditions and a lack of employment opportunities, has forced many adivasi families in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts to migrate in search of work.According to tribal community leaders, families from tribal settlements are migrating to Mangaluru, Bengaluru and neighbouring Keralam in search of alternative sources of livelihood. They allege that the tribal affairs department has not distributed food kits for the past eight months. The twin districts are home to more than 21,000 tribal families.Sources attributed the delay in distribution to the tribal affairs department’s failure to finalise the tender process at the state level on time.With the primary objective of addressing malnutrition among vulnerable tribal communities living in dense forests and forest-fringe villages across nine districts, including Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, and Dakshina Kannada, the state govt has been distributing food kits to communities such as the Jenu Kuruba, Kadu Kuruba, Yerava and Soliga since 2008. These food kits are distributed every month during the six-month monsoon season and benefit more than 51,000 adivasi families across the nine districts.Each kit contains 8kg of rice, pulses, ragi, ghee, two litres of edible oil, groundnuts and other essential items. The sudden stoppage of food kit distribution since Jan, owing to delays in procurement and the tendering process, has triggered protests by various tribal welfare associations in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar.HD Kote Taluk Forest Rights Committee Federation president BM Nataraju said adivasi families who depended on the food kits were leaving their settlements and migrating to Kerala and Bengaluru in search of employment after the govt stopped distributing the kits in Jan.“As many families depend on the monthly food kits to meet their nutritional needs, the state govt must immediately resume distribution. It would also help if the govt allows district-level officers to procure the kits by awarding tenders locally instead of centralising the process,” he said.Families will get kits by Oct 1st week: Officer Speaking to TOI, Chamarajanagar district tribal welfare officer Bindiya said the distribution of food kits had been delayed for the past eight months in all nine districts due to delays in the tendering and procurement processes. “Now that the tender and procurement procedures have been completed, all identified adivasi beneficiary families will receive food kits by the first week of Oct,” she said.
