Leaders of the disadvantaged Kolam ethnic tribe in the erstwhile Adilabad district, who believe that political power can usher in the change that they desire, have launched an initiative to build consensus within the tiny community for bagging the post of chairperson of Aboriginal Tribes Welfare Advisory Committee (ATWAC), which functions under the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Utnoor.
The post, which was mostly occupied by the dominant Raj Gond tribe leaders, fell vacant last month and the Kolams, who are categorised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) due to their backwardness, want one of them to be nominated to it.
The post was created in 1981 following the Indervelli police firing in which many Adivasis were killed. The move was intended to focus on the needs of the Adivasis in the district. In the past, the post was occupied by five incumbents, four Raj Gonds and one Pardhan tribal.
The aboriginal Kolam tribe, which has a population of over 33,000, a small fraction of the total of 4.98 lakh tribal population in the erstwhile Adilabad district, at present has just 20 sarpanches and three Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) members as its political representatives. The need for increased representation of the tribe is being felt more now, which has led to leaders gathering opinion on the issue even from the lowest rung.
Among those who strongly feel that a Kolam needs to be nominated to the ATWAC chairperson post is the MPTC member from Keslapur in Indervelli mandal, Madavi Bheem Rao. He has been addressing his community people in Kolam habitations every day to build a consensus among them on the issue.
To meet CM
“We will seek help from Forest Minister A. Indrakaran Reddy, Asifabad MLA Athram Sakku, Khanapur MLA A. Rekha Naik and Adilabad MLA Jogu Ramanna in this regard. With their help, we intend to meet Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao or TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao,” Mr. Bheem Rao said.
“We are a shy people and have remained ignorant of development and welfare programmes. But now, we will not show any reluctance in approaching an incumbent from our tribe, which will have a positive impact on our current socio-economic conditions,” said Sidam Anniga, the sarpanch of Chaupanguda in Wankidi mandal in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district, who is part of the initiative.