From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Sep 4: Over 400 families of the Scheduled Tribe Kudiya community in Kodagu district will be provided nutritious food and supplies to help with post-flood recovery.

With this move, more families will be brought under the welfare umbrella, and go a long way towards sustainable, and people-oriented development goals of the state.

This comes after a team of officials from the Social Welfare department, Government of Karnataka visited flood-hit Kodagu districts and assessed damage, immediate needs, and long-term rehabilitation requirements.

The state government had earlier implemented a programme under which vulnerable and marginalised communities and those belonging to Scheduled Tribes such as Jenu Kuruba, Erava, Soliga, Kadu Kuruba - in Kodagu district, as well as Kadu Kuruba, Jenu Kuruba, Soliga, Irava, Siddi, Male Kudi, Kadiya, Gowdalu, and Hasalaru tribes living in forest areas of Mysuru, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts have been receiving additional food supplies, as well as their allotted rations.

Families from these communities were being provided 15 kgs of staple grains such as rice, wheat, or ragi, 5 kgs of toor dal, 5 kgs of pulses such as horse gram, cowpea, or green gram, 2 litres of cooking oil, 4 kgs of sugar and jaggery, 45 eggs, and 1 kg Nandini ghee every month.

This is in addition to the ration they receive under Anna Bhagya scheme.
As many as 41,476 tribal families living in 8 districts in the state are being provided with this facility.

The state government had allotted a total of Rs 60 crore annual grant for the same.

“Tribal communities living near forest regions must not suffer from malnutrition,” said Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara.

“We will do our best to reach out to every family and individual to ensure that the government and all the schemes are accessible at the bottom of the pyramid,’’ he said.

After the Kodagu floods, Social Welfare department found that 400 families belonging to Kudiya tribe were not included in the scheme. They have now been brought under the programme.

Social Welfare minister Priyank Kharge said, “Our surveys showed that many families belonging to the marginalised Kudiya community were not protected by the welfare net.’’

“Chances of malnutrition are also higher among marginalised communities. We are taking immediate steps to rectify the situation. These families will be given nutritious food, and we will ensure that we will do all that we can to enable with infrastructure & livelihood opportunities,’’ he said.

It is noteworthy that the Social Welfare department had earlier launched mobile healthcare units that will provide primary health care and services to these communities.