Ranchi: Newly appointed members of the Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) from the BJP quota boycotted the maiden meeting of the council, chaired by chief minister Hemant Soren, here on Monday. Though the meeting convened virtually was more of a formality, it had political undertones as both ruling and opposition parties exchanged barbs.
Chairing the meeting, Soren said the council’s rules were not framed even after 20 years of Jharkhand’s existence. “We not only framed the rules for the first time but also nominated the members so that the council, lying defunct since last one-and-half years, can start functioning in the interest of the tribal population of the state,” he said.
Wayanad s isolated tribal hamlet keeps virus at bay
Belonging to the Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Group, the Cholanayakas are completely cut-off from the mainstream and live inside the forest in perfect harmony with nature.
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Cholanayaka Chieftain Cheriya Velutha with his family at their settlement at Parappanpara in Wayanad. Cheriya Velutha passed away recently. (File Photo | Express)
Express News Service
KOZHIKODE: “We have been under quarantine 24x7 for decades, even before the advent of the coronavirus, smiles Parappanpara native Raghu.
He is spot on describing the extremely disconnected life his community has been leading since time immemorial. The 29-year-old is among 60 Cholanayaka people who live in the most isolated and difficult-to-reach tribal settlement in Wayanad district Parappanpara under the Moopainad panchayat.
Twenty-one more members of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in Odisha were afflicted with coronavirus, taking their number to 45, official sources said on Sunday. The PVTG is a classification by the central government for tribes based on their relative physical isolation, declining population, low levels of literacy and pre- agricultural stage of economy such as hunting, food gathering and shifting cultivation. Before 2016, PVTGs were known as Primitive Tribal Groups. While the number of PVTG people infected with COVID-19 was 21 till Friday, 10 more members of the Bonda tribe and 14 of the Dongaria Kondha community tested positive for the virus since Saturday, officials said.