Somalia remark: Food for thought

It would be fair to the impoverished tribals of Attapadi if both chief minister Oommen Chandy and CM-in-waiting Pinarayi Vijayan get their acts right before politicizing the tribal issue and blaming Prime Minster Narendra Modi for 'insulting the people of Kerala.' A detailed study done by research scholars of Chittur College, Palakkad ­ analyzing the livelihood status of tribes in Attapadi block revealed that the Human Development Indices (HDI) of this tribal block and African ountries like Somalia and Ethiopia are almost the same.
On Wednesday, Chandy upped the political ante and wrote to the Prime Minister: The people of Kerla were shocked to hear certain baseless comments in your recent election speech comparing Somalia and Kerala.
CPM member Pinarayi Vijayan too came out in support of Chandy and said Modi was venting his anger and frustration over Keralites for not electing BJP and hence the comparison. But PM Modi's off­thecuff utterances (he chose not to speak about this issue in a Kochi rally on Wednesday) is not far off the mark.
The research study said HDI of the three major communities Irula, Muduga, Kurumbain Attapadi is similar to the HDIs of African countries like Somalia, which is ranked abysmally low by the United Nation Development Programme.
"In comparison, the non-tribes of Kerala are far ahead in terms of HDI value and there is a wide disparity that exist in human development status between tribes and non-tribes, especially Attapadi," the study said. The gender-related development Index (GDI) of the three tribal groups is the lowest among all states and is comparable to African countries like Rwanda and Benin, ranked 178 and 181 by the UNDP . Child rights activist Rajendra Prasad, fighting for tribal rights in Attapadi, said that successive UDF and LDF governments have done nothing much other than constructing government buildings in the region. "The conditions are akin to what exists in an impoverished African country and is a blot on the consciousness of literate Kerala," he said. Data procured under The Right to Information Act too pointed out this grim state of affairs.Over the past three years, 595 infants died in Palakkad. Following a series of infant deaths, the state government had announced a Rs 400-crore package two years ago. But this has not yielded the desired effect as pregnant women are not getting adequate medical care.
"Most state government initiatives are in a limbo, be it the community kitchen project, sanitation programme or improvement on rundown anganwadis. Same is the case of primary health centres and the tribal hospital," Prasad said. He added that of the 174 anganwadis, only 66 have toilet facilities.
"The main issue ­ alienation of land has not been addressed till date. The changing demography in Attapadi block has adversely affected the fortunes of tribesmen with settlers pushing tribals out of their land, thereby affecting traditional livelihood over a period of time," said Maneesha M Chathely , a social activist who had written to the PMO on this issue a week ago.