By P.T. Bopanna
After the historic march by the Kodavas, the demand for Scheduled Tribe status for the community, is akin to serving old wine in new bottle.
While the Kodava organisations behind the 82 km and six-day march from Kutta to Madikeri can take credit for their organising skills, the memorandum they submitted to the Kodagu deputy commission on Friday (in picture) for mainly according ST tag for the community is not a well thought out idea because Kodavas do not have the criteria to qualify for the ST tag.
It should be noted that the criterion followed for declaring a tribe as Scheduled Tribes, include indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the community at large, and backwardness. Surely, Kodavas do not come under most of the parameters required for the ST tag.
However, the government has the powers to overlook these parameters and confer the ST status. This is unlikely to happen because of the poor electoral clout of the Kodavas.
Prior to recommending for ST tag, the government has to conduct a socio-economic survey to ascertain whether the community satisfies the criterion.
In 2016, a survey was started when Siddaramaiah was the chief minister. The then secretary, social welfare department, P. Manivannan, was quoted as saying: “Our department has been doing the survey for the past two weeks. Apparently, the culture and traditions of the Kodavas are akin to tribals but the government cannot grant them the status unless the survey establishes it.”
The survey was put on hold after former MLC A.K Subbaiah, father of current Virajpet MLA A. S. Ponnanna, met Siddaramaiah, and told him: “Kodavas do not need any tribal status. They are way forward in terms of socio-economic parameters and literacy. They cannot be compared to tribals like Kadu Kuruba and Hakki-Pikki, among others.”
Kodavas ideally qualify for the tag of religious minority. It is better to avail religious minority tag because this gives Constitutional protection for the land, firearms, and ainmanes (ancestral homes) of the Kodavas. And there is provision for educational scholarships and other grants for the community.
