Tribal organisations to file case against officials over Aralam farm deaths

Tribal organisations, including the Adivasi-Dalit Munneta Samithi and Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha, have decided to approach the National Scheduled Tribes Commission and the State Scheduled Tribes Commission to file a case against the Kannur District Collector and the District Scheduled Tribes Officer on culpable homicide charges. M. Geethanandan, State co-ordinator of the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha, told The Hindu that the District Collector, as Chairman of the Tribal Rehabilitation Development Mission, and the District Scheduled Tribes Officer, as the Mission’s district convener, had the administrative responsibility for the deaths. Mr. Geethanandan pointed out that when the Aralam farm was purchased for tribal rehabilitation at ₹42 crore, a 13-km-long electric fence was in place. The organisation demanded immediate steps to install electric fences in areas where the protective wall was incomplete, electric fencing around clusters of tribal households to protect crops from animals, employment opportunities for resettled tribals, deployment of tribespeople in wildlife monitoring teams, the establishment of guard posts, closure of Forest department offices in tribal areas, compensation of ₹1 crore for each victim and an independent external agency to assess damage and losses suffered by the tribal community.