Kudumbashree tribal hand

KOZHIKODE: All the members of the tribal communities in Wayanad have come under Kudumbashree Mission and a declaration to this effect will be made on Thursday. The target has been achieved through Kudumbashree’s ‘Gothrashree’ programme, launched four months ago. During the campaign, 788 new ‘Ayalkootams’ were formed encompassing 9,000 families.

“The Paniya, Kattunay-kka and Adiya communities among tribals are very much opposed to join the mainstream. Our many attempts to woo them met with failure. We then floated an idea and trained 105 educated youth among them. Through these youth, we successfully convinced others,” said Kudumbashree Wayanad district coordinator P.P. Mohammad.

Earlier, 1,600 Ayalkoottams comprising tribals were formed in the district, a majority of them from Kurichya and Kuruma communities. In the next stage, all the tribal members would be provided with training on entrepreneurship, savings and operating bank accounts.

“A corpus fund of Rs 10,000 should be allotted to each Ayalkootam. Besides, Rs 500 as initial deposit and skill training to five office bearers of each Ayalkootam should be given,” he said.

Special training is being provided to ‘Ooru Moopan’ and ‘Moopathi’ to pass the lessons to each member. “The foraying of Kudumbashree into tribal communities will make them shed their inhibitions while joining the mainstream. Through various small entrepreneurial ventures, they can overcome the trauma of timidity,” Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) Wayanad officer K. Krishnan said. The official declaration will take place at Kaniyampatta in Kalpetta.