Mysuru: Decked with strings of forest flowers, leaves and bamboo sticks, an air of celebration descended on the Bedaguli tribal hamlet , 60 kms from Chamarajnagar, Wednesday evening as its people welcomed the district’s officials led by Deputy Commissioner B B Cauvery and Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive OfficerHarish Kumar K. for their overnight stay in their midst.
The officials were in the hamlet to interact with the tribals and understand their problems, spending the cold night among them. They intended to interact with 500 tribals of six hamlets besides Bedaguli under the "Haadi vaasthavya" programme.
Once they had shared their problems with them, the tribals, dressed in their traditional attire, entertained the officials with their songs and dances and treated them to a traditional meal of genasu (sweet potato) with honey, ragi roti, hurali palya and more. The officials, who stayed at the tribal school in Bedaguli, visited all the other hamlets Thursday morning before leaving for Chamarajnagar.
Dr Harish Kumar began the “Haadi vaasthavya” programme a few months ago inspired by the Grama Vasthavya programme of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
Wednesday’s overnight stay with the tribals was the fourth of its kind . Speaking to the Deccan Chronicle, Dr Kumar said the programme was intended to understand the problems of the tribals and instill a trust in the system among them.
“They wanted direct government assistance in building houses to prevent cornering of its funds by middlemen and asphalting of the punajur road connecting their hamlets with Chamarajnagar. While there is a private bus to their hamlets, they wanted a government bus too. Also, the women complained of alcoholism among men and so we plan to conduct de-addiction workshops among them,” he added.
