‘Nomadic tribes need more funds’

NT Correspondent

The Federation of Karnataka State Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes on Wednesday demanded the state government to allocate Rs 250 crore for Karnataka Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Development Corporation.

Speaking with media persons here on Wednesday, B K Narayanaswamy, vice president of the Federation said there are 46 tribes consisting 75 lakh people in the state, but the state government allocated only Rs 5.29 crore last year to the Corporation. “We have submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai requesting him to allocate Rs 250 crore to the Karnataka Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Development Corporation,’’ he said.

He has also demanded that the state government restore the discretionary quota of the chairman of the Corporation. “As per information available with us, the chairman had toured 22 districts and recommended financial assistance to 249 poor people as per the 5th Board of Directors’ meeting, and 20 people under Ganga Kalyana Scheme, but the government cancelled the chairman’s discretionary quota. It has affected 269 beneficiaries while others were deprived of government welfare schemes,’’ he added.