Ramping up collective action in pursuit of their charter of demands, including naming of Mulugu district after tribal deities -Sammakka and Sarakka, scores of Adivasis owing allegiance to various Adivasi organisations embarked on a 130-km. padayatra, titled Chalo Medaram, from Telangana’s tribal heartland of Bhadrachalam on Sunday.
Dozens of Adivasis started off on the foot march to Mulugu district's Medaram, the venue of the four-day mega tribal fair - Sammakka Sarakka jatara, after paying floral tributes to the statues of tribal martyrs Komaram Bheem and Alluri Sitarama Raju in Bhadrachalam late on Sunday afternoon.
Adivasi Sankshema Parishad (ASP) national president Dhatla Nageswara Rao, Telangana State unit president Uke Shankar and Adivasi Vidyarthi Sankshema Parishad State president Ramachandar Rao flagged off the padayatra at Ambedkar statue in the temple town.
ASP Bhadradri-Kothagudem district president V Chandraiah Dora presided over a meeting held in this connection. ASP coordinator Madivi Nehru and others were present.
Speaking on the occasion, the Adivasi leaders said the foot march is aimed at mounting pressure on the government to initiate concrete action to protect the rights of indigenous people and preserve the distinctive Adivasi cultural heritage.
They demanded that a special column be introduced for enumerating the population of Adivasis spread across the country in the census-2021 to create a reliable demographic data for effectively implementing welfare schemes in proportionate to the exact population of indigenous people.
The other main demands of the Adivasi organisations include protecting vast tracts of forest lands inhabited by Adivasis and averting the alleged impending submergence of the low-lying areas in the temple town of Bhadrachalam from the threat of backwaters of the upcoming Polavaram project in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, removal of the plain area tribes from the list of STs, protection of rights of Adivasis enshrined in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.
