Around 150 Hakki-Pikki families, settled at Angadihalli in Belur taluk, have been struggling hard to get basic needs fulfilled as they had no income for the past three months. Many of them staying put in thatched huts earn their livelihood by selling forest produces with medicinal value and decorative items made of plastic. With the lockdown in place, they could not step out for two months. Even after the lockdown was lifted, they hardly had any business.
Whenever they went out to sell the products, the public forced them to return without doing business. “We don’t know what to do and how to feed our families”, said a member of the community, Lalesh. Fearing the spread of COVID-19 infection, people did not entertain them. These families, who moved out of the forests in recent decades, do not possess agriculture land. A majority of them never studied in a school.
With no other sources of income, they spent all their savings during the lockdown for daily expenses. “Now they are taking rice and other essential items from my shop on loan. Every day each family purchases a kilo of rice. I too cannot run my shop like this for long”, said Kunnisa, who runs a grocery shop at Angadihalli.
The residents have demanded the district administration and elected representatives to provide them relief. A couple of them have also made videos of their statements and circulated them in the district, to attract the attention of the district administration.
