Efforts on to bring back tribals stuck in Sudan: DC

Deputy Commissioner visits H.D. Kote’s Tiger Block, Hunsur’s Pakshirajapura, speaks with families

H.D. Kote: Over 116 members of the Hakki-Pikki tribal community from Hunsur, Pakshirajapura and Tiger Block in H.D. Kote are stuck in violence-hit Sudan, even as the government is making efforts to bring them back.

Hakki-Pikki community, one of the important nomadic communities of the State, are known for their various indigenous herbal products. Along with Hakki-Pikki communities there are Shillekyatas, also a tribal community, who live in Shankarapura and Pakshirajapura villages in Hunsur Taluk and at Tiger Block in H.D. Kote.

Last evening, Deputy Commissioner Dr. K.V. Rajendra visited the Tiger Block and Pakshirajapura and spoke with the relatives of the people stuck in strife-torn foreign land. He told the tribal populace that all efforts are being made to bring back their relatives and the Indian High Commission and Ministry of External Affairs were in close contact with the Sudanese Government to ensure safety of Indians there. The DC also made a video call to the tribals at Sudan.

For the community members, who are basically nomadic and do not have any other means to earn a livelihood, what started as a routine business trip to sell Ayurvedic medicines in Sudan has now turned into a nightmare. They were selling plant extracts and offering massages to people with body ache and other ailments.

Visiting the houses of the families, the DC told them to keep in constant touch with their relatives in Sudan over phone and ask them to update about their condition and the efforts that are being done by the Indian Government to bring them back. The DC also sought information from the villagers on which agency arranged the visa, travel and passports.

Instructing Taluk Officers to regularly visit the families and assure them of protection, Dr. Rajendra said that their welfare must be ensured. The community leaders told the DC that the Government must release land for the community, enabling them to cultivate crops. In the absence of land and resources, the community members are forced to go abroad to sell their traditional                                                       forest knowledge.

Tahsildar Mahesh, Taluk Backward Classes Department Officer Narayanaswamy, Social Welfare Department Officer  Ramaswamy, Taluk Panchayat Executive Officer Rajesh Gerald, Election Officer Kumuda Sharath, Tribal Extension Officer Nagaraj, Village Accountant Divya and others were present.