About 250 families of the Korga community, the only Particularly Vulnerable Adivasi (PVT) community living in Pavur village of Vorkadi panchayat and Udayavaru and Kunjathur in Manjevaram panchayat of Kasaragod district are yet to get ownership rights.
This is despite the recent distribution of 589 title deeds by the state government in the district.
The tribals, many of whom have converted to Christianity, claim that in 1913 the Madras Presidency gave 308 acres of land to Fr. Alexander Komisa will be handed over to the Korga community and other disadvantaged groups.
The land is now spread over Manjeshwaram and Vorkadi panchayats.
Although members of the community are unable to claim ownership of the land, the Holy Cross Church under Mangalore Diocese claims that the land belonged to the Church.
NS. Varghese of Holy Cross Church said the documents proved that the land was meant for the welfare of tribals and other backward groups. The land was now in the name of the chief bishop of the Mangalore diocese.
“We have taken up the matter with the Mangalore diocese, and a committee has been formed to resolve the issue and give pattas to the adivasis in possession of the land,” Fr. Varghese said.
However, community members alleged that no steps were taken by the church or government officials to address the issue.
Robert Pera, a member of the Korga community living in Pavur Colony, said that whenever the community raised the issue, the church was quick to claim its rights over the land.
Panchayat and village offices have also refused to give information regarding the land. Mr Pera claimed that though the church was paying land tax in Udayavaru and Kunjathur villages, the village authorities had stopped collecting it after the matter came to light. However, the Vorkadi village office continues to collect the tax, he said.
Another aboriginal, Stefan Varda, said that since the church claimed rights to the land, it was building buildings, which should be given to the aborigines in the right way.
“After a protest started, church officials threatened the tribals saying they would lose the diocese’s land,” Mr Varada alleged.
He said that the authorities did not take the matter seriously and as a result outsiders also started encroaching on the land.
For the record, many tribals had built houses using funds provided under the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups project of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
Similarly, other funds are also being used for the upliftment of the community under the Scheduled Tribes Development Department.
However, in the absence of a title deed, the community members are unable to avail benefits such as construction of houses under the LIFE mission project.
When contacted, the panchayat secretaries of Vorkadi and Manjeshwaram said that they were unaware of such a tribal community.
Tribal Extension Officer T. Madhu said the authorities have discussed the issue with the church and they want to resolve it amicably.
Adivasi Dalit Munetta Samiti president Sriram Koyon said the government’s failure to address the issue was injustice.
He said that even if the church has land, it can hold more than 50 acres of land. He asked how the Mangalore diocese could claim the land given to the tribal community.
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