Since July 2, braving heavy rain and inclement weather, women have been assembling at a spot in Agali town both day and night to protest against any move to bring the Attappady Comprehensive Tribal and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups Development Project under the control of gram panchayats by delinking it from the National Rural Livelihood Mission.
“Gram panchayats will take away our rights and will destroy the goodwill generated by the four-year-old project,” said 57-year-old Maruthi, secretary of Thai Kula Sangham, a women’s collective that was formed in 2001 to curb alcoholism among the Adivasi community but later got involved in environmental activism. “It will affect the livelihood of thousands of Adivasi families.”
Though the state government has, so far, not announced any plan to delink the project from the National Rural Livelihood Mission, Local Self-Government Minister KT Jaleel hinted at the possibility on Saturday. “The government will change the name of the project if it decides to bring it under the control of gram panchayats,” he told Scroll.in. “The government is keen to improve the conditions of the Adivasi community. It is a top priority.”
Adivasis protest in Attappady. (Photo credit: Special arrangement).
Adivasis protest in Attappady. (Photo credit: Special arrangement).

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