Rahul writes to Munda, raises problems of flood-affected tribals in Wayanad

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has written to Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda seeking clean drinking water and sustainable livelihood for vulnerable tribal groups who have been hit by floods in his Wayanad parliamentary constituency.

In his letter written on Monday and released to the media on Tuesday, Gandhi said Wayanad has a large population of scheduled tribes and was home to several particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) including Kadars and Kattunayakans.

"As many tribal colonies are located in hilly areas, floods and landslides have destroyed their habitations and rendered their lands uncultivable due to deposition of a slit,' Gandhi said.

He said during his recent visit, many tribal families appealed for early payment of monetary compensation and a comprehensive rehabilitation package.

Gandhi said rehabilitation schemes which focus on sustainability and developing climate resilience must be formulated due to vulnerabilities of scheduled tribes.

Pointing to the proposed visit to Inter-Ministerial Central Team to Kerala, Gandhi said provisioning of clean drinking water must be prioritised specially where communities are being relocated to safer locations.

Referring to Post Disaster Needs Assessment Report of 2018 Kerala floods, he said workers, particularly women from scheduled tribes, must be re-skilled to engage in climate-resilient agricultural work and natural resource protection under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

He said that schemes for skilling as well as creating a robust market for their products must be prioritised.

Gandhi called for measures to create disaster resilient housing for tribals which is sensitive to the ecological fragility of the area.

He hoped that the ministry will work "proactively" to help some of the most marginalised communities in Wayanad to chart a path to a more secure future.