A recent decision taken by the gram sabha of Bethora Panchayat district, located in Shiroda assembly constituency in the Ponda taluka could spell disaster for the families of the monkey hunter’s tribe known as Wanarmare.
These are 80-odd members across around 20-odd families that recently were brought under the food security act and given ration cards and aadhar cards. Although this was done, they have lived for years in conditions of abject poverty and have been denied the right of shelter, living in thatched huts.
However, it was surprising when they were granted ration and aadhar cards recently by the district collector and it seems to have spurred and motivated a section of the Bethora populace to come to this decision and push this resolution. Sources have stated that the fact that the tribal community got these documents at a perceived quicker rate compared to them who have been experiencing delays in getting similar documents has aggravated the situation.
Furthermore, locals who have called for their eviction from the village have justified their demands and have alleged that the tribal community is a threat and dangerous. “This is an outrage and their grounds have no merit. This move should have been welcomed and there are no criminal cases against them so the question of being dangerous does not arise,” said a sympathiser from Ponda.
Incidentally, several sympathisers and well-wishers have come forward in the recent past to try and help the family members. Some of them have sent basic requirements like blankets, medicines, jackets while others have helped them get admission into schools recently and also provide them with utility products like solar lamps.
A visit to their area of residence on the outskirts of Kosamshelli ward in Bethora village not only conveys their plight but also speaks volumes of the difficulties they face every day.
“They are skilled with the bow and arrow and their livelihood was in the art of killing monkeys but that has now become illegal. They are not able to gain employment using these skill sets so have to search for other jobs such as manual labour that does not pay them much,” said Shyam Desai.
They don’t have access to health centres or pharmacies which are located far away and they rely on traditional remedies derived from the forest. The forest dwellers who were originally from Maharashtra know the wildlife extremely well and have lived there for generations but the lack of proper documentation had earlier come in the way of them receiving birth and death certificates or access to fair price shops and ration cards or any personal documents that could have given them access to government schemes.
Sympathisers who do not wish to be named as they feel the situation has gotten unnecessarily politicised point out that what the tribal communities had been demanding was their legitimate rights as per the constitution. They also question the legal standing of the gram sabha
resolution.
“These people do have access to proper drinking facilities and make arrangements from natural resources. They cook their food with ancient traditional methods that are followed by forest dwellers and this raises concerns of hygiene and the cleanliness of what they consume. The government administration has taken the first step in a long list of steps that need to be taken and thus has to take a firm stand and help the tribes,” added Ramesh Kamat.
The tribal community who are also found at other places in Goa like Sattari, Valpoi and Pernem used to earlier face such calls for evacuation from the forest department given that they reside in forest areas. Sources pointed out that right now some of them are working at sugarcane plantations but the situation where they are facing the imminent threat of eviction has caused them hardships and has left them insecure.
Ministers in the past, including chief ministers have made promises for their upliftment and it was also suggested that they be hired by those whose plantations or houses are affected by monkeys and methods like beating the drums or firecrackers are not working. However, these schemes failed to materialise while the tribal affairs department had also spoken about how they could apply for schemes from their department but the lack of proper documentation prevented them from applying for the
same recently.
It is to be noted that the Maharashtra and Karnataka governments have recognized and have taken steps to rehabilitate the same tribal communities such as ensuring that they have access to food, shelter and health care and education facilities besides government schemes.
