Latest news with #ScheduledTribesDevelopmentdepartment
The Hindu
2 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
Two-day seminar in State capital to focus on tribal life and knowledge
A two-day national seminar exploring the different facets of tribal communities' cultural and everyday existence will begin at the Loyola College of Social Science at Sreekaryam here on Thursday. Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes O.R. Kelu will inaugurate the seminar 'Glimpses of tribal life: Knowledge and intangible expressions' on Thursday. Renu Raj, Director, Scheduled Tribes Development department, will preside over the inaugural function. Sanal Mohan, historian and former director of the Kerala Historical Research Council (KHRC), will deliver the keynote address. Organised by the Department of MSW Disaster Management at Loyola College in collaboration with the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (KIRTADS), Kozhikode, the workshop brings together activists, scholars, artists, ethnic food experts, tribal healers, and community representatives from Kerala and beyond. It aims at providing a comprehensive understanding of tribal life, with a focus on cultural, ecological, and socio-political dimensions. The event will feature academic paper presentations by researchers from across the country, thematic panel discussions, and interactive sessions led by members of tribal communities. An exhibition showcasing artworks, handicrafts, and indigenous knowledge systems curated by tribal artists and experts will be open throughout the workshop. The second day of the workshop will include two online keynote lectures to mark World Indigenous Peoples' Day. Linguist and literary theorist G.N. Devy will speak on the Existential crises faced by tribal communities in India, while Canadian scholar Zoe Todd will reflect on the Loss of sovereignty among indigenous peoples in Western Canada.
The Hindu
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Saseendran expresses concern over tribal deaths, calls for steps to adopt indigenous knowledge
Expressing concern over the disturbing trend of tribal fatalities in wildlife attacks, Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran has assured steps to study the factors leading to the alarming pattern. He was inaugurating a State-level workshop on Gothrabheri, an initiative aimed at integrating indigenous knowledge into wildlife conflict mitigation strategies, here on Wednesday. Mr. Saseendran said while various human-wildlife conflict mitigation projects initiated by the Forest department had begun to show results, the loss of tribal lives remained a pressing issue. He pointed out that 67 people lost their lives in wildlife-related incidents during 2024-25. Of these, 34 were due to snakebites and 19 due to elephant attacks. Alarmingly, 13 of those killed by elephants belonged to tribal communities. Chief Wildlife Warden Pramod G. Krishnan pointed out that the trend was unusual since tribespeople were traditionally known to coexist harmoniously with wildlife. He emphasised the need to examine whether changes in animal or human behaviour or other external factors were contributing to this shift. The Gothrabheri programme has been conceptualised to collect, document, and incorporate tribal ecological knowledge into official conservation and conflict mitigation policies. As part of the initiative, 18 regional seminars were held across Kerala, engaging as many as 1,016 tribal representatives from all 360 unnathis (tribal hamlets) in the State. Insights gathered from these interactions are being consolidated and studied for implementation. The initiative is a collaborative effort involving the Scheduled Tribes Development department, the Kerala Forest Research Institute, and other agencies, including the State Planning Board and the Kerala Startup Mission, to convert tribal insights into actionable government programmes. Highlighting Kerala's unique approach, Mr. Saseendran added that the government was investing in modern technologies and fostering inter-departmental coordination to enable transformative solutions in this area. Head of Forest Force in-charge and Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF) P. Pugazhendi presided over the inaugural session. APCCFs L. Chandrasekhar, J. Justin Mohan, Scheduled Tribes Development department Director Renu Raj, State Planning Board member Jiju P. Alex, Kerala Forest Research Institute Director Kannan C.S. Warrier, Kerala State Biodiversity Board Chairman N. Anil Kumar, Raman Rajamannan, tribal king of the Mannan tribal community of Kovilmala in Idukki, and Periyar Tiger Reserve Field Director P.P. Pramod participated.
