Mangaluru : Minister for Health and Family Welfare U T Khader said that plans are on anvil to open fair price shops in tribal hamlets and to provide the agencies to tribals.   

Presiding over the valedictory session of the National Seminar organised by the department of political science at Canara College in Mangaluru on Friday, the minister said that steps will be taken by the government to ensure zero cliometrician among tribals and in this regard, fair price shops will be opened in tribal hamlets to provide them with food grains.

He further said that towards the proper utilisation of funds in the health department, meant for tribals, programmes will be chalked out after consulting tribals and studying their needs.

Among tribals, most of child births take place in houses. Awareness will be created by the department to convince the advantage of institution deliveries over domestic deliveries.

Also, vaccination of pregnant women and children will be stressed upon. Steps will be taken to create awareness among tribals on diseases like sickle cell anaemia. The tribal community should give significance to education. They should not neglect their children’s education, he said.

A resolution was accepted during the seminar towards several demands for the betterment of forest dwellers and tribals. The demands include : to cancel 116 ashram schools in the state and to start modern residential schools in Kerala model, to start tuition centers in tribal hamlets, to conduct bridge course for school dropouts, to start tribal children fest and tribal children’s sports fest every year, complete health check up for women and children of tribal hamlets, to chalk out programmes for de-addiction of people in tribal hamlets, to activate girijana mobile health units, to provide toilets for every tribal families, to grant permission for tribal people to collect forest resources for sacred rituals and festivals, to declare Erava, Bettakuruba, Soliga and Malekudiya communities as particularly vulnerable tribal group, to provide job security to tribal women, to declare the areas of highest traditional forest dwellers as revenue villages etc. Canara College principal Dr K V Malini and former Principal G N Bhat were present among others.