Tribal status to Betta-Kuruba communities in Karnataka; LS passes bill
Bengaluru, 20th December 2022: Lok Sabha on Friday passed a bill to include ‘Betta-Kuruba’ community along with ‘Kadu Kuruba’ community in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Karnataka.
Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said that the bill seeks to provide justice to the Betta-Kuruba community living in Chamarajnagar, Kodagu and Mysuru districts of Karnataka
“The state government of Karnataka has requested to include ‘Betta-Kuruba’ community as a synonym of ‘Kadu Kuruba’ in entry 16 in the list of Scheduled Tribes of Karnataka,” said the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill.
“The community which has a population of just about 5,000 people, are still far away from the Constitution,” Munda said, during discussion on the Bill. “We attained Independence 75 years ago. But the 5,000 people (of Betta-Kuruba community) did not get justice.”
“Through this Bill, their living standard will improve, they will get education and their social structure in the hierarchy will improve. A last mile justice will be done,” S C Udasi, MP from Haveri in Karnataka, said.
“They suffer from lack of education. Their occupation involves collection of forest produce and bamboo. They have their own dialect with no script. They use primitive hunting tools. They have a distinct culture. They follow animism,” said Udasi.
