Ekalavyanagar residents pin hopes on meeting with officials

The protestors, who have been camping near the Deputy Commissioner’s office with their families, are eating and sleeping at the protest site

About 200 families of nomadic tribes residing at Ekalavyanagar on the outskirts of Mysuru, many of whom have been camping near the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mysuru for more than three weeks now, are hoping for a solution to their long pending demand for hakku patras or ownership rights under the State Government’s Akrama Sakrama scheme at a meeting with officials scheduled for Wednesday.

Several people from the settlement have pitched tents near the Deputy Commissioner’s office for the last 26 days to press for their demand.

Chornalli Shivanna of the Dalit Sangharsha Samithi (DSS) said Deputy Commissioner Bagadi Gautham has convened a meeting with the representativs of the protestors with officials including Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) B.R. Poornima and Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) Commissioner Lakshmikant Reddy, besides officials from the Karnataka State Slum Development Board to discuss their demands.

Explaining the background of the protest, Mr. Shivanna said the residents of Ekalavyanagar, who belong to nomadic tribes, were earlier residing in tents near Hebbal lake. They were relocated to government land in Shyadanahalli Survey Number 53 about 20 years ago. When the government decided to construct houses for them under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) about 12 years ago, they were shifted to another plot of land – Survey No. 37 of Shyadanahalli, which is gomala and B Kharab land.

But, the nomadic tribes, who are unable to reside in the multi-storeyed houses constructed under JNNURM, refused to shift to the new accomodation. “They are nomadic tribes, with cattle and other livestock. How can they reside in multi-storeyed houses,” Mr. Shivanna questioned.

Hence, they submitted an application to the State Government for regularising their houses built in Survey No. 37 of Shyadanahalli in Ekalavyanagar under the Akrama Sakrama instead. “About 166 families had submitted applications to the government that had invited applications for regularising houses built on government land recently,” he said.

All the residents have Aadhaar cards, ration cards, voters’ IDs, caste certificates, income certificates and other documents while the settlement has been provided with electricity and water connection by the Naganahalli Gram Panchayat. But, efforts are being made to evict them from their settlements in Survey No. 37 in Shyadanahalli in Ekalavyanagar, Mr. Shivanna said.