State level dialogue on Adivasi issues at KSTRI

Date: 11 August 2026 (Tuesday)
Venue: Auditorium, Karnataka State Tribal Research Institute (KSTRI), Mysore
Occasion: International Day of Indigenous Peoples (9 August 2026)

Source: Report shared by Muthaiah V, Coordinator, Federation of Karnataka State Forest-Dwellers Tribal/Adivasi People’s Organizations

On 11 August 2026, a state-level dialogue was held at the KSTRI auditorium in Mysore, bringing together representatives of PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups) and 12 forest-dependent original Adivasi communities. The programme was convened as part of the International Day of Indigenous Peoples observance on 9 August 2026. What follows is a summary of the proceedings as reported by Muthaiah V.

Programme Inauguration

The dialogue was inaugurated with a lamp lighting by Smt. Muttamma, a Jenukuruba woman from Kodagu and recipient of the Valmiki Award, under the presidency of Smt. Girijamba, Deputy Director of KSTRI.

The Director of the Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department participated virtually and delivered the keynote address. Dr. Chandrashekar R.V. (Professor, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, NLSIU Bengaluru) and Dr. Krishnamurthy (Research Officer, Centre for Original Adivasi Studies, KSTRI) attended as chief guests.

Dr. Madegowda, Asha, Ganesh Kalkar, and Vaddarahalli Krishnamurthy were present as resource persons. Community representatives included J.T. Rajappa (Jenukuruba), Jadeswamy (Soliga), Chikka Bomma (Betta Kuruba), Krishnamurthy V.H. (Iruliga), Malleshappa (Hasalaru), Shailendra Kumar (Yarava), Ramanath Siddi (Siddi), Meenakshi (Gowdalu), and Bharath Chandra Devaiah (Kudiya).

Key Presentation Points by Community Members

Soliga

• Resource Mapping: Mapping of original Adivasi community forest habitats, landmarks, and resources (conservation and management).

• Strict Restrictions: Imposition of severe restrictions due to commercial interests such as Tiger Reserves, Elephant Corridors, Eco-Sensitive Zones, carbon/oxygen credit trading, and eco-tourism.

• FRA Implementation: Timely disposal of pending applications for land, housing sites, and Community Forest Resource (CFR) rights under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.

• Livelihood Support: Skill development, capacity building, and value-addition models for forest produce, agriculture, and food crops to ensure sustainable livelihoods.

• Caste Certificate Misuse: Immediate action to stop the widespread misuse and forgery of Soliga caste certificates, which deprives genuine tribal youth of education, employment, and scheme benefits.

Iruliga

• Ethnographic Study: Preparation and release of a comprehensive ethnographic study report for the Iruliga community.

• Nutrition & Infrastructure: Distribution of nutritious food and provision of basic infrastructure including housing, drinking water, and roads.

• Certificate Verification: Prevention of fake Iruliga caste certificate issuance.

Jenukuruba

• Ashram Schools: Addressing staff/teacher shortages in Valmiki Adivasi Tribal Ashram Schools under the ST Welfare Department to curb learning loss and dropout rates.

• Rehabilitation: Implementation of the High Court Committee recommendations chaired by Dr. Muzaffar Assadi to rehabilitate 3,418 displaced Adivasi families from Nagarahole forest with land allocation.

• Benefit Safeguards: Preventing the diversion and misuse of central government PVTG welfare benefits.

• Reopening Offices: Re-establishing the closed PVTG Community Development Committees (CDCs) and Jenukuruba district offices.

• Housing Clearances: Resolving legal hurdles regarding the construction of residential houses in forest zones.

Betta Kuruba

• Terminology Change: Urging official usage of the term “Betta Kuruba” instead of “Kadu Kuruba” to prevent non-tribals from fraudulently obtaining caste certificates for political and employment gains.

• Direct Recruitment: Demanding the execution of direct recruitment (One-Time Appointment) for educated unemployed Adivasi youth into state civil services, as announced in the Karnataka State Budget.

• Committee Recommendations: Formulating socio-economic and educational schemes based on recommendations of constitutional committees (Lokur Committee, Mohammad Peer, Dr. Muzaffar Assadi, and Bhuria Committee).

• Governance: Declaring 5th Schedule areas and implementing the Tribal PESA Act.

• LAMPS & TRIFED Strengthening: Strengthening Large Agricultural Multi-Purpose Societies (LAMPS), establishing a LAMPS Federation, and utilizing TRIFED for processing, value addition, and marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP).

• Adivasi Tag: Conducting anthropological evaluations of Betta Kuruba and 9 other forest-dependent communities to officially recognize them as PVTG

Siddi, Kudiya, and Gowdalu

• Education & Counseling: Appointing permanent teachers in Valmiki Adivasi Ashram Schools, establishing student counseling, and holding awareness drives for parents.

• Skill Development: Organizing targeted skill development programs for youth who dropped out of formal education.

• Basic Infrastructure: Providing bridges, roads, housing, electricity, and drinking water to remote Gowdalu settlements.

• Kudiya Issues: Prioritizing basic amenities for Kudiya families living on isolated hilltops in Kodagu.

• Cultural Preservation & Protection: Documenting the history of Kudiya freedom fighters; preventing dominant non-tribal groups in Kodagu from illegally entering the ST list, which threatens small communities like Kudiya.

Hasalaru

• Identity Confusion: Resolving bureaucratic ambiguity between “Hasalaru” and “Hasla” terms, as both share identical culture and traditions but receive inconsistent caste certificates.

• CFR Rights & Inter-Departmental Delays: Addressing forest officials’ restrictions on Community Forest Rights (CFR) and resolving inter-departmental rejections/delays between Forest and Revenue departments.

• Political Representation: Ensuring political representation for original Adivasi communities in local Panchayats, Legislative Assembly, Legislative Council, and Parliament.

• Forest Jobs Exemption: Granting “Local Forest Dwellers” certificates to Siddi and Hasalaru communities to enable employment relaxations in the Forest Department.

• Ethnographic Expansion: Expanding the ongoing ethnographic study of the Hasalaru community across all taluks in Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru districts.

• Official Coordination: Overcoming delays caused by non-cooperation from Social Welfare and ITDP officials.

Yarava

• Data Integration: Establishing a Big Data System at KSTRI to collect, archive, and preserve PVTG and Forest Dwellers Adivasi knowledge and demographics leveraging AI/ChatGPT capabilities.

• Learning Centers: Opening community-led learning and resource centers at Hamlet (Hadi/Podu), Gram Panchayat, Taluk, and District levels.

• Competitive Coaching: Organizing coaching classes for tribal candidates preparing for competitive exams.

• Specialized Residential Schools: Establishing Yarava language-based EMRS or Navodaya-model residential schools offering pre-primary to higher education and vocational courses in high-density Yarava regions.

• Post-COVID Study: Conducting an empirical study on the impact of COVID-19 learning losses among tribal children.

Recommendations for Urgent KSTRI Studies

• Fake Certificate Safeguards: Studying criteria used by neighboring states to curb fake ST caste certificate cases.

• Ethnographic Studies: Completing pending ethnographic studies within a fixed timeline.

• Evidence Reports: Preparing evidence-based reports to officially classify forest-dependent communities as Adivasis.

• Comparative Educational Study: Conducting a comparative performance analysis across Ashram, Morarji Desai, Eklavya (EMRS), Government, and Private schools.

• Health & Nutrition Impact: Evaluating the health outcomes of special nutritious food distribution programs.

• FRA Bottlenecks: Investigating systemic operational bottlenecks in Forest Rights Act implementation.

• Rehabilitation Tracking: Assessing the socio-economic, health, and educational status of already rehabilitated Adivasi families.

• PESA & 5th Schedule: Studying the feasibility of declaring Scheduled Areas and enforcing Tribal PESA laws in Karnataka.

Responses from KSTRI Administration

Deputy Director, KSTRI

• Verification Cell: Establishing a dedicated Caste Certificate Verification Cell at KSTRI.

• Teacher Training & EdTech: Implementing regular training, smart classrooms, and online learning modules for Ashram school teachers.

• Advisory Committee: Forming an expert advisory committee to oversee PVTG and forest-dependent community research and social impact evaluations.

• KSTRI Help Desk: Launching a Help Desk and digital connection platform for tribal outreach.

• District Programs: Decentralizing KSTRI programs to the district level.

• Phone-In Programs: Hosting inter-departmental phone-in sessions featuring District Collectors, DSWOs, ITDP, Forest, and Panchayat Raj officials to resolve grievances directly.

• Action Research: Prioritizing participatory action research based on inputs from this dialogue.

Director of KSTRI & Director of ST Welfare Department

• Fake Certificate Manual: Drafting a standardized guidelines manual to prevent fake caste certificates and safeguard the rights of PVTGs and 12 original forest communities.

• Administrative Escalation: Escalating major policy issues to higher authorities and government ministers for systemic resolution.

• Accelerated FRA Claims: Speeding up the verification and clearing of pending Individual Forest Rights (IFR) and Community Forest Rights (CFR) claims under FRA.

• Nutritional Food Supply: Completing the tender process to immediately resume distribution of special free nutritional food packages.

• Direct Civil Service Recruitment: Preparing guidelines for One-Time Direct Recruitment into vacant state civil service positions for educated youth from PVTG and 12 forest-dependent communities (per Para 199 of the 2025-26 Budget).

• Adivasi Development Corporation: Initiating the setup of the Karnataka Adivasi Development Corporation (per Para 203 of the 2026-27 Budget).

• Housing Guidelines: Releasing official operational guidelines under the Chief Minister’s Griha Bhagya Housing Scheme.

• Ashram School Teachers: Executing recruitment processes for permanent teaching staff in Ashram schools.

• KSTRI PVTG and Forest Dwellers Adivasi Study Center Capacity: Strengthening staff strength and cadres for the KSTRI PVTG and Forest Dwellers Adivasi Study Center for Adivasi Studies.

Report compiled and shared by Muthaiah V, Coordinator, Federation of Karnataka State Forest-Dwellers Tribal/Adivasi People’s Organizations. Received via email on 13 August 2026.