Monkeys are creating huge menace in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka. To tackle the situation and control this menace the Goa government has decided to deploy the monkey slayer tribe. Where this tribe is found and how they will manage to handle the situation? The following news article will give you the complete insight into it.
[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”] According to the sources, there exists a special kind of tribe that takes care of the monkey menace. These tribes are found in the jungles of the Western Ghats in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Goa. The sources have revealed that the Goa government along with locals from the affected areas is trying to bring in the nomadic tribe whose traditional occupation is hunting and eating the monkeys.
According to the sources, these people belongs to ‘Wanar Mare’ (Monkey Slayers) tribe who has no fixed address since they roam around in the search of food and they also do not belong to ST (scheduled tribe) class and therefore could not enjoy any ensuing benefits. “It’s not an easy project. They have been wandering in the forests all these years without possessing a single government document. We have started an effort to get them into the mainstream,” said collector of South Goa district, Sachin Shinde.
The sources have informed that presently few hundreds of members of this tribe have put up at the Sanguem Taluka in South Goa. And the South Goa administration, along with organizations like Dabhal Gram Vikas Parishad, is working towards helping them earn a decent livelihood. “The introduction of Forest Conservation Act made them give up their traditional hunting, and now they work in sugarcane farms,” said Sachin Tendulkar, a farmer and social worker associated with Dabhal Gramvikas Parishad.
There are around 17 families from these tribe are camping at the Nirancal village in the Sanguem Taluka and farmers hire them for said their work. “Farmers hire them as they work for relatively low wages. But they get exploited. They live in temporary huts in forested areas where they are often at the mercy of forest officers,” Tendulkar said.
Meanwhile, the government also tried to reform them to bring them into the mainstream of the society. According to the sources, the rehabilitation began from the children who got entered into the school. The families were given the ration cards under NFSA (National Food Security Act). They have been also facilitated with Aadhar cards and bank accounts. “The biggest problem was that they had no electricity in their huts. When we met them, they had mobile phones, but no power to charge them and they used to pay to get the phones charged,” Tendulkar said.
Organizations like the Sesa Workers Union, Mineral Foundation of Goa and Rotary Club funded solar lamps for them. Goa Bagayatdar Sahakari Society Maryadit Limited, one of the oldest cooperative institutes in the state, provided school bags and umbrellas to the children. According to Tendulkar, Wanar-Mare tribe is similar to Katkaris of Maharashtra, but they don’t have ST status (unlike the Katkaris). “When we moved the proposal, questions were raised as to whether they are originally from Goa. This is a nomadic tribe, so they have no state of origin,” he said
Source: Hindu
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