'Not just tiles, Lifestyles,' read a much-admired ad-slogan of a prominent tile brand. But the tiles paved in front of the poor tribal hutments in Wayanad are in stark contrast to their lifestyles and stand witness to a farce that is being enacted in the name of welfare.
The development project implemented at the Paniya tribal hamlet at Vengappally in Wayanad will make one wonder at the logic behind beautifying their courtyard with colourful tiles when the houses on either side of the lane are hardly habitable and lack sanitation facilities.
There is not even a single house in the hamlet that has proper doors or walls and around 150 people in this colony, including children, live in houses that can fall on them at any moment. They live under leaky roofs and cracked walls and the rainy season poses a real nightmare for them. Ironically, the Tribal Welfare Department chose to spend the welfare fund on the beautification work of the pavements and turned a blind eye to the sorry state of their huts.
"We told them to build our houses first and that the pavement could wait. But they did not listen. When it rains, we make temporary sheds outside and spend there with our small children", says Priya a tribal woman.
Even the panchayat members of the village are not aware of the details of the project that was hurriedly completed when the election was round the corner.
"The project doesn't make any sense. It is because money is spent on such worthless things that the tribal population is still reeling under poverty and ill- health. The development work has to go in tandem with their needs", says Sadanandan, a former Panchayath member.
Authorities explain that the allocation was for building roads and for pavements, and no money had been set aside to repair houses.
