Meet to help farmers, beedi workers

mangalore: the belthangady taluk-level convention for speedy development of backward classes will be held at the taluk grounds in belthangady on thursday. according to somnath nayak, president, nagarika seva trust (nst), the convention does not only represent backward classes in the form of caste, but also includes economically backward people like small landholders, marginal farmers, daily wage earners, beedi workers, women and tribals.he said, the farmer was distressed due to the steep fall in prices of farm produce which had a cascading effect on daily wage earners also. he said, apart from this, erratic supply of power, coupled with the nonchalant attitude of the government in redressing their grievances had added to the woes of the farming community. nayak maintained that there was a move to displace 1,500 families dependant on farming. regarding beedi workers, vidya nayak, convenor of the convention said, in undivided dk district, there were more than 4 lakh beedi employees (90 per cent women) and their future looked bleak as the beedi industry was in doldrums. she noted that unless the government came forward to revive the industry, the workers would be on the streets. madhukar hebbar, secretary of the convention, pointed out that despite several projects by the governments for the uplift of dalits and backwards, it was the bare truth that it had not reached the actual beneficiaries. he also mentioned the move to evict 130 malekudiya families out of the kudremukh national park (knp). the convention would be inaugurated by justice gopala gowda from the karnataka high court and sadananda poonja, president, dkzp, would preside. motamma, karnataka minister for women and child welfare, ramanath rai, district-in-charge minister, vasanth bangera, amarnath shetty, former mlas among others will be the chief guests. there are five sessions in the one-day convention. they are: paper presentation on `problems of small farmers and farm labourers and remedies' by b.k. parameshwara rao of environmentalist farmers forum and afsar h. jefri from research foundation, new delhi. laxmeesha tolpady of bharateeya will be the moderator. the second session will be on `prevention of women's exploitation and women's empowerment' by vidya nayak, president, mahila jagruthi vedike and prof rita noronha, school of social work, mangalore. dr m.k. bhat, director, development support initiative (dsi), bangalore will be the moderator. `causes for the present status of dalits - remedies' will be moderated by neelayya, director, peoples' movement for self reliance, kollegal. the papers will be presented by mohanangayya swamy of sc/st research and development trust, mangalore and k. nemiraj and h.b. mohan from dalit abhivridhi samithi -dk. the fourth session would be on `how to solve the underemployment problem of beedi workers'. the session will be moderated by dr sharath dawla, trustee, sewa, indore. papers will be presented by vasanth, assistant coordinator, nst, kasthuri from mahila jagruthi vedike - beedi workers wing and abdul latheef saheb, president, beedi contractors association. the final session will be on `problem of adivasis and their solutions.' the moderator will be s. shrikanth, state convener, national forum of tribals for self-rule. the paper will be presented by elyanna malekudiya, girijana vikasa samithi, dk. at the valedictory function, the presentation of the manifesto of the backward people for speedy development will be done by m. vatsala, joint secretary, mahila jagruthi vedike and shampa daithota, president, dk parisarasakthara okkoota will preside over the function.