Health check-up camp for tribal communities held

Madikeri: A free health check-up camp and legal awareness-assistance programme for tribal communities was held at Thithimathi Government Govt Higher Primary School under the joint aegis of the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, District Legal Services Authority, ZP, police department, health department and Integrated Tribal Development Project. Inaugurating the programme, retired judge and NALSA Samvad Yojana president R Gururajan said it was unfortunate that even after decades of Independence, oppressed communities were still unable to fully access their rights. He said tribal community member and other marginalised sections continue to face a lack of health and legal awareness and stressed that Aadhaar cards were essential for availing govt benefits. He noted that many tribal community members in the district were still without Aadhaar and said officials were working to address the issue. Gururajan said free legal aid was available to tribal communities and oppressed communities from taluk courts up to the Supreme Court and urged them to use legal mechanisms. Referring to welfare schemes such as old age, widow and disability pensions, he said the present assistance was inadequate and added that a report had was been submitted to the govt seeking enhancement. District ITDP officer Honnegowda said many scheduled caste and tribal families were unable to secure Aadhaar due to a lack of documents and difficulty in travelling to Madikeri. He appealed for Aadhaar enrolment camps in villages. Karnataka State Legal Services Authority member secretary H Shashidhar Shetty warned against child marriage and urged citizens to report such cases immediately. District surgeon Dr Nanjundaiah was present.