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The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has directed the state to urgently rehabilitate Paniya tribal families living in makeshift tarpaulin shelters at Vaniyampuzha, across the Chaliyar river in Pothukal panchayat, Nilambur taluk of Malappuram district.
Twenty-six families have lived in plastic tents since the August 2019 floods destroyed their homes, with no permanent rehabilitation in the seven years since.
Commission judicial member K. Baijunath asked the Malappuram District Collector and the Scheduled Tribes Development Department Project Officer to report within a week on the measures taken and the timeline to complete rehabilitation.
The Paniya are the single largest Scheduled Tribe in Kerala, with a population of about 88,450 in the 2011 Census, concentrated in Wayanad.
The Commission functions under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 and was constituted on 11 December 1998.
Statutory state body that inquires into human rights violations or negligence in preventing them by public servants, can intervene in pending court proceedings with the court's approval, and inspects jails and state-run institutions; its findings take the form of recommendations to the government
Apex national body under the same Act, which also provides for State Human Rights Commissions
State department responsible for tribal housing, rehabilitation and welfare; its Project Officer was directed to report on the rehabilitation
Creates the NHRC and enables States to constitute State Human Rights Commissions; the Kerala commission was constituted under it on 11 December 1998, with Justice M.M. Pareed Pillay as its first chairperson. Section 30 provides for Human Rights Courts in each district for speedy trial of offences arising out of human rights violations.
Empowers the President, in consultation with the Governor, to specify the tribes deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in a State - the provision under which the Paniya are notified in Kerala.
Vaniyampuzha lies across the Chaliyar river near Munderi, in Pothukal panchayat of Nilambur taluk, Malappuram district, northern Kerala. The Chaliyar rises in the Western Ghats and flows west to the Arabian Sea at Beypore. The Paniya heartland is Wayanad, immediately east of Nilambur across the Ghats, and the community extends into the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu and Kodagu in Karnataka.
GS Paper 2 > Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections; statutory and quasi-judicial bodies; GS Paper 1 > Salient features of Indian society, tribal communities
General Awareness > Indian polity (human rights bodies) and tribes of India
The provisions in Fifth Schedule and Sixth Schedule in the Constitution of India are made in order to
Answer: protect the interests of Scheduled Tribes
Which state recorded the highest tribal population as per Census 2011?
Answer: Madhya Pradesh
With reference to 'Changpa' community of India, consider the following statements: 1. They live mainly in the State of Uttarakhand. 2. They rear the Pashmina goats that yield a fine wool. 3. They are kept in the category of Scheduled Tribes. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: 2 and 3 only
The largest single Scheduled Tribe of Kerala (about 88,450 in the 2011 Census), concentrated in Wayanad; the name derives from the Malayalam 'pani', meaning work.
State-level body under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 with a chairperson and two members; it inquires into rights violations and makes recommendations, which are not binding.
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group - a sub-category identified on criteria such as pre-agricultural technology, low literacy and stagnant population; Kerala has five.