The UDF government, in its recent budget, has announced a new tribal university in Wayanad, a special housing scheme for SC/ST communities and special job recruitment drives. HT spoke to KA Thulasi, first-time MLA and debut minister in charge of welfare of backward classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, about these promises and more. Excerpts:HT spoke to KA Thulasi, first-time MLA and debut minister in charge of welfare of backward classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled TribesYou have completed a month as minister in charge of the welfare of backward classes/scheduled caste/scheduled tribe department. What have been your learnings and challenges associated with the department?This is a department that deals with delivering public services in a time-bound manner to the people at the grassroots level, especially ordinary sections of society. On paper, we can see crores of rupees being spent on various schemes, but in practice, the question remains whether the most eligible people are getting the solutions to their problems. That’s a challenge. We cannot fix all issues in one day. Over the last one month, I have been holding discussions with officials and the public on the lapses in the system over the last 10 years and how we can fix them. I am personally visiting offices associated with the department as well as settlements of SC/ST communities. That way, I can spot several issues, which I may overlook in an officer’s report to me. During my visits, I could see a lot of homes in bad shape and lack of proper roads to their homes. If someone falls sick, there isn’t a way for an ambulance to get to their homes. There are people not getting financial aid for long-standing health issues. There are specific schemes, but it’s a reality that many people are not getting the benefits. There are definite lapses in our mechanisms, and we will work on fixing them. Only then can our schemes reach the rightful beneficiaries.By lapses in the system, do you mean inherent corruption?No. For example, I visited an ST settlement and there was a woman cancer patient. She’s surviving thanks to the help extended by neighbours and locals. Now, our department has schemes under which financial aid is given for such people. Maybe, she doesn’t know about it, but there are mechanisms to extend the scheme to her. Such mechanisms must work actively so that the woman and her only daughter can get the help and live better.Is the current financial crunch of the UDF government affecting funding for the department’s schemes?Even if there is financial crunch, we cannot sit around denying help to people needing homes or financial aid for health issues or assistance for students. Our government’s policy is that those who have not been getting the benefits so far must get priority in the aid they deserve. We are working hard on that front.The recent budget talked about a tribal university in Wayanad, a special housing scheme for SC/ST communities and special recruitment drives. What’s the status on those announcements?They have just been announced. They are part of our manifesto. We will give special attention to housing. In the last 10 years, the department’s funds for SC/ST persons were merged with the LIFE Mission scheme. As a result, I am of the opinion that a lot of deserving people from the SC/ST communities did not get priority. It is better that our own department disburses funds directly for housing. Under the last government, an external agency decided beneficiaries for housing in a panchayat. How can that agency decide such a thing? When grama sabhas meet, the list of rightful beneficiaries will come up. We need equitable development in all SC/ST settlements. By replacing the word ‘colony’ with ‘unnathi’ for such settlements, on the ground, nothing seems to have changed.An RTI response said nearly 25% of dropouts in government and aided colleges in Kerala are from SC/ST communities. Will there be measures to curb it?There are already schemes available to reduce drop-out rate among students. We will find out if these existing schemes are getting results or not. I think, compared to earlier years, the drop out rate has come down.The recent suicide of a Dalit student at a dental university due to caste-based harassment show that such a problem continues to exist in our educational institutions. Does the government have a plan to curb such cases on campuses?We are often called a progressive society, but such incidents raise a question-mark. Change is always gradual, it cannot happen suddenly. It is important for people in high leadership roles in campuses to behave in a humanitarian and empathetic manner. It is good to bring in laws to curb incidents of harassment, but there must be a change in people’s attitudes too. If there is a law, definitely there will be deterrence from committing such mistakes.The issue of landlessness remains a pressing concern among tribals. What do you have in mind to find a solution?We are definitely looking at it. There are cases of tribals having rightful land deeds, but still not getting access to such land. Vice versa also. We will look seriously into it.Cases of high infant mortality among the tribes in places like Attappady continue to be reported. Are there any specific health measures being planned?We are introspecting about providing mobile medical units in high-density tribal settlements in places like Attappady, Nilambur and Idamalakkudy.