Tudumdebba lays siege to ITDA office seeking deletion of Lambadas from STs

Tudumdebba and other tribal organisations staged a protest at the ITDA project officer's office in Utnoor, demanding deletion of Lambadas from the ST list. Hundreds of tribals participated, while officials assured protesters that their concerns would be addressed.

Adilabad: Tudumdebba, a tribal rights organisation, laid siege to the office of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) project officer in Utnoor on Monday, demanding deletion of Lambadas from STs. Various organisations extended solidarity to the protest.

Led by members of the association and tribal organisations, hundreds of tribals from several parts of the district gathered at Kumram Bheem complex, where the office of the project officer was located. They raised slogans seeking removal of Lambadas from the STs. They said that the Lambadas were robbing them of employment and educational opportunities.

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The agitating tribals recalled that Lambadas or Banjaras were illegally included in the STs. They informed that the Lambadas originally belonged to Maharashtra and had migrated to Telangana in search of livelihood. They wanted the State government to pass a resolution omitting the community from STs and urged the Union government to delete the Lambadas.

While holding consultations with protesting leaders, project officer Manda Makarandu said that the ITDA was always committed to protecting the statutory rights and welfare of tribals. He assured that steps would be taken to resolve their challenges. He promised that efforts would be made to address their demand considering the norms. He advised the tribals to use democratic ways to express their dissent.

Earlier, a large number of police personnel were deployed at the complex to prevent untoward incidents. Sleepy Utnoor came under a security blanket. The security was supervised by SP Akhil Mahajan. Police said that the protest went off smoothly. Motorists faced inconvenience due to the protest, with traffic coming to a grinding halt on the Utnoor-Adilabad road.