60 tribal families still await permanent housing in Palakkad's Parambikulam

PALAKKAD: "Each file represents a life." For the past nine years, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has repeated this powerful message several times to government officials urging them to treat every file with humanity and compassion. But in the dense forests of Parambikulam in Palakkad district, the same message seems to have been lost in the bureaucracy.
In the Uravanpadi tribal hamlet alone, 30 fully constructed houses completed back in 2023 remain unused and locked, simply because authorities are yet to assign them house numbers, leaving as many families without the safe shelter they were promised.
Another 30 houses spread across Sungam, Earth Dam, Thekkady and Poopara tribal hamlets initiated as far back as 2019 continue to languish in the final phase. Shockingly not a single department appears to have clarity on the reasons behind the delay
'Criminal Negligence'
These shocking details were un-earthed when the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare Committee of the Kerala Legislative Assembly held a review meeting of various departments at the Forest Department Information Centre in Anappadi, Parambikulam, regarding the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the district.

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