Mangaluru
Nutritional food kits meant for tribal communities in nine districts of Karnataka have not been distributed for the past eight months due to problems in the tender process. The delay has left thousands of families, including members of the Koraga, Jenu Kuruba and Malekudiya communities, waiting for essential food supplies.
The kits are distributed every month under the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) to support the health and nutrition of tribal families. The monthly package includes rice, pulses, cooking oil, Nandini ghee, green gram, horse gram, cowpea, chickpeas, jaggery, sugar and eggs.
The previous state-level tender expired in January, after which the supply was stopped. A legal issue reportedly affected the process of awarding a fresh tender. Although approval was given to continue supplies under the previous tender to prevent hardship to tribal families, district-level ITDP offices are reportedly still awaiting formal instructions.
The impact is particularly visible in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. In Dakshina Kannada, supplies stopped after March, affecting around 3,015 families, including 1,215 Koraga and 1,800 Malekudiya families. In Udupi, distribution stopped after February and had covered around 3,120 families, including 2,670 Koraga and 450 Malekudiya households.
Each family was entitled to receive eight kg of rice, two kg of tur dal, two litres of cooking oil, half a litre of ghee, one kg each of several pulses, jaggery and sugar, along with 30 eggs every month. Tribal community representatives have urged the government to resolve the tender issue immediately and restart distribution. The scheme was introduced in 2008 to improve the health of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups and was later expanded to provide nutritional support throughout the year.
