Hyderabad: Community Bhavans works at a snail's pace

Banjara Hills: The completion of the much-awaited community centres for SCs and STs in Banjara Hills is yet to turn a reality, as this eminent project which is worth 7.5 crores is taking shape at a snail's pace.

Responding to the STs and SCs pleas for a place to organise their cultural event and festivals, the Telangana government has allocated three acres of land in Banjara Hills Road No 10. The centre includes Banjara Bhavan, Adivasi Bhavan and Babu Jagjeevan Ram Bhavan, each spread across one acre of land.

Each of these bhavans would have an auditorium with a capacity of 1,250 people, out of whom 1,000 people would be seated on the ground floor and the rest on the first floor. These halls will also reflect the artistic potrayal of the distinct culture of each community.

Satyanarayana Dyavanapalli, Curator of Tribal Museums, said that the works on all the three buildings would soon be completed and thrown open in the near future. However, he expressed displeasure over delayed progress. "On visiting the site all that one could notice unfinished work and delayed process. The wait for a Banjara Bhavan could prolong," he added.

For the walls in the Banjara Bhawan which are expected to be sketched with artistic representation of Gond art paintings and Koya Paintings, the cultural department has employed a few communities. These artists are said to be paid 17 lakh.

However, the Director of Tribal Cultural Research & Training Institute, V Sarveshwar Reddy hopes that works will be completed and handed over to the respective departments by mid April or May 2021.

STs and SCs in Telangana

Around 33 lakh belong to the scheduled tribes out of which 60 per cent are Plain area tribes (girijans ) and the remaining 40% are the Adivasies.

The representation of scheduled tribes in the State is in large numbers. Before the year 1950 there were Cola, Chanchu, Gond, Naik and others who called themselves as STs but after the year 1970 Lambada, Erukala and Yandi have also been categorized as ST's in the State.

Lambada community alone has 22 lakh people and the rest 11 lakh people are divided into 11 sub communities.