Tribals say they are deprived of basic facilities

Siliguri, May 10 (ANI): Tribals held a rally at Siliguri in West Bengal, protesting against denial of basic facilities, contrary to the promises made in the Constitution.

The rally was organised by the Akhil Bharaiya Adivashi Bikash Parishad of the Terai Doar region.

The council's officials said they planned to go on a nationwide stir, if their demands were not met.

"We have been cheated by the state not for one or two years, but for 62 years. We are guided by the provisions of the Constitution of India that give us special guarantee to education. We have got no school, no college and no technical institution here. If you go through the provisions of Indian Constitution, all these things are guaranteed, but we have nothing here," said Birsha Tirkey, general secretary of the council. ver four million tribals inhabit the Terai Doar region. They have been holding talks with the State and the Central Government about their demands, which they said, have not been met so far.

The tea-rich Terai Doar region has as many as 315 tea gardens in the area. Tribals form a majority of the work force in the area.With the closure of 14 tea gardens in the region as many as 17,000 people have been rendered jobless. (ANI)