MYSORE: Successive Governments have failed to protect indigenous people, who have a cultural history of around 50,000 years, said Sreekant of DEED, a tribal welfare forum.

Speaking at a book release function, he said Governmental intervention in tribal welfare has been superficial. Except for instances of housing projects, there has not been any concrete programme in tribal welfare, he said.

Referring to the misuse of reservations for tribals, Sreekant said there was no instance of any Kadu Kuruba (a tribal community) availing a seat for professional courses in Mysore and Chamrajnagar. Sreekant said these segments were being filled by Kuruba community.

The State Government should take up issues of tribal interest to protect their cultural identity. Chidanandamurthy of Kannada Shakti Kendra, releasing a research work on reservation by Parvathamma, said tribal issues could be better solved through leaders of the community.