ADILABAD: Telangana State Commission for Women (TSCW) member Kumra Eshwari Bai of Adilabad district has come out with a special request for Divya Devarajan, Commissioner of Women and Child welfare. She is seeking construction of ‘special shelters’ beside anganwadi centres for Kolam adivasi women for their stay during their menstruation period.
Kolam Tribe is considered as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
There is a tradition among the Kolam adivasis that Kolam women should stay in a temporary hut or shed outside the home or at some distance of the village during the menstruation period. They will not be allowed inside their house till the period is over.
Eshwari Bai said that a married Kolam woman Atram Sunitha died of snakebite in a temporary hut during the menstruation period in her village Dharamadugu in Gudihathnoor mandal recently and added that many such incidents have taken place across old Adilabad district but they did not come to light.
She said that the special shelters will provide safety and security to Kolam women since they were more prone to risk with their age-old tradition. She met Devarajan and submitted a memorandum on the subject. Eshwari Bai said that the Commissioner responded positively to her request for special shelters.
It is hard to digest that even today, Kolam adivasi women have to face hardships during their menstruation period. Most of the time, they have to stay in a hut made of leaves and polythene cover away from the village. Food and water are provided by some other women.
Except a handful, almost all Kolam adivasis are still living in interior villages on the fringes of forests and fully depend on minor forest produce and bamboo in the old Adilabad district. They are more superstitious when compared to other tribal groups.
The Kolam Adivasis make baskets, mats and other items with the bamboo they collect from forests and sell them in the weekly shandies.
