For the past ten years, every Friday, Roton (52) (name changed) treks about 15 km carrying a head load of pumpkins he grows on his half-acre land to do two things. First, sell the pumpkins at the weekly shandy, and second, check the list at the Village Revenue Officer’s (VRO) office to see if his name is included in the list of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG). Every time, however, he comes back dejected and angry, as he finds that his name has been included under the tribal group of Poraja.
He hails from the tribe called the Didayi and both the Didayi and another tribe, Pengu, who, despite being different from the rest of the tribes in the Eastern Ghats, find that they have been listed under the tribal common head of Poraja, hurting the very existence of the Didayis and Pengus.
“We are different from every other tribe inhabiting the Eastern Ghats valleys. Our language is different, our culture is different, and we are geographically and economically secluded. Then why include us under the Porajas? We should have our own identity, and we have been fighting for it for over a decade,” he says.
