A delegation of the newly formed Akhila Kodagu Kembatti Samaja, led by its president Billarikuttada Prabhu Aiyappa, met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently.
The delegation requested inclusion of the Kembatti name as Scheduled Caste under the Adi Karnataka Caste List and urged that Virajpet MLA A. S. Ponnanna be given a ministerial position. MLA Ponnanna, who was present, drew the Chief Minister’s attention to their demands.
A prominent member of the community, Dr. Mechira Subhash Nanaiah, stated that, according to ancestral accounts and the British survey records documented in The Manual of Coorg, written by G. Richter and published in 1870, the Kembatti community is an indigenous group that has lived in Kodagu alongside the Kodavas since time immemorial. Over the centuries, the community has assimilated into Kodava society, speaking the Kodava language and following Kodava customs and traditions.
The delegation included Nitesh, Jeevan, Uday Madappa, Subramani, Sagar Poovanna, Dinesh Peggoli, Chimma Ayyappa, Vinod, Aniketan, Ranjith, Charan, Kiran Kaverappa, Dolly, Mahesh, Vilma, Rohini, Vaishali, Deepika, Tilak, and other members of the Kembatti Pommakada team.
They submitted a memorandum of demands to the Chief Minister and honoured him on the occasion.
