THE Kani tribals, a community that lives in the Western Ghat forests of Thiruvananthapuram, are fighting for a share of the profits accruing from the commercial exploitation of a wonder herb that grows exclusively in their habitat.
The Kani tribe fights for its rights over a traditional herb
THE Kani tribals, a community that lives in the Western Ghat forests of Thiruvananthapuram, are fighting for a share of the profits accruing from the commercial exploitation of a wonder herb that grows exclusively in their habitat.
Arogyapacha, the wild plant found in the Agasthyar hills of Thiruvananthapuram, has instant energy-boosting properties and is a key ingredient in the Kani tribe's traditional medicine chest. In Ayurvedic texts, it is listed as one of 18 divine plants. The Kanis believe that the secrets of the herb were revealed to their ancestors by sage Agastya, physician to the gods.
Arogyapacha is currently at the heart of a bitter tussle between two government-funded research institutions that differ over who should have the production rights to a drug derived from the herb. There's also friction between the forest department and the Kanis on whether the latter should be permitted to gather the herb.
Profits from the sale of the Arogyapacha-based drug, Jeevani, go to the Arya Vaidya Pharmacy of Coimbatore. The company won a 7-year production contract after it agreed to pay a Rs 10 lakh licence fee and 2 per cent royalty to the Thiruvananthapuram-based Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI), whose scientists formulated and patented the drug.
The present controversy centres on a pledge made by the scientists to the Kanis over a decade ago that should the plant be put to commercial use, a portion of the profits would go to them. It took seven years for TBGRI to come up with Jeevani. And though in its third year of production, the Kanis haven't received a penny. The scientists say half the licence fee as also the royalty earned so far have been set apart for the Kanis. To facilitate the cash transfer, a trust fund was set up under the Kanis' management. But the transfer is yet to take place.
"For the past three years, we've been fighting for our share of the money," says Kutty Mathan Kani, secretary of the trust. "We have agitated, petitioned the chief minister and Union ministers and gone to the press with our grievance. But nothing's happened."
However, TBGRI can't release the money to the tribals unless the government gives its nod. That consent is being withheld in view of the acrimonious debate that has arisen between TBGRI and a competing agency, the Kozhikode-based Kerala Institute of Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (KIRTADS). KIRTADS director Viswanathan Nair disapproves of TBGRI's transaction with the private company on the grounds that the tribals should've been entrusted with the production of the drug. However, TBGRI director P. Pushpangadan argues the tribals lack production experience as well as the infrastructure to manufacture a product that must survive in a competitive market. The contract was given to the Coimbatore company in keeping with CSIR norms.
The controversy has caused fissures within the Kani community, with some tribal healers insisting the entire profits from Jeevani's sale come to the Kanis. But the bulk of the tribe rallies behind Kutty Mathan who feels the scientists have been fair to them. It was
he who introduced a TBGRI team to the wonder herb during a 1987 research expedition to the Agasthyar hills. The exhausted scientists wondered why their tribal guides showed no signs of fatigue throughout the arduous trek. They soon found the answer in the berries the tribals offered them soon after. Minutes after eating them, the scientists felt a surge of energy.
The plant was identified as trichopus zeyla -nicus, subspecies travancoricus, found exclusively in the high ranges of Thiruvananthapuram. An ethnopharmacological group—the first of its kind in the country—was formed at TBGRI to scientifically validate and standardise the herbal drug to be developed. Pushpangadan opted for a multidisciplinary approach and enlisted ayurvedic physician and ethnomedical expert Dr S. Rajesekharan and phytochemical expert Dr V. George to evolve a formulation that claimed to prevent fatigue, enhance the immune system, reduce stress and protect the liver.
The drug was a sellout. To meet the soaring demand, TBGRI initiated a scheme for the cultivation of Arogyapacha by the Kanis in their settlements. The institute bought the leaves from the tribals at Rs 30 per kg. The project ran aground when the forest department prevented the tribals from removing the plant ostensibly to conserve the herb and save the Kanis from being exploited by middlemen.
Today, the production of Jeevani has slumped. And so have the hopes of the Kanis.