“Economic and social development are interrelated”: Make Kerala’s globally acclaimed system truly inclusive for its Scheduled Tribes

K.S. Madhavan on Kerala’s concept of public education | To read the full article in the Times of India, click here >>

[…] The concept of public education is based on the objective of inclusiveness. What are the consequences of this overnight switch to a digital mode when a large segment of population remains digitally excluded? Have we thought about the disastrous consequences this digital push may have on the marginalize, who are already victims of years of systemic exclusion?
One only need to have a cursory glance at the current inequities in the public education system to understand this. How many tribal children are gaining from it, how many are being forced to drop out, are the processes and systems that we developed truly inclusive?

This can happen in two ways in a state like Kerala which has marginalised groups that can be located spatially and socially. The people who live on the coastal plains, mostly fisher communities, socially marginalised and spatially ghettoised dalits in the midland, mostly relegated to colonies close to agrarian land where their ancestors worked and finally, tribespeople in forested reaches of highland. […]

In the current circumstances, the transition to digital mode of public education is against the notion of inclusive education. The path we now follow focusses only on people who are digitally privileged. People without access to resources, data and devices have been left in the cold.

(The author is associate professor, department of history, University of Calicut)

Source: “Kerala: Path we’ve taken favours privileged” by Madhavan K S, Times of India 3 June 2020
URL: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/kerala-path-weve-taken-favours-privileged/articleshow/76174319.cms
Date visited: 1 November 2021

Total Scheduled Tribal population in Kerala composes 1.5 percent of the total population. (Census 2011) All India sex ratio of ST is 978 in (2001 Census) and 990 in (2011 Census) and in Kerala 1021 in (2000 Census) and 1035 in (2011 Census). Tribal population in Kerala distributed among all the districts with major concentration in Wayanad, Idukki, Palakkad and Kasergod districts. (Mathur P.R.G. 1977).

Out of forty eight tribal communities found in Kerala, thirty seven of them were categorised as scheduled tribes. Kerala has the population in its all districts. Wayanad, Idukki, and Palakkad districts constitute major tribal population in Kerala. Paniyas, Maratis, Malayarayans, Kuruvans, Kurichens and Erulas are the major tribal communities in Kerala. In Kerala Koraga, Cholanaikkans, Kurumba, Kadar and Kattunaikkans are the five indigenous tribal groups catagarised as PVTGs.

Source: “Role of gender and social capital in sustainable livelihood promotion of Kadar tribe in Kerala”, PhD thesis by M.K. Sujeesh, The Gandhigram Rural Institute, 2014, Introduction, p. 4
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10603/186310
Date visited: 30 May 2019

Empowering Women in Agriculture

The state of Kerala is globally acclaimed for its social development, especially its male to female sex ratio, high literacy rate, low birth rate, low maternal mortality, low infant mortality, high life expectancy and average age at marriage. According to Franke and Chasin (1994), the indicators of Kerala are close to those of the United Sates, despite the low gross state domestic product. However, this rosy picture of progress has been challenged by scholars, development practitioners and members of civil society organizations who have been working with the women, dalits, tribals and fishermen in the state, besides addressing environmental concerns. The concerns emerged during the mid-1980s, when it was found that in this glorified ‘Kerala model’ of development, there was clear evidence of oppression along the lines of class, caste, ethnicity (tribe) and gender. There were associated manifestations of violence against the marginalized people. Economic and social development are interrelated, and in any development discourse, it is of prime importance to consider the distribution of economic growth and equitable access and control over resources.

Source: “Empowering Women in Agriculture: Paniya Adivasi Women’s Innovative Livelihood Development Endeavours in Farming” by M. S Swaminathan Research Foundation
URL: https://www.mssrf.org/mssrfoldsite/sites/default/files/Paniya%20Adivasi%20women’s.pdf
Date visited: 7 July 2019

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In Kerala there are still 37 Scheduled Tribes out of 48 tribal communities; their number is only 1.26% of the state’s population.  What this figure indicates is that the rate of the assimilation of the aboriginals of Kerala has been extremely rapid.  In the past few years 11 tribal communities have been declassified on account of the social and cultural porgress they have made.

Among the Scheduled Tribes of Kerala the numerically dominant ones are the Pulayans, Paniyans, Maratis, Malayarayar, Kurumans, Kurichiyans, and Irulas.  The numerical strength of each remaining tribes is more or less 1,000.  I am happy to record that my anthropological, linguistic and folklonstic research has been primarily among the Kadar, Cholanayikkar, Mudugar, Irular, Pulayar, and Kurumbar.  I have also worked among the Santals of West Bengal.

Most of these tribes are forest-dwellers and food-gatherers.  Increasingly, they are found living on the fringes of the forests near the highways and the villages of the plainspeople, yet apart from them.  This frontier existence of the tribals is highly symbolic.  They are caught between two worlds.  Their forest home cannot support them any longer, for food in forests is getting scarce because of the state policy against deforestation.

There are fewer and fewer wild animals to hunt; there is also a legal ban on hunting.  For rice and clothes they have to depend on the plainspeople who continue to exploit the helplessness of the tribals.  The few tribesmen who go to towns looking for jobs soon find it difficult to cope with the demands of civilization and return home to jungles to live on the edge of culture and nature.

Source: “Kerala – Gateway To Paradise: Kerala History, Kerala Society, Kerala Culture”
Address : http://www.kerala.cc/keralahistory/index16.htm
Date Visited: Sun Jul 10 2011 12:21:07 GMT+0200 (CEST)


Ooralis Tribe
The Western Ghats as well as the coastal plains of Kerala are home to a number of tribes. The Ooralis are among the few tree-dwelling tribes of the nation, found around the famous Periyar Tiger Reserve. Not many trees are used to live in, yet they serve as watchtowers to keep a check on elephants and boars that stray into the fields. The Mananns, or expert fishermen, traditionally collect honey from heights usually abuzz with dangerous hill bees. These fishermen who usually climb at night to avoid being stung, scale the trees with the help of bamboo spikes that are hammered into these trees.

Dravidian Tribes
The Kadars, Paniyans, Muduvansand the Malayans belong to the early Dravidian race and could be found in the hilly tracts. These tribes, with their flat nose, short stature and dark skin, apparently belong to the Negrito race.

Irular Tribe
Among the Irular tribe of Palaghat District, ritual dance and music accompany death rites. The hill tribes try to appease Maladaivangal, the Hill God, through a number of rituals that include dancing and singing, lest they gets wiped out.

Hill Tribes
The hill tribes do not contribute to the economic mainstream as much as the Pulayans, Parayans, Nayadis and Ulattans– the agricultural labourers do. A lot of Christian converts are from the Pulaya tribe. Most of the tribes otherwise, belong to the lower castes of society, employed usually as agricultural or industrial labourers. The Mavilon, Velan and Koppalan are some of the other tribes of Kerala.

Source: “Kerala Religion and Culture, Kerala Culture, Religion of Kerala India, Religion and Culture of Kerala India”, Indiasite.com
Address : http://www.indiasite.com/kerala/religion.html
Date Visited: Sun Jul 10 2011 12:40:49 GMT+0200 (CEST)

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See also

Biodiversity and development – Kerala

Childhood – Kerala | Childrens rights: UNICEF India | Safe search

Childrens rights: English or Malayalam (UNICEF India)

eBook | Background guide for education

Education and literacy | Right to education

eLearning | “National development and the development of tribal communities are linked to each other”: Droupadi Murmu – 15th President of India

Ethnobotany & ethnomedicine

Food distribution

Health and nutrition

Human development – Kerala

Kerala | State wise ST list (Scheduled Tribes)

Literature and bibliographies

Literature – fiction | Poetry

Modernity

Recommendations by the Expert Committee on Tribal Health

Success stories

Tribal schools and educational projects – Kerala

Video – Kerala

Video | M.S. Swaminathan on Biodiversity and the sharing of resources

Video | Trailer to “Have you seen the arana?” – Kerala

Vulnerable tribal groups – Kerala

Wayanad

Women | Safe search | President Droupadi Murmu on women’s empowerment