A survey of 1,458 families belonging to four nomadic tribe communities spread across eight districts of Tamil Nadu has revealed that the communities significantly lacked access to education and government schemes.
The results of the survey by Vanavil Trust show that 27% of the children in these families were not enrolled in schools. Of the remaining, 53% reported facing discrimination in their schools by classmates and teachers, which in turn led to many children dropping out before finishing Class 12.
Of these 1,458 families, 1,118 had no one in their families who had completed Class 10, 1,275 had no one who had completed Class 12, and 1,378 had no graduates. A total of 807 families said that they either lacked access to schools or faced discrimination. Similarly, 713 households said that they did not have access to higher education institutions.
The survey studied access to more than 10 government schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS), issuance of free land pattas, and the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana housing scheme and found that a vast majority of the families could not benefit from these schemes even though they were eligible.
The scheme that had benefited the highest number of surveyed families was the issuance of free land pattas with 267 of the 1,458 families saying they benefited. Only 71 families had benefited from MGNREGS, 71 from Jan Dhan, 112 from PMAY, and 201 from CMCHIS.
Besides access to education and government schemes where the gap was significant, the survey also found that a large of the surveyed families lacked access to clean water, toilets, electricity, and healthcare.
Arguing that the survey was conducted to address the lack of availability of credible data on the nomadic tribes, the Trust, in its survey report, urged the government to conduct a State-wide survey of nomadic tribes and denotified communities. Other key recommendations made by the report included the resolving of problems in issuing community certificates as their non-availability was a major hurdle in access to education, proactive measures to address the gaps in financial inclusions and access to government institutions and schemes. The report also recommended the constitution of a State-level commission for the welfare of the nomadic tribes and denotified communities.
The four communities covered in the survey were Boom Boom Maattukkarar (Aadiyan), Narikuravar, Kattunayakkar, and Lambada families residing in 15 villages in Cuddalore, Krishnagiri, Mayiladuthurai, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Tiruvannamalai districts.
R. Revathi, founder, Vanavil Trust, said the survey was conducted in a participatory manner by involving the families in each village throughout the process by bringing them together as a community. The survey was done with the support of Praxis - Institute for Participatory Practices, Research Organisation for Social Action (ROSA), and the Empowerment Centre of Nomads and Tribes (TENT). DMK MP Kanimozhi released the report in Chennai on Wednesday.
