Tribes in Tamilnadu
According to the 2011 census Tamil Nadu’s tribal population is 7.21 lakhs which accounts to 1.10% of the state’s total population. There are 36 tribes and sub tribes in Tamil Nadu with the Literacy rate of 27.9% claims Tamil Nadu Forest Department, of which six are primitive tribes. The six primitive tribes are Toda, Kota, Kurumbas, Irulur, Paniyan and Kattunayakan. The tribal groups are distributed across the state in every district.
As the life of Tribal People are based primarily on the forest areas, they have helped the government in the maintenance of the forests and are also called “Forest Dwellers”. They have a beautiful community living and have rich oral traditions. Their occupations include farming plants and crops suitable for their area, harvesting honey, breeding cattles and cultivation. They live one with nature and their livelihood depends on nature. However the tribal groups are now in extinction because of the rapid depletion of forest areas, the increasing rate of deforestation, displacement and rehabilitation. All these have impacted the places they live to a great extent, their food resources, and collapsed their livelihood. In Order to avoid the extinction of these groups and for tribal development, the government of Tamil Nadu is offering many schemes. ITDP, HADP, WGDP, TAP are some programs initiated by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department for Tribal welfare..
The welfare of each tribe is important for they are still marginalized and don’t have a voice for themselves. They are the victims of social-rehabilitation. They should be given lands to own and cultivate. They have evolved being one with the forests, separating them and giving them lands outside the forests is really a cruel thing. One of the major things to be achieved for the tribal development is the Tribal Settlement.
Their health and education is equally significant. Even though they have a healthy living, the tribes in Nilgiris are more prone to Tuberculosis and many other communicable diseases. Even for an emergency, the hospital facilities are very meager. For their education and employment opportunities, the state government has allotted special seats under the Scheduled Tribe category. The Forest Department of the state is running many schools to ensure proper education. In addition to the settlements, education and health, for the complete development, electricity facilities, pure drinking water facilities, road facilities must also be done. There is an urgent need for the developments in infrastructure , awareness programs about general things for an overall development and empowerment.