The rate of literacy and health of the Scheduled Tribes (ST) in Tamil Nadu is lower than the State average in the era of economic reforms, according to a survey by the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS).
Presenting the preliminary findings of the survey to ascertain the socio-economic status of the STs, MIDS researchers said on Monday that the literacy rate among the STs was 47.23 per cent, compared to the 71.85 per cent for the State overall, as per the 2011 Census.
According to the data of the 2005-06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the proportion of children with anaemia was 75 per cent for the STs, which was higher than the SCs (70.4 per cent); Other Backward Classes (60.8 per cent); and other social groups (71.4 per cent).
Quoting the 2011 data of the India Human Development Report and the Census, C. Lakshmanan, faculty member of MIDS, said access to basic amenities had improved over the years (2001-2011) for the total population of the State, but was much less for the STs.
As for households with toilets, the percentage of the total population went up from 35.2 per cent during 2001 to 48.3 per cent during 2011. In the case of the STs, it went up from 30.3 per cent to 34.7 per cent.
Aparajay, a research scholar, said the survey revealed that less than three per cent of the STs had access to higher education. Almost 35 per cent of the population had no education or was illiterate.
Prof. Bhangya Bhukya of the University of Hyderabad stressed the need for shedding the colonial perspective of ‘Adivasis’ (the STs). Though he was not for “romantic isolation” of the STs, he said the social group should be allowed to decide its fate.
P. Sivakami, former secretary of the State Adi Dravida and Tribal Welfare Department, said land alienation, malnutrition and difficulty in getting caste certificates were some of the problems faced by the STs.
