With less than a fortnight for the declaration of Plus Two board exam results, the lack of community certificates may take away the chance for higher education of youth of Kurumbans, a Scheduled Tribe under the government’s classification.
Putting forth the demand for community certificate, the Kurumbans Pazhangudi Makkal Sangam staged a demonstration here in Harur.
Speaking to The Hindu, C. Chokkalingam, State president of the Association, said starting from 2008 community certificate categorising Kurumbans as Scheduled Tribes has been issued under various Revenue divisional officers. Yet, the issue of community certificate for Kurumbans is based on the whims of the revenue department at the given time.
Their protests held in the wake of the revenue department in Harur recently deferring requisitions of community certificates, with as many as over 75 student applications for community certificate pending, says Mr. Chokkalingam.
Now, suddenly the applicants were told that there was no mention of the community as ST in the records of Sub-registrar’s office or the school records.
According to Mr.Chokkalingam, various officials have taken different approaches to the recognition of the community as ST and referred to a community that was deputed to study the population of Kurumbans in Harur district in late 2000s.
The committee led by an anthropologist had recorded that the cultural aspects of the community as being equally determinant of its ST status. However, the revenue department now has claimed that the community did not exist prior to 1976, says Mr. Chokkalingam. Added to this was that often Kurumbans are recorded as Kurumbar, which belongs to MBC category. Yet, community certificates are issued arbitrarily without taking into consideration the cultural aspects as defined by the Committee, he says.
The largely pastoral community had no recourse to education except for reservation guaranteed by a community certificate, protesters said. Kurumban community is recorded as dispersed in Paapireddypatty, A.Pallipatty, Mookkareddypatty, Molayaanur, Payyarnatham, Pandaarasettipatty, C.Pallipatty, Kadhirnayakkanhalli, according to the administration records.
