Confusion over ‘Gounder’ tag for Malayalee community prevails

While there is disappointment over ST categorisation of Malayalee community with ‘Gounder’ tag, there is also a line of thinking among a section that the Central Government’s nod for a long-pending demand must be welcomed.

Votaries of ST status for the Malayalee community living on Kadambur and Bargur hills indeed have a divided opinion on the issue. The community has suffered enough.

Refusal to accept the categorisation is not going to address their socio-economic backwardness, says N.S. Ramalingam, Secretary of Hill Tribe Malayalee Community Welfare Association.

But, according to former MLA of Bhavani Sagar constituency P.L. Sundaram, the Malayalee community in Erode ought to be treated on a par with their counterparts in Dharmapuri, Vellore, Pudukottai, Salem, Namakkal, Cuddalore, Tiruchi, Karur and Perambalur districts.

There are about 25,000 people belonging to the community in Erode district, living in 50 hamlets spread over Kadambur and Bargur hills.

Due to denial of ST status, students were not able to derive utility of the government schemes, and hence, the community had to languish in socio-economic backwardness for decades.

There is no reason why the Malayalee community members in Erode alone must be treated differently when the Tribal Research Centre has already established their kinship with their relatives elsewhere in the State through anthropological study, Mr. Sundaram said.