A team from the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), New Delhi, determined the living standards of Narikurava community at Devarayaneri in Tiruchi district for the purpose of including them in ST list.
Despite their innumerable representions for categorisation as Scheduled Tribe, the Narikurava community has for long been clubbed with Most-Backward Caste groups.
The NCST team visited Devarayaneri since it is among the few largest settlements for Narikuravas in the State.
There are more about 300 families consisting of 2,500 members of Narikurava community, including 1,600 voters, living in the Devarayaneri settlement.
Flanked by Deputy Director Rajesh Kumar Verma, Under Secretary, and Assistant Director V. Ashok Varadhan, the NCST member analysed the criteria followed for Scheduled Tribe specification: indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the community at large, and backwardness.
Officials of Revenue Department also accompanied the NCST team.
The team will shortly submit a report to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs recommending the inclusion of Narikuravas in ST list, officials said.
After hunting was banned, the semi-nomadic tribe has been living in poverty, making and selling bead ornaments. The Narikurava representatives said the community continued to be confronted with the problems of illiteracy, health complications and unemployment, and expressed the wish that the NCST team must, among the other factors, emphasise the low economic and social status of the community to secure the ST status.
