Tribal Empowerment Programme

Tribal Empowerment Programme

MES Drive for the Empowerment of Tribes in Attappady

Goal

1. To ensure overall empowerment and standard of living of tribes in Attappady. The Context Attappady is the biggest tribal settlement in Kerala. College is situated near by educationally and economically backward area of this tribal region. Health and Education is the two fundamental dimension of the development of the society. The position of tribal health and education is more alarming, as these group inhabit in the remote forest and hilly areas far from civilization, they are largely unaffected by the developmental process going on the rest of the non-tribal areas of the state. It is in this context we thought to conduct tribal empowerment programes in the two Panchayaths of Agali and Pudhur .

The Practice

We are executing various programmes in the tribal hamlets with special emphasis on educational and health empowerment of tribes. The execution of the project has done by the Department of Economics, History, Chemistry, Computer Science, Commerce, languages and NSS of the college. The various activities so far organized under this project are • Inclusive survey on Infant Mortality and Health issues of tribal people in Nellippathy hamlet. • Financial inclusion awareness programme conducted for two consecutive days by nine teams consisting of nine members each, headed by two faculties in nine s tribal hamlets. • Educational Awareness programme- Computer literacy classes for secondary students in Puthuvappadam hamlet and guidance for students to take admission in our college in nine hamlets. • Anti-narcotics awareness programmes. • Self Employment Training: Grass cutting by using machines. Demo class in soap making and distributed soap kits for twenty nine families at MeleBothayar and Padavayal hamlet.

Evidence of Success

The participation of students in the tribal empowerment activities in the tribal colony has made positive changes in the mindset of students. The first ever-attempted program has created not only awareness among the public but also received appreciation from tribals. More than 50% of tribals in nine villages were ready to open savings account. With the initiation among students they collected details needed from those people who are ready to open account in the nearest bank. Increased Usage of ATM card among tribal students. Earlier they were reluctant to use it even though they had. Seven students from this area took admission in our college.

Problems Encountered and Resources Required

Even though we had planned many activities in the tribal hamlets, most of the programmes were not implemented due to busy academic schedule of the students. Transportation facilities to this area are not easily accessible. Some people showed a suspicious attitude towards teachers and students. Women were not ready to sit in the awareness programme. They were fear of losing their daily wages. Continuous persuasion and motivation needed to create positive attitude among tribal people.