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1
SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS REPORT
OF PIRAMALAI KALLAR TRIBE
(A DENOTIFIED CRIMINAL TRIBE AND A NEGLECTED PRIMITIVE, ABORIGINAL TRIBE OF
TAMIL NADU)
TO
THE HIGH LEVEL COMMITTEE
OF MINISTRY OF TRIBAL WELFARE
NOTIFIED ON 14.8.2013
SUBMITTED
BY
ANNADURAI.S,
Mobil.No.09842671105
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Content
S.No.
Page No.
Synopsis of the Report
1. Introduction
2. Brief History of Piramalai Kallar Tribe
3. Adverse Impact of CT Act on Piramalai Kallar
4. State intervention to improve the statusof the Piramalai Kallar Tribe.
5. Present Status of the Piramalai Kallar Tribe
6. Denial, Deprival and Digressof Piramalai Kallar Tribe
7. Proposal for the improvement of soc io-economicand educational status of the Piramalai Kallar Tribe
8. Conclusion
List of Tables
1. Comparative Statement of between District Crime and Kallar
Crimes in Madurai District for the period 1933 and 1934.
2. Comparative Vital Socio-Economic Indicators
3. Children admitted under cradle baby schemes
4. The Prevalence of Dowry and Infanticide among Piramalai Kallars
5. Size of Farm Holding (in acres) among Piramalai Kallars
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6. Socio-Economic Indicators Of Piramalai Kallars
7. Literacy rate among Kallars as per 1921 census
8. Number of Schools for a Population of more than 1.5 lakhs for
Usilampatti Block Piramalai Kallars in 2011
List of Figures
1. Density of Population
2. Decadal Population Growth
3. Sex Ratio
4. Percentage of urban Population
5. Size of Farm Holding (in acres) among Piramalai Kallars
6. Literacy rate
7. Infant Mortality
Appendix
A) Location Map of Piramalai Kallar Tribes area
B) List of Denotified Tribes complied by the Home Department in the
year 1939 by Govt. of Tamil nadu
C) List of Denotified Tribes indicating the means of livelihood and socio-
economic status as compiled by the Home Department in the year1939 by Govt. of Tamil nadu
D) Copy of GO MS No. 1310 of dated 30.7.1979 of Soc
E) Copy of Community certificates dated 23.2.1973 and 26.2.1989
F) List of Denotified Tribes as notified in GO 85/2008 issued by Govt. of
Tamil nadu
G) Copy of Honble High Court order depriving the privilege of
recruitment in Piramalai Kallar Reclamation Schools.
H) Copy of Photos of depicting the Social economic of Piramalai Kallar
Tribes.
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Location of Usilampatti, in undivided Madurai District
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Chapter I
INTRODUCTION
The Piramalai Kallar [community] Tribes of Tamilnadu
is the most neglected denotified criminal tribes and aboriginal
and primitive tribes of India. The Piramalai Kallar Tribes is
most patriotic, independent, and egalitarian in outlook and
worst victims of systematic discrimination, social exclusion,
criminalization, human rights violation, atrocities of
hegemonic foreign rules and highly backward in socio-
economic-political-educational-health status mainly due to
marginalization of Tribes by the main stream society and
alienation of the Tribes.
The social economic and educational backwardness of
the Piramalai Kallar Tribes has been well documented by the
British Administrators in various reports submitted by then
Superintendent of Police of then Madura District Mr. E.B
Love Luck in 1919 and Mr. T.E. Moir, then labour
Commissioner report of 1920 and the Tribal Character of the
Piramalai Kallar Tribes also have been well document by
renowned anthropologist, Sociologist and Historians both in
the past such as Prof Thurston, E (1906 Ethnographic Notes
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in South India, Madras) and Prof Louis Dumont (1950
Kinship and alliance among the Piramalai Kallar) and Prof.
Anand Pandian of Department of Anthropology, Jonhs
Hopkins University on the social- economic status of the
settlement Kallars in Cumbam Valley of Theni District
(Crooked Stalks: Cultivating Virtue in South India -Duke
University Press, 2009, and Oxford University Press India,
2010) and sri.P.M.uthuthevar.,Auther of Muvanther Kulathe
samuga varallaru [social history].Kakuveeran. Printers.
Karumathur. Madurai.Dist. Tamilnadu., smilarly the adverse
impact of various suppressive measures such imposition of
Criminal Tribes Act 1911 are well documented by the
Department of History, Madurai Kamaraj University by Prof
Jeyaraj and his Ph. D Scholars, Dr. Maheshwari on Criminal
Tribes Act (2002) and Dr. P Jeganathan on the Kallar
Panchayat System in Colonial Tamilnadu (2006).
Despite meeting all the conditions of the tribal
community, the Piramalai Kallar Tribes continue to be denied
the status of scheduled tribes and the above stated
documents and historical records are never examined by the
concerned authorities. As this Piramalai Kallar Tribes have
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been systematically terrorized and alienated from the
mainstream and remain voiceless for last 60 years and their
demand for due recognition and extension of constitutional
and legislative benefits to this most deserving Piramalai
Kallar Tribes fell in deaf ears. As the present government
has constituted a High Level Committee to examine the
impact of various measures taken by the state on the lives of
the Indian tribes, our organization wish to use this
opportunity and submit the present socio economic status of
the Piramalai Kallar and make various specific practicable
and effective proposal to improve the socio-economic status
of the marginalized, backward, primitive aboriginal, denotified
criminal tribe of the Piramalai Kallar Tribes.
Keeping in view of the all India nature of the
committee, we submit only a brief report of the status of the
Piramalai Kallar Tribes and It is requested to allot time for in
person presentation before the HLC along with all the
supporting documents.
The report has been divided into seven chapters along
with Appendix of some of the supporting documents and
photographs and to make the report is reader friendly, the
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data are not loaded in the report and the same shall be
presented during oral submission.
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Chapter II
BRIEF HISTORY OF PIRAMALAI KALLAR TRIBE
The Piramalai Kallar Tribes of Tamilnadu is the one of
the most ancient aboriginals of India. Unfortunately due to
social exclusion of Piramalai Kallar, there are lots of
misconception and myth about the tribal characters of the
Piramalai Kallar. However, the recent discovery of the DNA
of a Piramalai Kallar matching with the aboriginals of the
Africa and Australia has pulverized all the misconceptions
about the origins of the Piramalai Kallar and it has been
established beyond reasonable doubt that Piramalai Kallar is
certainly one of the most ancient, indigenous, Primitive
aboriginals. As it happened with other Tribals of India, the
invaders of India forced the aboriginals to move into forest
and settle there and some of them remain a nomadic tribes
and one of such Tribes is the Piramalai Kallar.
As with any other Tribes initially there were hunters
and food gatherers and during that period itself they had
developed various skills of defence and offence such as
Valaithadi which is similar to the Boomerang of the
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Australian aboriginal. Though this tribal were living in plains,
as they were highly freedom loving and independent, they
never subjected themselves into the rule of any kingdom or
governments. During the 3rd
and fourth century itself, the
Piramalai Kallars started semi-settled life and had a mixed
pastoral-agro economy. However, they have been mostly
engaged as paid warriors by the then rulers of the land and
during peace time, they have been engaged in the work of
Kaval and spies to collect intelligence gathering from the
enemy territories and all these works were done by the
Piramalai Kallars. This indigenous group settled in the foot
hills of the outer western gates and evolved their own social,
political and economic institutions. Though due to cultural
diffusion, assimilation and interaction with other communities
some of the features of the mainstream Hindu Cultures were
also integrated into their system, the core culture of the
Piramalai Kallars were preserved and practiced in letter and
spirit till date. The core culture of the Piramalai Kallars of
Kinship, Marriage system, political organization of Nadus,
Panchayats and administration of Justice including criminal,
civil and matrimonial disputes and religious practices such as
division of labour during the social gathering and festivals,
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worshiping original tribal God/Goddesses, pure system of
tribal rituals and practices without any influence of
bramanisation and sanskirtisation. The Temple structure and
layout of the temples are unique to only Piramalai Kallars
which are 100 per cent in tune with the primitive Tribes of
India especially Gond tribes of central India and Chota
Nagpur regions.
Whenever, the outsiders tried to subjugate the
Piramalai Kallars, they rebelled against them and
successfully retained their original socio-political-economic
structure. However, the Piramalai Kallars were having active
relationship with the Kingdoms upto the 18 th centuries and
mostly the Piramalai Kallars were used as reserved standing
subsidiary army during war time and during peace as
Kavalkars/guards/spies etc. As a result, they did not
integrate with the main stream of the societies, though they
had evolved robust social institutions, they could not keep
pace with rapid advancement of modern civilization and
technical advancement mainly due to total absence of
organized education system and as a result they became
socially, economically and educationally backward.
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While being so after the establishment of East Indian
Company Governance in the southern part of Tamilnadu in
the Madura Regions, the Piramalai Kallars proved to be
insurmountable adversary of the Britishers in the entire
length and breadth of the world, the British had superior fire
power through their advanced guns and artilleries, the
Piramalai Kallar could provided stiff resistance through their
traditional weapon of livelihood (for hunting) i.e. Valaithadi.
However, due to superior Army power of the company, the
company for the first time invaded in the exclusive territory of
the Piramalai Kallar and first thing they did, was collected all
the 11000 Valaithadi of the Piramalai Kallars and burned on
the same day. However, each and every individual of the
Piramalai Kallar both the men and women are an
independent Army on their own strength and they held the
value of freedom more than their life. In fact this core value
of independent living is as age old as human civilization, this
value is ingrained into the DNA of each Piramalai Kallar, in
spite of invasion of tumultuous modernization, westernization
and globalization into their territory also, even today each
individual of the Piramalai Kallar function as independent
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republic and they never ever accept any form of superior
and inferior treatment on any account.
Therefore, the Piramalai Kallars proved to be real
threat to the British Governance both during the company
and Queens rules. Similarly some of the Tribes of the North
India had also put forth stiff resistance to the British Rule,
and all the three governance technique of Britishers viz.
Suppression, Carrot and Stick Policy and Divide and Rule
failed in controlling them, hence, the Britishers decided to
apply the most draconian law a European Invention viz.
Criminal Tribes Act to suppress these valiant, independent
primitive tribes by branding them as criminal tribes which
gave absolute power to the police and snatch away all the
fundamental rights of the people and treat such human
beings as beast.
Thus the Criminal Tribe Act 1871 was enacted and
implemented in the first phase in Northern Indian and after
amendment in the year 1911, the said act was for the first
time imposed on the Piramalai Kallars of Madura regions in
the year 1914 only against the known dacoits (KD) of
Keelakuilkudi Village but the Police could not succeed in
subjugating the rebellious Piramalai Kallars and as a result
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for the first time the said Act was imposed on the entire
Piramalai Kallar Community in the years 1919. Under the
said act the police has been given absolute power to curtail
the human rights of the entire community as per their whims,
as per the act all the adult males of the community must
register under the CT Act and all of them should sleep only
at police station every day during 6 PM to 6AM and during
day time also they are not permitted to visit their near and
dear without passport from the government officer and the
police were given absolute power to arrest any Piramalai
Kallar for any reasons or without reason and dispose him the
way they like.
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Table - 1
Comparative Statement of between District Crime and Kallar Crimes
in Madurai District for the period 1933 and 1934
Type ofCrimes 1933 1934
Total District
Crimes
Piramalai Kallar
Crimes
% of PK
Crimesto totaldistrictcrimes
Total District
Crimes
Piramalai Kallar
Crimes
% of PK
Crimesto totaldistrictcrimes
Incident Deduction Incident Deduction Incident Incident Deduction Incident Deduction Incident
Murder 51 9 9 2 18 30 4 6 0 20
Dacoity 3 0 2 0 67 5 1 4 1 80
Robbery 41 19 29 14 71 36 10 12 6 33
House
Breaking 159 34 85 23 53 156 27 61 18 39
Theft 185 11 40 6 22 166 35 57 16 34
cattletheft 132 44 71 31 54 141 48 88 37 62
Total 571 117 236 76 41 534 125 228 78 43
Source: The report on the administration of the Police of the MadrasPresidency, 1935-35
The above table shall demolish and destroy the myth of
branding Piramalai Kallars as born criminals because the
proportion of the population in the total population in the
then Madura district is more than 40 per cent and the overall
crime incidence in respect of Piramalai Kallars is only 41 per
cent and above all, the theory of Piramalai Kallars as
dangerous criminals as that of thugs therefore the CT Act
was imposed on the entire community has been proved to be
false because the empirical data of the British Raj reveals
that the though the incidents of cattle theft and dacoity are
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reported to be higher than the average, the inhuman crime of
murder is only 18 per cent total crimes which establish the
hard fact that the Piramalai Kallars were not thugs and it all
the more confirms that Piramalai Kallars are more human
than the rest of the population of the district. Therefore the
theory of the so called criminal tribes is only imaginary,
invented and imposed by the British Raj to subjugate the
valiant independent primitive aboriginals. Therefore, the
Piramalai Kallars are the real victims of the ruthless,
exploitative imperial forces and the exploitative society.
Therefore the large society is indebted to undo the injustice
heaped on these aboriginal tribes.
The CT Act, apart from terrorizing the entire
community, had completely restricted the movement of the
Piramalai Kallar and the imposition of CT Act on the entire
community by branding them as born criminals had created
indelible social stigma against the Piramalai Kallar Tribes
and became the worst victim of the double discrimination
both by the Main stream societies and the foreign rulers,
whereas the SC/ST was victim of single discrimination. The
detailed accounts of the horrible and irreparable damage
done to the Piramalai Kallars due to the said CT Act and
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ever hunting social stigma shall be explained in the
succeeding chapter. As the British Government tried to
enroll the name of Piramalai Kallars male by recording the
left thumb impression of them as almost 95 per cent of them
were illiterate(thus the Act was also called as Thumb
impression Act), the Piramalai Kallar put all the possible
resistance against such registration and one notable
incidence is that on 03.04.1920 the Piramalai Kallars of
Perungamanallur decided to disobey the order of the officer
and thus a crude war broke out between the able brave
warriors of Piramalai Kallar and mighty and all power
paramount British Raj and on the said incidence some 16
persons including a women were shot dead on the spot. As
this was widely published by then ethical vibrant media, the
atrocities committed by the British Police came under severe
criticism from all quarters both within the country and abroad.
This lead to some change in the British approach and
they had decided to use the age old carrot and stick policy
i.e. the then Superintendent of Police Mr. Love Luck had
recommended that while implementing the CT Act various
welfare measures also should be taken. But this also did not
succeed in subjugating them as the Piramalai Kallar were
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highly independent and they never submitted to any
sovereign power at any point of time.
Thereafter, British adopted the divide and rule policy,
and accordingly they introduced the Kallar Panchayat system
and Abeyance system. Thereby, the British dived the Tribes
into leaders and criminals and made the leaders to control
the so called rebellious/criminal Kallars etc. This change in
the system is also only to save the skin of the Britishers from
the adverse criticism of the rest of world. Thus the atrocities
and large scale human and animal rights violation continued
unabated.
Though the valiant individual rebellions and communal
boycott of the system continued, some of freedom fighters
such as George Josep, an advocate at Madurai, Pasumpon
Muthuramalainga Thevar who spear headed the anti CT Act
movement, NG Ranga leader of left wing, Shri Naidu also
fought strenuously to put an end to this draconian law. In
1936, at Abiramam Town of Ramnadu region an all Anti CT
ACT conference was held and a delegation met then
governor and submitted their resolution but nothing moved.
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However, Mr. H.S.Hood, the Secretary, Department of
Home, had sent circulars to all district collectors seeking the
status report on the CT Act.
The atrocities and extreme form of human subjugation
for more than three decades caused irreparable damage to
the socio-economic and political status of the Piramalai
Kallar. The condition of the Piramalai Kallar was worst then
the SC/ST, thus for the first time in the history of affirmative
actions, the British Government initiated various welfare
measures exclusively for the betterment of the Piramalai
Kallar(as detailed infra) and the Harijan welfare schemes
were started only thereafter. All the Piramalai Kallar welfare
schemes were also implemented by the harijans welfare
department both before and after independence. However
due to total alienation from the main stream society and total
absence of representation, the Piramalai Kallar were not
classified as Schedule Tribes and denied their rightful
constitutional safeguards and welfare measures. Above all,
due to local political animosity, as the Piramalai Kallars were
critical of any form of unjust system, a number of welfare
measures provided by the then ruthless British rulers were
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withdrawn gradually by the succeeding apathetic
governments.
This kind of political maltreatment was also mainly due
to sick minds of the then congress leaders because most of
them are rebellious in nature, the call of Nethaji
Subaschandra Bose to end the British Raj immediately and
by any mean, naturally appeal to them and they reaming the
torch bearers of his ideology of Nethaji and his Forward Bloc
till date and they had joined INA in large number and
sacrificed their lives to the mother land. Thus the Piramalai
Kallars also became worst victim of political discrimination
for committing only sin of supporting Nethajis who had no
other vision then liberation of mother land.
This discrimination continued even after the so called
offspring of the Justice Movement, the Dravidars Party came
to power and one such case is that the Social Welfare
Department of government of Tamilnadu vide its GO M.S.
No. 1310 dated 30.7.1979 had order that henceforth the
DNTs shall not be called as Tribes and they shall be called
only as Community. This was done of the state government
without any reasons or rhyme but the said GO erroneously
quotes the Government of India, Ministry of Home letters
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111019/18/78-SCT-V dated 4.11.1978 and BC. 11026/2/79-
SC.BCD III dated. A perusal of the said GO annexed with
this report shall reveal that the very reasoning cited therein is
uncalled for, illogical, perverse and illegal on many respects
because even the latest National Commission for DNTs has
specially recommended constitutional safeguards to DNT.
Therefore, the said GO should be allowed to exist even for a
day.
That apart, the DNTs in Tamilnadu are not given
separate reservation, they have been erroneously included
into Most Backward Class where number of numerically
predominant, relatively far advanced then, the Piramalai
Kallars, thus the reservation benefits to DNT remains an
unrealizable dream/day dream whereas governments after
governments in the state have been trying to extent the
reservation benefits only to already advanced societies thus
vide GO MS. 85/2008 the government has given exclusive
reservation of SC Arunthathiyars and BC Muslims and above
all, the said GO has tempered with the list of DNTs in
Tamilnadu, without any basis by including more than 19
non DNTs into DNTs.
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Thus the brief history of Piramalai Kallar stated supra
shall real that this is the only tribes in the whole world,
against who double, triple discrimination, temporal and
contemporary human rights violations and extreme form of
injustice are being perpetuated mainly due to misconception
and non representation of the Piramalai Kallars, therefore,
before studying the present socio-economic status of the
Piramalai Kallar, it is pertinent to learn the adverse impact of
the imposition of CT Act against them and consequent ever
chasing social stigma on the lives of the Piramalai Kallars.
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Chapter III
ADVERSE IMPACT OF CT ACT ON THE
LIVES OF PIRAMALAI KALLAR.
The adverse impact of the CT Act on the Piramalai
Kallar socio-economic status is highly deplorable and well
documented but subsequently all most, most of the
sufferings of the Piramalai Kallars has been suppressed as
stated supra partly due to political animosity and partly due
to misconception and myth about the Piramalai Kallar Tribes
and partly due voicelessness/noiselessness of Piramalai
Kallar Tribes. Thus, it is sine quo non to highlight only a
spectrum of the pathetic story of the Piramalai Kallars in the
succeeding Paragraphs of this chapter.
a) The said CT Act empowered the Government to
designate any tribe, gang or class of person 'a criminal tribe'
if they were addicted to the systematic commission of non-
bailable offences(explicit objective but the evil deign was to
brand the rebellious aboriginals who had unparallel mastery
over the guerilla warfare as criminal thereby deprive them
the survival support from the majority of the main stream
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society). Further, once notified the members of the tribe had
no appeal to the court. The notified criminal tribes were
restricted to the confines of the villages they live and also in
the criminal settlements. Such peoples were not allowed to
move away from the village without any passport and they
were asked to report to the Police Station every night and
stay till dawn of the day.
b) Thus, the notified criminal tribes were put to a lot of
hardship and were deprived of their personal liberty. For
more than 3 decade, they could not lead a normal live, and
the atrocity did not end with male members alone but done
to women, children, aged and also their cattle and chattel.
c) The members of the designated criminal tribes were
placed outside the provisions of the ordinary law and
subjected to intensive and indefinite Police supervision and
they were exposed to the harassment and blackmail of the
Police and the local land-lords and village officers who were
also entrusted with the supervision. Hence W.J. Hatch said
that, "I was doubtful whether any other Act on the statute
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book goes so far in giving the Police powers to take away a
man's freedom".
d) During the imposition of the CT Act against
Piramalai Kallars endless list of the custodial death,
encounters, massacres were carried out by the police with
impunity as per the records on the 1st day of April 1920, 750
Piramalai Kallars of Mettupati village were arrested at the
dawn of the day and tied together in a single rope and
marched to prison in the hot sun and they are not allowed to
have water and food during the said ride not even the cattle
were sparred as there were no men in the villages many
cattle died of starvation as they were tied in the shed of
Piramalai Kallar. On 03.4.1920 as stated supra 16 Piramalai
Kallars were shot, killed, and burned like beasts.
e) They were used as slaves in tea plantations of
western gates (which has been well depicted by the national
award winning movie Pithamagan).
f) They had been used as slaves for all purposes and
which recorded by none other than Mr. M.S.Pattibhirama
Ayyar, a member of the Legislative Assembly expressed that
the Act was passed by the Imperialist Government to
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strengthen their own hands. It was used as a political
weapon and during the Non-Co-operation Movement, the
Police harassed them by dubbing as criminal tribes Under
this Act and these people were used as readymade audience
and they were brought to the places which were visited by
Simon Commission in order to show that the Indians were
welcoming the Simon Commission. Thus politically, this Act
resulted 'contrary effect to the British as in the case of the
Minto-Morley Reforms Act of 1909 ( Madras Legislative
Assembly Debate (MLAD), March-April, 1947, p.567).
g) They were forced to work in the farms and houses of
the police officers/revenue officers without wage a crude
form of forced labor.
h) In the process, they had lost all their livelihoods and
whatever little assets they had. Their land became barren
and unsuitable for cultivation and due to deforestation, their
traditional livelihood also totally deprived of
i) They were deprived of any public life as persons of
other community, thus there was 100 % absence of their
representatives in any institutions of governance etc.
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j) As they were uprooted from their home land to settle
them in faraway places as plantation workers/mining
workers/industrial workers, they lost all their age old rich
culture and heritage and their robust social institutions
evolved over millions of years were severely damaged.
k) As the entire Piramalai Kallars were branded as
Criminals, an indelible social stigma has been engraved on
the face of each Piramalai Kallar individuals and as a result
the anger against the main stream societies are manifested
in the form of various deviant behaviors and including their
works, actions and approach towards the main stream
society which needs to be rectified immediately before
capitalized by the extreme elements in the society.
l) Because of the imposition of CT Act, the Piramalai
Kallars were denied their Traditional jobs of Kaval(a job of
protectors of persons and property combined with immigrant
officer), rather, the then government itself instigated other
communities to mobilize fund and fight against Piramalai
Kallars. The Piramalai Kallars were forced to be at war with
everyone in the world as their due place is not given by the
society mainly due to their egalitarian ethos in conflict with
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the exploitative, imperial and capitalistic organization of the
main stream society.
m) Because of the imposition of CT Act, indeed, many
individuals had became hardened criminals not because the
entire community is criminal but faulty imposition of
draconian law upon highly egalitarian and judicious tribes.
n) The discrimination suffered by the Piramalai
Kallar because of the CT Act is many fold because the SC
caste face discrimination only due to the notion of purity-
pollution principle of the caste system whereas the Piramalai
Kallar suffered discrimination on account of this principle of
purity-pollution also as they were also meat eating tribes
and similarly the Tribal people suffered only geographical
isolation, the Piramalai Kallar also suffered geographical
isolation besides they suffered from statutory discrimination
by the foreign rules by breading them criminal tribes, they
were treated as slaves, they were employed as forced labour
and they were not even allowed to have natural mating
during the night for 3 decades, their human rights were
violated beyond the capacity of any language to describe
their sufferings.
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o) The adverse impact of the CT Act on lives of
Piramalai Kallars is spoken by various members of the then
legislative members :-
i) In the Legislative Assembly in the year 1947, Mr.
Raghavayya said, " the CTA has been condemned by one
and all, not only Judges, not only Politicians, but the great
Indian National Congress condemned it in 1936 and every
civilized man had nothing but contempt for this most horrible
piece of legislation". Further, he stated that these notified
criminals were expected to render forced labour by the
Police (or) the Village Munsif for their personal end, failing
which they would be charged with false cases. Further he
said, with regard to the settlement that many persons who
did not committed any offence were confined to it as he knew
that there were some families who had been confined for
generations - father, son and grandchildren were in the
settlements.
ii) Though the Act at least in principle aimed to reform
the so-called criminals, it did not do so and hence another
member of the assembly by name Pillalammari
Venkateswarlu said, " that the provisions of the Act are so
rigorous that their application to members of the tribes is
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more likely to make them hardened criminals than to reform
them.
iii) Mr. Nagappa explained how the notified criminal
tribes had suffered at the hands of the Police. He said that if
a Police Officer want anything to be done, he simply sent for
these people and asked them to do it all for nothing, for no
wages he used them as they were the slaves. The problems
caused by the CT Act were also brought to light. The notified
criminal tribes who were asked to report to the Police
Stations at odd hours were asked to stay in the Police
Station itself even though they were ailing. Even amidst
severe illness they were stressed to report. An incumbent
who was operated for strangulated hernias too met with such
stresses. So the members of the Legislature of Madras
demanded the repeal of the Act of 1924 and early removal of
their distresses. It was accused that those people who did
not attend the Police Station were also branded as 'habitual
offenders'. Such measures not only degraded the prestige of
the individuals but also encouraged them to continue their
unlawful deeds.
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p) Even today jobs are denied to the Piramala Kallar on
seeing their community certificates.
q) Because of the backward culture of the Piramalai
Kallar no single public or private industries are established in
the regions of Kallar nadu for last 6 decades and no standard
schools or higher educational Institutions has been
established.
Therefore the adverse impact of the various atrocities,
injustice committed against the Piramalai Kallars by the
British Raj and the larger society is immeasurable. In the
history of Piramalai Kallars, the 19th and 20
th century is a
dark age and it has pushed them down into the
unfathomable pits of pathetic adverse socio-economic
conditions. Hence, to heal the wound done to the very
psychic of the Piramalai Kallar, numbers of affirmative and
ameliorative actions are required in a sufficient scale,
magnitude and commitment and not mere lip or paper
service.
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Chapter - IV
STATE INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE THE
STATUS OF THE PIRAMALAI KALLAR TRIBE
a) Before Independence
Though the British government was interested in establishing
their government only, when they imposed the most draconian law
on the rebellious aboriginals of the India, they came under server
criticism of progressive thinker of the world. Thus in the year
1924, as a measure of Reclamation of Piramalai Kallar, the British
Government launched the Kallar Reclamation Scheme under
which a Piramalai Kallar Reclamation Fund was also created. The
said fund was managed by a Committee of 12 members aiming at
the general improvement of the community by granting loans for
agricultural and other purposes and also for the general welfare of
the community. The Kallar Reclamation Scheme mainly
endeavoured to educate the students of the Piramalai Kallar
community and at the end of 1940 itself, there were 60 schools
established under Kallar Reclamation Scheme with student
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strength of over 3182 (Administration Report for the year 1940,
Government of Madras, 1940, p.11). Further Piramalai Kallar
students were granted scholarships and stipends. These schemes
were implemented by Piramalai Kallar Special Officers for Madurai
by pooling officers from Police, Revenue, Educational and Co-
operative Departments. As a result 270 special cooperative
societies for the betterment of Piramalai Kallars were established
at the end of the year 1946 (MLAD, September-October, 1 947,
p.206) The under the CT Act a Piramalai Kallar Special Officers
for Madurai was also appointed. Besides this the following
schemes were also implemented :-
i) As most of the Piramalai Kallars were asset less and
land less, the government after deforesting the areas
assigned the land to the Piramalai Kallars to encourage
them to undertake settled cultivation. Thus during the
period between 1935 to 1939 for about 270 farmers
about 648 acres of lands were assigned for cultivation
(Administrative Report for the year 1939, Government
of Madras, 1939, p.17 and 18).
ii) In the land were dry lands, in order to enable them for
digging and deepening of wells for irrigation Takkavi
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Loans were granted to Piramalai Kallars. To assign
lands for cultivation.
iii) As most of the Piramalai Kallars also homeless, the
British government also allotted house site to them.
iv) Two Special Revenue Inspectors were attached to the
establishment for Dark-hast and loans for Kallars upto
1938 (G.O. Ms.276, Home, dated 18 January 1939).
v) Three industrial scholarships for training the students in
the Industrial Schools at Madurai was implemented
vi) The Scout Units were employed to engage the boys
and girls in spinning, mat-weaving, basket making,
knitting and other cottage industries.
vii) To avoid people from lapsing into illiteracy and to
continue education among adults, night classes were
held in the Schools.
viii) 'A Kallar Reclamation Employment Bureau' was
started during February 1937. Through this Bureau 30
educated and 500 uneducated Kallars were provided
with suitable jobs(Letter No.M.1892/37-CCCI of the
District Magistrate, Madurai to the Home Secretary).
b) After Independence
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It is painful to submit that after independent due to
various historical and political reasons, the most
deserving section of the society, Piramalai Kallar was
neglected in very respects, as stated supra even the
Kallar Reclamation department functioning under harijans
welfare department was not allowed to function under the
said department and it was transfer to social welfare
department. With lukewarm response and willy-nilly, only
the Kallar Reclamation schools were allowed to run and
even in the general schemes, the area settled by the
Piramalai Kallar were the most neglected area. However,
due to the community efforts of one Arts college was
established in the year 1970 but the same is yet to deliver
quality education for want of facilities and fund. Rather
after independence all the specials schemes as listed
infra had been discontinued making the socio economic
conditions of the Piramalai Kallar very pathetic as
explained in the chapter on present socio economic
conditions of Piramalai Kallar.
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c)Impact of the state intervention on the lives
of Piramalai Kallar Tribe
A careful analysis of the various special schemes taken
by the British raj and in Free India, shall reveal that though
the Britishers had taken number of steps to improve the
socio-economic and educational status of Piramalai Kallar,
they could not make any serious impact on the lives of
Piramalai Kallars for number of reasons because majority of
the Piramalai Kallars did accept the welfare schemes of the
Britisher as it is against their core value of being subservient
to a foreign rulers and on the other hand the Britisher were
interested only in suppressive this rebellious tribes rather
than their upliftment and above all the schemes were
imposed by the outsiders who had very little knowledge
about the structure and functions of Piramalai Kallars who
are true aboriginals till date. After independence as
explained supra and infra, no special schemes for this
victims of brutal imperial suppression rather even schemes
implemented by the Britishers were withdrawn and the result
is the Piramalai Kallars become extremely backward in all
respects.
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Chapter V
PRESENT STATUS
OF THE PIRAMALAI KALLAR TRIBE
Social Status
If all the pathetic social conditions of the Piramalai
Kallar are submitted here no average person can
continuously read without breaking down. It is true that
various other communities were meted out with extreme
injustice and hardship but certainly that the scale and style,
depth and width of the suffering of the Piramalai Kallars.
The fact that despite documentation of large number of well
intentioned human being about the pathetic socio-economic
conditions, none of the policy makers and the government
wanted to take affective affirmative action to improve the
social-economic conditions of these primitive tribes. Perhaps,
it is one of the largest living, open museum of Human
Suffering, injustice and heart rending living conditions.
However, in this report only to meet the so called official
indicators the data on the socio Economic Conditions of the
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Piramalai Kallar has been compiled from the State, District
and Block level statistical hand book. Though the Piramalai
Kallars are living mainly in Madurai, Theni, and Dindigul and
to some extent in Virudunagar District and also in various
Piramalai Kallar settlements near Kanchipuram, the living
conditions of all the Piramalai Kallars are more are less
same except the geographical differences. As there is no
caste wise census, it would be most pertinent to take the vital
statistics of Usilampatti Block as representative statistics of
Piramalai Kallars and compare the same with the District,
State and All India state to assess the present conditions of
the Piramalai Kallars. The data were compiled mainly from
the published secondary sources of Government of
Tamilnadu, Statistical Department, and primary data
collected through filed survey by trained social investigators
and published in leading papers and Magazines and a few
personal story of the worst victims of social backwardness
and discrimination are also taken from the secondary
sources and duly acknowledged.
Table -2
COMPARATIVE VITAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDIACATORS
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Sl.
No. Vital Socio-Economic Indicators
Piramalai
Kallar
Madurai
District
Tamil
Nadu India
1
Density (Population per Sq.Kms)
(2011 Census)
247 823 555 382
2
Decadal Growth Rate (2011
Census) 18 17.95 15.6 17.6
3
Sex Ratio ( Females per 1000
Males) (2011 Census)
936 990 995 940
4 percentage of Urban population 32 60.64 48.45 31.2
5 Birth Rate - 2011 (SRS) 18 17.2 15.9 21.8
6 Death rate - 2011 (SRS) 7.5 6.6 7.4 7.1
7 Infant Mortality Rate -2011(SRS) 31 21.2 22 44
8 Maternal Mortality Rate -2011 (SRS) 1.7 1.7
9 Literacy Rate - 2011 64.2 81.66 80.3 74Source : Usilapmatti Block, Statistical Handbook 2011-2012, Madurai Dt and
Tamilnadu Statistical Hand Book 2013.
An analysis of the vital statistics of the Piramalai Kallar with
the rest of the population of India as shown in Table 1 reveals that
as the land settled by the highly dry and only 30 % of the land is
under cultivation, the population density is not as high as in the
rest of the district of Madurai where it is 823 per Sq.Kms but the
same is only 287 per Sq.Kms which less than the All India figure
of 382 per Sq.Kms and which demonstrates that this region is one
of the most backward region and hostile conditions for human
living with result the concentration of the people is less and above
all another reason for this phenomena of thin concentration of
population is as there is no employment opportunities large
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number of people have migrated to other District and States in
search of jobs and livelihood. The following figure-1 shall depict
the comparison better.
Figure -1
Source : Usilapmatti Block, Statistical Handbook 2011-2012, Madurai Dt and
Tamilnadu Statistical Hand Book 2013.
As far as population growth is concerned despite
prevalence of foeticide and infanticide, the population is
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higher mainly due to illiteracy and other social and economic
facts such as poor economic conditions etc.
Figure -2
Source : Usilapmatti Block, Statistical Handbook 2011-2012, Madurai
Dt and Tamilnadu Statistical Hand Book 2013.
The sex ratio among the Primalai Kallar is one of the
lowest in the whole countries that too in a state where it is
more than 995 whreas in it is only 936 in the Usilampatti
Block where is in another Bclok were also the poplution of
Pramalai Kallr is more than 85 per cent, the sex ratio is
only 904. The reason for the lowest sex ratio is mainly due
to very low social status to women among the Piramalai
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Kallars, though orginally as in any other Tribes women
were given equal status in all respect but due to advrese
conditions in which this tribes were made to live, the
practice of dowry system and extreme poverty , has lead
to degenration of the value sytem and all the anger
against the main stream society due to continued
discrimination and illtreatment, and the entire budren of
unjust historical anger, are vent upon the women of
Piramalai Kallars and the level of suffering of Prmalai
Kallar of women is such that it is extermely challanging to
be born as second girl child in the Prmalai Kallar Tribes
and compelete full cycle of life even as a first girl child
because due to social backwardness number of savage
practives are still continued.
Figure -3
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Source : Usilapmatti Block, Statistical Handbook 2011-2012, Madurai
Dt and Tamilnadu Statistical Hand Book 2013.
One such Practice is female infenticides and foeticide
which has been well documented by the UNICEF and
Inidan Counsel for Child Welfare. The female infendicite
is a practice where only the first girl child would be
spared. If the family bears another girl child, the milky sap
from an Oleander (Yerukkum) shrub or Cactus (Kalli)
plant will be squeezed, mixed with castor oil and fed into
the newborn's throat. and number of other motheds.
Female infant mortality rate (defined as mortality in the
first year per 1,000 females born) in in Madurai it was 70
and the figure in respect of the whole of Tamil Nadu was
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44.3. Specifically, the early neo-natal female mortality rate
(that is, death within six days of birth) in Madurai it was
43.4; and the State average was 24 during 1986.
Several sociological factors influence the preference
for male children that is at the root of female infanticide
and female foeticide. The heart-rending tale of
Thedaselvam exemplifies some of them. Frail and
anaemic, she had tried to abort her five-month-old foetus
but her husband, who had lost both his legs in an
accident, had prevented her. His overriding concern was
that if she died owing to complications arising from an
improper abortion, there would be no one to look after him
and their eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter: the
family survives on the Rs.15 a day that Thedaselvam
earns as a farm labourer. But Thedaselvam asked
tearfully, "What will I do if this too is a girl? The
expenditure we incur on a girl all through her life is
enormous (there are six occasions on which ceremonies
are to be performed for a girl). (Frontline
NVESTIGATION: Scanning for death:In a region in Tamil
Nadu where female infanticide is endemic, increasing
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instances of foeticide employing modern tools of medical
technology raise a range of questions by ASHA
KRISHNAKUMAR in Usilampatti Vol. 15 :: No. 25 :: Dec.
05 - 18, 1998)
Cradle babies of Piramalai Kallar Calotropis plant : POISONOUS SAP USED TO KILLFETUS
Apopular but crude and primitive abortion method
adopted by the traditional midwives involves killing a fetus
with the poisonous sap of the Calotropis plant that grows
wild in the state.The mid-vein of an overripe leaf of the
plant is carefully cut out with a pair of scissors.
The tip of the stiff vein is dipped into the sap squeezed out
from a fleshy leaf of the plant. A thin strip of gauze is
wound tightly around the tip of the vein and dipped again
into the sap. It is then inserted into the pregnant womans
vagina. Unhygienic, crude methods of abortions can
cause serious medical complications to women. It could
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rupture and infect the uterus.The entire reproductive
system of the affected woman can go for a toss.
Better for her to die now
Chinnammalwith her first daughter who was allowed to live
Normally, the day should have been one of great
rejoicing for 35-year-old Kuppusamy and his 26-year-old
wife Chinnammal, both agricultural workers in Chulive-
chanpatti village in the Usilampatti taluk of Madurai
district. It was a May morning of sparkling sunshine and
Chinnammal, attractive and slim despite her pregnancy,
was in labour inside her mud-and-thatch hut. In a few
minutes her second child would be born. Her first,
daughter Chellammal, 3, played outside.
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The new-born cried lustily as it came into this world. It
was a bonny child, fair of complexion, its eyes, squinting
at the sunlight that filtered in. But when the mother laid
eyes on her baby, tears welled up in her eyes. They were
not tears of joy. Chinnammal had .seen the sex of the
child: a girl. What crossed her mind was not the
anticipation of the joys of motherhood but the trials that
lay ahead. How could a family of daily-wage agricultural
workers belonging to the Kallar group of the Thevar
community afford to bring up and marry off two
daughters? How could they, when thedowry demanded by
bridegrooms was always astronomical? The couple had
decided to have a second child only in the desperate hope
that it would be a boy. But on this sunny day, the dream
lay shattered.
There was only one way out of a lifetime burden of
bringing up two daughters. And Kuppusamy decided on
what they had to do. That evening he trudged
somewhat unsteadily into a nearby field, plucked a
handful of oleander berries that are known for their lethal
poison, and returned home. Chinnammal mashed them
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into a milky paste and fed her crying infant with the
substance. The parents then shut the small door of their
hut, sat outside, and waited for the poison to do its work.
Within an hour the baby began to twitch and tremble
fitfully. Slowly she started spouting blood through her
mouth and nose. The parents heard her whining. A few
more minutes, and all was quiet. Chinnammal knew that
everything was over. She quietly walked over to her
mother's hut close by, dug up a little patch of ground
inside, brought and buried the dead baby.
Poisonous oleander berries used to kill baby girls
I killed my child to save it from the lifelong ignominy of
being the daughter of a poor family that cannot afford to
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pay a decent dowry, Chinnammal said, as she sipped
water to keep her voice from breaking. But all the same,
it was extremely difficult to steel myself for the act. A
mother who has borne a child cannot bear to see it suffer
even for a little while, let alone bring herself to kill it. But I
had to do it, because my husband and I concluded that it
was better to let our child suffer an hour or two and die
than suffer throughout life. Kuppusamy, at first reluctant
to talk, admitted later during an interview: I get Rs 13 a
day as agricultural wages, on the days that I manage to
find work. My wife gets Rs 6 a day. I cannot dream of
decently marrying off two daughters. Killing girl babies
due to fear of the dowry problem is very common in our
Kallar community.
Thus insulated from the scrutiny of government
officials, politicians and social workers, the Kallars of
Usilampatti remain the prisoners of their burdensome,
savage traditions. By S. H. Venkatramani - Born to Die -
Female Infanticide published inIndia Todayvol 31, 15
(June 1986) 26-33.
We have no money to keep our daughters alive
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Annamal, 35, now a mother of five killed her first three
daughters. "I had to kill," she says. "We believed if wekilled a female the next child would be a male."
Gender disparity manifests itself in several other ways
in a patriarchal society and contributes to the shaping of a
mindset that perceives girl children as a "burden". Thus in
1992, the State Government acknowledged for the first
time the seriousness of the problem of female infanticide.
It introduced several schemes, including one under which
parents could abandon "unwanted" girl babies in cradles
kept in noon meal centres, primary health centres and
orphanages; the babies would then be brought up in
State-run orphanages. About 50 babies were thus found
abandoned in Usilampatti. But the scheme fizzled out
because many babies that were "adopted" by the State
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died. According to data compiled by the Social Welfare
Department, 133 babies were found abandoned in cradles
in Usilampatti and Salem between 1992 and 1996. Of
these 70 died. Another scheme, under which the State
Government was to invest Rs.2,000 in the name of every
girl child born in poor households, was not implemented
until 1997.
Table - 3
Times of India, Chennai (times city P-8) Sep 24 2011
In a filed study conducted by SIRD an NGO in Madurai
has reveal that the practice of dowry and practice of
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foeticide and infanticide is worst than the Dalits and other
communities.
Table -4
The Prevalence of Dowry and Infanticide among Piramalai Kallars
Name of the
Community
Dowry Harassment Practice ofFoeticide/
Infanticide
Yes No Yes No
Piramalai
Kallar
24 33 48 9
Dalit 12 27 27 12
Other castes 7 17 4 20
Source: Jeeva, M; Gandhimathi and Phavalam : Female Infanticide: Philosophy, Perspective and concern of SIRD - search Bulletin.
July-Sept. 1998. 13(3). P.9-17.
Of the 57 Piramalai Kallar respondents suveyed, 48
shared that they were, Practicing Female Infenticide i.e 86
per cent and among dailts it is only 69 per cent. Simarly
the dowry harrasess ment also more among the Piramalai
Kallars 42 per cent and among dalist it is only 31 per cent
Thus the social backwardness is very serve in the case of
Piramalai Kallar than the Dalits. As a result the sex ratio
is lowest in India.
The populous of the Piramalai Kallars are predominantly
living in rural area. Despite rapid urbanization in the
Madurai District and Tamilnadu during the last decade
two decade from 1991 to 2011, the Usilamptii Block
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witnessed only a marginal increase in Urbanization.
However large number of them have migrated to various
cities of India as far as Jammu in the north and Assam in
the East, mostly engaing in mobile Dosa shop woking
through out the day and struggling to compete with the
large scale hotels.
Figure -4
Source : Usilapmatti Block, Statistical Handbook 2011-2012, Madurai Dt andTamilnadu Statistical Hand Book 2013.
Besides the general to the bacwardness of Piramalai
Kallars in these vital indicators, the Piramalai Kallars are
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look down with contempt evry one in other comminity and
the government mechinary mainly due to the stigma of
Criminal Tribes. The Police offficer had a baise against
the Piramalai Kallars were ever they live, large number of
false cases are filed and put to unbearable torcher and in
some cases, they force them to indulge in criminal
activities. As the level of education of the Piramalai
Kallars are not sufficient to get them a job in the market
the lumpen elelment use them in all kind of criminal
activities and they had no other optition but the fall prey to
such a exploitation. Even durng the recruitments of
various services of central and state goverements on
reading the caste name of the individuals, they are
rejected without assiging any reasons mainly due the
brand of the criminal Tribes. There are number of
individual stories that highly meritorious individuals are
denied jobs on the the ground of being criminal tribes
whereas their mediocare counterpart from other parts
were able to get the lucarative jobs. The Home
Department of Madras Presidency compliled the socio-
economic status of all criminal tribes in the year 1939
and the same is enclosed as Appendix. Out of 89 criminal
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tribes, all most all of them were able to get over the
burden of the past by successfully improving their social
and ecomonic status because of a host of advandagious
factors i.e. i) the CT Act itself was not imposed in the
entire community as vigoraously as in the case of
Piramalai Kallars, ii) their livelihood was not deprived off;
iii) they were already in the take off stage in respect of
economic empowerment; iv) they are not tribals and they
had been already integrated in the main stream societies
whereas the Piramalai Kallars as a unique tribes and
original aboriginals dispite their best effort to emulate the
main stream culture, they failed mainly due to their core
value of each individual being a sovereign power and
unable to accept the unjust pattern of the main stream
society and the quality of tolerence to the ambiquity is
also all most absent among the Piramalai Kallars. Though
aparantly seemed to the rude and uncivilized but there is
fine threat of respect for justice and primitive communisim
and judicious humanism in every walk of the Piramalai
Kallars and they have built structurally rigid and
functionally flexcible social institutions along with change
in continuity but which require a special skill to understand
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and the main stream society failed to understand their
unique culture and value system and rejected them as
socially unfit and the result is vicious cycle of rejection-
rebellion process and the outcome is they are lacking
behind in the race to modernisation and social-economic
advancement. Therefore affirmative action by
constutitional safeguard shall go long way in mitigation the
suffering of the Piramalai Kallars and integration with main
stream while preserving their unique culture.
Economic Status
The mainstay of the Piramalai Kallar economy is
agriculture. The landholding size of the farmers among
the Piramalai Kallars is so small that it is impossible to
undertake any commercial agriculture and thus the entire
economy is subsistence economy. In fact, the concept of
private property is alien to them even during the early part
of the 20th century and whence everyone worked in the
field and everyone was allowed to enjoy the produce and
thus there was a kind of absolute primitive communism.
But after the imposition of CT Act their entire livihood
pattern is damaged irrevocably and forced to be asset
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less, skill less phycical labour. The deprival is so much so
that many of them could even affort to have hue/an
equipment to work in the filed and thus left unemployed or
to look for deviant way of living. The following table shall
reveal that the all most 99 percent of the farmers are
small farmers and out this another 65 per cent have only
less that one acre of the land which is not cacapable for
producing any surplus produce for market and thus they
are outside the reach of market.
Table-5
Size of Farm Holding (in acres) amongPiramalai Kallars
S.no.
size of farms (in
Acres) Number of Farmers percentage
1 0.50-1 17990 65.06
2 1-2 3926 14.20
3 2-3 4356 15.75
4 3-4 878 3.18
5 4-5 264 0.95
6 5-6 108 0.39
7 6-7 90 0.33
8 7.5-10 18 0.07
9 10-20 18 0.07
10 above 20 4 0.01
Total 27652 100.00
Source : Usilapmatti Block, Statistical Handbook 2011-2012, Madurai Dt.
Figure -5
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Source : Usilapmatti Block, Statistical Handbook 2011-2012, Madurai Dt.
As there is no institutional credit support to these farmers
even to plough the land they had to depend onmany lender. The
money lenders inturn plough their lives and treat them as salves.
The following table of socio economic indicators of Piramalai
Kallars demonstrates that they are in the lower rung of the
development. Of the total population 59.2 per cent are workers
and among the women 46.1 per cent are in the work force which is
highest in the country. These labours also engage only in
agricultural activities, of the total workers 81.8 per cent of them are
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agricultural workers in contrast with negligible figure of 2.5 per cent
in manufacturing industries. As stated earlier no single industries
worth mention in the regions of the Piramalai Kallars and as the
agriculture also mostly rain fed and the ground water level has
also been depleted beyond recharge, the there is large scale
migration to eke out their living. As most of them are unskilled,
they are employed only as unskilled labours in various
plantation/mining/spinning units. Another pathetic phenomena is
duly to extreme poverty, the children are made to work on the farm
and off the farm at a tender age depriving their childhood rights
and in worst cases, they are lent for few hundreds to work in
various household snag manufacturing industries and where the
children are being forced to work for more than 20 years without
rest and without adequate and sleep. In fact, if all the true story of
these unfortunate children are written perhaps we shall become
sleepless forever because indeed along with frying the snags they
are being virtually fried and at time their limbs and at some other
time their bodies are also fried and all these suffering is alas only
in the fond hope of survival. Inaddition to the above in terms of the
infrastructural development also they are lacking behind in all
respect.
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Table-6
SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDIACATORS OF PIRAMALAI KALLARS
Sl.
No. Socio-Economic Indicators
Piramalai
Kallar
1 Average size of household 3.4
2 Percentage of workers to total population 59.2
3 Percentage of female workers to total workers 46.1
4
Percentage of agricultural Labourer to total
labourars 81.8
5 Percentage of workers in Manufacturing industries 2.5
6 Percentage of small and marginal farmer 95
7 percentage of net are sown to total geographical area 32.28
8 Number of post office per thousand population 0.39
9 Number of letter box 9510 Number of residential telephone 654
11 Number of Nationalized bank 5
12 Number of scheduled Bank 1
13 Number of Primary Agricultural cooperative bank 5
14 Noon meal centers 88
Source : Usilapmatti Block, Statistical Handbook 2011-2012,
Madurai Dt
Political StatusAs the Piramalai Kallar is concentrating with winnable
majority in only one constitution i.e. Usilampatti constituency with
over 2,11,000 voters and since all along they have been voting
only for the candidates of All India Forward Bloc , they remain
political orphan because the All India Forward Bloc never find any
representation in the council of Ministers . In other constituency of
Madurai, Dindigul and Theni districts comprising nearly 30
constituencies they are present very significantly but they could not
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mobilize successfully to make their representation effective.
Indeed, no representative of Piramalai Kallar had ever taken part
in the decision making process either in legislature or in the
executives. The participation of Piramalai Kallars in the higher
administration is almost absent except one or two second/third
generation individuals. The same is the case in Group A, Group B,
Group C and Group D Services of both the central and state
governments and only mode of assured job was recruitment in
Kallar Reclamation as teachers in clerks numbering over 500
vacancies and as stated supra this also has been discontinued
after 1999. Thus on the whole over 40 lakhs people of Piramalai
Kallars remain as powerless, voiceless, asset less and lifeless.
Educational StatusAs explained earlier, though the Piramalai Kallars had evolved
various robust social institutions, they could not evolve any system
of educational institutions not even a dormitory type among the
Piramalai Kallars. As a result the remained mostly illiterate till
1920s when after the establishment of schools exclusively for
Piramalai Kallars under the Kallars Reclamation Scheme and
some well intentioned Christian Missionary Schools in the Regions
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of Piramalai Kallars, the rays of modern education spread into the
Piramalai Kallar Nadu.
Table - 7
Literacy rate among Kallars as per 1921 census
Sex Population Literacy Percentage
Men 259428 42223 16
Women 274544 144 0.1
Total 533972 43665 8
Source: Venkatasamy Nattar, N,.M. KallarSarithiram, Jeyam & Co, Trich irappalli, 1923, P 136.
However, the table of data above reveals that the literacy
among the women was almost zero and the overall literacy is only
8 per cent but this is also not true reflection of Piramalai Kallars
education status because the data includes more advances Kallars
of other regions also.
In fact the Britishers thrust of welfare measures was on
educating the Piramalai Kallars and the first mission mode project
of Kallar Reclamations schools were established at end 1940 there
were 60 schools but after 60 years of Independence the number of
school for Piramalai Kallars are very few. For a population of 1.5
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lakhs in Usilampatti Block there are only 7 High schools and 6
Higher Secondary Schools.
Table-8
Number of Schools for a Population of morethan 1.5 lakhs for Usilampatti Block
Piramalai Kallars in 2011
S.No. Level of schools
Number of
Schools
Total trained and
non-trained
teachers
1 Pre-primary schools 5 26
2 Primary Schools 64 201
3 Middle Schools 20 183
4 High Schools 7 198
5 Higher Secondary Schools 6 78
6 Matriculation Schools 4 73
Source : Usilapmatti Block, Statistical Handbook 2011-2012,
Madurai Dt
Even in these schools most of the teachers are non-trained
and thus there is no quality education and the infrastructural
facilities also very poor as funds are not allotted from the main
accounts of department of education but from the Kallar
reclamation scheme for whom only very nominal fund is allotted
and 90 % of the funds are used against only the revenue
expenditure and thus no new schools/building/hostels and not
even repair and renovation works are taken in time as a result
number of buildings have become beyond economical repair. Thus
even now the level of literacy is less than the national, state and
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district average and the glaring contrast con be seen between the
Piramalai Kallars and District literacy levels. Similarly the ratio of
higher education among the Piramalai Kallars is also appalling.
Figure -6
Source : Usilapmatti Block, Statistical Handbook 2011-2012,
Madurai Dt
Health Status
In all the indictors of the health viz. longevity, morbidity,
mortality, infant mortality, maternal mortality, and patient doctor
ratio etc. the Piramalai Kallars are extremely backward mainly due
to social and cultural backwardness and partly due to poor health
and sanitation facilities in the regions of Piramalai Kallars. The
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Infant mortality rate in the region is much less than the healthy
figures of a healthy state and district as depicted in the following
figures.
Figure -7
Source : Usilapmatti Block, Statistical Handbook 2011-2012,
Madurai Dt
Over all Status
An objective study of various socio-economic indicators
discussed supra manifestly reveals that the Piramalai Kallars are
in the bottom scale of all the indicators and above all due to their
socio-economic backwardness they have been leading an
inhuman life and they are not only victims of the so called purity-
pollution principle but also the heavy burden of imagined, invented
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and imposed criminal tribes indelible social stigma and
consequent discrimination in every walk of life in general and in
jobs and social participation in particular.
Therefore immediate statutory intervention is required to
integrate them into the main stream society and have rightful place
in the larger society.
Chapter - V
DENIAL, DEPRIVAL AND DIGRESS
OF PIRAMALAI KALLAR TRIBE
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A) Withdrawal/abandonment/d ivers ion of welfare
measures/institutional mechanism of Piramalai Kallar
Tribe.
i) The Kallar Reclamation schemes were not
increased in proportion to the growth in other
schools.
ii) The Kallar Reclamations was not provided with
adequate fund even to run the day to day
administration.
iii) Many schools and Hostels opened exclusively for
Piramalai Kallars were abandoned.
iv) Vide GO. M.S 1310 dated 30.7.1979 of social
welfare department, government of Tamilnadu
the nomenclature of Denotified Criminal Tribes
was changed to Denotified Community.
v) Vide GO. M.S. 28 dated 19.07.1994 of the
backward class and Most backward class
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department the Christian Piramalai Kallars were
denied to be treated as DNT.
vi) Vide GO 7 dated 15.2.1999 of the backward
class and Most backward class department has
denied the claim of appointing only persons
belonging to Piramalai Kallar as Teachers in
Kallar Reclamation Schools and rather imposed
the communal roster in the recruitment to be
made in the Kallar Reclamation department.
vii) The state government abandoned the Amatchiya
Puram via railway line to Usilampatti Taluk
major irrigation project from Vaigai Dam.
viii) The Thirumangalam Main canal irrigation
projected was diverted from its original plan and
deprived the major irrigation facilities of major
portion of the Piramalai Kallars Community.
ix) The demanded of Pappapatti 58 villages
irrigation project was denied for 4 decades and
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under implementation for 2 decade without any
hope of ever delivering single drop of water into
this dry regions.
x) Even the portion of Piramalai Kallar land being
irrigated through Vaigai Dam is not released as
per entitlement and only when there is surplus, it
is released and there is no equitable distribution
of the available water.
xi) The Special Kallar co-operative societies are
abandoned.
xii) The voluntary Kallar fund was also wound up.
xiii) The employment bureau established under the
Kallar Reclamation Scheme has been abolished.
xiv) The service entitlement card issued to the
Piramalai Kallar has also been discontinued.
B) Discriminate action of the State Machinery and
Human Rights Violation against Piramalai Kallar
Tribe.
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The systemic and institutional discrimination against
the Piramalai Kallars are appalling and deplorable.
Though the CT Act has been abolished long back still the
ghost of the social stigma hunts the youth of Piramalai
Kallars, they are forced by the police to indulge in criminal
activities and thereafter they are booked under various
server section of IPC and other special and local laws
offences and in many case without any justification they
were also killed in the police custody and the so called the
encounter murders. Only on knowing that a person is from
Piramalai Kallar community how so ever that person is
noble in action and thought, still that person is looked
down and kept as a suspect and in most case booked as
criminal by the police with impunity. Thus, there is large
scale human rights violation day in day out in the present
milieu.
Apart from the police atrocities, even in various direct
recruitments the Piramalai Kallar tribes candidates are
given very less marks despite having their exemplary
performance mainly due to biased and prejudice psychic
of the persons from other community which is also mainly
due to misconception about the Piramalai Kallars ethos
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and value system. One such incidence is one Suruli of
Kalapanpatti of Uslimpatti taluk was a C certificate holder,
gold medalist in mechanical Engineering, having cleared
SSB selection in short service commission, he was
rejected and he could not find a job in the state
government also, whereas his class mates who had clear
the degree after many years were also able to get
lucrative post in the state but he could content with only a
post in Highways department and retire from the lower
rung of the serve. Such stories of discrimination and
maltreatment are many to be accounted. This
discrimination is not confined to only in the state
machinery but also in all public sectors be it Railways,
Post, Telegraph, EB, Nationalized Banks, Public Sector
Undertaking of central and state governments.
C) Social discrimination and abusing the people of Piramalai
Kallar.
The magnitude and scale of discrimination suffered by
the Piramalai Kallars are enormous and immeasurable
and in any case, certainly more than the discrimination of
the schedule caste and scheduled tribes because as
stated supra the incidence and impact of discrimination
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against the SCs are mainly on account of the unjust caste
system but the incidence and impact of discrimination of
Piramalai Kallars are many fold in all respect of life and
both temporal and contemporary. Above all, the
discrimination is both internal and external because as
they are true aboriginals they cannot abandon their
cultural values immediately and adopt the so called
modern values which is unjust whereas the SCs have
abandon all the so called polluting practices and readily
embraced the modern values and secondly among all the
communities only among the Piramalai Kallars the
women and children are worst victims of the both internal
and external discrimination. Thus the Piramalai Kallars
symbolize the epitome of the discrimination and only
through constitutional safeguard, they can be rescued.
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Chapter - VI
ACTIONS/SCHEMES PROPOSED FOR THE
IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND
EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF THE PIRAMALAI
KALLAR TRIBE
As submitted supra the people of Piramalai Kallar Tribes are
lacking behind in all respect of life, the a holistic, effective and
specific legislative and policy measures needs to be taken to
improve their socio-economic status and thus the following
proposals are submitted for the kind consideration of the High
Level Committee for strong recommendation to the central
Government for immediate implementation.
a) Legislative measures.
1. As the Piramalai Kallar Tribes meet all the criteria of a
schedule Tribes, the High Level committee should
recommend to the Government to issue presidential
notification to include the Piramalai Kallar Tribes as
Schedule Tribes under Article 342 of the Constitution
of India and extent all the benefits as being extend to
the schedule Tribes.
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2. As the DNT constitute 15 crore population of India,
they should be treated as specially disadvantaged
groups, accordingly the constitution of India should
amended to incorporate this section of people as a
special category and insert the word DNT after the
words SC/ST wherever it appears especially in Article
15, 16, 17, 46, 243, 244, 300 to 342 and 371, schedule
V of the constitution of India.
3. The nomenclature of Piramalai Kallars should be
changed as Piramalai Aboriginals (Piramalai Athikudi
in Tamil).
4. The state government should give 5 % reservation to
DNT as given by Maharashtra to Vimukthi Jati.
5. The area of the DNT should be declared as scheduled
area and included in the Schedule V of the Constitution
of India in all states and the article 371 should be
amended to include special status to the scheduled
area of DNT of Tamilnadu also included in the Article
371 of the constitution of India.
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6. The SC/ST(Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 should
be amended as suggested by the National commission
of DNT to include DNT also under the protection
umbrella of the said Act that will go a long way in
preventing serious human rights violation against the
DNT due to aged old Stigma and preconceived
notions.
7. All the discriminative laws like Habitual Offenders Act
etc, which are having adverse impact on the lives and
livelihood of the DNT should be repealed/amended
immediately because existence of such anarchic law is
against the mandate of the Constitution of India and
various UN declaration on the rights of Primitive and
Indigenous Tribes.
b) Policy Measures
1. As stated above due to change of nomenclature
of the Primitive and indigenous Tribes in General
and Piramalai Kallar Tribes in particular has let to
deprival of various legislative and welfare
entitlement of these backward tribes because the
Government of India vide its GO MS 1310 dated
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30.07.1979 of Social Welfare Department has
issued that the word Tribe shall not be used for
the Denotified, Nomadic and semi nomadic
Tribes in future and Instead they shall be called
as the Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic
Communities only. This has been done mainly
relying on the Government of India, Ministry of
Home Affairs letters No. 11019/18/78- SCT V
dated 4.11.78 and No. BC. 11026/2/79 SC BCD
III dated 20.03.1979. Above all the reason cited
for such decision is patently illegal, perverse and
prima facie the political malice is writ large on the
face of the said GO 1310 because after all the
said national commission has only emphasized
that besides SC/ST there are 258 communities
throughout the country and only these
communities are called Backward class and in
the report written it has used the word the
community instead of Tribes and at any rate that
does not mean it has directed the stated
government to issue GO changing the
nomenclature of these Tribes. Therefore the
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central government immediately issue policy
letter withdrawing the above mentioned Ministry
of Home Affairs letter if any and direct the
concerned state governments to withdraw such a
mischievous GOs forthwith.
2. All the central and state government policy on
the legislative and welfare aspect of DNT must
be consolidated and a National Policy on DNT
must be redrawn keeping in view various rights
recognized by the various International Bodies.
3. The policy of the central and state government
must be widely published and all the stock
holders such as Government Machineries, Civil
Societies and the people of concerned Tribes.
4. A separate Website should hosted by the both
the central and state government disclosing all
the policy measures of the government.
5. The Government should involve all the
communities of the DNT at all stage of policy
formulation, implementation and evaluation so
that it does not destroy their age old rich culture
and heritage and at the same time keep them
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advance in all respect of life according to the
time.
c) Insti tutional set up.1. As recommended by the National Commission
for DNT and accepted by NAC and Technical
Group of the Ministry of tribal Welfare a
Permanent statutory Commission should be
established at national level and state level to
protect the rights of the DNT and monitor the
measures being taken by the governments to
improve the status of the NDT,
2. Separate Ministry of the DNT Welfare should be
created at the central and state government to
implement various special programmes for the
DNT.
3. National and state level financial Corporation
with adequate seed capital should be established
to finance various enterprise of the DNT people.
d) Reservation measures
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1. All the reservation benefits extend to STs should
be extend to DNT by including them the ST.
2. Alternatively all the DNT should be treated as a
special group and reservation should be provided
in central and state government services, public
Sectors companies, Banks, Private companies
etc.
3. The Reservation benefits in promotion also
should be extended to DNT.
4. Above all there should reservation to DNT in the
judiciary including in the lower judiciary and
higher judiciary and in prosecution agencies.
5. Only teachers belonging to Piramalai Kallar tribes
should be appointed as Teachers in the Schools
run by the Kallar Reclamation so that the unique
culture of the Piramalai Kallar is preserved which
has been appreciated as the best system by all
the sociologist of the world.
6. There should be reservation in representative
bodies to DNT such as in Lok Shaba, Rajaya
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Shaba, State legislative assembly, counsel and
Local Bodies
e) Educational Schemes
1. As there is no higher educational institutions of
over a million population of one Taluk in Madurai
Distric