The book was published in the year 2012.The price of this book was Rs. 200/-.
The Kerala Institute for Research Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (KIRTADS) is a Government Department, under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Department of the State of Kerala. This institute was established in the year 1970 as Tribal Research and Training Centre (TR&TC) and later reorganized as KIRTADS in the year 1979. The Institute is devoted exclusively to the research, training and developmental activities of the constitutional categories of the State. Apart from these as per the Act 11 of 1996 the Research Wing of the Department is an expert agency for conducting anthropological enquiries related to the caste status of SC’s, ST’s & OBC’s.
The tribal communities of the State are at different levels of socio cultural, economic, educational and political attainments. Some communities are very much adapted to the life of society at large while some others find it difficult to maintain a sustainable source of livelihood, owing to retaining their cultural ethos, rehabilitation, alienation of their resources, etc., Kadar and Hill Pulaya communities are some of the representatives of the latter category and the present work ‘Research Publication Series, Volume III’, includes the studies related to these communities undertaken by KIRTADS. The report are titles as “Dynamic Approach for the Advancement of Kadar Community of Kerala – A Study”, and “The Hill Pulayas of Marayoor- A Study”.
The Kadar community, which is one among the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTG’s) of the State, is distributed in 17 hamlets in the State, situated in and around the Parambikulam Wild Life Sanctuary, Nelliyampathy and Athirapally areas coming under the Thrissur and Palakkad districts. They have been subjected to geographical isolation, remoteness and backwardness when compared to most of the ST communities of the State. The study report, “Dynamic Approach for the Advancement of Kadar Community of Kerala – A Study” sketches in detail about the demographic, socio-cultural, economic, political and educational aspects of the community, and has recommended a strategy for the overall well-being of the community.
Hill Pulaya is a Scheduled Tribe community, inhabiting mainly in the Marayoor and Kanthalloor Grama Panchayaths of Idukki district of the State. Many of their hamlets are within the dense forest areas, including that of the Chinnar Wild Life Sanctuary, while some others are in the rural centers like Marayoor. Agricultural activities, manual labour and collection of Minor Forest Products (MEP) are their major livelihood activities. “The Hill Pulayas of Marayoor- A Study”, the second report of the present volume, throws light on the contemporary scenario of the community, and it also postulates a number of measures for the overall development of the community.
I am sure this ‘Third Volume of the Research Publication Series’ of the Department, which consists of the above mentioned two reports would be a kind of ready to lend a hand to those who are interested in the well being of the ST communities of the State. This also throws light on the cross cultural study of two different ethnic groups distributed in different ecosystems. The reports would also be very much useful to the various Government and other agencies that are engaged in the various development activities of the Kadar and Hill Pulaya communities.
I would like to express my indebtedness and deep sense of gratitude to Kum. P.K. Jayalakshmi, Hon’ble Minister for the Welfare of ST’s, youth Affairs, Museum & Zoo, Government of Kerala, for her constant inspirational guidance and special interest for the Departments various activities. I am also deeply grateful to Shri. S. Subbiah, I.A.S, Principal Secretary, SCST Development Department for his encouragement and countless support in carrying out the various research and training activities of the Department. Thanks are due to the Tribal Development Officers, Tribal Extension Officers, Ward Members, Panchayaths authorities and ST Promoters for helping the researchers with relevant and valuable information regarding the two tribal communities. I whole heartedly thank each and every member of the Kadar and Hill Pulaya communities for their response, patience and cooperation in providing information without which the study would not have been completd.
I am also thankful to Shri. Manibhooshanan. A, Deputy Director (Anthropology), Dr. Pradeep Kumar K.S., and Smt. Smitha Sivadasan, Research Officers, Smt.Sandhya Sekhar, Research Officer (Statisics), Sri. Muralidharan T.K., and Smt. Seema V.P., Research Assitants, Dr.Meena, Librarian, Smt. Safiya Karumidukkil, Smt. Rasna.M, Smt. Nithya C.P., and Sri. Jayesh.C, Junior Research Fellows, Sri. Sabarinath. C, Ms. Swapna K. P, Ms. Vidhya. M and Ms.Harsha Oomman, Project Fellows and other Officers of the Department for their constant support in materializing this volume. The research studies in this publication were done by the researches of this institute and the views expressed are theirs. Last but not the least, I hope that if this publication could argument the PQLI among these communities and bring developmental changes to a some extend our effort taken in this Research Publication Volume III would then be fully accomplished.
Dr. BINDU. S
DIRECTOR
KIRTADS
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