CHENNAI: Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world – Nelson Mandela “I need a community certificate to avail scholarships to pursue higher education. Even though I finished Class 12 a year ago, I am not able to pursue higher education as I don’t have an ST certificate” said Poongodi, an Irular tribal girl from Acharapakkam village in Chengalpattu district. Poongodi belongs to one of the 30-odd families living alongside a railway track, in makeshift houses in a hinterland called Kanni Kovil Medu, a nondescript locality, for which one has to go off-roading for at least two km.
Poongodi said she has written to the officials several times but she is yet to get a community certificate. This is not a one-off case. Shalini who has also cleared Class 12 says and dreams of studying medicine says, “The college authorities tell us that community certificate is required for higher studies. They said we can avail 25 per cent scholarship if we have the certificate.
Sathya, another girl from the tribal hamlet, now in Class 12 says, “We have been requesting the authorities for the certificate but they ask us how can we prove that we are Irular tribals and kept rejecting it,” said Sathya. These tribals, traditionally hunters by profession say, “We still hunt rats in the fields using traps and consume them. We also eat snails, squirrels and crabs,” says K Subramani, who has protested with tribal rights activists in the past.
He said that none of the members in the hamlet have community certificate and their way of life is only proof that they belong to the Irular community. “We work in fields as guards and also work as coolies,” says Subramani. Community certificates apart, they also lack basic amenities like electricity, housing, toilets, proper transport, and land pattas. “Only once we get community certificate, we can get other basic amenities. However, we have no voting rights, ration card and Aadhaar,” added Subramani.
KC Murugesan, a tribal rights activist, said the culture and way of life of these tribals show that they belong to the Adi Dravidar Irular clan and the previous revenue and district authorities failed to recognise it. However, the activists say they have submitted requests for issuing community certificates to the new Collector. M Azhagesan, District Secretary of State Tribals Association, said he took three children who are in dire need of a community certificate to the Collectorate. “We have submitted our petition and are hoping for a better outcomes this time,” he said.