Change from within
MALAPPURAM: If exploitation by ‘mainlanders’ has been the lived reality of Kerala’s tribal communities so far, the Munderi Pattika Varga Seva Society is not here to stand for it. Registered in 2017, the society is an endeavour launched by a group of tribal women to empower the community from within, and is doing a stellar job of it.
“For centuries, outsiders have taken advantage of us, our poverty and our illiteracy. If change has to come, it has to come from within,” says Chithra M R, 39, a Kattunaickan tribal woman and secretary of the society, which currently has nearly 230 registered members spread across 24 tribal hamlets in Nilambur.
The society has primarily two objectives. First, tribal people should receive a fair price for their non-timber forest produce, ranging from pure honey and kunthirikkam (frankincense) to wild turmeric and medicinal herbs.
Second, it wants to take up construction of houses at least within the community. This way, it can provide job opportunities to more tribal people, in addition to ensuring that government fund allotted to build houses for them is not swindled by outsiders. The society has so far repaired 16 houses and built boundary walls for three.
In fact, it was Chithra’s stint as a scheduled tribe promoter that first exposed her to the reality of how tribal groups in the state are blatantly taken advantage of. “Go to a tribal settlement and you can see an array of unfinished houses. Some won’t have windows, while some others will have leaky roofs. When the government allots funds to build houses for tribal people, contractors take advantage of our people’s ignorance and leave them with a sham of a job. Many of our people have only seen life inside the forest. They don’t even realise they are being exploited.”
Another instance of abuse that Chithra noticed is middlemen’s manipulation of the honey hunter tribes. “The hunters have to walk several miles into the forests, climb cliffs and trees, or dig into tree cavities and underground hives to collect pure forest honey. This process often takes up to four days. But when they sell the produce, all they get is Rs 100-Rs 300 and some liquor.”
So, Chithra brought together a group of women from within the community, aiming to make a difference in at least a few tribal lives. “We collect the produce directly from the honey hunters in its purest form at about Rs 600-Rs 650 per kg and sell it without adulteration, thereby ensuring a steady flow of income for the workers.”
According to writer Indu Menon, a lecturer at Kerala Institute for Research Training and Development Studies, the society also takes care to distribute 10% of any profit they might receive from the sale to the hunters. “If their financial situation allows it, they give an extra amount of Rs 50 to woman hunters,” she says.
With Indu’s help, the group obtained an FSSAI licence and developed an attractive brand packaging for their products under the name ‘Jyenu Raw Forest Honey and NTFP’. The society has also set up a self-help group called the Gothra Jyothi Savings Scheme, to which each member contributes any amount every month. “This fund is used only for education and health purposes,” Chithra says.