MALAPURAM: If continued 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 with the aim to empower the community from within, and is doing a stellar job at 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 Pattika Varga Seva 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 (NTFP), which ranges from pure honey, kunthirikkam (frankincense) and pot tamarind to wild turmeric and medicinal herbs.
Secondly, it wants to take up the construction work for houses at least within the community. This way, it can provide job opportunities to more tribal people, in addition to ensuring that the 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. Besides, it is currently building houses for two of its own beneficiaries. "The husbands and other relatives of society members come together to help us with the labour," she says.
In fact, it was Chithra's stint as 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. If the government allots funds to build houses for tribal people, contractors in turn 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," she says.
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 come back and sell the produce to outsiders, all they get is Rs 100-Rs 300 and some liquor."
Acclaimed writer Indu Menon, who is a lecturer at the Kerala Institute for Research Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (KIRTADS), points out that it's the tribal women who ultimately bear the brunt.
"Their men being paid with liquor has had a shattering effect on their households. Besides being denied an income to sustain a livelihood for their family, their husbands are simultaneously being pushed into a vicious cycle of addiction," explains Indu, who works closely with the Society.
In the meantime, these traders tamper with the raw honey by adding adulterated sugar and water it down to increase the quantity, only to sell it with the claim that this comes directly from the tribes, adds Chithra.
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. We even send the products abroad now."
According to Indu, 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 packaging style for their products under the brand name 'Jyenu Raw Forest Honey and NTFP', aided by the illustrations of renowned artist K P Muralidharan.
"Earlier, they used to empty mineral water bottles and fill honey in them for sale. I figured that better marketing of the products would help them get more customers," Indu says.
Above all, this is a women's initiative, says Chithra. In fact, the only male member of the society is its president Suresh Babu, who belongs to the Aranadan tribe. "We have set up a self-help finance group called the Gothra Jyothi Savings Scheme, to which each member can contribute a minimum amount every month. This fund is used only for education and health purposes," she says.
The society has also set up a library for tribal children, which currently houses a collection of 1,235 books. "We want to get more books. In fact, if we receive the government fund we deserve without it getting stuck in bureaucratic red tape, we will be able to expand our services to more hamlets as well," she adds.