ATTAPPADI: It’s been two weeks since schools opened for the new academic year, yet dozens of tribal children in Attappadi are yet to return to their classrooms.
Their absence is not due to illness or lack of interest in education.
Instead, it stems from a heart-breaking reality: their families do not have the money to even stitch school uniforms from cloth provided by the government for free.
At Agali Government LPS alone, at least 26 students have not attended classes this year despite receiving uniform cloth. The situation is no different in several tribal hamlets in Pudur and Sholayur panchayats, where families are struggling to survive amid a prolonged delay in distributing wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
“For hundreds of tribal households, the employment guarantee scheme is the only dependable source of income. However, wages have remained unpaid for the past five months, pushing already vulnerable communities into deeper financial distress,” said officials with the MGNREGA.
Apart from the Union government’s assured 100 days of work, the state government had promised 100 days’ wages for the tribal people here. A day’s work can fetch Rs 369.
“We receive ration rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene. But we have no income even to cook a decent curry or sabji for our children,” says Bindu, of the Kurumba community, as she joined 55 other women at the meeting by Pudur panchayat to explain the delay in payments.
Bindu’s plight is shared by hundreds of mothers across the region. According to official estimates, nearly 28,670 families are awaiting their MGNREGA wages, leaving them without money to meet even the most basic expenses.
Traditionally, agriculture, daily wage labour and collection of forest resources supplemented the income of the region’s tribal communities.
But this year, an intense summer and severe drought devastated agricultural, while job opportunities became scarce.
“The people have virtually no other source of income. Most families heavily depend on the minimum-wage programme to run their households. While schools distribute uniform cloth free of cost, parents must bear the stitching expenses.
The cost, though modest, is proving insurmountable for families with no income. Stitching a single pair of uniforms costs around `250 per child — an amount many households simply cannot afford. A person from outside Attappadi won’t believe it, but many families here survive merely on the ration rice,” pointed out T R Chandran Attappadi, a social activist.
School authorities have so far refrained from enforcing the uniform requirement. However, students are expected to attend classes in uniform from July 1, raising fears that more children could remain outside the education system.
“These are highly vulnerable communities. Unlike in urban areas, formal schooling is still not viewed as an unavoidable part of childhood in some settlements. If children stay away for long, bringing them back becomes a challenge,” a teacher at the Agali school said.
MGNREGA will be replaced by the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, across rural India from July 1.
