MADURAI: As many as 610 tribal families belonging to the Kattunaicken community (scheduled tribes) of N Puthupatti village from Nilakottai taluk in Dindigul were left out of the habitation list of the Department of Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare. The issue came to light after a socio-economic survey of the ST community was initiated by the Directorate of Tribal Welfare across the state. The survey, which began on August 1, came to a close on August 31.
According to the department's official records, there are 117 ST habitations, comprising 1,526 families in the 14 revenue blocks of Dindigul district. However, the total number of persons under ST was projected as 4,104, leaving out a hamlet of 610 ST families comprising around 2,000 people from the records, sources said.
Speaking to TNIE, G Muniyappan (58), a tribal resident of the village said, "There are around 700 families in N Puthupatti village and among them, 610 families belong to the Kattunaicken community. A majority of them are from financially poor backgrounds and are farm labourers or goat rearers. Recently, a friend informed me about the survey carried out by the tribal welfare department to carry out development activities in the future. Shockingly, no official visited us and later we realised that out entire hamlet was left out."
When contacted, Tamil Nadu Hill Tribes Association (Dindigul) secretary T Ajay Gosh expressed shock over the incident and said, "These tribals have been living in the hamlet for over several decades and they possess Aadhaar cards, voter IDs and other evidence to prove their nativity and residential settlement. The hamlet is a part of Nilakottai town panchayat and falls under ward 17. The officials failing to include the hamlet in the department's survey records comes as a shocker."
He added that the socio-economic survey is regarded as one of the major sources to study about the household expenditure and income of scheduled tribes, as well as to ascertain their housing status, household characteristics and living conditions. Based on such studies, the government can plan new schemes and welfare programmes. However, it seems as if the hamlet has been left out of the state records for several decades."
Meanwhile, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare officer (Dindigul) A Murugeswari confirmed the delisting and said, "We do not know how the hamlet was left out from the habitation list of the department. I believe their village were not recorded earlier, or could have been added after the 2011 census. Upon information from the locals, we realised it was our mistake, and took action to add the hamlet to the list. We will carry out the survey in the village soon."