TIRUVANNAMALAI: Around 46 families belonging to the Kattunayakkan tribal community in Vayaloor village in Tiruvannamalai have allegedly been struggling to obtain caste certificates for several years. Members of the community submitted a petition to Tiruvannamalai collector Vandana Garg on October 18, seeking intervention.
The families have been living on Kulathu Medu Street in Jameen Kudalur post, Vayaloor village, within Pennathur block, for the past 70 years, residents said. The Kattunayakkans are classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) under the Scheduled Tribes category.
The absence of caste certificates has affected the education of at least 20 students, residents said. Kannan R, a community member, said his daughter had to discontinue her education after Class 11 as she was allegedly not allowed to appear for her examination without a caste certificate. Several other students, including his elder son, have also been unable to pursue higher education and had to drop out midway, he said. Some have since taken up daily-wage work to earn a living.
The residents said revenue officials had asked them to produce documents belonging to their grandfathers to establish their community identity. As they did not possess the required documents, they were unable to proceed with their applications. They alleged that their petitions to the collector, Revenue Divisional Officer, Tahsildar, Revenue Inspector and Village Administrative Officer have remained pending for years.
V Agathiyan, an advocate and coordinator of the Tribal Liberation Movement, said members of the community had moved away from the traditional occupations practised by earlier generations, including hunting and gathering, and were now engaged in occupations such as selling vessels.
He urged the government to conduct a field inspection with the assistance of anthropologists to establish the community's identity and ensure that eligible families received the appropriate certificates.
Meanwhile, a Revenue Department official in Tiruvannamalai said the petitioners had not produced the required ancestral documents to establish their community identity. The official added that some people from other communities, including Vettaikarans, were also seeking Kattunayakkan certificates, raising concerns that genuine members of the Kattunayakkan community could be left out.
