Bharathi Trust

Tiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu

Site Visit between 28th-29th December, 2001

 by S. Sundar Kumar Iyer

 

DP Prakash and I visited the Irula villages in Tiruvallur distirct towards the end of December, 2001.  We landed up at Siddamma’s house in Besant Nagar in south Madras on 28th morning.  Siddamma is the director of Bharathi Trust and has been very active in organising the Irulas and empowering them.

 

Nirmala of Bharathi Trust and Prakash who is creating the Asha centre at Chitradurga, Karnataka were also present.  After some informal discussion, we went to the Bharathi Trust office located in the same building in an upstairs flat.  We saw some good books discussing legal rights and empowerment published by Bharathi Trust in Tamil.  This will be a useful resource which could be useful for other projects in Tamil speaking areas.

 

We then started for the villages located in Ponneri and Gummidipundi Taluks of Tiruvallur district, about 50 miles from Madras.  On the way, besides general ideological issues, we discussed some recent developments at Bharthi Trust and Sarpam Irular Tozhulalar Sangam (Sangam).  Bharathi Trust usually gives some support and guidance to development work.  The organisation work is mainly done through the Sangam volunteers.  The volunteers go to villages, identify problems facing the people and with collective effort try to address them.  The recent visit by Irula leaders and Siddamma to New Delhi with a bunch of requests and proposals for development work was quite successful.  On the education front, the central government has suggested that Bharathi Trust could help in the running of 400 schools for the Irula children in the area!  Bharathi Trust and Siddamma have worked with children’s education in the area for quite some time (including the Asha supported motivational centres that are currently operational), especially in developing syllabus pertinent to the children in the villages and appropriate methods of teaching.  The central government proposal when implemented will have a big impact in the region.

 

Mullainagar

We reached the Asha motivational centre at Mullainagar.  The Irula residence and the centre were located about a km away from the main village.  Meeting the children was very inspiring.  They appeared to be happy to be in the school.  The children sang some songs, danced and answered the question that DP and I asked including some involved addition and subtraction problems in arithmetic.  We shared some chundal (snacks made with beans) with the children.  Rajani, a member of Bharati Trust and Sangam joined us here. 

 

With the children at Mullainagar school

 

 

Rajaratnanagar

We went to the next village, Rajaratnanagar, where the Asha motivational centre was operational.  This village appeared to be having more pucca constructions and the school was also bigger  (as it had to accommodate more children). Durga Devi who had attended the Asha conference at Kanpur and made a presentation there was teaching at this village.  Here too, the children were very active and enthusiastic.  They sang some songs and danced.  They showed us some clay models they had made, and some of them were impressive – especially the dinosaurs, helicopter, …

 

After sharing some chundal with the children, we walked around the village which was next to a lagoon (part of the Pulicat – Pazhaverkadu in Tamil – lake).  DP managed to take a quick trip on the catamaran.  I got to meet Ellayya, who joined us at this village.  Ellayya had stood for elections for the panchayat Councillor’s post and had lost by just 100 votes.  (Note that he was standing as an independent and was not a candidate of one of the established political parties.)  I was very impressed by his communication skills and mannerisms – at once exuding sincerity and equanimity.

 

With the children at Rajaratnanagar

 

Karimedalpettai

We proceeded to Karimedalpettai, for which we crossed a stretch of the Pulicat in a country-motorboat.  We took a detour to the beach near a lighthouse.  I got to talk with Ellayya and Prakash and  got to understand their ideas about different development issues.  Ellayya told me about the ways in which the Sangam had been able to bring benefits to the people.  It seems one official kept procrastinating giving caste certificates to Irula youths.  Finally they were forced to organise a protest meeting.  The higher authorities came to know what was going on.  After this certificates were issued.  The official was also later transferred.  Although the official was at fault in being extra cautious, I found that Ellayya was not angry with the official and realised that it was a systemic problem.  Over the years, working relationship between the Sangam and government has improved. 

 

Following the discussion and rest, we stopped briefly at the Karimedalpettai Irula settlement.  The Irulas in the settlement were living in almost primitive conditions in their traditionally constructed houses.  During the rainy season, it must be a challenge for them to go about their regular lives.  Their main source of survival was fishing for prawns in the backwaters.  They sell their catch the market and on successful days might earn around Rs.40.  Only one hut in the village had electricity – it was the temple of the village deity!

 

The villagers brought out some mats and spread it out for us.  But it was surprising for me that they would not sit on the mat themselves in our presence, but will sit on the ground outside!  Upon insisting, some of the younger folks joined us on the mat but the older people refused.  The Sarpam leaders and Siddamma talked about the issues facing the villages – mainly lack of pattas (land deeds) for the houses they occupied, lack of steady income and intimidation by upper castes in the area.  Interestingly, these were the main issues in most of the villages we visited.  The acuteness of the problem had a strong correlation to the extent the Irulas were organised and how long Sangams were active in the villages.

 

I was told that Sangam members went to unorganised villages periodically and talked to the people, informing them the benefits of getting organised.   They gave concrete examples from Irula villages that were already organised.  Once the villagers started expressing opinion that they saw the benefits of forming a Sangam, an election for president, secretary and treasurer from within the village was conducted.  One of the posts is reserved from women from within the village.  After this, a day is fixed when the Irular Sangam for the village is formally inaugurated. 

 

Kulatthumedu

After crossing the lagoon by the country motor-boat, we drove down to Kulatthumedu village. Ellayya, Rajini and Durga Devi were from this village (Many of the teachers for the motivational schools were from this village too).  Although the road to this village was in a bad shape, the village itself seemed to be better organised.  Individual houses on plots of land were arranged in rows with thicket fences around the land.  I was told that the villagers possessed land deeds in this village and were able to avail of the government housing schemes.  The government houses were simple concrete structures.  In the courtyard, almost all houses had another thatched hut built in the traditional Irula style of construction.  This supplemented the living and cooking space of the family. Each courtyard also had a shrine for the family deity.  Because of being legally recognised as residents here, the village got electricity connection.  Some of the houses also had a TV set.  I noticed a big water tank in the village built by the Panchayat for supplying water. 

 

We stopped at Ellayya’s house and rested in the veranda. DP and I then went to Rajini’s house.  We were introduced to the family members.  All of Rajini’s siblings were going to school.  His sister, Alamelu, in plus 2 in the science stream, was particularly interested and supposed to be good in studies.  We then went back to Ellayya’s house and joined Siddamma and Nirmala and proceeded for dinner. 

 

We went to the Motivational centre in the village and were served dinner by the teachers.  Following dinner, we had general discussions on different topics with Ellayya, and the teachers.  The teachers (Usha, Sumathi, Rajini and Senjiamma) were continuing their studies by correspondence courses beyond what they had studied.  DP encouraged them and said that they should try and complete doctorate if possible and that Asha will support them financially if the need arises.

 

We retired for the night and slept in the school. 

 

Next day morning after waking up, we started getting ready for the day.  The village had no latrine facilities.  Big areas near the village covered with wild bushes were used for attending nature’s calls.  One portion of it was reserved for men and the opposite side for women.  Only one house in the village had a “bathroom” which was a three walled structure where one had some privacy while taking a bath.

 

Then we had breakfast and talked about relevance of education, etc. basically continuing from where we had left the night before.  DP was in his elements talking in Tamil, interspersed with pertinent MGR film songs.

 

Then we left the village to continue our trips to other villages.  We thanked the villagers for the pleasant stay.  As the village guests, we were pampered and given the best privilege (eg. warm water, dosai made from batter from one of the households, … ) that the village could afford.

 

Kundelimedu

We proceeded to Kundelimedu for the weekly Sarpam meetings.  This village seemed to be located in the middle of on a vast expanse of land (puramboke or public/government land).   There was a motivational centre here and the meeting was to take place there.  This school was originally built with the support of ‘Ekamal’.  But Siddamma said that the support from this group was discontinued.  The school is now running with Asha funds. 

 

We joined the people who had assembled for the meeting.  We were greeted by Vetrivijay whom DP and I had earlier met at the Kanpur Asha conference.  He had taken part in the conference with enthusiasm – singing songs and asking questions – in spite of the language barriers.  We met Krishnan of whom I had known from Shanmuga’s reports.  He is from Pudur and is the leader of the Sangam.  The Sangam is also a part of a bigger worker’s union in Tamil Nadu.  We also met some Irula members, such as Soraja, who had been elected ward representative in the recent panchayat elections.

 

The meeting discussions were very direct and dealt with issues facing the villagers in that district, eg. The poor treatment of an Irula member when he went to meet a government official, appealing the election of a possible “non-ST” candidate who had stood for election in an ST reserved seat, …  Everyone participated actively, the minutes were taken down and the meeting was conducted professionally.  I was impressed by the way Siddamma encouraged and gave direction to Irula youths in participating in the meeting – while keeping herself oblivious to the group.  And the youths were quick to catch on to the guidance.  There were many in the group (both men and women) whom I can envision playing leadership roles in the future.

 

While lunch was being brought from the nearby town, the group sang a lot of songs – songs which were relevant to the conditions of the Irulas, mostly with reform and development themes.  The youths also put up some dances – many of them based on films.  Some of them put up a skit.  The participation of the crowd in this play was total – and it was clear that the message of the play (don’t blindly follow precedence) was getting across to them.  The enthusiasm and involvement was rejuvenating just to watch. 

 

   

From L to R: Active participation in songs; a high energy dance; a more graceful dance; skit by Sangam volunteers

 

After we had lunch, the whole village congregated near the school to formally inaugurate the Sangam in that village.  I was asked to unveil a board declaring that the villagers had formed a Sangam.  I wished them well, hoped that with united action they will be able to work with authorities to ensure their rights and they will lead a prosperous life.

 

We were to go to two more villages to inaugurate Sangams.  I was told that inaugurations in two other villages were postponed to a later date due to lack of time that day.  This showed that the Sangams were indeed popular in the villages and the Irula villagers were becoming aware of the advantage of collectively asserting their rights to improve their lives. 

 

Inauguration of the Sangam in the village.  Siddamma and Krishnan are see on the left.

 

Poovalai

On the way to the next village, we stopped at a small settlement called Poovalai.  This Irula village was not organised yet, but plans were afoot to bus the students from this village to the centre in Kundelimedu.  The houses were built in the traditional Irula format with little room to stand up once inside the hut.  The poor economic status of the people was evident.  In front of the first hut we saw a young girl (probably 18-20 yrs) holding a small baby.  The eldest daughter of the girl (~5 yrs) was holding the baby’s twin.  Both the babies were very weak.  One of the children was also ill.  On enquiry, it became apparent that this young mother had three children in quick succession.  She had earlier gone for an operation to prevent pregnancy but the government hospital returned her because she was anaemic.  After this, she happened to give birth to the twins.  The father was trying to get some money to survive by working in the rice mills in the area.  The Sarpam volunteers enquired about the family and gave some money for buying food and medicine to the mother.  The stark poverty in this village was indeed shocking (especially if you think that Madras, a modern metropolis is only 50-60 km away).  By contrasting this village with the other Irula villages we visited, the importance of the work done by Sarpam/Bharathi Trust  volunteers was obvious.

 

Lingarajapuram

At the next village Lingarajapuram, the villagers were waiting for us for the Sangam inauguration.  They had bought sweets and coffee for the occasion.  There was a sense of expectation in the air.  DP did the honours of inaugurating the board declaring the presence of the Sangam in the village and followed it by a short motivating speech. 

 

Vegumathi

We then took a detour and went to Vegumathi, a small Irula settlement (probably three to four families).  The settlement was right at the edge of the Tamil Nadu – Andhra Pradesh border.  The members of this village had trekked and travelled for three hours each way to attend an Irula meetings in the past.  As a show of solidarity and support, the Sangam and BT volunteers had taken the detour to visit them.  The villagers were very happy with the visit.  People of other castes from the main village also dropped by seeing the van and strangers.  I talked to one of these youths who was enquiring about possible job opportunities.

 

Edakendigai

Then we continued to Edakendigai for another Sangam inauguration.  Although we were late and the light was fading, people were waiting.  This Irula settlement seemed to be next to the settlements of other communities in this village.  As in the other villages without Sangams, the people here too did not have official deeds for their land – the first step to be recognised for government facilities.  The local panchayat ward representative (a non-Irula) who happened to be from the AIADMK party was also there.  A cot was placed for us to sit down and sweets were brought out as in the previous village.  The ward rep. showed us a letter he had sent for improving the road in this Irula settlement.  Siddamma / Sangam volunteers also enquired him about the SC certificates for the Irulas in the villages.  I was impressed to see grass-roots democracy at work here.  The ward rep. was present for this function to show his solidarity with the Irulas.  The people were able to directly talk to him about their needs. 

 

There were speeches and Siddamma inaugurated the board in the village.  Members of other communities wanted to know if Bharathi Trust could help them to get facilities too.  Siddamma told them that the priority right now was to help the Irulas as they were the most deprived community in the area.  The people agreed that the Irulas definitely needed the help. 

 

We then went to the yard of one house where mats were spread out for us to sit.  We were given more sweets.  Ellayya took me inside the hut to get a feel for it.  It was dark by then but a hurricane lamp helped us find our way.  It was a simple structure with one room at the rear and one small room in the front.  The house owner was very happy having a visitor and I was showered with hospitality. 

 

This being our last stop, we parted company with the Irula villagers and our Bharathi Trust / Sangam volunteers who had hosted us and had taken good care of us for the last one and half days.  We then headed back to Madras via the Calcutta-Madras National Highway. 

 

I was touched by the simplicity of the villagers and the affection shown to us by the Irula villagers.  I left with a lot of hope in my heart for I could see a people getting empowered by their own will and effort.  This part of India is moving forward in spite of all odds and will definitely succeed!

 

Some other key points to take with you:

·         Sarpam Irular Tozhulalar Sangam and Bharathi Trust are doing a great job of organising the Irula villages and awakening them to their rights.  This has enabled many villages to get basic rights and amenities – scheduled tribe certificate, deeds for land and subsequently housing, electricity and water – facilities we take for granted in other places.  We can see grass-roots democracy at work.  The representation of Irulas in the panchayats is very heartening.  Of the 21 who contested, 13 got elected without any political party backing!

·         The Irulas are very appreciative of the support for the motivational centres.  The three centres we visited were happy and lively places where the children were learning something meaningful.  The children in these villages also looked healthy, probably because of the nutritious meals given at the school.

·         Siddamma was mentioning that following their visit to Delhi (she and 10 Irula leaders went to meet the central government officials), the central government has accepted many of their requests and proposals.  The government has requested Bharathi Trust to run 400 schools in the district based on the curriculum and pattern of teaching developed.  This is an exciting development.  We are waiting to get more information on this.

·         We need to introduce the good work done by Bharathi Trust and Sangam to groups which have bigger financial resources, such as the America India Foundation (AIF).  The scale of operation of Bharathi Trust is big and they are capable to do pertinent and effective work at the grass roots.  Asha should continue to build relationship with the group in working with them on different aspects, such as, curriculum development, volunteers spending time at the Irula villages and helping with various development activities, helping create employment with investments and ideas, …

·         The people in the villages are not looking for handouts.  They are looking for opportunities and given that, they are able to build their own future.  The communities are full of life and human values.

·         Can we try and build toilets in each of the schools?  In the rural areas with so much space, using the land as toilet is ok.  But with increased urbanisation and possible migration of families to urban areas, learning to use the toilet will be useful as well as hygienic in the long run for the children.

·         Finally, Asha for Education is indeed lucky to participate in Bharathi Trust’s work in the villages.  Shanmuga who introduced us to this project (and he is very popular in the area – we were often introduced as Shanmuga’s friends) is likely to be involved in developmental efforts in the region.  One idea being worked on is a resource centre.  Discussions were carried out more than an year ago and land has also been identified.  I recommend Asha for Education to support this.