Engineering graduate Suvetha Mahendran, from the narikuravar community, conducts aworkshop on educational and livelihood opportunities available to them
He wrote the civil services examination, became a forester and has helped more than 250 people from his community get housing and access to education. Education, greater awareness of their rights and recognition as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) in 2023 have opened up new opportunities. In 1965, the Lokur Committee, chaired by B N Lokur to review criteria for identifying scheduled castes (SCs) and STs, had recommended that Narikuravars be identified as STs. Until then, they were classified as denotified tribes (the communities in India that the British government had termed ‘criminals’ under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871). After repeated campaigns by community leaders and tribal rights activists, they finally got their due recognition 58 years later in 2023. Among those at the forefront of the struggle was Karai R Subramanian, president of Tamil Nadu Narikuravar Federation, who has fought for the community’s rights for more than 35 years. In 1992, I learned that tribal leaders were organising a demonstration for ST status. Through the organisation, she helps students access financial assistance for education and supports livelihood initiatives for community members across villages since 2016.
I wanted to do more for them,” says Sakthivel, who belongs to the Narikuravar community in Uthiramerur, Kancheepuram. “I used to travel across districts selling hair clips and mirrors,” says Subramanian. “Does it have a lucky charm? Does it have a hungry person to hunt?” (Teach a hungry person how to fish?) A whole world read the proverb painted on a wall in his boarding school but never understood what it meant. Years later, after getting a college degree and landing a job at an MNC, he works hard to make sense of it. “I had a job and financial security but what about the rest of my community? He also gives TNPSC guidance to civil service aspirants from the community. Like Sakthivel, several members of the Narikuravar community are breaking free from generations of marginalisation and stigma attached to their traditional hunting-based livelihoods. For decades, the community fought for ST status. Narikuravars are a nomadic community primarily residing in Tamil Nadu. They continue to face hurdles related to poverty, low literacy, housing access and social marginalisation, despite education initiatives of non-profits and community leaders. Engineering graduate Suvetha Mahendran, from the Narikuravar community, conducts a workshop on educational and livelihood opportunities available to them. But while Narikuravars are breaking barriers, stereotypes continue to follow them. Suvetha, a Tamil Nadu’s first engineering graduate from the community, is working to expand educational and livelihood opportunities through the Narikuravar Education and Welfare Society (NEWS).
Today, people from the community are working as doctors, engineers, IT professionals, social activists and teachers.