VILLUPURAM/KALLAKURICHI: It’s 2021 and the world is witnessing sea changes in how people live and treat each other. But, for 50 teenagers of two tribal communities in Villupuram and Kallakurichi, life revolves around obtaining a government document.
Most of them had scored well beyond 70 per cent in their high school board examinations and dreamt of pursuing higher education. But denial of community certificates have shattered those dreams. 17-year-old I Vidhya, a member of the Kaatunayakan tribe and a resident of Kaanai Kuppam village, had scored 481 on 600 marks in class 12 and wanted to pursue a degree in botany or zoology or chemistry. She, however, could not join any college as she is yet to get a community certificate.
Her brothers – I Suresh and I Sukumar of class 9 and 11 – also await the certificate. One wishes to become a police officer and the other, a doctor. “But we can only dream and not really get it. Our life is like the Tamil saying: You get a fruit in your hand but can’t taste it,” Suresh said.
One of the most stressful procedure for obtaining the certificate is the anthropology enquiry, said P Abinaya, another student. “Since we went to school, how will I or any of my cousins know what our traditional occupation was? Do we need to work like our ancestors to get the community certificate?”
At least 20 students from Kaatunayakan tribe in Villupuram district, including those living in Adhanur, Aasur, Poothamedu, Umaiyapurama, and Kaanai kuppam, had either joined a private college without a community certificate or lost the opportunity of higher education altogether. A few of the students are preparing for the NEET examination, hoping they would get the certificate someday and that they need to be prepared.
Moreover, the youth shared a common frustration with the society and the authorities as they had put immense efforts to study despite the mental agony of having to face caste discrimination, only to be denied a chance to change the fate of their community.
TNIE accessed a list of eligible people for the community certificate that had been issued by the anthropology research team. Official sources said it is only a matter of time that Villupuram RDO issues the certificate; so there will not be a long delay.
Meanwhile, in Kallakurichi’s Kuthiraichandal, at least 10 students, including the five who had completed class 12 in the last two years with over 85 per cent score, now stay at home, helping their parents in chores. “I scored 480 on 600 in class 12 in May 2021. I would have scored higher if there had been an exam instead of the consolidation marks. But what’s the use of these marks if I can’t study further?” questioned M Balachandar (17).
Balachandar has one more reason to be frustrated. M Bhagyalakshmi (20), his sister who wanted to learn mathematics, was denied a seat in a government college after it rejected her admission on account of not having a community certificate. However, after her efforts, an order from the CM cell allowed her to join the college in 2019.
Official sources from the Collectorate told TNIE that the RDO had already been issuing certificates for those who had applied earlier in the district and that the students from Kuthiraichandal will be eventually provided with certificates.
Generations pass
(Left) An elderly woman from the Malaikuruvan tribal settlement in Kuthiraichavadi village in Kallakurichi making a basket.