DEPARTMENT OF Economics

Chapter IV

Summary of Findings and Conclusion

           Though the Central and State Governments have introduced several schemes for the speedy development of the scheduled Tribes, the socio-economic and educational attainment of the tribal communities in Wayanad district is not satisfactory. The following are the major findings of the study.

1. There exists considerable variation in the development achieved by various tribal groups in the district – Paniyas, Adiyas, Kattunaikans, Kurichiars, Kurumas, Uralies and Thachunadan Moopans. Among the various tribal groups, Paniyas form the most prominent group in number and Adiyans the least prominent in number.

2. Majority of the tribal families are landless and their percentage constitutes 68.4. The average size of land holding of the tribal families is 26.64 cents and the size of the per capita land holding is only 4.9 cents which constitutes only 23 per cent of the per capita land holding in Kerala.

3. Majority of the tribal families are below poverty time. The average size of the monthly income is only Rs. 1740 and the annual income of 53.6 percent of the families is less than Rs. 21000. The per capita income of the Kurumas is the highest and Thanchanadan Moopans is the lowest.

4. The literacy rate among the Scheduled Tribe is only 76.88 which is far less than the literacy rate of Kerala. Among the various tribal groups, the highest literacy is among the Paniyas and the lowest is among the Uralies.

5. Drop-out ratio is very high among the Scheduled Tribes especially at Upper Primary and High School levels. As a result, the percentage of SSLC holders is only 17.79. The highest percentage is among the Kurumas and the lowest among the Adiyans.

6. Though the incidence of poverty is very high among the Scheduled Tribes, 89.63 percent of them have inhabitable houses. Among Kurichiars and Adiyans  100 percent of them have inhabitable houses. This is mainly because of the increasing Government assistance to the Schedules Tribes for the construction of their houses.

7. Latrine facilities are available to 72 percent of the tribal families. There is wide variation in the availability of latrine facilities among the various tribal groups. While 100 percent of the households belonging to Adiyans have latrine facilities, it is available only to 38.6 percent of households belonging to Paniyans.

8. 63.16 percent of the houses are electrified and 100 percent of the houses of Kurichiars and Adiyans are electrified.

9. Scheduled Tribes in the district follow a very rich and healthy social and political life 84.3 percent of the Scheduled Tribes participate in Grama Sabha and 88.5 percent exercise their voting right.

10. Though the incidence of poverty is very high among the Scheduled Tribes, 26.66 percent of them has not received any financial assistance from the Government. While 83.3 percent of the Kurichiars got financial assistance, only 46.6 percent of Paniyas got financial assistance.

11. The average amount of financial assistance received by the Scheduled Tribes in Rs. 49004 and the highest amount is received by the Kattanaikans  and the lowest amount is received  by the Adiyans.

12. Banking habit of the Scheduled Tribes is very low. Their saving habit is very low and only 23.14 percent of the Scheduled Tribes have bank accounts.

13. Though majority of the Scheduled Tribes are very poor and the incidence of poverty is very high, there is comparatively lower debt burden among them. Only 33.4 percent of them have debt burden.

14. The use of liquor is wide spread among the Scheduled Tribes. 63 percent of the family heads use liquor and 32.2 percent of their income in spent on liquor.