Socio-economic profile of the selected tribal population

The Adivasis (original inhabitants) is the collective name used for the many tribal peoples of India. The number of main Scheduled Castes has increased from 1221 to 1241 and the number of main Scheduled Tribes from 664 to 705 during the last decade. The term ‘tribe’ means a group of people who have lived at a particular place from time immemorial. India is home to a large number of tribes with population of about 84.4 million. Tamil Nadu constitutes one percent of total India’s tribal population. One of the largest tribes in Tamil Nadu is Irular, they are Dravidian tribe found in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra (Chittoor) and Karnataka. The word ‘Irular’ derived from Tamil word called “Irul” which means ‘darkness’. ‘Irular’ means those who are in darkness. Curly hair and dark complexion is their prominent feature. Now there are only 23,116 Irula households in Tamil Nadu (Census, 2011). The maximum tribe settlements are found at the foot hills of Tholampalayam Panchayat of Karamadai block which is 51 kilometres away from Coimbatore and at an altitude of 372 meters above mean sea level were selected for the study. To study the socio-economic profile out of 19 tribal settlements 12 tribal settlements which are easy to reach and convenience were selected. Among the 12 tribal settlements all the 705 tribal families with a total population of 2665 from Tholampalayam Panchayat, Karamadai Block, Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu State were selected. The socio-economic profile of 705 families of Irula tribes were collected using a well framed interview schedule. The details related to age and gender, religion, type of family, size of the family, educational status of the family members, occupational status of the families, monthly income, basic amenities and facilities available for the selected tribal families, mean monthly expenditure pattern and on kitchen garden, vaccination, medical facility and hygiene were studied. The sex ratio is 950 female / 1000 males, out of 705 tribal families 88 percent were Hindus and only nine percent were Christians and three percent were Muslims. Joint family were of 11 percent and 89 percent were nuclear family. Medium size family with 4-6 members were of 51 percent. Literacy level is low and majority of the respondents adopted farming and labour as their occupation.