Social discrimination of tribal agricultural labourers in wayanad district:

Abstract

The study entitled ‘Social discrimination of tribal agricultural labourers in Wayanad district: A critical gender analysis’ was conducted at Mananthavady block of Wayanad district during the year 2017-19. The study was conducted among three tribal communities viz, Kattunaikan, Paniyar and Kurichiyar. The objective of the research was to study the social discrimination experienced by the tribal agricultural labourers, to assess the extent of usefulness of developmental programmes as perceived by tribal agricultural labourers and also their profile characteristics. From each community, 30 male and 30 female tribal agricultural labourers were randomly selected, totaling the sample size to 180.

While considering social discrimination, 80 per cent of men and 90 per cent of women experienced a high order of social discrimination and 18.89 per cent of men and 10 per cent of women experienced medium level of social discrimination. Only 1.11 per cent of males experienced low social discrimination. Women experienced a higher scale of social discrimination than men. Among communities, Kattunaikans experienced a higher order of social discrimination, when compared to Paniyan and Kurichiyan respondents, owing to their poor economic status and spatial isolation. The major significant factors that negatively influenced social discrimination were annual income, wage, social participation, health and nutrition, access to common property resources and political orientation. Other than the above, self- confidence was observed to be negatively significant to social discrimination in the case of men, whereas, land alienation, educational status, migration and awareness negatively influenced social discrimination experienced by women tribal agricultural labourers.

In the case of perception of extent of usefulness of developmental programmes, officials had a higher level of perception, while the tribal communities had a lower perception. Low level of perception was observed among men (68.89%) and women (77.78%), while, only 31.11 per cent of men and 22.22 per cent of women had medium to high perception. Among the communities, Kattunaikans had a low level of perception of usefulness of developmental programmes than Paniyas and Kurichiyas, majorily contributed by their low awareness and social interaction. The major influencing factors for perception of usefulness of developmental programmes were annual income, wage, political orientation and awareness about the development programmes. Other than the above, self- confidence was found to have significant negative influence on perception in the case of men, whereas, educational status, exposure to mass media and social participation negatively influenced in the case of only women.

Profile characteristics of the respondents in the study areas were collected and analysed. More than half of the respondents (58.33%), irrespective of the gender and community, were under middle-age category. Kurichiyas had better education than Paniyas and Kattunaikans and among men and women, women lagged behind in education. Majority of the tribal agricultural labourers earned low to medium wages (82%) and annual income (81%), while women got lower wage (60%) and annual income (84.44%). Kurichiyas owned more land than Paniyas, while, Kattunaikans owned no land. Men owned more land than women. High extent of land alienation was observed among men (90%) and women (93.33%). Kattunaikans and Paniyas incurred debt almost entirely for non-productive purposes, while, Kurichiyas borrowed mainly for farm purposes. While alcoholism and smoking were issues among the males, betel use was common among both men and women. Comparatively high extent of daily migration was observed among men for job, while majority of the women were permanent migrants owing to dependency movement. Low order of mass media exposure (87.22%), social participation (84.58%), self-confidence (98.89%), health and nutrition (91%), political orientation (59.89%) and awareness about development programmes (90.5%) were observed among the tribal agricultural labourers; especially among women.

From the findings, it was concluded that, majority of the tribal agricultural labourers experienced a higher order of social discrimination. Perception of extent of usefulness of developmental programmes was found to be lower for tribal agricultural labourers. Among the communities, Kattunaikans experienced a higher scale of social discrimination, while they possessed a lower level of perception. Most importantly, strict gender disparity could be identified, where women experienced a higher order of social discrimination than men. Women were also observed to have a lower level of perception than men. High social discrimination and low perception resulted in the lower socio-economic status of women than men. The government should take steps towards developmental activities in all tribal settlements, in consensus with the tribal representatives. It must also be ensured that the benefits of these development projects reach the intended population.