Chennai: Denied ST status despite court-ordered GO, tribals take to streets as official apathy hits them badly

CHENNAI: Tribal communities from across the State staged a protest outside Rajarathinam Stadium in Chennai on Monday, demanding the immediate issuance of Scheduled Tribe (ST) community certificates and the inclusion of several left-out subgroups such as Pulayan, Kurumans, Kuravan subsects and Vettaikaran community under the ST list, fully adhering to a related Government Order and High Court verdict.

The Tamil Nadu Tribes Association organised the protest with the backing of the CPM.

The key demand was the full implementation of Government Order (GO) 104, issued on August 21, 2023, by the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department. The GO was framed following a 2022 Madras High Court order that directed the State to establish uniform guidelines for issuing ST community certificates. It clearly states that if a parent or blood relative possesses a valid community certificate, the same should be issued to the descendants without delay. It also prohibits revenue officials from disregarding such certificates unless overruled by the State-level scrutiny committee.

However, tribal groups allege that revenue officials in several districts, including Madurai, Dindigul, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Tirupattur, Salem, and Dharmapuri, routinely reject applications or delay processing them for years, even when submitted along with valid ancestral proof.

The protesters also called on the State government to send its long-pending recommendation to the Centre for the inclusion of the Vettaikaran community in the ST list and to formally recognise Erode Malayalis as a distinct tribal population within Tamil Nadu.

Speaking at the protest, CPM state secretary P Shanmugan said, “Government officers disobeying the GO and High Court directions is equal to working against the Tamil Nadu government itself. Sadly, the State isn’t able to address the issues of the tribal community with a smaller population in Tamil Nadu.” He added that the continued denial of certificates is effectively cutting off tribal youth from education, employment, and their future.