Rural poverty

“Although there has been a decline, the level of poverty in the tribal population is still much higher than the national average and the gap between the two continues to be one of the major issues of concern in poverty discourse in India.” – Virginius Xaxa (Delhi School of Economics) in “The Status of Tribal Children in India: A historical perspective” (Opportunities, Working Paper No. 7, 2011), Institute for Human Development India & United Nations Children’s Fund, India
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=10430

An inspiration to many young girls from the Koya tribe: Jayanti Buruda, “the first female voice from the tribe to enter the mainstream media” –  Odisha

by

Girls among the Koya tribe have a staggeringly low literacy level. “Girls hardly go to school, the literacy rate among girls is below 15 percent,” she adds. With little infrastructure for education and a strong tradition of early marriages within the community, most girls are bereft of any formal education. However, encouraged by their father, … Read more

Video | Rainwater harvesting by the “hill dwelling” Sauria Paharia community: Compensating loss of forest cover through agriculture – Jharkhand

by

<span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span><span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”></span> Videovolunteers | Read the full story here >>Published on Feb 7, 2017  In the hills of Jharkhand reside the ancient tribe called the Sauria Paharias (hill dwellers). This Scheduled Tribe, considered as one of … Read more

Higher education no longer a distant dream for Irula youth: “Every single rupee we earn could be used for our education” – Tamil Nadu

by

Irula boy chases a dream from brick kilns to Anna University […] Karal Marx L, The New Indian Express, 7 August 2017 | To read the full story, click here >> An Irula tribe member, Thirumurthy is the first person from his community in the district to pursue engineering education. But things were quite different and difficult for … Read more

Founding a rural tribal school in response to local demand: Sarvodaya Shishu Vatika and Sarvodaya High School – Jharkhand

by

Sanjay Oraon, a resident of Toto village, 9 kilometers from Gumla has defied the rat race of his generation and started a school for the needy. […] He now runs the Sarvodaya Shishu Vatika and Sarvodaya High School on a plot owned by his father and struggling to give it a facelift. There are 300 children … Read more

Sharing a theology with ecology as the most important ethical guide for humans: The Asurs, a “Particularly vulnerable tribal group” – Jharkhand

by

G.N. Devy, The Indian Express, 6 March 2016 | To read the full article, click here >> The term tribal defies any universal definition. Between the Maoris of New Zealand, the Aborigines of Australia and the Indigenous People of North America, there is a shared historical fact. They were all there before the colonial powers pushed them … Read more