Improvement of Living Conditions of Chenchus - A Short Term Action Plan

Abstract

Chenchus, one of the most backward tribes of 33 scheduled tribes are traditional habitat found in the contiguous forest tracts of Nallamalai Hills. About 30,000 in number were recorded as per the estimates. The Chenchus reside in small settlements named PENTAS constituting 10 to 30 houses. The main occupational status is food hunters, while few earn by cultivation, agriculture labor, N.T.F.P. collection, etc. Private lands have been purchased and assigned by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency for cultivation. Many problems are being faced in the chenchu area such as isolation and inaccessibility, the economy stage for pre-agriculture, illiteracy, methods for exploiting resources, unhygienic conditions, increased morbidity and mortality, abysmal poverty, insufficiency of drinking water, rise in liquor consumption, child marriages and lack of basic infrastructures. To trounce these problems short term measures and action plans have been forefront, they are as follows: (a) food security by issuing ration cards and providing employment to the youth and educated chenchu under Public Distribution System, (b) defeat mortality rate by improving health systems by providing good conditioned mobile medical units, spraying D.D.T to prevent malaria infections, distribution of basic mini-medical kits, select local educated girls and Anganwadi workers and offer training for health support, chlorination of drinking water during the rainy season to prevent contaminations. (c) ICDS Developmental programmes such as women and child welfare via increasing the number of Anganwadi centres in all the settlements, supplying vitamin tablets to pregnant and lactating women, also for children and lower immune pupils. Training and getting them aware of the intake of nutritional food is also one of the measures. (d) Focus on Drinking water, measures to be taken reorganization of damaged borewells and mobile tankers with safe water are to be supplied to areas lacking water, (e) Forest management by educating the Chenchus about afforestation, construction of godowns for storage, irrigation facilities and water management for wildlife, (f) Economic maintenance schemes such as the distribution of plough bullocks, carts, etc., pensions to widows, old age and landless agricultural labor. (g) Employment generation schemes such as 100 days employment to rural poor, income-generating activities for women for instance making of leaf plates and baskets, cup stitching, de-seeding of tamarind, etc., adolescent girl schemes and employment scheme in upgradation fields such as water and soil conservation, afforestation, road maintenance and development, horticulture and agriculture and water harvesting structures. Different levels of monitoring systems and state-level committees have been established for proper implementation of the above said action plans.