Study of Socio- Economic Backwardness and Its Linkage with Literacy Level in Viluppuram District

Home , Gingee block, Gingee taluk, Kallakurichi, Kanai block, Marakkanam block, Sankarapuram

STUDY OF SOCIO- ECONOMIC BACKWARDNESS AND ITS LINKAGE WITH LITERACY LEVEL IN VILUPPURAM DISTRICT

Submitted to State Planning Commission, Government of Tamil Nadu

September, 2015

Prepared by PRIA Foundation for Research and Development Chennai

Table of Contents Abbreviations Acknowledgements List of Tables

SLNO CONTENT DETAILS PAGE NUMBER

Executive Summary 6

Chapter 1 Objective, Scope and Methodology of the study 9

Chapter 2 Issues related to linkage between Socio economic 15 backwardness, Literacy and Education - An overview

Chapter 3 Aspects of Literacy, Education and Socio Economic 37 Conditions in Viluppuram District Chapter 4 Linkage between Socio Economic Conditions, Literacy 66 and Education Attainment - Findings from the Field Survey

Chapter 5 State Interventions related to Backwardness and Literacy 99 in Kalrayan Hills (most backward) block in the district

Chapter 6 Conclusions and Recommendations 116

References 125

Appendix 1 Human Development Index of Districts in Tamilnadu 127

Appendix 2 Ranking of blocks in Viluppuram district based on 128 Composite backwardness Index

Appendix 3 Survey Schedule in Tamil 130

Appendix 4 List of Arts , Science, Education and Engineering colleges 137 in Viluppuram district

Appendix 5 Details of State interventions under SBGF in Kalrayan Hills 148 block in the district

Appendix 6 Consultation report on Child Labour in Viluppuram by 154 UNICEF and Labour Department

Appendix 7 Success Stories of National Child Labour Project in Salem 168 District, Tamil Nadu.

Appendix 8 List of NGOs in Kalrayan Hills,Viluppuram district 179

Abbreviations

AAY Antyodaya Anna Yojana APL Above Poverty Line BC Backward Community BPL Below Poverty Line CSR Child Sex Ratio HDI Human Development Index HHs Household(s) GoTN Government of Tamil Nadu GTR Government Tribal Residential school ICDS Integrated Child Development Scheme ICPS Integrated Child Protection Scheme IMR Infant Mortality Rate JNNURM Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission NCLP National Child Labour Project MGNREGA Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act MBC Most Backward Community OC Other Community OSC Out of School Children PG Post Graduate PDS Public Distribution System SSA Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan SPC State Planning Commission SC Schedule Caste ST Schedule Tribes UG Under Graduate UNICEF United Nations Children‘s Education Fund VAO Village Administrative Officer VEC Village Education Committee

Acknowledgements

I express my sincere thanks to the following for undertaking the study and completion of the report :

Mrs.Santha Sheela Nair ,IAS (retd) ,Vice Chairperson ,SPC has given the opportunity to undertake the study and valuable comments during the presentation.

Mr.Anil Meshram. I.A.S.,Member Secretary and Dr.Sugato Dutt ,IFS ,SPC who have shown interest in the study .

Mr.K.Kumaresan ,HOD (Education and Employment ) ,SPC for the opportunity, help and interest in conduct of the study .

Prof.Athreya ,Adviser ,MSSRF for his continuous interest , encouragement and comments during the presentation.

Mr.R.Vidyasagar, UNICEF (retd) ,Chennai has provided regular guidance for the study and contacts in the district for undertaking field visits.

Mr.Chezhlian ,and Ms Kalpana Lifeline Trust and Mr.Balamurugan ,Geneva Global ,Chennai and their team members for sharing information and help for conduct of the field surveys.

Various District level Government Departments like Education (SSA),Rural Development, Pudu Vazhlvu, Tribal Development, etc for providing required data related to their department schemes .

Members of village Panchyats, School Teachers, and general public in the selected blocks for actively participating in group interviews, household surveys and provided valuable information about their villages, communities and households .

A number of resource persons and staff of SPC for their comments and help during the presentation of the report. Others who have directly and indirectly helped for the study.

Dr. A. Rajagopal Director PRIA Foundation

List of Tables

Table 1.1 List of Selected Blocks and Village Panchayats for the study

Table 3.1 Total and Percent of SC and ST population-Talukwise Table 3.2 Rural and Urban population-Block wise Table 3.3 Education and Literacy in Viluppuram district

Table-3.4 Literacy rate and gender gap by blocks

Table 3.5 School Age Population - 2013-2014 (Age group 5 to 10

Table 3.6 School Age Population - 2013-2014 (Age group 11to 13)

Table 3.7 GER – Primary -2013-14

Table 3.8 GER – Upper Primary block wise in the district

Table 3.9 NER – Primary during 2013-2014

Table 3.10 NER – Upper Primary - 2013-2014

Table 3.11 Completion Rate - Primary - 2013-14

Table 3.12 Dropout Rate - Primary - 2013-14

Table 3.13 Dropout Rate –Upper Primary 2013- 14

Table 3.14 Enrolment of Out of School Children 2013-14

Table 3.15 Transition Rate – Std.V to Std.VI -2013-14

Table 3.16 Transition Rate – Std.VIII to Std.IX -2013-14

Table 3.17 – Education Development Indicators

Table 3.18 Composite EDI at Primary and Upper Primary Level 2011-12

Table 4.1 List of Selected Blocks and Village Panchayats Table 4.2 Distribution of sample households across block and villages Table 4 .3 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by caste Table 4.4 Land Holding Pattern of Sample HHs (in acre)

Table 4.5: Sources of income of HH Table 4.6 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by caste and level of education of the head of Household Table 4.7 Literacy and education attainment of members of Households

Table 4.8 Distribution of sample households by level of education and occupation of head of household

Table 4.9 Educational Attainment of Household Members -Male and Female, Total

Table 4.10 Distribution of sample households by housing conditions

Table 4.11 Distribution of sample households by access to safe Drinking water facility

Table 4.12 Distribution of sample households by access to toilet

Table 4.13 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by availing of loan and purposes

Table 4.14 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by having ration card

Table 4.15 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by Dropout

Table 4.16 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by Reason for Dropout

Table 4.17 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by availing of scholarship

Table 4.18 Distributions of household based response for relationship between education and doing work

Table 4.19 Distribution of household based response for relationship between education and economic growth

Table 4.20 Distribution of household by response about send their children to higher studies

Table 4.21 Regression output—Correlation between educational attainment of Household members and their socio-economic conditions

Executive Summary

The study was undertaken with the objective of understanding the factors underlying the socio-economic backwardness in relation to literacy and education in the Viluppuram district. The district is ranked as the third lowest in terms of literacy in the state. The literacy rate in the district is only 72.08 per cent, while the state average is 80.33 per cent. As the district is the second lowest in terms of Human Development Index, the socio-economic factors assume importance in relation to literacy and educational attainments.

The study was conducted in two blocks- one most backward (Kalrayan Hills) and another relatively less backward (Koliyanur) in terms of socio-economic conditions. To begin with, block level analysis of secondary data on socio economic backwardness was undertaken making use of a number of development indicators. Then field surveys with group interviews and household surveys were conducted in a select set of villages from the two blocks identified as the most backward and less backward.

These exercises were carried out to develop an understanding of the influence of various socio-economic factors such as caste, income, land holding, asset-ownership, indebtedness and poverty level on literacy and education at the local level. Various issues pertinent to the relationship between backwardness and education are also highlighted by a review of existing studies. Based on these exercises, the summary of findings and recommendations for interventions are given below.

Even though the district is ranked as the most backward in terms of literacy, there are wide variations among the blocks, with some blocks being educationally more backward than others. With literacy rates between 77 per cent and 88 per cent, Viluppuram, Chinna Salem, Marakkanam and Kandamangalam are the top four blocks among the 22 blocks in the district. The bottom four blocks are Risihivandyam, Thirunallur, Ullundurpettai and Thyagathurgam. The literacy rate of these blocks range from 63 to 68 per cent. Rishivanthiyam, Kallakurichi, Ulundurpettai and Thirukoilur

have been identified as the most backward in primary and upper primary education. These backward blocks require assistance to make progress in literacy levels and education.

The dropout rate for the district as a whole is one per cent. The state has a lower dropout rate of 0.95 per cent. In the case of Thirukoilur and Viluppuram blocks, the dropout rates are higher than the district average. While the dropout rate is relatively less among the SC students, it is the highest among the ST students. In gender terms, the dropout rate is higher among girls than boys across all communities. Dropout rate is also higher among girls than boys at primary as well as upper primary levels.

The field survey indicates that socio-economic variables like caste, income, housing condition, household assets value and poverty level of households (BPL/APL) have significant relationship with literacy and the educational attainment of households.

Most of the household members cited lack of interest as the reason for quitting school. However child labour due to the poverty of the households, is noted as an important factor for students dropping out particularly in the tribal villages. For instance, children from Kalarayan hills were employed in cotton farms in Salem and Dharmapuri districts.

As returns from agriculture are reported to be low especially in tribal areas, agriculture development programmes are necessary. Enhancing of the non-farm incomes is also required for the socio-economic development of these areas. Development schemes such as Agriculture Land Development Scheme, Entrepreneur Development Scheme, Self Employment for youth, Pudhu Vazhvu etc can be better utilised for the development of the backward areas.

Road network and transport facilities play a major role in providing accessibility and impact the attendance of both teachers and students. Absenteeism of the teachers could be reduced by recruiting locally available qualified candidates. Local youth with teacher-training could be appointed in the tribal areas. By relaxing the recruitment norms, their absorption could be facilitated.

Educational attainments could be vastly improved by regular monitoring of attendance as well as dropping out. Local organizations like PRI, VEC and NGOs could be involved to enhance school governance and educational attainment.

Many important initiatives have been undertaken by the State Planning Commission under the State Balanced Growth Fund for addressing the development problems in the Kalrayan hills-the most backward block in the district. These initiatives include provision of basic infrastructure facilities in GTR schools, improving the livelihood of the tribal people, improvement in educational and healthcare facilities, provision of residential quarters to medical officers and staff, skill training to the local youth, check dams for augmentation of drinking water sources, establishing milk collection centres and marketing and promotion of millet cultivation and value addition.

There is also a special plan prepared by the Tamil Nadu Government for the development of the Kalrayan hills block. The plan has been prepared in response to the direction of the Madras High Court in a public interest litigation. The Plan provides an account of the livelihood opportunities and the status of physical and social infrastructure. While highlighting the gaps in relation to development requirements, a roadmap for bridging the gaps is also presented. The plan when implemented would address the problems related to the socio-economic backwardness including education of the Kalrayan hills.

Chapter 1

Objective, Scope and Methodology of the study

Introduction

Viluppuram is ranked as the second lowest among 32 districts in Tamilnadu based on Human Development Index (HDI) by the 12th plan of the state Government .There are many indicators form part of Human Development Index among them literacy is one of the important indicators .The district is ranked as the third lowest in terms of literacy rate in the state. While the state‘s average literacy is 80.33 percent, Viluppuram achieved only 72.08 percent .The Gender Gap in literacy is also one of the highest in the district. Though there is an improvement in the literacy rate of the district over last three decades, still it is in the lowest rank in the state. The fact that the district occupies the second lowest position in HDI in the state indicates its relative economic backwardness also. (Appendix-1)

Objectives of the study

The main objective of the study is to understand the factors associated with low literacy rate in the district especially socio economic backwardness. There are many factors associated with economic backwardness like income, employment, productive assets such as land holding , percentage of people depending upon agriculture, land less labour , access to institutional credit ,indebtedness etc. Apart from these there are many social factors like caste, gender, education, health , access to basic facilities like water and sanitation etc. which also determine welfare of people in an area. It is known from many studies that these social and economic factors influence each other and play important role in determining the outcome of any welfare programme. In this study we try to explore how socio economic factors influence the social aspect like literacy. The study also will take into account cultural factors if any contributing for the problem of lowest literacy rate in the district.

Methodology for the study: The study is undertaken in two stages as follows.

I) Block level analysis based on Secondary data

To start with we have undertaken block level analysis of data on socio economic backwardness using a number of development indicators. This was done based on available secondary data at the block level. A composite index was developed taking into account twenty indicators related to socio-economic backwardness. The index was used for ranking the blocks in terms of backwardness. (Appendix .2)

II) Field visits for Primary data collection

Selection of Blocks

Based on the analysis of the secondary data on socio-economic backwardness, two blocks were selected for the detailed study .One block most backward in both economic conditions and literacy level and another block which is relatively more developed in terms of both economics and literacy were selected and studied comparatively.(See Maps 1 &2)

Selection of villages

Two villages from each of the two blocks (totally four villages) were selected randomly to undertake primary survey .Group Interviews were conducted with knowledgeable people in the villages .

Primary Survey

For understanding the influence of socio-economic factors like poverty, income, employment, land holdings, assets, etc on literacy levels, a survey of Household with different socio-economic background was undertaken in the four villages selected. Initially a list of HHs with different socio-economic background was prepared based on information from officials (like VAOs) and knowledgeable persons (like Panchayat presidents/ Secretary ) and Unicef project field staff .Based on this twenty five households were selected randomly from each village (totally 100) across different socio-economic groups.

Sources of data

Secondary Data about the district and blocks were collected from Census (2011), Directorate of Economics and Statistics, SSA, Directorate of Non Formal and Adult Education, District collectorate, Unicef field office etc. As already mentioned field visits were undertaken to conduct Group Interviews, primary surveys and case studies in the selected villages/blocks in the district.

Identification of backward blocks, village panchayats and hamlets for the detailed survey

There are twenty two blocks in the district. Based on secondary data analysis on different indicators of backwardness and literacy level, we have ranked the blocks in terms of backwardness. Base on the ranking, we have selected two blocks for the detailed study: one block which is least developed or most backward viz. Kalrayan hills, and another block viz. Koliyanur which is relatively less backward have also been selected.

As mentioned already, we have selected two villages from each block-totally four villages for intensive study and household surveys. The list of villages selected for the detailed study are given in Table 1.1

Table 1.1 List of Selected Blocks and Village Panchayats for the study

S.No Block Block Status Village Panchayat

Relatively Less Valavanur 1 Koliyanur backward Block Naraiyur

Comparatively Maniyarpalayam 2 Kalrayan hills most Backward Block Thoradiapattu

Ranking of Blocks based on Composite Backwardness Index in Viluppuram district

Map 1: Viluppuram District Map

Map 2: Selected Blocks for Study.

Villupuram District

Blocks selected for the study

1. Kalrayran Hills- Most Backward block 2. Koliyanur- Less Backward Block.

Group Discussions

We have conducted Individual and Group Interviews in the selected villages and hamlets with President of the Panchayt, Ward members, general public including farmers, wage labourers, teachers, Anganwadi workers, NGOs, Unicef Project staff etc. to identify backwardness related issues, education, available school facilities, economic and livelihood opportunities etc

Household Survey

We have conducted a Household survey to get more details about the household socio-economic conditions and literacy level. The survey schedule consists of questions about the household demographic details, educational and employment status of all family members, assets structure, agriculture landholding, livestock, annual income and expenditure, non-farm employment, migration, indebtedness, household consumer durables, perceptions about education and economic development of the family. The survey was undertaken with the support of UNICEF –NCLP Viluppuram. Training has been given to the investigators before start of the survey. For getting reliable and more accurate data the schedule was prepared in Tamil (see Appendix -3).

Chapter 2

Issues in Literacy ,Education and Socio-Economic Backwardness:

An overview

Education and poverty

Education and poverty are inter-related. On the one hand, the lack of education leads to low income. (1) On the other, low incomes come in the way of poor children reaping the benefits of education. Poverty is the underlying factor for various reasons why the children of poor households remain out of the school system. The relationship between income poverty and education poverty is mutually reinforcing. This relationship of mutually reinforcing nature operates at the macro level as well as the household level. In fact, it takes in its sweep the individual, the family, the community, the regional and the nation-society levels. Countries that have large number of people with low or negligible educational attainments cannot make enough progress to enhance the standards of living of its population. Individuals or households with low educational endowments could not be in a position to increase their productivity or lift them selves out of poverty.

In 1966, Education Commission called for beginning a process of education reconstruction that would take steps to break the vicious cycle involving poverty and lack of education. As poor households could not make adequate investments in education, poverty could not be overcome with educational attainments. There is consensus at present that investment in human capital is necessary for reducing the income poverty. Both the absolute poverty and relative poverty along with low educational attainments could be reduced through such an investment.

The Education Commission also sought attention to the links between education and development. Studies in the past had tended to focus much attention on the impact of education on overall economic growth. However, there had been recognition of the nexus between education and poverty and its relation to the well-being of the less-

privileged population. In recent times, however, the poverty-education relationship has received enormous attention in the wider framework of human development.

Studies conducted in the field of economics of education have shown that there is a firm correlation between education and incomes. It is also established that the income gains due to educational attainments earnings are near universal, steep and systematic. This is largely true of the overall population as well as the sub-groups of the population. The gains seem to reach all social segments such as males, females, rural, urban and socially disadvantaged.

Poverty eradication has been stated as a major component of the country‘s development strategy. Along with the economic growth, poverty eradication targets had been set to reduce poverty. The government launched a number of poverty alleviation programmes- beginning from the sixties. From the early seventies, growth with social justice had been proclaimed as the guiding principle of the development strategy. However, the focus has shifted in favour of growth in recent times. This has also made balancing economic growth and social development a difficult challenge.

Even though poverty is a multi-dimensional concept, the widely used indictor of poverty is the poverty line. While poverty is defined in terms of consumption expenditure, the poverty line defines the minimum per capita consumption expenditure that would be needed to acquire the basic calories- any individual needs for survival. There is a continuous estimation and updating of separate poverty line for rural and urban areas-with minimum calories required for these two segments. The national norm has continued to lag behind the international norm for the poverty line.

While few have disputed the fact that people with less income than the prescribed norms are poor or as ones living below the poverty line, the norms have come in for severe criticism for underestimating the level of poverty. Even when there is a widely accepted poverty line, every one living above the poverty line cannot be considered to be earning considerable or stable income. The reality is that there is a sizeable segment just above the poverty line struggling hard to stay above it. The population living just above the poverty line is quite vulnerable to adverse

developments like drought, floods and illness and such developments could push them below the poverty line.

Another important aspect is the poverty gap ratio.(2) This ratio is a measure derived from the consumption distribution. The poverty gap reflects the intensity of poverty by measuring the distance between the poverty line and the consumption levels of the poor. By doing so, it is possible to measure the consumption expenditure shortfall of the poor relative to the poverty line. In the process one gets know the quantum of resources required to bring all the poor households to the poverty line.

While the incidence of poverty is the largest among the illiterate households in developing nations, it shows a tendency to decline with increasing levels of education. (3) For instance, poor people were found to be almost illiterate in Pakistan and a similar situation was reported from Thailand where 99 per cent of the poor had no education or less than middle or secondary education. In India as well, this inverse relationship was seen to be prevalent, as poverty-ridden households were found to attain only low education and training and household income. Poverty is predominant among the illiterate population and almost non-existent phenomenon among the educated segments of the society.

Even among the chronically poor, education interventions can be one of the best means of tackling poverty. (4) This is because education interrupts the transmission of poverty across generations. However children of chronically poor households are ‗hard- to-reach-and-teach group of children.‘ These groups of children tend not only remain out of school enrolment; they also drop out of schools early. As a result they end up attaining low or negligible levels of education. However, it is possible to intervene in the life cycle of chronically poor children and make substantial improvement in their educational attainments.

The set of interventions depend upon particular development situations. The interventions that run across the life cycle include interventions at early childhood, school age, and transition to work. While the interventions are mutually supportive, if choices have to be made because of resources constraints, they should be made taking into certain considerations. The focus should be on the most needed or feasible life

cycle point. The second consideration should be the cost effectiveness of the different possible interventions. The political or administrative feasibility should also be taken into account.

It is necessary to make investments in early childhood for educational attainments. For perceptible results, policy interventions should reach back into pregnancy. The intervention should extend up to gender equality. Only such an approach could make educational and skills attainments possible in the case of children whose families are trapped deep in poverty.

On the other hand such an approach could be highly beneficial in the sense that it helps the poor children to overcome the barriers of chronic poverty and attain social mobility. The interventions with relation to gender equality would enhance early childhood development of female children and reduce gender disadvantage in acquiring education. The interventions however should be in right combinations across life cycles to be effective.

Despite the reality on the ground, the quality of education provision should be better in the case of poor children. There should be more teaching efforts in the case of disadvantaged children as they require, due to their disadvantage, more efforts to acquire educational attainments. It is important to note that the acquiring of skills rather than attendance in a school that would have an impact on the future earning potential of the poor children.

As there could be an assessment of any intervention with respect to their gains, there are also interventions that can be dropped if they are found out to be ineffective. For instance, private schools are not a worthwhile policy choice in a particular development situation, it is better to drop them from the education agenda.

Bringing improvements in the governance of schools is not an expensive exercise. To the contrary, inexpensive improvements in school governance can lead to more efficient use of resources and imparting of better quality of education. The challenge lies in establishing governance reforms that are politically feasible on the ground. In situations where there are no quality improvement programmes in place and resources are scarce, school governance improvement should be the priority. It is not

difficult to see why. Governance improvement makes the existing education system to work better and this is achieved without deploying resources for setting up new systems. Any improvement in the quality of primary education motivates both poor parents and children to stay longer in school.

When the provision of education is not lacking in quality and the problem is making the poorest children to gain from primary education, the focus should be on early development as well as care programmes. The children benefiting from early development and care programmes can be supported with other programmes as they grow out of the primary school stage. Interventions such as scholarships and cash transfers can be deployed for providing transitions to post-primary and then into work. The positive impact on economic growth could generate more resources for investments in education.

Spending on education expansion and investments on new interventions require revenues. The additional revenues may require raising new tax resources. But investing in education would be seen as a legitimate action and bringing in necessary political support. It would be also possible to channel new revenues which come on stream to education. For instance, taxes from mineral resources - an enclave industry with little connection with the broader political economy - can be revenues for education investments.

There is not much evidence that suggest the political motivations for early childhood interventions. Evidence is also thin with respect to the conditions under which governments have successfully introduced early childhood development programmes. But the public good dimensions of the programmes are visible. The early childhood development interventions reduce the public cost of schooling, increase educational attainments and provide the foundations for acquiring modern skills. Parents in general and women of child bearing age in particular are found to support these programmes.

Even though poverty has been a part of the policy debate right from the First Plan Period, the primary focus has been on agriculture and rural development in India. Urban development was seen through the prism of industry. With focus on the

rural India in the five year plans, urban poverty was not recognized as a major problem in the initial plan periods. However, there was a change from the VII th plan period (1985-1990) and attention was paid to infrastructure, slum upgrading and livelihood promotion. (5)

Both urban development and urban poverty alleviation received increased allocations in the subsequent plans. From the 10th five year plan, allocations have been made under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The mission has been billed as a comprehensive package for development and poverty alleviation in urban areas in the country. But its performance has been seen as far from satisfactory. Even though budgetary allocations for urban development have increased considerably, they lagged behind the allocation for the rural areas. For instance, the per capita expenditure on the urban sector is Rs. 1,566.00, while the corresponding figure for the rural sector is Rs. 7,433.00 for the 11th Five year plan.

The urban poor suffer reduced access to education. While around 2.1 million children were out of school in urban areas, 13.4 million children were out of school in the country in 2005. The figure was about 0.62 million children between the ages of 6- 14 in 2006-07. This was 3.38 per cent of the child population of 18.5 million. In 2007- 08, illiteracy of the urban population aged 15 and above was 18 per cent. Among the literate, 0.9 per cent were without any formal education, while 36.3 per cent had studied up to the middle school level. Only 28.1 per cent had studied up to the secondary and higher-secondary level. As the formal sector jobs require skill-sets acquired through education, the chance of the urban poor entering into the organised sector is quite limited.

While it is the declared objective of the government to provide free and compulsory education to all children below the age of 14 years, policies and programmes meant for universal elementary education have ignored the ground reality and the particular problems of urban poor children in India. The notion that urban areas have adequate schooling facilities and primary education development is not a problem area in planning urban education is misplaced.(6) This assumption fails to capture the fact that urban areas present wide disparity in terms of the socio-economic status of its population and therefore, concerns and issues unique to an urban set-up are not taken

into consideration when strategic interventions are planned for ensuring provision of quality education to the urban poor.

A study was conducted in the urban poverty areas of Bangalore.(7) The study finds that there is less recognition of the extent of education deprivation in urban poverty areas as well as its impact on a large number of poor children. The macro-level data often fail to capture area-specific deprivation conditions. However, location- specific surveys indicate the scale and severity of the problems faced by urban poor children with respect to education. The poor children drop out of schools because of their dysfunctional nature and household poverty.

The other problems include insensitive teachers, inadequate state support and employment of children in the growing urban informal economy. As the enforcement of the prohibition of child labour is weak, such a state of affairs acts as an incentive to absorb poor children. These children with low educational attainments or poorly paid and often undertake hazardous and tedious labour. The educational deprivation reinforces other social handicaps and their economic marginality.

Schools in urban poverty areas should function in a manner that addresses family and community-based disadvantages of the deprived children. For these children education deprivation is aggravated by inadequate food availability and parental care. Their living environment is far from congenial for learning. The current school system is not in a position to take care of the individual and collective disadvantages of the deprived children. The social, political and administrative failures lead to the virtual perpetuation of educational deprivation.

The problem of educational deprivation can be solved when schools play a counteracting role. The teachers along with community leaders and parents should also contribute to the process of creating education opportunities for the poor children. Needless to say that such a perspective can only be premised on the idea that even the children from the most disadvantaged social and economic background has a right to education.

An analysis of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA) programme.(8) Even though the SSA framework views the urban-deprived children as a special focus group, the

study finds that the framework fails to give enough thought to the contextual problems faced by such children. While recognising the need for diverse set of strategies, the framework sees the deprived children only as out of schoolchildren involved in some work. Because of this, residential and non-residential bridge courses are suggested as alternatives for the deprived children.

But the urban-deprived children face multiple problems. They include limited access to schools, lack of teachers, low quality of schooling, congested living conditions and lack of parental support. There are also problems of social nature. From constant threats of demolition and resettlement and harassment from police and other authorities to the constant danger of exploitation and abuse, they face a reality that hardly seems to have been recognized. The policy fails to capture the context of the urban-deprived children and the difficulties involved in providing education to them.

All the same, the recognition of the need for separate planning to tackle the educational needs of the deprived urban groups is a step forward. The SSA programme could undertake more calibrated interventions now that the Right to Education Act is in place. The reservation of 25 per cent admissions for urban poor children in elite private schools could be seen as one such intervention.

Even though large scale of rural-urban migration has been taking place in developing countries, there are few studies that have compared education outcomes of migrants to long-time residents of the city. A two-country study has been undertaken covering three cities - Dhaka in Bangladesh, and Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in Vietnam - to understand educational expenditure and children‘s grade attainment of poor households.(9)

The study has found that rural-urban migrant households had fewer assets and poor housing conditions. The residential areas had less public schools and the poor households had limited social connections. The localities also had adults with lower educational levels. Both educational expenditure and grade attainment were lower for the children from migrant households.

Further, the education of the migrant children was adversely impacted by bureaucratic obstacles such as the household registration system. The study points out that the expansion of urban school systems could lag behind population movements.

While many problems faced by the recent migrants were similar to other poor urban households, one distinct handicap of the migrants was their inability to benefit from existing educational programmes such as school fee waivers. It is necessary to formulate specific programmes to meet the multiple disadvantages that poor migrant households face with relation to education.

Migrants may find admitting their children in the middle of a year difficult. In some cases they may face the problem of non-recognition of rural educational attainments.

The migrant households could not furnish birth or examination certificates in some circumstances. School admissions based on household registration could also work against them. The provision of education gets aggravated when urban government schools already struggle to accommodate children from non-migrant poor households.

As school facilities often do not keep pace with population growth, households undertaking circular or short-term migration - resorted to by a substantial number of households - encounter disruption of education of their children. Education programmes aimed at providing alternative measures to the main school system may be required to address this problem.

Household surveys including those used to build national statistics tend to miss marginalised urban groups such as migrant households. Obviously, this has implications for educational planning, as urban poverty and educational deprivation could be underestimated.

In urban areas where rapid population growth and substantial migration take place, new methods of enumeration with shorter intervals may be necessary to estimate the necessary level of service delivery. However, the educational access and attainment of the migrant households could be immediately enhanced by ensuring that these households benefit from the existing programmes.

Education and Demography

According to a United Nations report (2014), the world‘s population has grown from 5.7 to 7.2 billion since the International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo in 1994.(10) Asia and Africa account for 75% of this growth. While population growth is showing signs of slowing down, projections by the United Nations suggest that the world‘s population will continue to increase and could reach 9.6 billion by mid-century.

From a demographic perspective, countries are more diverse today than at any previous point in history. On the one hand, there are countries that are still experiencing high fertility- resulting in youthful age structures and rapid population growth. At the other hand, there are countries with falling fertility and getting below the replacement level. In the latter, rapid population ageing and some cases population decline could be witnessed.

While some headway has made in raising life expectancy over the past 20 years, the 2015 deadline for achieving a life expectancy of 75 years will be missed by many countries. This target has been achieved by only 35 per cent of countries -with a life expectancy of between 60 and 75 years at the time of the Conference in 1994. It is noteworthy that only one of the 53 countries with a life expectancy of less than 60 years has surpassed 70 years.

Another important target that many countries would miss relates to a 75 per cent reduction in maternal mortality. The targets can be met only through making improvements in health and survival at all stages of life-from infancy to old age.

Both observed and anticipated changes in fertility and mortality points towards population ageing. Even though the population of young people has grown rapidly in recent decades, it is expected to remain relatively stable over the next 35 years. On the other hand, the proportions of older people are expected to exhibit an opposite trend and increase in the foreseeable future.

While more than 50 per cent of the world‘s population now living in urban areas and the number of large urban agglomerations is increasing, around 50 per cent of the urban population lives in smaller cities and towns. With the urban centres expected to account for the population growth in the future, development strategies aimed the complexity of the urbanization would be the focus area in the coming days,

In short, the demographic picture exhibits considerable diversity as well as on going change. This could be seen in the new patterns of childbearing, marriage, mortality, migration, urbanization and ageing. As the result of these new patterns, the size, structure and spatial distribution of the future population would be quite different from the current structure. Social, economic environment and political changes will continue impact and shape the demographic changes. The interaction between these factors needs to be understood for setting the development agenda. Hence it is necessary to understand of the linkages between education, population and development. Such understanding is required for both realistic manpower and expenditure planning-more so in the light of the RTE Act.(11)

Demographic data would be needed to know the quantum of child population and the requirement for education at various levels on one hand and the teaching personnel and infrastructural facilities on the other hand to meet such requirement. Even though

Relationship between population, education and development have been recognised, the priority accorded to these relationships has varied.

At the policy level, education was seen as essential for both improving the quality of life and sustainable economic development in the country. Despite only 29 per cent of men and 3 per cent women were literate in 1951, there was optimism that universal literacy was achievable- with the young cohorts aging with time. Even in the face of steadily declining mortality in the 1950s and 1960s, the optimism continued.

According to the decennial censuses, literacy level was quite low level with only 9 per cent of the men and 0.4 per cent of women were literate in 1881 and there was no significant improvement slow until 1951. Since then, there been marked improvement. In 2011, the crude literacy rate among men and women reached 71 per

cent and 57 per cent respectively. The figures were seen to reflect the presence of older cohorts with high illiteracy in the population. The adult literacy missions undertaken in 1980s and 90s-primarily targeting rural women in the age group 15-34- could not deliver expected results, did not apparently make much impact on eradicating illiteracy among them.

In recent decades, the gender gap in literacy level has begun to exhibit a narrowing trend. The gap was nearly 22 points in 2001 with male literacy at 76 per cent and female literacy 54 per cent. In 2011, the gap was only 16 points with male literacy at 82 per cent and female literacy at 66 per cent. It is to be noted that when the overall literacy levels were low, the gender gap was narrow. The gap increased during 1951-91 and has again begun to narrow when the literacy levels have started to increase.

Women literacy witnessed rapid growth between 1991 and 2011- from 39 per cent in 1991 to 66 per cent in 2011). This represents an increase of close to 70 per cent in the 20 year period. In the same period, literacy among men registered an increase of only 28 per cent from 64 per cent 1991 to 82 per cent in 2011. The slower growth rate among men has resulted in the narrowing of the gender gap. It is also noteworthy that the absolute number of illiterates has come down in both sexes for the first time in 2011.

Despite these gains, much needs to be done on the literacy front. The 2011 census enumerated 97 million men and 176 million women as illiterate in 2011. This segment of the population is unlikely to ever gain literacy. While literacy among rural women have increased ten-fold from only 5.7 per cent in 1951 to 58.7 per cent in 2011. However, 20 per cent of the rural women still remain illiterate requiring focused interventions.

In the case of urban women, the literacy rate increased from 26 per cent in 1951 to 80 per cent in 2011. It is similar to the gain made among rural men whose literacy increased from 22 percent in 1951 to 79 per cent in 2011. However, the literacy rate among urban men is close to 90 per cent. If the current trend continue, urban women and rural men are also likely to attain similar literacy levels in a few years. But it should be borne in mind that the narrowing of the gender gap has happened largely in

urban areas. The gender gap has been narrowed only to a much smaller extent in rural areas.

According to the 2011 Census, 127 million children were in the age group 5-9, 133 million were in the age group 10-14 and 120 million were aged 14-19 years. This means that nearly 260 million children in the age group 5-14 would require schooling up to grade 8. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER-2014) shows that the enrolment of children between 6 and 14 in rural India was to the extent of 96.7 per cent without any gender difference in 2013. The primary school enrolment was to the tune of 94 per cent even in states such as Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The enrolment is likely to be close to 100 per cent in the urban areas.

There appears to be no backlog of children even in rural areas who need to be identified and persuaded to be enrolled in the schools. The state agencies as well as the parents seem to have succeeded in enrolling the children even in rural areas. With a view to address the issues of future need of school buildings, teachers and other infrastructure, projections are undertaken up to 2026-of the number of children in 2021 and in 2026.

The total population is expected to increase from 1,211 million in 2011 to 1,421 million in 2026. However, the total number of children is not likely to increase even in the near future. There is a possibility of the absolute number of children aged between 5 and 14 years declining from 272 million in 2011 to around 252 million by 2021. The decline is further likely to continue and result in 250 million in 2026. This is because of the demographic transition that the country is currently witnessing with steadily declining fertility rate.

However, the nature of fertility decline is not uniform across the country and the general trend may not hold true for all regions or social groups. For instance, the absolute number of children in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan is projected to increase for at least the next 20 years. To the contrary, the primary school entrants are already getting fewer in number in states such as the Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These states have been experiencing fertility decline for more than two decades now.

In the coming 15 years and even beyond, the absolute number of children needing primary and secondary level education will continue to decline. The number is likely to stabilize after around 40 years. Given this, the challenge in the coming days is to provide universal access to schooling for girl children as well as the children of the marginalised groups.

The dropout rate among vulnerable children is a matter of concern. Between 10 and 15 per cent the girls drop out of school after fifth standard in some backward states- despite sanctioning more than 3,500 residential Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBY). It is also a fact that bringing the girls who have dropped out back to school is no easy task. The scheme itself is seen to be producing less than optimal results in most states by independent evaluations.

Education and Social Discrimination

Social groups such as Dalits, Adivasis, and Muslims can be seen as suffering a regime of discrimination in the country. (12) However, these groups exhibit internal heterogeneity. Discrimination against these groups is actualised through instituted practices. The practices are historically recognised as having effects in inverse proportion to the social status of the discriminated.

In the case of the woman belonging to a low status social group, the gender- based social discrimination is accentuated. The form and content of discrimination practised against each of the marginalised social group is far from similar. However, all social discrimination- even when perpetuated by individuals against individuals- should be viewed as social behaviour expressing an ideology of social hierarchy.

The social discrimination regime is based on a set of core features. There is a set of ideas that form the principles for the maintenance of social hierarchy. This hierarchy defines the relationships between different social groups and becomes the basis of difference between ‗us‘ and ‗them.‘ The social legitimacy of the hierarchal relationships requires a normative framework of socio-cultural practices and statues. In the case of caste, the normative framework of caste privileges naturalises the rights of the upper castes over those of lower castes.

Similarly the normative framework for religion also differentiates between religions. The normative discourse considers adherents of its own religion as full citizens and people belonging to other religious groups as subordinate citizens. Adivasis suffer discrimination in a similar fashion.

In this framework of hierarchy, there is no place for seeking any consent from other social groups and unequal relationships are imposed on the marginalized groups. On the other hand, This marginalization resulting from the discrimination is internalised as the defining or natural or even just principle of the social order.

Another feature of the discrimination regime is the practice of these principles of hierarchy in the form of capillary power. The social order supports the capacity of the dominant social groups to act against the interest of weaker social groups, while any of resistance on the part of the discriminated is seen as deviant behaviour and is often punished. The reaction of the dominant group could range from the competitive to the coercive and violent. These features of the discrimination regime are against the formal principles of democracy.

While violent methods to maintain discriminatory relationship would be difficult to sustain, the social relationship in everyday life is so crafted and pursued to maintain the hegemony. When laws and movements against discrimination regime come into being, the dominant groups resort to the politics of discrimination. This politics is aimed at ensuring the interest of the dominant groups in the face of democratic assertion by the deprived social groups. The politics of discrimination make sure that the capillary power flowing from the hierarchical social order is not dissipated by the rationalities of market exchange or state intervention.

While providing socially sanctioned space to the marginalised groups, this politics prevents such groups from realizing any transformative changes. In other words, the politics of discrimination prevents the marginalised groups from effective social and economic engagement and stops their political representation from gaining practical control over political and economic resources.

Even though state and market are expected to undermine discriminatory practices as they spread their influence over the society, both the ideology and politics of discrimination survive the changes and sustain relationships of complicity-instead of outright domination. However, discrimination gets institutionalised through the formal and informal organisations as well as institutions of the state, market and civil society. For all the constitutional principles, various provisions for affirmative action and developmental programmes, the discrimination regime is the norm rather than an aberration. Even when there is resistance, it is practiced as the naturalised principle of social, political and economic order.

For universalizing education, it is necessary to identify and reach out to the children of vulnerable social groups and carry out measures of positive discrimination.(13) Only such an approach would help to keep them in school. The literacy rates for scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) in rural and urban areas from 1981 to 2011 reflect their continued marginalisation.

Despite the provision of special status and affirmative action for the disadvantaged social groups by the constitution from 1950, the effective literacy among SC and ST rural women was less than 10 per cent in 1981. Even though the definition of literacy was generous, not even one out of 10 women was literate among the SC and ST women.

When compared to the overall women literacy, the literacy among SC and ST rural women continues to be low. There has been considerable progress in the recent decades. However, the literacy rates were only 53 per cent for rural SC women and 47 per cent for rural ST women in 2011. The difference was not so marked in the case of SC and ST men as their literacy rate of 83 per cent of the was close to the male literacy level of the general population

The slow spread of education among the disadvantaged social groups is partly due to the highly skewed availability of education facilities in rural areas. The Seventh All India Education Survey-with reference year 2005- shows the proportion of SC and ST population distributed across the villages. While 27 per cent of the villages in our

country did not have any SC population, 56 per cent of the villages were without any ST population.

The SC population was more than 50 per cent in 9 per cent of the villages and 16 per cent of the villages had over 50 per cent of ST population. The data on the schooling facilities in the villages inhabited by varying percentage of SC and ST population reveal skewed provisioning. There were glaring disparities in schooling facilities between villages with predominant non-SC-ST population, and the villages where the SC and ST groups account for the majority.

In the case of villages with majority SC population, just 8 per cent of the villages had primary schools. Out of all villages with more than 50 per cent ST population, the corresponding figure was only 16 per cent. However, among villages with less than 25 per cent of SC or ST populations, 74-78 per cent of the villages had primary schools. This skewed distribution of schooling facilities necessitates the SC and ST children under 10 years to walk between two and five km to attend primary schools.

But in the likelihood of predominantly ST or SC villages having smaller population size, the absolute number of affected children would not be in the same proportion of the number of villages. The disparity was more marked in the provision of secondary and higher secondary schools between the SC or ST majority villages and other villages.

Between 80 and 90 per cent of villages with less than 25 per cent ST or ST population had secondary or higher secondary level schools. Only up to 6 per cent villages with majority SC or ST population had schools for children above age 14. The availability of upper primary and secondary schools could also be impacted by the population size. But population size cannot be an excuse for placing already marginalized groups into further disadvantage. The prevailing disparities need to be removed.

An exploratory study in two sites in the state of Rajasthan, show how school going Dalit children suffer exclusion and discrimination within their schools. (14) However, the study points out that there are institutional spaces within schools that offer opportunities for equitable inclusion.

Most of the reviews of education policy and programmes for Dalit children cite access to schools, poverty and apathetic attitudes of parents as major handicaps for their poor educational attainments. With such an approach increasing the physical access to schools, provision of incentives and involving of local communities are seen as major planks of the education policy aimed at the Scheduled Castes. The discrimination that low caste children suffer in education is hardly a focus in policy documents.

Exclusionary practices are found to flourish in spaces related to water and food; these spaces have been traditionally the sites of caste based discrimination. In schools where and drinking water is ‗stored‘ in earthen pots, jars or served in glasses -as running water is not available, Dalit children are not allowed to take water themselves.

Practices like washing the taps after the Dalits students use them and forcing these students give right of way to general caste students are pronounced in the village. These practices may be prevalent in many other villages of the state. The study observes that water sources in schools are the site of recontextualising within the school the practice of communicating the so called polluted status to Dalits outside school.

In functions and ceremonies where food is cooked and served, Dalit students are found to experience unfair treatment. They are not equal participants because of their caste identity. Even though the extent of the discrimination varied in different schools, such practices within schools require serious attention.

The discriminatory practices are ironical in the sense that the school provides the only space where children from different castes can interact at various levels. Bringing equality in cooking and sharing food in the school can be of much symbolic significance. This could be a counteract to the caste hierarchies prevailing in the village societies.

Evidence from Tamil Nadu

The performance of Tamil Nadu is comparatively better than most other states in bringing down the combined poverty. The overall head count ratio at 22.5 in 2004- 05 was nearly 5 percentage points less when compared to the all-India figure-27.5 per cent. In 2004-05, the urban poor accounted for nearly 47.5 percent of the total poor people in the state. Even though progress has been made in reducing income poverty, hunger poverty/calorie deficiency continues be a major problem.(15)

The estimated literacy rate of 87.5 per cent at the end of the 11th Plan in the state has been slightly lower than the targeted rate of 90 percent in 2012. However, the gender gap in literacy is estimated to fall by 10 percent level at the end of the plan period. While the drop-out rate at primary level was 1.02 per cent, the corresponding figure for the upper primary level was 1.88 per cent in 2009-10. It is believed that the state is on track to achieve the target of zero level in at the level of elementary education.

In light of this development, largely due to the success of the SSA, it is expected that there will be a steep increase in the demand for secondary education. The state needs to take measures to meet this increased demand. The government has already launched a new scheme-Scheme for Universalization of Access to Secondary Education (SUCCESS)- to meet the likely surge in the admissions to the secondary classes.

Inter district variations

However, inter-district disparities exist in the state with respect to indicators such as literacy and female literacy. For example, the literacy rate is 88.1 per cent in the case of Kanniyakumari district, while the literacy rate is only 59.2 percent in the Dharmapuri district- a backward district with the lowest literacy in the state. In 12 districts of the state, the gender gap in the literacy rate is more than 20 percent.

Based on the index of deficiency values for literacy, life expectancy, per capita income and enrolment, it can be said that the government programmes have been successful in spreading education. However, wide disparities still remain when it comes to the economic activities of the population. This is reflected in the per capita income relative to the state average.

In 2009-10, the proportion of girl students enrolled at primary and middle level is around 48.5 per cent. The proportion of the SC/ST student enrolment was about 26 per cent in the elementary schools. The districts of Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Nagapattinam, Namakkal, Perambalur, Nilgiris, Thiruvallur, Thiruvarur, and Villupuram reported more than 26 per cent of SC/ST student enrolment.

The proliferation of private schools has been a problem in Tamil Nadu in the recent decades; the demand for English medium education appeared to have trigged the demand for private schools. A study undertaken in the city of Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu points out to the mushroom of private schools since the mid-1990s. (16). The growth of the private schools has also been due to the result of the declining conditions and functioning of the municipality schools. Between1995-2000, three municipal schools were closed down. Though the lack of adequate number of students was given as the official reason for the closure, teachers and municipal councillors said that the decline in the condition of the schools and their infrastructure and poor enrolment levels led to the schools becoming unviable.

To understand the increasing school differentiation in the city, the study has looked into the functioning of three schools- a municipality, an aided and a private school. Against the backdrop of variations in the occupations of the parents, the caste composition of the schools differed between the private and municipal schools. In the municipal school, the scheduled caste students accounted for 65 per cent and 19 per cent and 10 per cent students were from the Backward Castes and the Most Backward castes respectively. The students of Other castes and religious minorities were 4 per cent. On the other hand, the share of Backward Caste students was 67 per cent in the

private school, while children from Other casts were 10 per cent. The Scheduled Castes students accounted for only 6 per cent. The proportion of the religious minorities and the figure for the Most Backward Castes was 5 per cent. .However, the municipal school drawing students from marginalised castes was found inadequate on many counts. Even though the school enjoyed the advantages of a low teacher: student ratio, the teaching-learning transactions, the functioning of the school, the treatment of children dismal were all far from satisfactory.

Backwardness and Literacy: Review of Case study of Dharmapuri district

In the Dharmapuri district, which is one of the most backward districts in literacy and educational attainments, a study has been undertaken to evaluate the factors associated with the socio economic backwardness with a focus on literacy. The study has been carried out at the block/ village level to understand the variations in the backwardness as well as the factors associated with such backwardness.(18)

On the basis of a number of factors, the study finds Penngaram, Nallampali ,Palacode and Morappur blocks as the most backward ones in literacy and school education. The study suggests special schools/programmes meant for Drop outs /OSC under SSA and Government of India programmes like NCLP should be implemented in these blocks. The success stories under these programmes can be used as a reference. While the SSA identified 2024 drop-out children as targets during 2013-14, 1675 identified children were enrolled.

The dropouts are largely from the blocks of Pennagaram (380), Nallampalli (293), Palacode (293) and Kariamanagalam (227) and child labour and migration of families are the important reasons for the problem. According to the NCLP project survey conducted in 2011, there are child labourers in Morappur (96), Pappireddipatti (60), Pennagaram (93) and Nallampalii (69). The number of migrant families, according to the same survey, is Morappur (1440), Pappireddipatti (877), Nallampalli (1400) and Penngaram (1798)- with implications for dropout/OSC ratios.

School infrastructure plays an important role in improving the enrolment and the quality of education .It is reported that many children especially girls drop out due to lack of proper class rooms, drinking water and sanitation in the school. Many schools also lack play grounds and compounds. The absence of compound walls lead to anti-social elements misusing the school facilities. According to SSA-Dharmapuri, out of total of 1296 primary and middle schools in the district, 87 schools do not have toilets in 2012-13. As many as 443 schools need to repair the toilets, while 106 schools require revamp of their buildings and class rooms. Similarly 138 schools require 231 additional class rooms and 11 schools are without drinking water. In 21 schools, adequate water supply is lacking whereas 40 schools are without kitchen building for preparing the mid-day meal.

Chapter-3

Aspects of Literacy, Education and Socio Economic Conditions in Viluppuram District

Profile of Viluppuram District -Some basic facts

According to 2011 census the district population is approximately 34.60 Lakhs of which 50.39 % are Males and 49.61 % are Female. The population has grown 16.9 percent as compared to about 30 Lakhs in 2001 . About 85 percent of the populations are rural as per Census 2011.The sex ratio (No of females per 1000 Males) works out to 985 in 2011 which is lower than the state figure 995. Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for Viluppuram district is 26.3 as against the state figure of 51. This indicates positive impact of government programmes in improving the health conditions of children less than one year.

SC and ST Population

The total SC population in the district is 10.15 lakhs which is about 29 percent of total population .This is considerably higher than the state percentage of SC population which is about 20 percent. The ST population is about 75000-that is 2.16 % of total population. In Table 3.1 we have given the total population and SC and ST by taluk wise .It could be noted that out of 8 taluks the SC population is more than 30 percent in five taluks viz. Tindivanam, Vanur, Thirukovilur, kallakurichi and Ulundurpet. Most of the SC population is concentrated in rural areas .A significant percent of SC population (10-20 %) also lives in urban areas especially in Viluppuram, Gingee, Vanur, Thirukovilur ,Sankrapuram, Kallakurichi and Ulundurpet. ST population is present significantly only in one taluk i.e Sankarapuram (about 12 percent)

Table 3.1 Total and Percent of SC and ST population Taluk wise

% SC % ST Total SC Pop Total Sl.No. Name of the Taluk pop Pop

U 145874 20758 14.23 666 0.46 1 Viluppuram R 551695 168895 30.61 4531 0.82 T 697569 189653 27.19 5197 0.75 U 33937 7019 20.68 306 0.90 R 390005 87900 22.54 8162 2.09 2 Gingee T 423942 94919 22.39 8468 2.00 U 94830 19855 20.94 599 0.63 R 351852 127605 36.27 5566 1.58 3 Tindivanam T 446682 147460 33.01 6165 1.38 U 31726 3888 12.25 106 0.33 R 164696 58365 35.44 2513 1.53 4 Vanur T 196422 62253 31.69 2619 1.33 U 54071 9414 17.41 634 1.17 R 392460 125923 32.09 2124 0.54 5 Tirukkovilur T 446531 135337 30.31 2758 0.62 U 15664 2304 14.71 87 0.56 R 392306 107558 27.42 47257 12.05 6 Sankarapuram T 407970 109862 26.93 47344 11.60 U 119252 22890 19.19 1066 0.89 R 346884 133215 38.40 652 0.19 7 Kallakkurichi T 466136 156105 33.49 1718 0.37 U 23734 4692 19.77 25 0.11 R 349887 115435 32.99 565 0.16 8 Ulundurpettai T 373621 120127 32.15 590 0.16 District 3458873 1015716 29.37 74859 2.16

Source: District Profile ,Viluppuram district ,Collector Office

Rural and Urban Population: There are 22 community development blocks in the district .Table 3.2 gives details of block wise population into Rural and Urban.

Table 3.2 Rural and Urban population-Block wise

Rural Urban S.No. Block % % Total Total Total 1 Chinnasalem 134538 74.11 47009 25.89 181547 2 Gingee 143890 81.48 32710 18.52 176600 3 Kanai 145718 100.00 0 0.00 145718 4 Kandamangalam 150847 100.00 0 0.00 150847 5 Kallakurichi 204377 82.30 43942 17.70 248319 6 Koliyanur 151704 90.02 16820 9.98 168524 7 Mailam 128330 100.00 0 0.00 128330 8 Marakkanam 154933 75.01 51614 24.99 206547 9 Melmalayanur 142745 100.00 0 0.00 142745 10 Mugaiyur 194225 93.23 14099 6.77 208324 11 Olakkur 97084 54.55 80900 45.45 177984 12 Rishivandiyam 138335 100.00 0 0.00 138335 13 Sangarapuram 148807 91.04 14645 8.96 163452 14 Tirukoilur 122584 79.05 32488 20.95 155072 15 Thirunavalur 120079 100.00 0 0.00 120079 16 T.V.Nallur 127649 92.57 10250 7.43 137899 17 Thiyagadurgam 101234 86.14 16283 13.86 117517 18 Ulundurpet 136403 85.57 23000 14.43 159403 19 Vallam 117706 100.00 0 0.00 117706 20 Vanur 166113 100.00 0 0.00 166113 21 Vikkravandi 126108 91.24 12112 8.76 138220 22 Viluppuram 0 0.00 114004 100.00 114004 District 2953408 85.28 509876 14.72 3463284

It is noted that most of the blocks are predominantly Rural blocks with about 80-100 percent of the population living in rural areas .Whereas in 7 blocks a significant population live in urban areas such as Chinnasalem, Gingee, Kallakurichi, Thirukoilur, Marakkanam, Ulndurpettai and Viluppuram blocks where about 20-45 are urban population and in Viluppuram block the entire population lives in urban area.

Table 3.3 Education and Literacy in Viluppuram district

Year 1991 2001 2011

Male 60.9 75.5 80.58

Female 35.4 52.5 63.51

Total 48.4 64.7 72.08

Source: Viluppuram District at a glance

According to the census 2011, the literacy rate of the district is 72.08 percent .The literacy rate of Male population is 81 and female 64 percent thus gender gap is quite significant (17 percent) in the district .However we can note that there is an improvement in both overall literacy rate and gender gap over a period since 2001.

Table 3.4 provides details about literacy rate and gender gap by block. It can be noted from the Table that the literacy rate is significantly higher than district average (72 percent) in blocks like Koliyanaur, Viluppuram and Marakkanam. The Gender gap is noted to be highest in Koliyanur (21 percent) followed by Vanur 20 percent. It is lowest in Viluppuram block (1.14 percent) in the district.

Table 3.4 Literacy rate and Gender gap by blocks

2011 Gender Gap Blocks S.No. Total Male Female in Literacy 1 Chinnasalem 70.52 80.55 60.18 16.36 2 Gingee 73.35 81.59 65.11 17.84 3 Kanai 72.51 81.38 63.31 18.45 4 Kandamangalam 78.01 84.59 69.16 20.16 5 Kallakurichi 69.98 79.07 60.36 10.76 6 Koliyanur 87.30 92.14 83.11 20.77 7 Mailam 72.26 81.27 63.11 18.44 8 Marakkanam 78.93 85.45 72.70 18.23 9 Melmalayanur 71.22 80.74 61.69 18.22 10 Mugaiyur 71.67 80.56 62.48 17.78 11 Olakkur 70.30 79.30 61.19 17.98 12 Rishivandiyam 62.81 72.20 52.93 15.13 13 Sangarapuram 69.37 77.39 61.04 17.37 14 Tirukoilur 67.35 76.04 58.39 13.87 15 Thirunavalur 64.92 77.03 52.17 14.96 16 T.V.Nallur 67.75 77.93 57.17 15.78 17 Thiyagadurgam 66.48 76.98 55.54 15.14 18 Ulundurpet 65.12 74.85 55.25 14.21 19 Vallam 72.83 82.12 63.40 18.73 20 Vanur 77.81 85.08 70.31 20.01 21 Vikkravandi 76.61 84.58 68.38 19.55 22 Viluppuram 87.37 88.50 87.36 1. 14 Total 72.10 80.60 63.50 17.10 Source: SSA –Viluppuram district

Table 3.5 School Age Population - 2013-2014 (Age group 5 to 10)

Block Sl.no Block Total SC % ST % % 1 Chinnasalem 9725 3.33 1901 19.55 406 4.17

2 Gingee 12760 4.37 3432 26.90 743 5.82

3 Kanai 7927 2.72 2308 29.12 416 5.25

4 Kandamangalam 11893 4.08 3431 28.85 444 3.73

5 Kallakurichi 9031 3.09 3740 41.41 314 3.48

6 Koliyanur 12464 4.27 4352 34.92 409 3.28

7 Mailam 15300 5.24 5206 34.03 379 2.48

8 Marakkanam 12699 4.35 3385 26.66 453 3.57

9 Melmalayanur 11860 4.06 4438 37.42 309 2.61

10 Mugaiyur 13612 4.66 4661 34.24 103 0.76

11 Olakkur 11020 3.78 4654 42.23 52 0.47

12 Rishivandiyam 18343 6.29 6406 34.92 356 1.94

13 Sangarapuram 16027 5.49 5702 35.58 129 0.80

14 Tirukoilur 10838 3.71 4135 38.15 49 0.45

15 Thirunavalur 17987 6.16 4563 25.37 3118 17.33

16 T.V.Nallur 15337 5.26 5849 38.14 77 0.50

17 Thiyagadurgam 19901 6.82 6501 32.67 2703 13.58

18 Ulundurpet 15927 5.46 6167 38.72 343 2.15

19 Vallam 11517 3.95 5034 43.71 138 1.20

20 Vanur 17831 6.11 6061 33.99 62 0.35

21 Vikkravandi 13469 4.62 5149 38.23 73 0.54

22 Viluppuram 6366 2.18 1241 19.49 96 1.51

Total 291834 100.00 98316 33.69 11172 3.83 Source: Calculation based on SSA Data-Viluppuram

There are about 2.91 lakh primary school age population in the district during 2013-14 .The percentage of the population to district total is on average in the range of about 2-7 percent in each block .The percentage is relatively higher (above 6 ) in blocks like Vanur ,Thiyagadurgam, Thirunallur ,Rishivandhiyum and lowest in Villupuram block. The SC school population is relatively higher (above 40 percent) in Kallakurichi, Vallam,Olakkur blocks and ST school population in Thiyagadurgam and Thirunallar. Table 3.6 provides details about 11-13 age group population.It is seen that they form about 41 percent of total school age population of 5-13 years.About59 percent is accounted by primary school age population (5-10).Almost similar pattern is noted as regards the percentage of contribution of school age population (11-13) as we have seen in the case of 5-10 school age population. The percentage is relatively higher (above 6 ) in blocks like Vanur ,Thiyagadurgam, Thirunallur ,Rishivandhiyum and lowest in Viluppuram block.

Table 3.6 School Age Population - 2013-2014 (Age group 11to 13)

11-13 School Age Population 11to 13 S. Total pop Blocks No Block 5-13 Total SC % ST % % % 1 Chinnasalem 6331 3.37 1156 2.01 131 2.84 15459 40.95 2 Gingee 8535 4.54 1995 3.47 316 6.86 20529 41.58

3 Kanai 5643 3.00 1650 2.87 146 3.17 13117 43.02 4 Kandamangalam 7245 3.86 1877 3.26 190 4.12 18374 39.43 5 Kallakurichi 5785 3.08 2096 3.64 104 2.26 14255 40.58 6 Koliyanur 8630 4.59 2764 4.80 163 3.54 20364 42.38 7 Mailam 11415 6.08 3395 5.90 248 5.38 25876 44.11 8 Marakkanam 7972 4.24 2300 4.00 188 4.08 19868 40.12 9 Melmalayanur 7277 3.87 2489 4.33 79 1.71 18379 39.59

10 Mugaiyur 9263 4.93 3096 5.38 49 1.06 22068 41.97 11 Olakkur 7621 4.06 2780 4.83 16 0.35 17997 42.35 12 Rishivandiyam 12547 6.68 3988 6.93 136 2.95 29805 42.10 13 Sangarapuram 9295 4.95 2971 5.16 30 0.65 24261 38.31 14 Tirukoilur 6558 3.49 2281 3.96 14 0.30 16697 39.28 15 Thirunavalur 11651 6.20 3026 5.26 1215 26.37 28529 40.84 16 T.V.Nallur 9224 4.91 3266 5.68 22 0.48 23566 39.14

17 Thiyagadurgam 11972 6.37 3433 5.97 1234 26.79 30585 39.14 18 Ulundurpet 9948 5.30 3325 5.78 185 4.02 24871 40.00 19 Vallam 7282 3.88 2671 4.64 54 1.17 18078 40.28 20 Vanur 11430 6.09 3628 6.31 31 0.67 28153 40.60 21 Vikkravandi 8234 4.38 2606 4.53 32 0.69 20839 39.51 22 Viluppuram 3958 2.11 744 1.29 24 0.52 9921 39.90

Total 187816 100.00 57537 100.00 4607 100.00 461591 40.69 Source: Calculation based on SSA Data, Viluppuram

No of Schools and its category

There are 1815 primary schools in the district- of these 1333 (74 percent) are government schools, 229 (13 percent) are private (aided schools), 251(14percent) private (unaided schools) and 2 unrecognized schools. There are eight Upper Primary schools of which three are Private Aided and five are Private Unaided. There are 15 KGBV schools functioning for those girls who want to continue their education after drop out in the educationally backward blocks.

Gross enrolment ratio (GER)

According to UNICEF, GER is the number of children enrolled in a level (primary or secondary), regardless of age, divided by the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the same level.

GER-Primary Table 3.7 provides details about GER in primary level. It is noted that GER is above 100 in all the blocks and exceeds district average 100.15 percent in 13 blocks out of 22 blocks .GER –Primary is generally less among girls than boys in almost all the blocks. However reverse is the case in case of SC and ST communities where GER of girls are better than boys.

Table 3.7 GER – Primary -2013-14

S. ALL SC ST Blocks No Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total 1 Chinnasalem 100.62 99.93 100.28 100.82 101.15 100.99 101.01 101.01 101.01

2 Gingee 100.43 100.43 100.43 99.95 100.16 100.06 100.21 102.49 101.35

3 Kanai 100.23 100.21 100.22 100.82 100.16 100.49 100.36 103.49 101.93

4 Kandamangalam 100.27 99.92 100.1 100.82 98.48 99.65 100.32 101.43 100.88

5 Kallakurichi 100.28 99.89 100.09 100.82 100.16 100.49 102 100.73 101.37

6 Koliyanur 100.36 99.84 100.1 101.81 99.33 100.57 101.01 100.48 100.75

7 Mailam 100.44 99.93 100.19 100.15 101.15 100.65 100.35 101.48 100.92

8 Marakkanam 100.62 99.9 100.26 100.82 101.15 100.99 101.01 99.47 100.24

9 Melmalayanur 100.14 100.02 100.08 102.02 102.16 102.09 101.01 101.48 101.25

10 Mugaiyur 100.62 100.43 100.53 100.15 99.49 99.82 101.01 101.21 101.11

11 Olakkur 100.63 100.06 100.35 101.81 99.68 100.75 102 100.49 101.25

12 Rishivandiyam 100.34 99.93 100.14 101.81 100.16 100.99 100.23 100.44 100.34

13 Sangarapuram 100.44 99.92 100.18 100.82 99.66 100.24 102 100.47 101.24

14 Tirukoilur 100.27 99.96 100.12 100.82 100.16 100.49 101 100.37 100.69

15 Thirunavalur 100.47 100.06 100.27 100.1 100.16 100.13 100.89 101.44 101.17

16 T.V.Nallur 100.57 100.12 100.35 100.82 100.16 100.49 100.25 102.49 101.37

17 Thiyagadurgam 100.36 99.9 100.13 99.98 101.15 100.57 101.01 101.48 101.25

18 Ulundurpet 100.39 100.12 100.26 101.81 100.48 101.15 101.01 100.37 100.69

19 Vallam 100.13 99.94 100.04 101.81 100.16 100.99 100.56 101.48 101.02

20 Vanur 100.17 99.96 100.07 102.81 101.06 101.94 101.01 100.64 100.83

21 Vikkravandi 100.39 100.21 100.3 101.82 99.66 100.74 100.37 100.77 100.57

22 Viluppuram 100.62 99.92 100.27 99.98 101.15 100.57 102 100.46 101.23

TOTAL 100.18 100.12 100.15 100.44 100.67 100.56 100.3 100.82 100.56 Source: SSA-Viluppuram

GER – Upper Primary

In Table 3.8 GER in upper primary is given for different blocks. It is noted that GER- UP is better than primary level in many blocks. It is also higher among SCs and STs than overall ratio. It is also noted that girls are better than boys in all the categories of students including SC and ST.

Table 3.8 GER – Upper Primary 2013-14 block wise in the district S. ALL SC ST Blocks No. Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total 1 Chinnasalem 102.92 102.88 102.90 101.93 100.47 101.20 98.84 103.08 100.96 107.49 103.82 2 Gingee 100.95 109.50 105.23 101.93 100.61 101.27 100.15 104.33 103.87 3 Kanai 105.38 106.12 105.75 101.07 102.67 101.87 103.41 101.20 100.05 4 Kandamangalam 101.44 105.29 103.37 104.64 100.40 102.52 98.89 101.60 100.95 5 Kallakurichi 102.37 101.07 101.72 99.81 99.95 99.88 100.29 101.86 100.79 6 Koliyanur 104.37 103.61 103.99 101.89 101.23 101.56 99.71 101.02 100.17 7 Mailam 102.08 106.98 104.53 101.06 100.94 101.00 99.32 105.22 102.42 8 Marakkanam 100.46 101.07 100.77 104.17 100.48 102.33 99.61 102.44 101.42 9 Melmalayanur 100.75 100.10 100.43 104.12 101.13 102.63 100.39 104.33 103.64 10 Mugaiyur 101.00 99.96 100.48 101.03 100.92 100.98 102.95 103.52 101.91 11 Olakkur 102.14 99.47 100.81 103.55 100.74 102.15 100.29 99.36 101.31 12 Rishivandiyam 105.47 99.74 102.61 100.48 100.41 100.45 103.25 101.86 101.91 13 Sangarapuram 105.08 99.85 102.47 101.89 100.59 101.24 101.96 102.25 102.42 14 Tirukoilur 99.86 103.37 101.62 102.13 100.34 101.24 102.59 99.36 99.05 15 Thirunavalur 100.91 98.49 99.70 102.23 99.45 100.84 98.73 99.20 98.95 16 T.V.Nallur 100.47 104.39 102.43 100.41 99.92 100.17 98.70 101.60 100.88 17 Thiyagadurgam 101.44 104.39 102.92 99.42 100.47 99.95 100.15 99.64 99.49 18 Ulundurpet 102.23 106.12 104.18 102.33 102.07 102.20 99.34 99.64 104.37 19 Vallam 100.47 99.50 99.99 101.03 102.07 101.55 109.10 99.21 99.06 20 Vanur 100.46 99.56 100.01 100.16 101.46 100.81 98.91 107.65 105.12 21 Vikkravandi 100.46 103.61 102.04 102.13 100.61 101.37 102.59 95.23 98.51 22 Viluppuram 100.46 102.76 101.61 99.42 100.50 99.96 101.78 Total 101.02 101.20 101.11 100.95 100.65 100.80 102.99 103.01 103.00 Source: SSA-Viluppuram.

Net primary school enrolment Ratio (NER) – It is the number of children enrolled ( primary or upper primary) who belong to the age group that officially corresponds to primary or upper primary schooling, divided by the total population of the same age group. NER is worked out by deleting the over aged and under aged children. Table 3.9 NER – Primary during 2013-2014 S ALL SC ST No Blocks Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total . 1 Chinnasalem 99.98 99.84 99.91 99.4 99.82 99.61 99.55 99.09 99.32 2 Gingee 99.98 99.74 99.86 99.7 99.55 99.625 99.55 99.19 99.37 3 Kanai 99.28 99.04 99.16 99 99.28 99.14 98.25 98.79 98.52 4 Kandamangalam 99.78 99.84 99.81 99.01 99.37 99.19 99.95 99.91 99.93 5 Kallakurichi 99.98 99.04 99.51 98.78 99.56 99.17 99.84 99.85 99.84 6 Koliyanur 99.68 99.84 99.76 99 99.82 99.41 99.95 99.98 99.96 7 Mailam 99.48 99.44 99.46 99.32 98.9 99.11 99.95 99.71 99.83 8 Marakkanam 99.98 99.04 99.51 99.8 99.99 99.895 99.95 99.61 99.78 9 Melmalayanur 99.58 99.74 99.66 99.4 99.45 99.425 100.02 99.59 99.80 10 Mugaiyur 99.68 99.04 99.36 99.1 99.05 99.075 98.96 99.79 99.37 11 Olakkur 99.58 99.74 99.66 99.01 99.08 99.045 98.74 98.31 98.52 12 Rishivandiyam 99.58 99.54 99.56 99.03 99.5 99.265 98.82 98.28 98.55 13 Sangarapuram 99.28 99.65 99.465 99.41 99.23 99.32 98.96 96.27 97.62 14 Tirukoilur 99.98 99.94 99.96 98.45 99.04 98.745 99.26 97.89 98.57 15 Thirunavalur 99.08 99.63 99.35 99.82 99.23 99.525 98.57 98.59 98.58 16 T.V.Nallur 99.58 99.84 99.71 99.31 98.28 98.795 99.95 99.71 99.83 17 Thiyagadurgam 99.79 99.63 99.71 93.77 99.13 96.45 98.98 98.25 98.62 18 Ulundurpet 99.19 99.45 99.32 99.17 99.69 99.43 98.71 99.89 99.3 19 Vallam 99.78 99.44 99.61 98.45 98.25 98.35 100.06 99.43 99.75 20 Vanur 99.98 99.84 99.91 99.3 99.42 99.36 99.62 99.85 99.74 21 Vikkravandi 99.98 99.94 99.96 99.18 99.7 99.44 99.66 99.85 99.76 22 Viluppuram 99.98 99.94 99.96 99.45 99.52 99.485 99.65 99.89 99.77 Total 99.89 99.69 99.79 99.49 99.61 99.55 99.65 99.89 99.77 Source: SSA-Viluppuram.

On average NER –Primary is about 99.79 percent in the district which compares well with the state average of 99.80 percent during the year. In seven blocks NER- Primary exceeds the district average .Overall boys are better than girls in NER – Primary ,however opposite is the case among SC and ST communities..

NER - Upper Primary

Table 3.10 provides a detail about NER-Upper Primary .Overall the NER Upper Primary is 99.39 percent which is better than state average of 99.10 percent during the same year. The ratio is found less among SC students than others .The ratio is also found generally less among girls than boys.

Table 3.10 NER – Upper Primary - 2013-2014 S. ALL SC ST Blocks No Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total

1 Chinnasalem 99.82 100.07 99.95 99.94 99.66 99.8 98.8 100.04 99.42

2 Gingee 99.32 99.99 99.66 98.94 98.89 98.92 98.48 98.94 98.71

3 Kanai 99.77 99.99 99.88 99.35 98.63 98.99 98.76 99.95 99.36

4 Kandamangalam 99.46 99.74 99.6 100.04 99.51 99.78 98.82 98.38 98.6

5 Kallakurichi 99.42 99.99 99.71 99.35 98.99 99.17 97.49 99.02 98.26

6 Koliyanur 99.78 99.22 99.5 98.55 98.34 98.45 100 99.88 99.94

7 Mailam 99.44 100.04 99.74 99.45 99.01 99.23 99.9 99.65 99.78

8 Marakkanam 98.92 99.72 99.32 100.04 99.61 99.83 98.99 98.92 98.96

9 Melmalayanur 99.46 99.9 99.68 99.55 99.58 99.57 99.08 99.44 99.26

10 Mugaiyur 97.38 95.78 96.58 99.36 95.98 97.67 98.78 99.04 98.91

11 Olakkur 99.05 99.88 99.47 99.24 98.61 98.93 98.69 99.34 99.02

12 Rishivandiyam 99.61 96.97 98.29 99.06 98.18 98.62 99.14 96.14 97.64

13 Sangarapuram 98.91 97.98 98.45 97.34 91.49 94.42 96.8 96.91 96.86

14 Tirukoilur 99.41 99.19 99.3 98.34 97.99 98.17 99.7 99.95 99.83

15 Thirunavalur 98.4 96.99 97.7 96.33 96.98 96.66 98.48 98.92 98.7

16 T.V.Nallur 97.93 94.99 96.46 94.34 96.53 95.44 98.29 99.24 98.77

17 Thiyagadurgam 99.59 96.16 97.88 97.13 95.87 96.5 99.07 99.42 99.25

18 Ulundurpet 96.67 98.85 97.76 96.55 94.28 95.42 99.08 99.44 99.26

19 Vallam 99.2 99.59 99.4 98.94 98.76 98.85 99.9 99.26 99.58

20 Vanur 99.24 99.7 99.47 100.14 99.66 99.9 99.49 99.95 99.72

21 Vikkravandi 99.3 100.14 99.72 100.25 99.78 100.02 100 98.92 99.46

22 Viluppuram 99.02 100.08 99.55 100.25 99.88 100.07 100 99.03 99.52

Total 99.82 98.95 99.39 98.75 98.01 98.38 99.12 99.34 99.23

Source: SSA-Viluppuram District

Completion Rate – Primary

Table 3.11 provides details about completion rate in primary the status of students enrolled in I std in 2007 and successfully completed V std in 2013 with out break .

Table 3.11 Completion Rate - Primary - 2013-14 ALL SC ST S.No Block Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total 1 Chinnasalem 99.32 99.45 99.38 98.86 100.02 99.45 100.29 98.92 99.61

2 Gingee 99.64 99.18 99.41 99.76 99.75 99.76 99.29 96.83 98.06

3 Kanai 98.89 98.85 98.87 99 98.88 98.94 100.13 100.02 100.08

4 Kandamangalam 99.54 99.31 99.42 98.61 99.68 99.15 99.54 97.99 98.77

5 Kallakurichi 98.35 98.99 98.67 99.05 99.82 99.43 100 99.78 99.88

6 Koliyanur 99.51 98.91 99.21 99.89 98.91 99.4 100.71 96.94 98.83

7 Mailam 99.50 99.19 99.35 98.85 98.77 98.82 97.4 100.05 98.72

8 Marakkanam 99.49 98.48 98.99 99.37 97.96 98.67 98.03 99.5 98.77

9 Melmalayanur 99.67 99.16 99.41 99.52 100.01 99.77 98.15 99.32 98.73

10 Mugaiyur 98.73 98.47 98.61 98.86 99.24 99.05 98.61 98.26 98.44

11 Olakkur 99.91 99.78 99.85 99.64 99.84 99.73 99.02 99.93 99.48

12 Rishivandiyam 98.52 98.5 98.52 99.36 99.02 99.2 98.26 99.98 99.12

13 Sangarapuram 99.22 99.61 99.41 99.26 99.45 99.35 98.81 98.07 98.45

14 Tirukoilur 98.26 98.6 98.42 97.87 98.05 97.96 99.75 100.11 99.93

15 Thirunavalur 98.70 97.91 98.31 99.04 99.71 99.37 99.8 98.59 99.19

16 T.V.Nallur 98.10 97.35 97.73 97.05 97.8 98.15 100.35 99.17 99.76

17 Thiyagadurgam 98.12 98.78 98.45 97.23 99.45 98.33 99.22 99.94 99.58

18 Ulundurpet 97.46 98.11 97.78 97.19 98.31 97.74 99.42 99 99.21

19 Vallam 99.89 99.81 99.86 99.59 99.73 99.66 100.41 100.45 100.43

20 Vanur 99.35 99.15 99.25 98.91 99.97 99.45 100.14 96.15 98.14

21 Vikkravandi 99.04 99.23 99.14 98.73 99.31 99.01 97.74 96.25 96.99

22 Viluppuram 97.85 96.92 97.38 95.38 97.85 96.6 98.14 96.83 97.49

Total 98.66 98.63 98.65 98.68 98.86 98.77 94.63 93.65 94.14

It is seen that overall the completion rate in the district is 98.65%. The rate is 98.77% for SC and 94.14% for ST. The highest completion rate is reported in Vallam block with 99.86% and lowest in Viluppuram block (97.38%).

Dropout Rate - Primary

Dropout Rate is a negative indicator and higher Dropout Rate is related to both socio-economic conditions and prevailing education system. The Dropout Rate is one percent for the district as a whole and it is 1.08 percent for boys and 0.91 percent for Girls (Table 3.12).This is slightly higher than state figure which is 0.95 for the same year.

Table 3.12 Dropout Rate - Primary - 2013-14

ALL SC ST S.No Blocks Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total 1 Chinnasalem 0.21 0.08 0.15 0.29 0.1 0.19 0.88 2.35 1.76 2 Gingee 0.25 0.59 0.42 0.06 0.25 0.15 1.02 2.22 1.77 3 Kanai 0.65 0.4 0.53 0.3 0.77 0.53 0.02 0.28 0.16 4 Kandamangalam 0.37 0.33 0.35 1.29 0.34 0.81 1.39 3.04 2.41 5 Kallakurichi 1.5 0.54 1.03 0.13 0.11 0.12 0.44 0.53 0.53 6 Koliyanur 0.54 0.77 0.65 0.13 1.14 0.64 0.46 4.3 2.6 7 Mailam 0.17 0.64 0.4 0.37 0.88 0.62 0.66 0.11 0.43 8 Marakkanam 0.22 0.53 0.37 0.37 1.58 0.97 0.02 0.05 0.03 9 Melmalayanur 0.43 0.68 0.56 0.29 0.1 0.19 1.81 0.8 1.43 10 Mugaiyur 1.04 1.08 1.06 0.63 0.75 0.69 0.66 1.77 1.32 11 Olakkur 0.06 0.02 0.04 0.17 0.22 0.2 1.14 0.37 0.82 12 Rishivandiyam 1.4 0.94 1.17 0.1 0.75 0.42 2.89 0.08 1.61 13 Sangarapuram 0.52 0.02 0.27 0.06 0.26 0.16 2.34 0.6 1.6 14 Tirukoilur 1.78 1.21 1.51 1.64 1.98 1.81 1.41 1.17 1.41 15 Thirunavalur 0.9 1.55 1.23 0.53 0.22 0.38 0.06 0.02 0.04 16 T.V.Nallur 1 1.73 1.37 2.17 1.74 1.23 0.82 2.1 1.59 17 Thiyagadurgam 1.56 0.74 1.16 2.31 0.6 1.46 0.73 0.36 0.59 18 Ulundurpet 1.63 1.04 1.35 2.05 1.2 1.63 0.21 1.04 0.69 19 Vallam 0.12 0.01 0.06 0.36 0.35 0.35 0.76 0.84 0.87 20 Vanur 0.28 0.3 0.29 0.48 0.07 0.27 0.04 0.78 0.45 21 Vikkravandi 0.96 0.51 0.74 0.46 0.51 0.49 3.4 4.99 4.58 22 Viluppuram 1.55 2.24 1.9 4 1.83 2.92 0.87 2.98 2.09 Total 1.08 0.91 1 0.76 0.98 0.87 1.06 1.14 1.2 Source: SSA-Viluppuram

Dropout rate is relatively higher in Tirukoilur block and Viluppuram blocks than district. The dropout rate is relatively less among SCs in the district.It is significantly higher among ST students than other categories .This is the case especially in Vikravandi,Viluppuram, Kandhamangalam ,TV Nallur ,Gingee and Chinna Salem. Generally dropout rate is higher among girls across all communities.

Dropout Rate - Upper Primary

The dropout rate of upper primary is 2.04 % which is higher than the state dropout rate of 1.65 percent .The rate in upper primary is also higher than Primary schools (1%). Dropout rate is seen higher among girls than boys in Upper Primary. Block wise dropout rate of upper primary is presented in the table 3.13

Table 3.13 Dropout Rate –Upper Primary 2013- 14

ALL SC ST S.No Blocks Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total

1 Chinnasalem 0.7 1.23 0.97 1.96 2.01 1.05 0.1 0.06 0.08

2 Gingee 0.6 1.06 0.83 1.63 0.13 0.93 1.25 1.23 1.24

3 Kanai 1.45 0.93 1.18 0.08 2.53 1.22 0.26 0.11 0.18

4 Kandamangalam 1.11 0.65 0.88 1.91 1.58 1.75 1.07 1.1 1.09

5 Kallakurichi 1.03 0.7 0.86 2.96 1.14 2.11 0.79 3.36 2.05

6 Koliyanur 1.03 1.38 1.21 0.11 0.76 0.42 0.45 1.49 0.96

7 Mailam 1.04 0.78 0.91 1.69 0.6 1.18 7.36 2.88 5.17

8 Marakkanam 1.23 1.65 1.44 0.06 0.73 0.37 1.08 4.86 2.93

9 Melmalayanur 0.88 0.83 0.85 0.4 0.18 0.3 0 0 0

10 Mugaiyur 1.43 2.35 1.89 1.75 0.04 0.95 0.54 0.95 0.74

11 Olakkur 1.53 1.32 1.42 0.71 1.34 0.99 2.56 4.25 3.39

12 Rishivandiyam 1.43 4.14 2.8 1.93 2.25 2.08 0 0 0

13 Sangarapuram 1.23 1.87 1.56 6.55 1.33 4.11 0.75 0.21 0.49

14 Tirukoilur 1.55 2.58 2.07 3.27 3.92 3.55 2.2 2.17 2.19

15 Thirunavalur 1.21 2.23 1.73 0.97 0.33 0.67 0.02 0.74 0.37

16 T.V.Nallur 2.22 2.22 2.21 1.68 2.57 2.09 0 0 0

17 Thiyagadurgam 1.36 4.22 2.8 2.54 2.99 2.74 0 5.12 2.51

18 Ulundurpet 1.44 3.21 2.34 1.96 1.75 1.86 0 0.86 0.42

19 Vallam 0.89 0.67 0.78 0.96 0.31 0.66 0 0 0

20 Vanur 1.88 1.94 1.91 2.07 1.45 1.77 0 0.45 0.22

21 Vikkravandi 0.56 1.31 0.94 2.51 1.04 1.82 3.82 0 1.95

22 Viluppuram 1.15 0.38 0.75 2.44 0.28 1.43 1.15 0.52 0.85

Total 2.01 2.07 2.04 2.03 1.83 1.93 2.22 2.26 2.24

Source: SSA-Viluppuram Dropout rate is found significantly higher than district average in Ulundurpet ,TV Nallur ,Rishivandhiyam blocks and lowest in Viluppuram and Vallam blocks.the dropout rate in ST (2.24) is generally higher than others (2.04) and SCs (1.93) .

Out of School Children (OSC)

It is reported that there are 3006 out of school children; of them 2927 children have been covered through special training interventions. (Table 3.14) This works out to 97.37% of achievement during the year.Child labour in brick kilns is reported as an important reason for OSC in the district. It is noted that there some NGOs are doing good work in addressing the OSC problem through their own efforts in the district. For instance the NGO ,CARDS is reported to be involved in enrolling the children going to brick kilns and also undertaking some learning programmes for them. The services of such NGOs can be utilized in creating awareness about the OSC problem . (UNICEF, 2011).

Table 3.14 Enrolment of Out of School Children 2013-14

RSTC Sl. Target NRSTC NRSTC Direct Name Of The RSTC - KG NC N as per (Long (Short enrol Total % Block - fresh Conti BV LP o PAB term) term) ment nuing

1 Chinnasalem 95 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 25.26 2 Gingee 58 20 0 0 0 0 0 19 39 67.24 3 Kanai 87 34 19 0 0 0 0 0 53 60.92 4 Kandamangalam 59 10 0 0 0 0 0 15 25 42.37 5 Kallakurichi 305 36 12 179 47 90 0 39 403 132.13 6 Koliyanur 73 10 0 121 12 0 0 18 161 220.55 7 Mailam 78 20 0 0 0 0 0 17 37 47.44 8 Marakkanam 114 35 0 14 14 0 0 31 94 82.46 9 Melmalayanur 76 36 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 47.37 10 Mugaiyur 114 20 0 55 0 0 0 0 75 65.79 11 Olakkur 109 7 0 50 0 0 0 0 57 52.29 12 Rishivanthiyam 240 20 11 89 26 59 0 25 230 95.83 13 Sankarapuram 337 40 15 235 48 0 0 0 338 100.30 14 Thirukoilur 202 35 0 100 25 58 0 56 274 135.64 15 Thirunavalur 131 9 0 61 11 45 0 54 180 137.40 16 Thiruvennainallur 203 15 0 68 18 65 0 62 228 112.32 17 Thiyagadurgam 140 30 0 72 13 66 0 0 181 129.29 18 Ulundurpet 207 46 5 0 0 52 0 55 158 76.33 19 Vallam 65 15 0 0 0 0 0 14 29 44.62 20 Vanur 67 39 13 0 0 0 0 15 67 100.00 21 Vikaravandi 56 0 0 49 0 0 0 10 59 105.36 22 Viluppuram 190 40 0 107 32 0 0 0 179 94.21 Total 3006 541 75 1200 246 435 0 430 2927 97.37

Transition Rate -Primary to Upper Primary

One of the problems faced in education is transition rate .That is whether all students who complete Primary or upper primary continue in their higher studies .For example it is important to analyse whether all the children who have completed their V std are successfully continuing their studies up to VIII std. Table 3.15 presents the details about this.

Table 3.15 Transition Rate – Std.V to Std.VI -2013-14

S. ALL SC ST Blocks No Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total 1 Chinnasalem 98.65 99.04 98.85 99.76 99.8 99.78 99.39 98.55 98.97 2 Gingee 98.79 99.28 99.04 99.82 99.5 99.66 98.39 98.84 98.62 3 Kanai 97.9 99.28 98.59 99.92 98.5 99.21 96.58 98.13 97.36 4 Kandamangalam 99.1 99.51 99.31 99.42 99 99.21 95.28 97.82 96.55 5 Kallakurichi 98.89 99.26 99.08 99.45 99.5 99.48 92.6 92.93 92.77 6 Koliyanur 97.45 97.95 97.70 98.92 98.49 98.71 95.52 93.03 94.28 7 Mailam 98.49 98.16 98.33 99.42 99.5 99.46 97.08 98.51 97.8 8 Marakkanam 98.79 99.51 99.15 99.82 99 99.41 96.58 97.93 97.26 9 Melmalayanur 98.49 98.93 98.71 99.92 99.4 99.66 93.13 97.48 95.31 10 Mugaiyur 97.9 97.83 97.87 98.87 98.76 98.82 97.25 97.51 97.38 11 Olakkur 99.13 98.8 98.97 99.42 99.75 99.59 97.25 98.04 97.65 12 Rishivandiyam 97.95 96.27 97.11 98.81 98.54 98.68 90.18 97.96 94.07 13 Sangarapuram 97.7 98.16 97.93 98.82 98.5 98.66 98.58 96.65 97.62 14 Tirukoilur 98.89 99.28 99.09 99.92 99.5 99.71 98.88 96.02 97.45 15 Thirunavalur 97.9 99.28 98.59 99.02 99.4 99.21 98.97 95.66 97.32 16 T.V.Nallur 97.87 98.16 98.02 97.81 98.49 98.15 98.97 97.99 98.48 17 Thiyagadurgam 97.85 98.21 98.03 98.93 98.49 98.71 99.59 93.61 96.6 18 Ulundurpet 96.64 97.32 96.98 98.87 96.48 97.68 99.57 94.6 97.09 19 Vallam 98.79 98.27 98.53 99.72 99.55 99.64 98.19 93.61 95.9 20 Vanur 98.68 98.84 98.76 99.5 99.5 99.5 98.58 98.94 98.76 21 Vikkravandi 98.89 99.28 99.09 99.93 99.5 99.72 97.13 97.53 97.33 22 Viluppuram 94.9 96.76 95.83 99.62 99.48 99.55 96.71 94.85 95.78 Total 98.76 98.75 98.76 99.35 99.15 99.25 97.12 96.85 96.99

Overall the transition rate from Primary to upper primary is 98.76 percent which is higher than the state average of 95.40 percent. Overall the transition rate of boys (98.76%) is higher than that of girls which is 98.75% .Across communities the transition rate by SC is better than others .The transition rate is surprisingly lower than

district average in some of the developed blocks like Viluppuram and Koliyanur (about 95.8 to 97 .7 percent)

Transition Rate – VIII to IX For the district as a whole the transition rate from VIII std to IX std is 98.95% which is higher than the state transition ratio of 92.9% . As we have noted earlier the Transition rate of SC ( 99.25%) is better than others including ST. Both Girls and boys have done equally better in all communities category and in ST boys are better than girls in the transition ratios. As regards individual blocks, the rate is almost equal to district average in all the blocks except Thiyagadurgam and Ulundurpet where it is considerably lower than district average.

Table 3.16 Transition Rate – Std.VIII to Std .IX -2013-14 ALL SC ST S.No Block Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total 1 Chinnasalem 99.49 99.71 99.6 99.4 99.83 99.62 99.94 98.63 99.29 2 Gingee 97.86 99.02 98.44 99.31 99.15 99.23 100.85 99.78 100.32 3 Kanai 98.78 98.89 98.84 99.37 99.17 99.27 93.78 95.37 94.58 4 Kandamangalam 99.59 99.83 99.71 99.89 99.48 99.69 100.15 98.63 99.39 5 Kallakurichi 98.94 99.05 99 99.34 99.28 99.31 97.91 96.5 97.21 6 Koliyanur 98.98 99.09 99.04 98.35 98.15 98.25 95.88 96.52 96.2 7 Mailam 99.75 99.83 99.79 99.29 99.39 99.34 97.42 98.3 97.86 8 Marakkanam 98.8 98.98 98.89 99.27 99.17 99.22 98.59 97.37 97.98 9 Melmalayanur 98.64 98.76 98.7 99.76 98.97 99.37 100.54 98.94 99.74 10 Mugaiyur 98.8 97.78 98.29 98.85 99.79 99.32 94.79 95.26 95.03 11 Olakkur 99.42 99.42 99.42 99.62 99.1 99.36 92.82 95.32 94.07 12 Rishivandiyam 99.58 99.89 99.74 99.5 98.79 99.15 97.44 95.2 96.32 13 Sangarapuram 99.9 100. 99.96 99.4 99.18 99.29 97.22 96.82 97.02 14 Tirukoilur 100.1 99.16 99.61 99.45 99.77 99.61 97.82 98.03 97.93 15 Thirunavalur 97.96 98.08 98.02 99.34 99.15 99.25 98.23 98.83 98.53 16 T.V.Nallur 97.58 98.75 98.17 98.94 97.94 98.44 98.13 98.73 98.43 17 Thiyagadurgam 96.6 96.7 96.65 97.15 96.94 97.05 97.05 97.64 97.35 18 Ulundurpet 97.75 97.88 97.82 98.14 97.94 98.04 97.89 98.01 97.95 19 Vallam 99.68 99.81 99.75 99.47 99.39 99.43 97.94 96.57 97.26 20 Vanur 99.99 99.22 99.61 99.37 99.17 99.27 99.64 98.62 99.13 21 Vikkravandi 98.88 98.71 98.8 99.75 99.1 99.43 97.84 91.32 94.58 22 Viluppuram 99.06 99.16 99.11 99.82 98.5 99.16 99.64 98 98.82 Total 98.95 98.95 98.95 99.3 99.2 99.25 97.75 97.2 97.48

Educational Development Index (EDI)

Education Development Index (EDI) consists of four components such as Access to schools, Infrastructure facilities, Teachers availability and their quality, Out comes or results .EDI has been worked out by SSA taking into account Viz. School Access, NER, Enrolment Gap, Repetition Rate, Dropout Rate, Pupil Teacher Ratio, Exam Result, Achievement Test, Student Classroom Ratio and Infrastructure facilities and teachers related variables.

Table 3.17 –Education Development Indicators

Component Indicators Percentage of Habitations not Served Availability of Schools per 1000 Child Population Access Ratio of Primary to Upper Primary Schools/Sections (only at Upper Primary stage) Schools with Student-Classroom Ratio > 40 Schools with Drinking Water facility Infrastructure Schools with Common toilet Schools with Girl‘s toilet Percentage of Schools with Female Teachers (in schools with 2 and more teachers) Schools with Pupil-Teacher Ratio > 40 Percentage of schools with less than 2 teachers Teachers (in schools with more than 15 students) (Primary schools only) Percentage of Schools with < 3 teachers (Upper Primary schools / sections) Teachers without Professional Qualification Gross Enrolment Ratio - Overall Participation of Scheduled Castes Children: Percentage SC Population (EER 2009) - Percentage SC Enrolment Participation of Scheduled Tribes Children : Percentage ST Population (EER-2009) - Percentage ST Enrolment Gender Parity Index in Enrolment Outcomes Repetition Rate Drop-out Rate Ratio of Exit Class over Class I Enrolment (only at Primary stage) Transition Rate from Primary to Upper Primary level (only for Upper Primary level) Percentage of Appeared Children securing 60 per cent and more marks Source: SSA-Viluppuram

In Table 3.18 the results of EDI exercise across blocks and by primary and upper primary are given

Table 3.18 Composite EDI at Primary and Upper Primary Level 2011-12

EDI Upper EDI EDI Primary Level S. Primary Level Combined Block No. Value Rank Value Rank Value Rank 1 Chinnasalem 0.5681 18 0.6512 8 0.6096 14

2 Gingee 0.677 1 0.6714 2 0.6742 1 3 Kanai 0.637 9 0.5977 16 0.6173 13 4 Kandamangalam 0.6736 2 0.6575 5 0.6656 4 5 Kallakurichi 0.517 22 0.6275 11 0.5722 21 6 Koliyanur 0.6668 3 0.6676 4 0.6672 3 7 Mailam 0.6411 8 0.5951 18 0.6181 11 8 Marakkanam 0.6613 5 0.6418 10 0.6516 6 9 Melmalayanur 0.5964 14 0.6453 9 0.6209 10 10 Mugaiyur 0.6057 13 0.5765 22 0.5911 15 11 Olakkur 0.6156 10 0.6795 1 0.6476 7 12 Rishivanthiyam 0.5376 21 0.6025 14 0.5701 22 13 Sankarapuram 0.5747 16 0.6003 15 0.5875 16 14 Thirukoilur 0.5667 19 0.5966 17 0.5816 19 15 Thirunavalur 0.615 11 0.6208 12 0.6179 12 16 Thiruvennainallur 0.5846 15 0.5787 21 0.5816 18 17 Thiyagadurgam 0.5697 17 0.5938 19 0.5817 17 18 Ulundurpet 0.5622 20 0.5879 20 0.5751 20 19 Vallam 0.609 12 0.6541 7 0.6316 9 20 Vanur 0.6598 6 0.62 13 0.6399 8 21 Vikaravandi 0.6491 7 0.6546 6 0.6518 5 22 Viluppuram 0.6643 4 0.6705 3 0.6674 2

It can be noted from the Table that Rishivanthiyam, Kallakurichi and Ulundurpet blocks are placed at the lower levels as backward in EDI when we consider both primary and upper primary education. These backward blocks require special attention in various aspects of education development .Whereas Gingee, Viluppuram and Koliyanur are ranked as relatively educationally developed blocks. There is not much difference in ranking between primary and secondary education in these blocks.

Education Development Indicators and Socio Economic conditions : Regression analysis based on block level data

We have considered the following education and socio-economic indicators for the regression analysis.

Dependant variables a) Total Literacy Rate b) Female Literacy Rate c) Transition rate from Primary to Upper Primary d) Transition rate from Upper Primary to Secondary

Independent Variables a)Access to Pucca Houses b) Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) c) Percent SC&ST Population d) Sex ratio e) Out of School Children (OSC)

Regression 1: We have regressed Total Literacy rate (dependant variable) upon a) Access to Pucca Houses b)Infant Mortality Rate ,c)Percent SC&ST Population. It is observed that over all literacy rate is not dependent upon these independent variables to large extent.

Regression Result of Total Literacy Rate

71.44 Constant (8.598) 0.0802 Access to Pucca Houses (0.122) 0.014 IMR (0.307) -0.179 Percent SC&ST Population (0.127)

R Square 0.168 Number of Observation 22

Standard errors are reported in Parenthesis. *,**,*** indicates significance at 90% , 95% and 99% level of significance respectively

Regression 2:We have considered Female Literacy Rate and its relationship with a) Adult sex ratio b) Juvenile Sex Ratio and c) Percent SC&ST Population. It is noted from the regression results that overall these three variables influence the Female literacy rate as R-square is 0.44 and especially the Percentage of SC&ST Population is statistically significant at 95 percent level.

Regression result of Female Literacy Rate

Constant -204.83 (109.08) Sex Ratio 0.175 (0.122) Juvenile Sex Ratio 0.110 (0.068) Percent SC&ST Population -0.262** (0.111) R Square 0.446 Number of Observation 22 Standard errors are reported in Parenthesis. *, **, *** indicates significance at 90% , 95% and 99% level of significance respectively

Regression 3.Under this ,we have regressed Transition rate from Primary to Upper Primary (dependent variable) upon a)Dropout in Primary b)Children never enrolled in Schools c)Access to Pucca House d)Percent SC&ST Population. Regression results show that overall there is good fitness to the model as R-square is very high that is 0.80. It also shows that Transition rate from Primary to Upper primary importantly depends upon a) School dropout in primary and b) Percent of SC&ST Population, as coefficients of these variables are statistically significant at 99% level.

Regression Result of Transition from Primary to Upper Primary

Constant 103.57 (2.247) Drop out in primary -2.40*** (0.743) Children never enrolled in schools 109.69 (83.04) Access to Pucca Houses 0.0033 (0.027) Percent SC&ST Population -0.138*** (0.030)

R Square 0.8092 Number of Observation 22

Standard errors are reported in Parenthesis. *, **,*** indicates significance at 90% ,95% and 99% level of significance respectively.

Regression 4 . Transition rate from Upper Primary to Secondary is dependent upon a)Dropout in Primary b) Pupil teacher ratio in Primary c) Access to Pucca House d) Percent of SC&ST Population.It can be inferred from the results that overall there is good fitness to the model as R-square is quite high( 0.80). Drop out in primary and Percentage of SC and ST population are statistically significant at 99% level and Pupil teacher ratio is also statistically significant at 95% .

Regression Result of Transition from Upper Primary to Secondary

Constant 98.178

(3.469)

Drop out in primary -2.852***

(0.726)

Pupil teacher ratio (Primary) 0.136**

(0.060)

Access to Pucca Houses 0.012

(0.025)

Percent SC&ST Population -0.129***

(0.027)

R Square 0.839

Number of Observation 22

Standard errors are reported in Parenthesis. *, **, *** indicates significance at 90% , 95% and 99% level of significance respectively

Higher Education in Viluppuram district

According to the policy note of the Ministry of Higher Education, the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education in Tamil Nadu is 38.2 per cent against the national average of 20.4 per cent. Even though higher education in the State is marked by the large presence of self-financing institutions, there has been an increase in the setting up of government run higher education institutions since 2011. The Tamil Nadu Government has established 12 Government Arts and Science Colleges, 24 University Constituent Arts and Science Colleges, 11 Government Polytechnic Colleges and four Government Engineering Colleges.

The State Government has also established an Indian Institute for Information Technology (IIIT). Moreover, the Tamil Nadu Open University has started Community Colleges in four districts namely, Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Madurai and Tiruchirappalli. The Government plans to establish Community Colleges in all the districts in the State in a phased manner. These Community Colleges are started with the aim of providing the local communities with vocational educational programmes that would lead to self-employment opportunities. Viluppuram being backward district one community college can be established here.

In Villupuram district, there are two Government Arts Colleges and two University Constituent Colleges. There are also Self-financed Art and Science Colleges and Colleges of Education. As for the Polytechnic Colleges, there are two Government run Polytechnic Colleges and eight Self-financed Polytechnic Colleges in the district.

As part of the expansion of Government run institutions of higher learning, 11 new Government Polytechnic Colleges have been established and are functioning from 2013-14. The Polytechnic Colleges are located in educationally backward districts and cater to the students from the socially and economically weaker sections. One such college is located at Sankarapuram in Villupuram district, The district has 18 Engineering Colleges including two University Colleges of Engineering .These

colleges are located at Villupuram and Thindivanam. (See Appendix 4 for details of the higher education institutions in the district.)

The Government is implementing various schemes to help the students from disadvantaged sections including women. Special coaching by way of remedial classes are conducted outside class hours and also on weekends for SC/ST/ MBC students who are found to be weak in English, Maths and Science subjects. Computer Literacy Programme is being implemented in all the Government Constituent Arts and Science Colleges. This is aimed at making students computer literates.

To encourage the women students to attain higher education, the Tamil Nadu Government has been implementing the EVR Nagammai Free Education scheme since 1989-90. Under the scheme, the women students irrespective of their caste or community are exempted from payment of tuition fees in undergraduate courses, provided the annual income of their parents does not exceed Rs.24000.The State Government is sanctioning Rs.400/- per year to each student studying in Tamil medium in Government and Government Aided Colleges. This stipend is available to all the students irrespective of community and parental income. The assistance is provided with the objective of encouraging the students studying in Tamil Medium classes and also to attract more students to the Tamil Medium in the colleges.

Chapter- 4

Linkage between Socio Economic Conditions, Literacy and Education Attainment: Findings from the Field Survey

As discussed earlier in Chapter 1, the purpose of the survey is to understand the influence of various socio-economic factors like caste, poverty, income, employment, land holdings, assets, etc. on literacy and education levels. For this purpose we have selected two blocks for the field survey from among twenty two blocks in the district. This was done based on analysis of backwardness and literacy levels .That is one block which is least developed or most backward (Kalrayan hills) and another block - Koliyanur which is relatively less backward were selected. After that, we have selected two villages from each block–totally four villages for intensive study and household surveys. The list of villages selected for the detailed study are given in Table 4.1

Table 4.1 List of Selected Blocks and Village Panchayats

S.No Block Block Status Village Panchayat

Relatively Less Valavanur

1 Koliyanur backward Block Naraiyur

Comparatively most Maniyarpalayam

2 Kalrayan Hills Backward Block Mattapattu

We have conducted a Household survey to get details about the socio-economic condition, literacy and education level of the households. The survey schedule consists of questions about the household demographic details, educational and employment status of all family members, assets structure, agriculture landholding, livestock, annual income and expenditure, non-farm employment, migration, indebtedness, household consumer durables, perceptions about education and economic development of the family. Twenty five households have been selected from each village (totally 100 households from four villages). The Household Survey was completed by end of February 2015 and household data analysis have been undertaken

FIELD SURVEY

based on the backwardness indicators and its linkage to literacy. In the following we present the results of the analysis.

Table 4.2 provides details about the distribution of sample households in the two blocks selected for the study based on backwardness indicators.

Table 4.2 Distribution of sample households across block and villages

No. of sample Name of block and Village households Percentage (%)

Kalrayan hills 50 49.50

Maniyar palayam 25 24.75

Thoradi pattu 25 24.75

Koliyanur 51 50.50

Naraiyur 25 24.75

Valavanur 26 25.74

Grand Total 101 100.00

Source: Field Survey,2015

Socio-Economic conditions of the Households

In both the villages of the least developed block of Kalrayan hills, the entire sample households of 50 belong to ST and they are equally divided between Maniyar palayam and Thoradi pattu. In the Koliyanur block, 67 per cent of the households are MBC and 33 per cent households are SC. In the Valavanur village of the same block, 17 households are MBC and they account for 65 per cent of the total, while the 9 SC households account for 35 per cent of the total households. In Naraiyur, the total sample households of 25 are divided between 17 MBC households and eight SC households. (Table 4.3)

Table 4.3 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by caste

Name of block and Caste (No) Grand Caste (%) Grand Village MBC SC ST Total MBC SC ST Total Kalrayan hills 50 50 100.0 100.0 Maniyar palayam 25 25 100.0 100.0 Thoradi pattu 25 25 100.0 100.0 Koliyanur 34 17 51 67.0 33.0 100.0 Naraiyur 17 8 25 68.0 32.0 100.0 Valavanur 17 9 26 65.0 35.0 100.0 Grand Total 34 17 50 101 33.7 16.8 49.5 100.0 Source: Field Survey, 2015

Land holding pattern of households

In Table 4.4 we have given land distribution pattern of all sample HHs.Overall 52 percent of sample HHs is landless and 48 % own land. Landlessness is more pronounced in Koliyanur block(53%) than Kalrayan tribal block(48 percent).Of the farmers who own lands a two third majority are marginal farmers having only up to 2.5 acres of land. Marginal farmers predominant (73 %) in Kalrayan hills compared to Koliyanur block (58 percent).

Across villages, in Maniyar Palayam, out of the landholding households, 68.75 per cent are marginal farmers and 25 per cent are small farmers. The share of big farmers is 6.25 per cent. The landless households account for 36 per cent. In Thoradi Pattu, the marginal farmers constitute 61.54 per cent. While small farmers are 30.77 per cent, the share of big farmers is 7.69 per cent among the landholding households. The landless in the village account for 48 per cent. In the Kalrayan hills block as a whole, 65.52 per cent are marginal farmers, 27.59 per cent are small farmers and 6.90 per cent are big farmers. The share of the landless households is 42 per cent.

In Valavanur, 30 per cent of the landholding households are that of marginal farmers. The small farmers constitute 40 per cent and big farmers 30 per cent. The landless households are 62 per cent of the total households. In the case of Naraiyur, 68.75 per cent are marginal farmers and 25 per cent are small farmers. In the village

6.25 per cent are big farmers, while the landless households account for 36 per cent. In the Koliyanur block, 58.33 per cent are marginal farmers and 25.00 per cent are small farmers. The share of big farmers is 16.67 per cent. The landless households account for 53 per cent of the total households.

In the tribal block of Kalrayan hills, the preponderance of marginal farmers- constituting more than 65 per cent of households- could be observed. On the other hand, the share of big farmers is less than half of their share in the Koliyanur block. It is noteworthy that Valavanur has 62 per cent landless households, despite ranking high in terms of many indicators.

Table 4.4 Land Holding Pattern of Sample HHs (in acre)

Marg inal Small Big Farm Farme Land Total Block/Village % % Farmer % Total % % ers rs less HH (> 5 ) (upto (2.5-5) 2.5) Kalrayan hills Maniyar palayam 11 68.75 4 25.00 1 6.25 16 100 9 36 25 Thoradi pattu 8 80.00 1 10.00 1 10.00 10 100 15 60 25 100 19 73.08 5 19.23 2 7.69 26 24 48 50 Koliyanur block Valavanur 3 37.50 2 25.00 3 37.50 8 100 18 69 26 Naraiyur 11 68.75 4 25.00 1 6.25 16 100 9 36 25 14 58.33 6 25.00 4 16.67 24 100 27 53 51 Grand Total 33 66.00 11 22.00 6 12.00 50 100 53 52 101

Sources of Income of the households:

In Maniyar palayam of the Kalvarayan block, the average annual income of the households is Rs 57, 672. (Table 4.5) .While 58.16 per cent of the income is derived from agriculture, 41.84 per cent of income is derived from non-farm activities. In Thoradi pattu of the same block, the average annual income is Rs 45, 523 and this consists of 48.98 per cent of farm income and 51.02 per cent of non-farm income.

Table 4.5. Sources of income of sample households

Source of (Rs/HH) Income of HHs Total Kalrayan hills Income Agriculture % Non-Farm % Maniyar palayam 57672 33544 58.16 24128 41.84 100.00 Thoradi pattu 45523 22296 48.98 23227 51.02 100.00 Koliyanur block

Valavanur 164000 113961 69.49 50039 30.51 100.00 Naraiyur 69529 39000 56.09 30529 43.91 100.00 Grand Total 336724 208801 62.01 127923 37.99 100.00

In Koliyanur Block, Valavanur has an annual average income of Rs 1,64, 000. The farm income is Rs 1, 13, 961 which accounts for 69.49 per cent of the total income. The non-farm income is only 30.51 per cent. In Naraiyur, the average annual income is Rs 69, 529, while agricultural income accounts for 56.09 per cent; the non-agricultural income constitutes 43.91 per cent of the total income.

Household income is a crucial determinant of other outcomes. The income data generated by the household survey reinforces the ranking of the villages in terms of other indicators. The general pattern that non-tribal villages are better off than tribal villages also holds true in the case of average household income. Moreover, farm income is lowest in a village like Thoradi pattu (compared to other villages) may suggest that returns are rather low from farming in tribal villages.

Literacy and Educational background of the head of Households

Table 4.6 provides details about the level of literacy and education of the heads of sample households. Out of the 50 sample households in the Kalrayan hills block, 17 household heads are illiterate, 11 can only read and write, 13 are with primary

education and three have upper primary education. While four household heads have high school education, two are with higher secondary education. There are no graduates or household heads with technical education in the block. Overall the educational level of head of HH is quite low as about 34 percent is illiterate and only 32 percent had upto elementary education and about 12 percent secondary education.

Across villages in the Tribal block, in the Maniyar palayam out of 25 HH only four household heads are illiterates, six can only read and write and eight have primary education. While three household heads have upper-primary education, three have high school education and one is with higher secondary education. There are no household heads with technical or college education attainment. Whereas in another tribal village ( Thoradi Pattu) , 13 household heads are illiterates, five can read and write and five have primary education. One household head is with high school education and another is with higher secondary education. There is no household head who is a graduate or with technical education in the village.

In the Koliyanur block, out of 51 HHs 13 household heads (25 %) are illiterate, three can only read and write and eight have primary education. While nine household heads are with upper-primary education, 11 have high school education and four have higher secondary education. Two household heads are graduates and one is with technical education attainment. Overall the head of HHs in Koliyanur block is better in education.

Among the two villages in the block, in Naraiyur village, six household heads are illiterate, one can only read and write and three are with primary education. Six household heads have middle school education, while six are with high school education and one is with higher secondary education. Two household heads are graduates. Among the MBC households, four household heads are illiterate, two are with primary education, four have middle school education, four are with high school education and one has higher secondary education. Two MBC household heads are graduates. As for the SC households two household heads are illiterate, one can read and write , one has primary education, two are with upper-primary education and two have high school education.

In Valavanur, seven household heads are illiterate and two can only read and write. While five household heads are with primary education and three with upper primary education, five have high school education and three are with secondary education. One household head is with technical education. Among the MBC households, four household heads are illiterate, one can only read and write and four have primary education. While five household heads have high school education, three are with higher secondary education. In the case of SC households, three household heads are illiterate and one can only read and write.

Table 4.6 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by caste and level of education of the head of Household

Read Illite High Higher Grand Block / Village and Primary Middle Graduate Technical rate School Secondary Total Write Kalrayan hills block 17 11 13 3 4 2 50

Maniyar palayam 4 6 8 3 3 1 25

ST 4 6 8 3 3 1 25

Thoradi pattu 13 5 5 1 1 25

ST 13 5 5 1 1 25

Koliyanur block 13 3 8 9 11 4 2 1 51

Naraiyur 6 1 3 6 6 1 2 25

MBC 4 2 4 4 1 2 17

SC 2 1 1 2 2 8

Valavanur 7 2 5 3 5 3 1 26

MBC 4 1 4 5 3 17

SC 3 1 1 3 1 9

Grand Total 30 14 21 12 15 6 2 1 101

% 29.70 13.86 20.79 11.88 14.85 5.94 1.98 0.99 100.00

While one is with primary education attainment, three are with upper primary education. One household head is with technical education. Overall, 29.70 per cent household heads are illiterates and 13.86 per cent can only read and write. While 20.79 per cent household heads are with primary education and 11.88 per cent have upper primary education, 14.85 per cent are with high school education and 5.94 per cent are with higher secondary education. Graduate household heads account for 1.98 per cent and household heads with technical education make for 0. 99 per cent.

In the Surveyed households as a whole, education attainments have been poor with less than six per cent with higher secondary education, less than two per cent with graduation and less than one per cent with technical education. But in the case of tribal villages namely Maniyar palayam and Thoradi,the situation is still worse with no household head was with college or technical education.

Literacy and Educational attainment of household members

The literacy and educational level of Kalrayan hills is quite different from Koliyanaur block which is relatively developed block. The level of literacy in Koliyanaur is double that of Kalrayan hills block as about 32 percent are illiterate in the later compared to only 16 percent illiterate in the former block. More over the percent of high school and higher secondary education and also higher education also relatively higher in Koliyanur block than other.(Table 4.7)

Table 4.7 Literacy and Education attainment of Members of HH

Read Higher Post Block Pri Midd High Diplo Grad Chil Tot Illiterate & Second Gra /Village mary le School ma uate dren al Write ary duate Kalrayan 30.85 9.95 27.86 9.95 7.96 9.45 0.50 0.50 1.49 1.49 100 hills Maniyar 2 0 99 palayam 19 11 32 13 10 11 1 0 100 2.02 0.00 . % 19.19 11.11 32.32 13.13 10.10 11.11 1.01 0.00 Thoradi 1 3 102 pattu 43 9 24 7 6 8 0 1 100 0.98 2.94 . % 42.16 8.82 23.53 6.86 5.88 7.84 0.00 0.98

Koliyanur 16.01 2.14 100 block 3.20 17.79 9.96 23.84 12.1 4.63 9.61 0.71 1 4 134 Naraiyur 18 4 28 18 31 14 8 8 100 0.75 3.01 .75 % 13.53 3.01 21.05 13.53 23.31 10.53 6.02 6.02 Valavanu 1 2 147 r 27 5 22 10 36 20 5 19 0.68 1.36 100 % 18.37 3.40 14.97 6.80 24.5 13.61 3.40 12.93 Grand 5 9 482 Total 107 29 106 48 83 53 14 28 % 22.20 6.02 21.99 9.96 17.2 11.00 2.90 5.81 1.04 1.87 100

Among villages in Kalrayan hills block Thoradi pattu is worse placed in terms of both literacy rate and education achievement than another village viz. Maniyarpalayam.In the case of Koliyanaur block such sharp difference is not noticed between Naraiyur and Valavanur.

Out of the four surveyed villages, in three villages illiteracy is either above the state average. Even in Maniyur palayam, one of the two tribal villages, the level of illiteracy is only 19.19 per cent. But the exception is Thoradi Pattu where the illiteracy rate is 42. 16. This is quite higher than the lliteracy rate of the district (28 %).

Level of education and occupation of head of household: Table 4.8 provides details regarding education and occupation of HHs.

Table 4.8 Distribution of sample households by level of education and occupation of head of households

Read Higher Village and Illitera Prim High Gradu Techn Grand and Middle Second % Occupation te ary School ate ical Total Write ary Maniyar palayam 4 6 8 3 3 1 25 24.75 Farmer 2 4 3 1 2 12 11.88 Agril. Wage Employment 3 3 2.97 Other than agriculture 1 1 1 3 2.97 Govt service 1 1 1 1 4 3.96 Self- employment 1 2 3 2.97 Naraiyur 6 1 3 6 6 1 2 25 24.75 Farmer 2 4 2 8 7.92 Agri. Wage Employment 3 1 1 2 1 8 7.92 Other than agriculture 1 1 2 1 5 4.95 Govt. service 1 1 0.99 Self- employment 1 1 1 3 2.97 Thoradi pattu 13 5 5 1 1 25 24.75 Farmer 10 2 4 1 1 18 17.82 Agril. Wage Employment 2 1 1 4 3.96 Other than agriculture 1 1 0.99 Govt service 1 1 0.99 Self- employment 1 1 0.99 Valavanur 7 2 5 3 5 3 1 26 25.74 Farmer 2 1 1 3 3 10 9.90 Agril Wage Employment 5 1 2 2 10 9.90 Other than agriculture 1 1 2 4 3.96 Govt service 1 1 0.99 Self employment 1 1 0.99 Grand Total 30 14 21 12 15 6 2 1 101 100.00

There seems to be no strict co-relation between education attainment and occupation. There can be two reasons for this. One, as land is often inherited, education is not necessary to become a farmer with land-holding. On other hand, a person with some education could end up as an agricultural labourer because he is landless. Two, as the educational attainments of the household heads are not by and large adequate enough to join the skilled labour force; the attainments do not have an impact on the occupation.

In Maniyar palayam four household heads are illiterate. Among the illiterates, two are farmers, one is a non-agricultural labourer and one is self-employed. In the village, six household heads can only read and write. In this category, four are farmers, one is a non-agricultural labourer and one is in government service. Eight household heads have primary education. Out of the eight, three are farmers, three are agricultural labourers and two are self-employed.

There are three household heads with upper primary education. One farmer, one non-agricultural labour and one government-employed make up this category. Three household heads have high school education. Out of the three, two are farmers and one is government employed. Only one household head in the village is with higher secondary education and is employed in the government. There are no household heads with college or technical education in Maniyar playam.

In Thoradi Pattu, 13 household heads are illiterates. Out of the 13, ten are farmers, two are agricultural labourers and one is self-employed. In the village, five household heads can only read and write. In this category, two are farmers, one is an agricultural labourer and one is a non-agricultural labourer and one is in government service. Five household heads are with primary education. Four are farmers and one is an agricultural labourer. One is with high school education and he is a farmer. Similarly, a farmer household head is the only one with higher secondry education in the village. Throradi Pattu has no household head with college or technical education.

Naraiyur has six illiterate household heads. Out of the six, three are agricultural labourers, while a non-agricultural labourer, a government employed and a self- employed household head account for the rest. One household head can only read and

write and he is an agricultural labourer. Three household heads have primary education-one is agricultural labourer, one is a non-agricultural labourer and one household head is self-employed. Six household heads are with upper-primary education. Out of the six, two are farmer, two are agricultural labourers and two are non-agricultural labourers. Six household heads have high school education and four with high school attainment are farmers. Among the rest, one is a non-agricultural labourer and one is self-employer. Only one household head is with higher secondary attainment and he is a non-agricultural labourer. Two household heads are graduates and both are farmers. No household head in the village has any technical education.

In Valavanur, seven households‘ heads are illiterate. Out of the seven, two are farmers and five are agricultural labourers. Two household heads can only read and write- a farmer and an agricultural labourer. Five have primary education and out of the five, one is a farmer, two are agricultural labourers and one is a non-agricultural labourer. Three household heads have upper-primary education. Two are agricultural labourers and one is a non-agricultural labourer. Five household heads are with high school education and three are farmers and two are non-agricultural labourers. Three household heads in the village have higher secondary school attainment and all of them are farmers. There is no graduate household head and only one with technical education who is employed in the government.

Gender and Education: Table 4.9 provides details about the gender aspects of education and gap in its development.

Table 4.9 Educational Attainment of Household Members -Male

Male Total

Read Male Total Block/Village Pri High Higher Dipl Gra Illiterate and Middle PG % mary School Secondary oma duate Write

Kalrayan hills block

Maniyar palayam 3 8 16 8 7 6 2 0 0 50

Thoradi pattu 20 7 10 2 3 5 0 1 0 48

Tot 23 15 26 10 10 11 2 1 0 98

% 23.47 15.31 26.53 10.20 10.20 11.22 2.04 1.02 0.00 100.00

Koliyanur block

Naraiyur 5 3 12 8 11 6 5 5 1 56

Valavanur 8 2 6 4 9 8 3 11 2 53

Tot 13 5 18 12 20 14 8 16 3 109

% 11.93 4.59 16.51 11.01 18.35 12.84 7.34 14.68 2.75 100.00

Grand Total 36 20 44 22 30 25 10 17 3 207

Percentage 17.39 9.66 21.26 10.63 14.49 12.08 4.83 8.21 1.45 100.00

Table 4.9 Educational Attainment of Household Members - Female

Female Total Female Read Block/Village Total and Prim High Higher Dipl Gradua Illiterate Write ary Middle School Secondary oma te PG Kalrayan Hills

Maniyar palayam 12 5 8 2 2 4 0 1 0 34 Thoradi pattu 11 6 7 5 0 2 0 0 0 31 Total 23 11 15 7 2 6 0 1 0 65 35.38 16.92 23.08 10.77 3.08 9.23 0.00 1.54 0.00 100.00 Koliyanur block Naraiyur 9 2 13 5 9 6 1 1 0 46 Valavanur 12 3 10 3 15 9 2 8 1 63 Tot 21 5 23 8 24 15 3 9 1 109 Grand total 44 16 38 15 26 21 3 10 1 174 Percentage 25.29 9.20 21.84 8.62 14.94 12.07 1.72 5.75 0.57 100.00 All Total- Male Female 80 36 82 37 56 46 13 27 4 381 % 21.00 9.45 21.52 9.71 14.70 12.07 3.41 7.09 1.05 100.00

Overall gender gap in literacy and education is noted in both the blocks and the gap is almost same in both blocks. In Kalrayan hills block, 23.47 per cent male members are illiterate and 35 percent are illiterate among female-gender gap in literacy being 12.47percent .In Koliyanur block, Female illiteracy rate is 25 % whereas Male is 12 % -gender gap being 13 percent .Gender gap is witnessed in Primary and secondary education in Kalrayan hills and more pronounced when the level of education increases like in High school and higher secondary and graduation.The same is noted in Koliyanaur block but at higher degree when the level of education increases. Almost the same pattern is seen in the Gender gap when we consider both Kalrayan and Koliyanaur blocks together.

Housing Conditions

Overall majority of the houses are Tiled (55%) and terraced is about 32 percent. Only about 15 percent is thatched houses in the study area. (Table 4.9) .In Kalrayan Hills block majority of the houses are tiled whereas in Koliyanur block majority of them are terraced.

Table 4.10 Distribution of sample households by housing conditions

Thatche Village Tiled Terraced Grand Total d Maniyar palayam 1 21 3 25 ST 1 21 3 Thoradi pattu 3 21 1 25 ST 3 21 2 Naraiyur 5 7 14 26 MBC 4 3 11 18 SC 1 4 3 8 Valavanur 5 6 14 25 MBC 3 3 11 17 SC 2 3 3 8 Grand Total 14 55 32 101

In Maniyar palayam under tribal block, one house is thatched, 21 are tiled and three are terraced. In the case of Thoradi pattu, three houses are thatched, 21 houses are tiled and one house is terraced. Naraiyur has five thatched houses, seven tiled houses and 14 terraced houses. Of the five thatched houses in Naraiyur, four belong to MBC households and one to a SC .While three MBC households own tiled houses, four SC households own tiled houses. Three SC households and 11 MBC households account for the 14 terraced houses in the village.

In the case of Valavanur, there are five thatched houses, six tiled houses and 14 terraced houses. Three MBC households have thatched houses and the rest of the thatched houses are owned by SC households. The six tiled houses are equally shared by the MBC and SC households. Of the 14 terraced houses, 11 are owned by MBC households and four are owned by the SC households.

Thatched houses tend to be with only one living room with no separation for the kitchen. These factors have implications for housing quality. Depending upon the family size, there could be congestion and disturbances to students when they do homework or study at home. Many tiled houses may also have these problems. The survey shows less number of thatched houses even among the ST and SC. The MBC households account for more thatched houses in Valavanur and Naraiyur than SC households. The ST and SC households own tiled households than any other category of housing. However, the MBC households account for the largest share of terraced houses.

Water and Sanitation

Overall it is seen that only about 78 percent have access to safe drinking water. Lack of access to safe drinking water is more in Kalrayan hills block which is tribal .About 20 -40 percent of them are not having access to safe water supply .Incase of Koliyanur block the relative percentage varies from 8 in Valavanur to 20 in Naraiyur village .It can be seen that lack of access to safe water is more pronounced among SC and STs than Backward castes.(Table 4.11).

Table 4.11 Distribution of Sample households by access to safe Drinking Water facility Yes No Grand % % % Block/ (Number) (Number) Total Village

Kalrayan hills block

Maniyar 15 60 10 40 25 100 palayam

ST 15 60 10 40 25 100

Thoradi 20 80 5 20 25 100 pattu

ST 20 80 5 20 25 100

Koliyanur block

Valavanur 24 92.31 2 7.69 26 100

MBC 15 88.24 2 11.76 17 100

SC 9 100.00 0.00 9 100

Naraiyur 20 80.00 5 20.00 25 100

MBC 15 88.24 2 11.76 17 100

SC 5 62.50 3 37.50 8 100

Grand 79 78.22 22 21.78 101 100 Total

As for sanitation (Table 4.12) ,we can note that only 2 percent of HHs are having access to toilets which is quite low compared to state level which is about 23 percent .the situation is equally bad in both most backward (Kalrayan hills ) and relatively developed block (Koliyanur)

Table 4.12 Distribution of sample households by access to Toilet

Yes No Grand Total Block/Village Number Kalrayan hills block 1 49 50 Maniyar palayam 1 24 25 ST 1 24 25 Thoradi pattu 25 25 ST 25 25 Kolyanur block 1 50 51 Valavanur 1 25 26 MBC 1 16 17 SC 9 9 Naraiyur 25 25 MBC 17 17 SC 8 8 Grand Total 2 99 101 % Kalrayan hills block 1 49 50 Maniyar palayam 1 24 25 ST 1 24 25 Thoradi pattu 25 25 ST 25 25 Kolyanur block 1 50 51 Valavanur 1 25 26 MBC 1 16 17 SC 9 9 Naraiyur 25 25 MBC 17 17 SC 8 8 Grand Total 2 99 101

Indebtedness of the households:

In Table 4.13 details about the borrowings of sample HHs are given . About 60 percent of respondent HHs have borrowed loans for various purposes .Of these 48 percent is for productive purpose -agriculture and business .7percent for education. Almost remaining is borrowed for personal and household expenditure .Comparatively more households are indebted in Kalrayan hills block (28-33%) than Koliyanur block (14-25%)

Table 4.13 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by availing of loan and purposes

Block/ Marr Household Agriculture Health Business Education Other Total Village iage expenditure %

Maniyar 4 2 2 3 3 3 17 palayam 27.87

ST 4 2 2 3 3 3 17 27.87

Thoradi 7 5 1 2 3 2 20 pattu 32.79

ST 7 5 1 2 3 2 20 32.79

Valavanur 3 3 1 2 9 14.75

MBC 3 3 1 1 8 13.11

SC 0 0 1 1 1.64

Naraiyur 3 2 2 1 1 6 15 24.59

MBC 2 0 5 7 11.48

SC 1 2 2 1 1 1 8 13.11

Total 17 2 12 4 5 8 13 61 100.00

Percent 27.87 3.28 19.67 6.56 8.20 13.11 21.31 100.00

Of the 17 households that availed loans in the Maniyar playam, four households availed agricultural loans, two availed loans for business purposes and two for education. While three households took loan for conducting marriages, three households for household expenses and three households for other purposes. In Naraiyur, three households took loan for agricultural purposes and two received loans for health care. The agricultural loans were availed by two MBC households and a SC household. In the case of loans for health care, both recipients were SC households. Only one SC household took loan for education and no MBC household availed of any education loan. Similarly a single SC household took loan for household expenses. Five MBC households and one SC household availed loans for other purposes

In Thoradi pattu, seven households took loans for agricultural purposes and five households for business purposes. One household availed loan for education and two took loans for conducting marriages. For household expenses, three households availed loans. Two households took loans for other purposes. In Valavanur, three households availed of loans for agricultural purposes and a same number of households for business purpose-all the six households were MBC. One household took loan for household expenses and two households for other purposes. While the loan for household expenses was availed by a MBC household, loans for other purposes were taken by a MBC household and a SC household. As only to be expected, there are more number of agricultural loans than other category of loans. Overall, business and household expenditure loans follow the agricultural loans in terms of numbers. Less number of education loans is perhaps an indicator of the low attainment of the surveyed villages in college and technical education.

Ration Cards

Table 4.15 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by having ration cards No Yes Grand Block/Village AAY APL BPL Yes Total Total Kalrayan hills block Maniyar palayam 6 13 4 2 19 25 ST 6 13 4 2 19 25 Thoradi pattu 3 20 2 0 22 25 ST 3 20 2 0 22 25 Koliyanur block Valavanur 0 0 3 23 26 26 MBC 0 0 3 14 17 17 SC 0 0 0 9 9 9 Naraiyur 0 0 0 25 25 25 MBC 0 0 0 17 17 17 SC 0 0 0 8 8 8 Grand Total 9 33 9 49 91 101 % 8.9 36.3 9.9 53.8 90.1 100

Out of 50 HHs 9 HHs (18 percent) in Kalrayan hills do not possess ration cards .However all 51 sample HH have reported possession of ration cards in Koliyanaur block.About two thirds of ration cards in Kalrayan hills are AAY cards which indicates status of poverty in the block. In Maniyar Palayam, six households said that they did not have ration cards. Among those said that they had ration cards, 13 were AAY cards, 4 were APL cards and 2 were BPL cards. In Thoradi pattu village, three households said that they had no ration cards. There were 20 AAY cards and two APL cards among 22 ration-card-holders.

In Koliyanur none of the cards is AAY and majority is BPL.In Valavanur, three households said that they had APL cards and 23 households said they had BPL cards. Among the MBC households, three said that they possessed APL cards and 14 said that

they had BPL cards. Nine SC households had BPL cards. In Naraiyur, all 25 households- 17 MBC households and eight SC households -said that they had BPL cards.

In the four villages, 8.9 per cent said that they had no ration cards. While 36.3 per cent had AAY cards, 9.9 per cent had APL cards and 53.8 per cent had BPL cards. Overall, 90.1 per cent of the households said that they had ration card. Thus there is a contrast in the types of cards in both blocks.

School Drop Out

Table 4.15 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by Dropout

Grand Block/Village 4th Std 5th Std 6th Std 8th 10th 12th Total

Kalrayan hills block Maniyar 1 1 palayam ST 1 1 Thoradi pattu 5 1 1 7 ST 5 1 1 7 Koliyanur block Valavanur 0 2 2 MBC 0 0 SC 0 2 2 Naraiyur 1 1 1 3 6 MBC 1 1 1 3 SC 1 0 2 3 Grand Total 1 1 7 1 5 1 16 % 6.25 6.25 43.75 6.25 31.25 6.25 100

When the dropping out of students at 4th, 5th, 6th,8th, 10th and 12th standard are considered, only one student dropped out in the sixth standard in Maniyar plalayam. Of the seven students who dropped out in Thoradi pattu, five dropped out at sixth standard, one at eight standard and one at 12th standard. (Table 4.15)

In the Koliyanur block, two students dropped out at 10th standard in Valavanur. Both are SC students. In Naraiyur, one student each dropped out at 4th, 5th and 6th standard. While the students who dropped out at 4th and 6th standard were from SC households, the student who dropped at 4th standard was from a SC household. Three students dropped out at 10th standard in the village and out of the three, two were SC students and one was a MBC student.

Overall, 6.25 per cent students dropped out at 4th standard, 6.25 per cent at 5th standard, 43.75 per cent at 6th standard, 6.25 per cent at 8th standard, 31.25 at per cent 10th standard and 6.25 per cent at 12th standard.

The highest share of drop out happened at sixth standard followed by 10th standard. This shows that Students did enrol in the upper primary level but left after that. Another point of high drop-out was 10th standard. But here, the transition from high to higher secondary level was not attempted. Overall the drop out is more in Koliyanur than in Tribal area Kalrayan hills.

Reasons for Drop Out Lack of interest in the studies was the single most cited reason for dropping out. However, financial problems were cited as reasons- next to lack of interest- in the tribal village of Thoradi pattu. It was found during the survey that children from Kalrayan hills were employed in cotton farms in Salem and Dharmapuri district due to poverty. A survey conducted by Unicef has identified 463 children in 2012 and a project for rehabilitation of the these children is under implementation .In other villages lack of interest was cited as the reason by most of the dropped out students, attention needs to be paid to quality of teaching and school governance. To prevent migration of children to other districts in search of work, it is necessary to create employment/livelihood opportunities for the vulnerable households in the hill areas.

Table 4.16 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by Reason for Dropout

5th 10th Finance Not Teacher Grand Block/Village fail Fail problem Interested problem Total Kalrayan hills block Maniyar 1 - 1 palayam ST 1 - 1 Thoradi pattu 3 4 - 7 ST 3 4 - 7 Koliyanur block Valavanur 2 - 2 MBC - 0 SC 2 - 2 Naraiyur 1 1 2 - 4 MBC 1 1 - 2 SC 2 - 2 Grand Total 1 1 3 9 - 14 % 7.14 7.14 21.43 64.29 - 100.00

In Maniyar playam, the only student who dropped out cited lack of interest in studies as the reason for his dropping out. In Thoradi pattu where seven students dropped out, three students said they dropped out because of financial reasons, while the rest said that lack of interest was the reason. In the Valavanur village of the Koliyanur block, two SC students dropped out and both cited lack of interest as the reason. In Naraiyur, one student dropped out after failing in 5th standard and another after failing at 10th standard. Both are from MBC households. In the same village, two SC students dropped out due to lack of interest in studies.

In all, 7.14 per cent students left studies after failing in 5th standard and an equal percentage of students after failing in the 10th standard. Due to financial problems, 21.43 per cent of students dropped out. Lack of interest was cited as the reason by 64.29 per cent student

Table 4.17 Distribution of sample households across block and villages by availing of scholarship

Block/Village 6th 11 th 12th B.E College Diploma Total

Maniyar 1 2 1 1 5 palayam

ST 1 2 1 1 5

Thoradi pattu 3 1 1 5

ST 3 1 1 5

Valavanur 1 0 1 3 1 6

MBC 0 1 1 2

SC 1 0 1 1 3

Naraiyur 0 1 1

MBC 0 0

SC 0 1 1

Grand Total 5 3 2 1 5 1 17

% 29.41 17.65 11.76 5.88 29.41 5.88 100.00

There are 17 scholarships reported from among 101 HHs (about 17 %).It is significant to note that about 40 percent of scholarships had gone to higher education (BE,BSc & Diploma).Of the remaining scholarship for schools especially for 6th standard is important(30 percent).Most of the Higher education scholarships gone to Koliyanur block whereas school level scholarship gone to Kalrayan hills

In Maniyar palayam, five students availed education scholarships. One student each at 6th, 12th and college levels availed of scholarships. Two students availed such help at 11th standard. In Thoradi Pattu, an equal number of five students received scholarship. Three received at 6th standard and one each at 11th standard and college. In the Koliyanur block, six students availed of scholarships in Valavanur. Two at the school level- 6th and 11th and three at college level received scholarships. One student received scholarship for pursuing a diploma course. Out of the six students who received scholarships, three are SC students and three are MBC students. In Naraiyur, only one SC engineering college student received scholarship.

Over all, 7.69 per cent received scholarship at 6th standard and 23. 08 per cent at 11th standard. While 15.38 per cent availed such help at 12th standard , 7.69 per cent received scholarship to pursue engineering graduate education and 7.69 per cent for diploma attainment. The rest availed of scholarship for pursuing arts and science college education.

The availing of scholarships at the school level was restricted to ST and SC Students. The MBC students availed scholarship only at the college or diploma level.

Table 4.18 Distributions of household based response for relationship between education and doing work

Block/Village NA No Yes Grand Total Kalrayan Hills block Maniyar palayam 3 14 8 25 ST 3 14 8 25 Thoradi pattu 5 11 9 25 ST 5 11 9 25 Koliyanur block Valavanur 1 13 12 26 MBC 7 10 17 SC 1 6 2 9 Naraiyur 2 13 10 25 MBC 1 8 8 17 SC 1 5 2 8 Grand Total 11 51 39 101

Kalrayan Hills block Maniyar palayam 12.0 56.0 32.0 100.0 ST 12.0 56.0 32.0 100.0 Thoradi pattu 20.0 44.0 36.0 100.0 ST 20.0 44.0 36.0 100.0 Koliyanur block Valavanur 3.8 50.0 46.2 100.0 MBC 0.0 41.2 58.8 100.0 SC 11.1 66.7 22.2 100.0 Naraiyur 8.0 52.0 40.0 100.0 MBC 5.9 47.1 47.1 100.0 SC 12.5 62.5 25.0 100.0 Grand Total 10.9 50.5 38.6 100.0

When asked about whether there was any relationship between education attainment and occupation, 12 per cent households had no opinion In Maniyar palayam. While 56 per cent households felt that there was no relationship, 32 per cent households said that education and occupation were related. In Thoradi pattu, 20 per cent households had no response. The percentage of households that saw no relationship was 44 and the remaining 36 per cent households said education attainment and occupation were connected. In Valavanur, 3.8 per cent households had no opinion. While 50 per cent of the households said that they did not see any relationship between education and occupation, 46.2 per cent households felt that there was relationship. Among the MBC households, 41.2 per cent of households felt that there was no connection and 58.8 per cent of the households said that there was relationship between education and occupation. With respect to SC households, 11.1 per cent of the household said that they had no answer to offer. While 66.7 per cent of households saw no relationship, 22.2 per cent household felt there was a connection.

In Naraiyur, 8 per cent of the households had no opinion- 5.9 per cent of the MBC households and 12.5 per cent of the SC households. While 52 per cent of the households felt that education and occupation were not related, 40 per cent of the households said that the education and occupation were related. Among the former, 47.1 per cent of the households were MBC households and 62. 5 were SC households. As for the latter, 47.1 per cent of households were MBC and 25 per cent were SC.

While the majority of MBC households held the view that education and work were related, the opposite was true of ST and SC households. The negative response was more pronounced in the case of SC households. The response of the SC and ST households may have implications for the motivation factor.

Table 4.19 Distribution of household based response for relationship between education and Economic growth

Block/Village NA No Yes Grand Total Kalrayan Hills block Maniyar palayam 1 10 14 25 ST 1 10 14 25 Thoradi pattu 10 15 25 ST 10 15 25 Koliyanur block Valavanur 2 24 26 MBC 17 17 SC 2 7 9 Naraiyur 2 3 20 25 MBC 1 1 15 17 SC 1 2 5 8 Grand Total 3 25 73 101 Kalrayan Hills Maniyar palayam 4.0 40.0 56.0 100.0 ST 4.0 40.0 56.0 100.0 Thoradi pattu 0.0 40.0 60.0 100.0 ST 0.0 40.0 60.0 100.0 Koliyanur Valavanur 0.0 7.7 92.3 100.0 MBC 0.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 SC 0.0 22.2 77.8 100.0 Naraiyur 8.0 12.0 80.0 100.0 MBC 5.9 5.9 88.2 100.0 SC 12.5 25.0 62.5 100.0 Grand Total 3.0 24.8 72.3 100.0

In Maniyar palayam, 40 per cent of the households felt that education would not be helped to improve their economic status, while 56 per cent thought that education would be of help. The rest said that they had no opinion. In Thoradi pattu, 40 per cent of the households said that education would not help their economic growth and 60 per cent households felt that education would help to improve their economic conditions. In Valavanur, 7.7 per cent households said that they did see education helping to advance their economic status. The rest felt that education would help to better their economic condition. All the MBC households had a positive answer; only 77.8 per cent SC households had similar response. In Naraiyur, 8 Percent had no response and 12 per cent had responded negatively. The rest was positive about education‘s role in improving their economic status. Among the MBC households, 88.2 per cent were positive about education. The rest of the MBC households are equally dived between negative response and no response. As for the SC households, 12.5 per cent had no opinion and 25 per cent had negative response. The rest of the households felt that education would help in bettering their economic conditions.

Across all categories of households, the majority view was that education would improve the economic status of the household. But such a view was less pronounced in SC households than the MBC households. Also the ST households were less optimistic than the SC households. Across all categories of households, the majority view was that education would improve the economic status of the household. But such a view was less pronounced in SC households than the MBC households. Also the ST households were less optimistic than the SC households across all category of households, the majority view was that education would improve the economic status of the household. But such a view was less pronounced in SC households than the MBC households. Also the ST households were less optimistic than the SC households.

Table 4.20 Distribution of household by response about send their children to higher studies

Block/Village No Yes Grand Total Kalrayan Hills block Maniyar palayam 7 18 25 ST 7 18 25 Thoradi pattu 7 18 25 ST 7 18 25 Koliyanur block Valavanur 3 23 26 MBC 2 15 17 SC 9 9 Naraiyur 5 20 25 MBC 4 13 17 SC 1 7 8 Grand Total 22 79 101 Kalrayan Hills block Maniyar palayam 28.0 72.0 100 ST 28.0 72.0 100 Thoradi pattu 28.0 72.0 100 ST 28.0 72.0 100 Koliyanur block Valavanur 11.5 88.5 100 MBC 11.8 88.2 100 SC 0.0 100.0 100 Naraiyur 20.0 80.0 100 MBC 23.5 76.5 100 SC 12.5 87.5 100 Grand Total 21.8 78.2 100

In Maniyar palayam, 28 per cent of the households said that they would not send their children to higher studies. The rest said that they would prefer to send their children to higher studies. The households were divided over the question in the same percentage in the Thoradi pattu village. In Vallavanur, 11.5 households said that they were not in favour of their children pursuing higher studies. The rest of the households were positive. While all the SC households had a positive answer, in the case of MBC households the percentage was 88.2.

In Naraiyur, 20 per cent of the households said that they would not send their children to higher studies. The remaining 80 per cent households wanted their children to pursue higher studies. While 23.5 per cent of MBC households did not favour higher studies, similar response was expressed by 12.5 per cent SC households. On the other, 76.5 per cent of MBC households and 87.5 per cent of SC households wanted their children to pursue higher education. Overall SC Households prefer to send their children to higher studies than any other category. But MBC households fare better than ST households, perhaps indicating the low motivation levels among the SC households in respect to educational attainments.

Correlation between educational attainment of Household members and their socio-economic conditions

We have regressed educational attainment of household members (dependent) up on socio economic variables like caste, per capita income of the HH, housing condition, value of assets of household consumer durables, per capita expenditure, per capita indebtedness and official classification of HH into BPL/APL/ AAY. In Table 4.22 the results of regression are given.

Table 4.22 Regression output: Correlation between educational attainment of Household members and their socio-economic conditions

Constant 3.938***

(0.852)

Caste -0.810*** (0.210)

Per capita Income 0.00001734*** (0.000)

Housing Condition -0.131 (0.220)

Household Consumer durables total value 0.000004087 (0.000)

Per capita Expenditure 0.000001889 (0.000)

Per capita Indebtedness -0.000000604 (0.000)

Official Poverty level (BPL/APL/AAY) 0.626*** (0.258)

R Square 0.5321

Adjusted R Square 0.4872

Number of Observations 81 Standard errors are reported in Parenthesis. *,**,*** indicates significance at 90% , 95% and 99% level respectively.

Regression results show that overall there is a good fitness/ relationship between education attainment and socioeconomic conditions as R-square value is high ( 0.53). It also shows that socio economic variables like caste, per capita income and official poverty level have strong relationship with education attainment of HH members as coefficients of these variables are statistically significant at 99% level.

Chapter 5 State Interventions related to Backwardness and Literacy in Kalrayan Hills block in Viluppuram district

Introduction

Based on the block level analysis and field surveys, we have identified that Kalrayan Hills as the most backward block in the district in terms of many socio- economic aspects including literacy and education. Being tribals living in a remote hill region, the people in the block suffer from many disadvantages like lack of adequate access to good roads, water supply, electricity ,sanitation, irrigation , health and education. .All of these makes their human development position vulnerable and hence requires special attention by the state. In this chapter, we analyse the development requirements of the population, the status of state intervention and gaps in the development programmes and various suggestions for addressing the problems of the block.

I) The Draft Plan

In response to the direction of the Madras High Court in a public interest litigation, the Tamil Nadu government has prepared a Draft Plan to address the problems of the tribal people of the Kalvarayan hills. The Draft Plan provides an account of the livelihood opportunities and the physical and social infrastructure in the hills. The Draft Plan also identifies the gaps and makes available a roadmap for bridging the gaps.

Road Connectivity

As for as the road connectivity is concerned, Kalvarayan hills has 82 per cent BT road connectivity. Out of total 177 habitations in the hills, 144 habitations have been connected by BT roads and only the remaining 33 habitations are covered by earthen roads. While the whole area is a hilly terrain with scatted habitations of thin populations, the clearance of the Forest Department is necessary for laying BT roads.

Kalvarayan Hills has only one habitation with thousand or above population, 14 habitations with population between 500 and 999, 84 habitations with population between 250 and 499 and 78 habitations with more than 250 population. The only habitation in the first category, 13 habitations in the second category, 72 in the third category and 56 in the last category are connected by BT roads.

In light of the norms laid down in PMGSY, the habitations with 1000 population or above are to be connected with all-weather roads as the first priority. Providing connectivity to habitations having 500-999 population should be taken up next. In the population range 500 and 999, only one habitation namely Thurur with a Population 505 has been left out. In the case of habitations with population less than 500, BT Road connectivity has not been provided to 34 habitations.

The Draft Plan proposes to provide BT road to Thurur on priority and send necessary proposal for obtaining forest clearance. The Highways Department also proposes to put up Valley Side Crash Barrier.

As for bus Transport facilities, Kalvarayan hills is connected to Athur, Salem, Kallakurichi and Thiruvannamalai through nine small buses. However, bus facilities are available only for 56 habitations. The occupancy ratio is also only 30 per cent. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (VPM) Ltd., has issued 765 free bus passes to school students to attend school. Buses are plying two trips-one in the morning and the other in the evening- in the stretch between Vellimalai and Thoradipattu junction. After the completion of the road construction between Thoradipattu – Chinnathirupathi, more hamlets are proposed to be provided with bus facilities.

As there is no separate bus depot in the Kalvarayan hills, buses are operated from Kallakurichi and Sankarapuram depots. As per the current norms, villages with population of more than 1000 have to be provided with bus services. In Kalvarayan Hills, the only habitation with population above 1000 has already been provided with bus transport facility as per norms.

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Bus facilities are also provided to other habitations, taking into account the availability of motorable roads and adequate demand. The Daft Plan says that an inspection will be undertaken to assess the roads in terms of their suitability for operating buses and bus connectivity to the habitations where currently road construction is in progress will be introduced once the construction is completed.

Electricity

In the case of electricity, all the habitations in the KJalvarayan hills have been electrified. The distribution network is made of 68 Distribution Transformers with 22 KV HT lines (171.99 Km) and LT lines (117.95 Km). Further, two 110 KV Sub- stations are maintained and two separate section offices exclusively for Kalvarayan Hills are also functioning.

In the hills, 2614 households are provided with free electricity under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyuth Karan Yojana. Power is provided including 32 three-phase service connections to 101 Mini Pumps and Over Head Tanks (OHT). The Draft Plan proposes to install additional transformers to improve service and meet future needs. The Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency has plans to install 175 Solar Stand- alone street lights in 111 habitations.

Housing

As for housing, 3480 households live in permanent structures, 4443 households live in semi-permanent structures, and 7032 households live in huts. The total number of households is 14,955.

Under the existing norms, pucca and permanent RCC houses should be provided to all houseless BPL households. This means that 7032 hut dwellers are to be provided with houses. The Daft Plan proposes to provide the required houses over a period of three years through the Indira Awaas Yojana and Chief Minister‘s Solar Powered Green House scheme.

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In the case of water supply, the norm is 40 litres per capita per day. The TWAD Board covered 142 habitations with piped water supply schemes in 2013-14 and two more habitations were added in 2014-15.This is augmented by local bodies through Hand Pumps, Mini Power Pumps, Open wells, extension of pipe lines and Over Head Tanks. Both TWAD Board and Local bodies have also provided water supply schemes for schools and Anganwadis in the hills.

As for the functioning of the drinking water sources, out of 461 hand pumps, only 361 are in use. The corresponding figure for power pump is 143 and 110 respectively. The number of mini power pump in use is 134 against the total number of 184. The Daft Plan says that TWAD Board would cover the balance 25 habitations in a phased manner.

The Draft Plan also observes that the failure rate of water sources appears to be high and TWAD Board and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Department should prepare an action plan to improve water catchment areas and water sources to avoid drinking water crisis. At present 19 schools do not have toilet facilities and a proposal would be sent to the Director of Tribal Welfare Department in this regard.

In Kalvarayan hills, there are 4,189 households with toilets and 14 Integrated Women Sanitary Complexes available for the common use. There are 42 schools under the Tribal Welfare department and 6,972 tribal students are studying in the tribal welfare schools. The hostels in these schools are equipped with toilets and bathrooms. However, the school toilets are often found be far from clean and well-maintained.

The Draft Plan proposes to provide the balance 7,196 households with toilets in the coming three years and to improve sanitation condition of the habitations. Schools and hostels that lack functional toilets will be provided with renovated toilets. The Tribal Welfare department has identified toilets for renovation.

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Health

The block has three Primary Health Centres, 18 Health Sub-centres and a Community Health Centre. Besides, three mobile medical units and an ambulance are attached to each PHC. 137 ASHAs are also in service with training for ante-natal care and infant care and treatment for minor ailments.

While institutional deliveries account for 81.1 percent, 91.2 per cent of the children have been immunised. The IMR is 21 per thousand live births and MMR is 78 per lakh live births. Around 30 per cent of women and adolescent girls are anaemic.

Under the existing norms, there must be one Primary Health Centre for every 20,000 population and one Health Sub-centre for every 3,000 population in hilly regions. Given the total population of the block-which is 56,327, there is a need to establish one new Health Sub-centre.

The Draft Plan proposes to set up an additional Health Sub-Centre. It is also proposes to fill up the vacancies in the posts of Medical Officers, Staff nurses, Village Health Nurses and other categories of staffs. To improve healthcare service delivery, it is planned to strengthen the infrastructure and provide more equipment. Capacity development of the personnel will also be undertaken.

Nutrition

Present Status: Weaning food as supplementary nutrition is provided through Integrated Child Development Services Scheme. The beneficiaries are children between 6 months and 36 months as well as expectant women and lactating mothers. The nutrition is provided to bridge the protein energy gap.

The Anganwadi centres functioning under the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme.also provide supplementary feeding and pre-primary education to children in age group of 4-5 years. The block has 85 main and five mini Anganwadi centres. As many as 936 boys and 844 girls between two years and five years are enrolled in these centres. As per norms, the minimum population for establishing a

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main Anganwadi centre in tribal areas is 300, while the minimum population for setting up a mini Anganwadi is 150.

The block should have 78 main centres and 65 mini centres as per the norms. Even though there are 85 main centres, the number of mini centres is only five. There is a need to add 60 mini centers to cover all eligible habitations. Further, with only 71 Anganwadi workers in 90 centres, 19 worker posts are vacant. In the case of Anganwadi helpers, 12 posts are vacant as only 73 posts are filled against the sanctioned posts of 85.

The Draft Plan proposes to fill up the vacancies in the Anganwadi centres and rectify deficiencies with respect to toilets, water supply and electricity. Majority of the centres are found to deficient with respect to these facilities.

Literacy & Education

According to 2011 Census, the literacy rate of Kalvarayan hills is only 59.75 per cent. While the male literacy rate is 75.05 per cent, the female literacy is 44.44 per cent. The gender gap in literacy is more than 30 per cent.

As for the school age population, the 6-11 years age group population is 7355 and 11-14 years age group population is 3774. The enrolment ratio in primary level is estimated to be 99.70 per cent and the corresponding figure for upper primary is 90.48 per cent. The girls‘ enrolment is 99.44 per cent in primary and 86.32 per cent in upper primary. Both School Education department and Tribal Welfare department run schools in the block.

There are 42 primary, 15 upper primary and two high schools in the hills. Four higher secondary schools are also functioning. The Tribal Welfare schools are residential schools. The Tribal Welfare department is running 23 primary schools, 15 Upper primary schools, two high schools and one higher secondary School. All these schools are residential in nature. With the help of Central Government fund, the Ekalaiva Model Residential Higher Secondary School is functioning at Vellimalai.

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The Tribal Welfare department provides various incentives for the educational development of tribal community. The girl students of 1-5th standard receive Rs.500 and the girl students studying in Upper primary level get Rs.1500/- as incentive for continuing the studies. While enrolment and retention scholarship is provided to improve enrolment and retention, free food, oil, soap, mat and shelter are also offered to tribal students.

Even though Kalvarayan hills consists of 177 habitations, only 60 habitations have primary schools. Scatted habitations with low population make it difficult to operate separate schools. The residential schools are considered as the solution to this problem. Despite there are 41 residential schools under the Tribal Welfare department, their performance is hampered by inadequate facilities and high teacher vacancy.

As per the existing norms, primary Schooling should be within a distance of one Km. For the Upper Primary Schools, the distance limit is three Km. Likewise high Schools should be within five Km and Higher Secondary Schools within eight Km. The teacher-student ratio is 1: 30 for Primary Schools and 1: 35 for Upper Primary schools. To improve enrolment and retention in secondary education, the government is also providing free transport and residential facilities. For encouraging the girl students to continue their secondary education there are plans to create hostel facilities in 44 educationally backward blocks.

In the block, most of the schools have teachers as per norms-1:30 in primary and 1:35 in Upper primary. However, in at least four habitations namely Aalathi, Melvellar, Kariyalore and Koodaram additional teachers are required.

In GTR Primary Schools the vacancy level is high and is higher than the Education department schools. The prevailing high level of vacancy in the GTR schools is despite the sanctioning of the posts. When it comes to facilities such as classrooms, furniture, drinking water, toilets and compound wall, Education department schools have these facilities to sufficient extent, while the schools run by Tribal Welfare department are found to be lacking in these facilities.

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The RTE Act stipulates that Upper primary schools must be available within 3 km of every habitation. The norm for upgrading a primary school into an Upper primary school is based on the number of children completing primary education. There is also a ceiling of one Upper primary school/ section for every two Primary schools. However, there are only 11 Upper primary schools against the primary school strength of 60 in Kalvarayan hills.

Given the number of habitations and their remoteness and the distance between them, there should be more Upper primary schools in the block. Despite being residential schools, the schools run by Tribal Welfare department are not able to attract and retain students.

This is because the residential schools lack proper boarding facilities as well as other facilities like water supply and toilets. Due the lack of adequate boarding facilities, both boys and girls are staying within the same classroom. Moreover, the non-stayal of Headmaster/teacher is also resulting in less students staying in the schools.

The block has three High Schools and four Higher Secondary schools. The existing High and Higher Secondary schools are inadequate, given the fact that the block has 177 habitations. Kalvarayan Hills block has no separate office for educational development. The Kalvarayan Hills falls under the jurisdiction of three offices namely Kallakurichi, Sankarapuram and Chinnasalem. This poses problems in obtaining details regarding the educational development parameters for Kalvarayan Hills.

The Daft Plan says that following an assessment of basic facilities in Tribal Welfare schools, strengthening of infrastructure such as water supply arrangements, compound wall, class rooms, and Science lab have been undertaken by the Tribal Welfare department. From the State Balanced Growth Fund, a sum of Rs.12.00 crore has been sanctioned for providing infrastructure facilities.

Livelihood

The 2011 Census estimates that the working population in the block is 32,678 with a worker participation rate of 58 percent. While 12,212 or 37 per cent are

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classified as cultivators, there are 18,005 or 55 per cent agriculture labourers. Majority of the workers amounting to 92 per cent depend on the largely rain-fed agriculture.

As much as 80 per cent of the landholdings are small and marginal. As land rights are beset with problems, majority of the cultivators not able to make use of the benefits of the government programmes. According to the Draft Plan, in the light of the long pending issue of the lands rights of tribals, the Viluppuram District Collector has forwarded a proposal for Rs.63.00 crore for the issue of patta for 6000 acres of forest land.

The Director of Survey and Settlement would prepare a cost estimate for the Survey work involving Tahsildars, Special Deputy Collector and Forest Settlement Officer.

Agriculture and allied activities

The Net Area Sown in the block is 13,174 Ha with agricultural crops accounting for 5,200 Ha and horticultural crops for 7,974 Ha. While traditional millets and coarse cereals like maize are the major agricultural crops, the major horticulture crops are tapioca, turmeric, beans and coleus. Mulberry cultivation is also undertaken in about 25 acres by 25 farmers

Dug wells are the main sources of irrigation and 1049 wells are used for irrigation. Even though 4997 families are estimated to be directly involved in Agriculture, there is no block level Agriculture department office to offer extension services. Animal Husbandry could offer subsidiary employment and augment the household income of landless agricultural labourers and small and marginal farmers. The sector could also reduce migration and empower women with income of their own. Backyard poultry farming is popular among the households in the block. In 2011, the livestock population in the block consisted of a cattle population of 20,400 and a poultry population of 23 000.

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However, the ban on goat grazing and inadequate pasture lands are hampering sheep and goat rearing in the block. While only one milk route is operated in the area, there are no Milk Producer Cooperative Societies.

Employment Guarantee Scheme

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was introduced in Kalvarayan Hills block along with other blocks in Viluppuram district. While 14, 081 families have been registered and 35, 796 job cards have been issued, the average person days has been only 20 with an average wage of Rs.105.86. In the year 2014-15, the average person days is as low as ten.

In Kalvarayan Hills, there are 46 clusters spread over 15 Panchayats. Under MGNREGS, activities like improvement of roads, formation of farm ponds, tree plantation and desilting of check dams are undertaken.

The Draft Plan proposes that aadditional employment opportunities need to be identified in the village Panchayat itself and the mechanism to provide due employment opportunities to all habitations in the village need to be evolved. If the employment generation under the MGNREGS in 2014-15 is taken into account, Panchayats without any exception did not provide 100 days of work.

It is proposed that given the scattered nature of habitations, more clusters could be formed so that more number of works could be made available. Given the convergence guidelines of the scheme, a host of works such as land development, afforestation, agriculture, animal husbandry, horticulture and sericulture can be taken up under the MGNREGS.

PudhuVaazhvu Project

The Kalvarayan Hills block is provided with a Tamil Nadu PudhuVaazhvu Project. With the help of the participatory identification of Poor (PIP) process, 7972 families have been identified as poor.

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The block has 432 women self-help Groups. This includes 44 special self-help Groups of differently-abled persons. Also, 15 panchayat level federations as well as 17 Livelihood sub-committees are in operation. The Amudha Surabi Fund has received Rs.3.106 crore. In all, 1381 SHG members, 465 differently abled persons and 1217 vulnerable people have benefited.

The livelihood activities undertaken are rearing milch animals, goat rearing, millets cultivation, vegetable cultivation, and banana cultivation. As many as 32 Village Poverty Reduction Committees are in operation. An assistance of Rs. 3.26 crore has been provided as Village fund for formation of Community Based Organizations, conduct trainings, formation of SHG, identification of differently-abled and vulnerable and to provide individual livelihood assistance. For the Common Livelihood Groups, Rs. 24.98 lakh has been provided as infrastructure development fund.

The PudhuVaazhvu Project has also helped the target population to receive many facilities from the government departments. While DDRO has distributed aid and appliance for 44 differently-abled persons, the Revenue department has provided maintenance grant to 67 members. Similarly MGNREGS job cards have been provided to 4084 families.

It is found that the block has opportunities for petty trading and servicing of agricultural implements, pump sets, tractors and power tillers. There is also scope for activities such as electrical and electronic items repairing and plumbing. However, the general lack of entrepreneurial skills among the local population comes in way of many opting for new non-farm sector activities.

Given the limitation of agriculture in the hills, skill training can be of great help in improving the livelihood opportunities of the tribal community. While 3594 youths have been identified for skill training, 1932 youths have already been provided skill training under the Pudhu Vaazhvu Project.

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Employment and Training department runs an Industrial Training Institute for the tribal youth. But the institute is located in Sankarapuram, which is 55 Km from Kalvarayan hills. As a result, only 11 youths have been benefitted from Kalvarayan Hills. By shifting the institute to the hills the institute could attract more local youth and also offer specific training skills suited to the community.

The Draft Plan says that the District Industries centre proposes to train the local community in wood carving, wooden furniture manufacturing, value added tapioca, food products, ready-made garments, computer DTP work, cell phone service and ice cream and confectionery items manufacturing. Six such training programmes involving 50 candidates are planned at the cost of Rs 4.50 lakh.

Further, Self employment loans such as Unemployed Youth Employment Generation Programme (UYEGP), Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and New Entrepreneur Cum Enterprise Development Scheme ( NEEDS) would be provided to start micro, small and medium enterprises in the hills. It is proposed that 75 units will be set up with total loans amounting to Rs 75 lakh by 2017-18.

Similarly skill training will be provided under the Pudhu Vaazhvu scheme for the tribal youth. Training will be provided in driving, masonry, tailoring, computer operation, JCB operation and nursing. In 2015-16, 665 youth will be trained and 992 youth will be trained over the next two years. According to the Draft Report, action plans for wood work related skill training like carpentry for the local youth and for setting up food processing and value-addition centres are awaited from DIC and Tamil Nadu Skill Development Commission.

It is also proposed that more assistance would be given to SHG members for various livelihood activities Under the Pudhu Vaazhvu Project. They activities include millet cultivation, vegetable cultivation, banana cultivation, rearing milch animals, sheep and backyard poultry. From 2015-16 to 2017-18, assistance will be given to 5961 beneficiaries to the extent of 2087.05 lakh.

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II ) Development of Kalrayan hills – Special Cluster strategy under Puduvalzhvu project

Agriculture is the main occupation of the local community. Tapioca is the major horticultural crop which is cultivated over an area of 1542.16 ha. The other crops are chillies, banana, turmeric and coriander which are grown only in some pockets. The major food crops are cereals and millets (paddy, Cholam, Samai, Thenai and Varagu)-which are cultivated in larger areas. There are about 486 wells which are used for irrigating crops. Natural springs are also utilized for irrigation wherever possible. Area under irrigation is only 622.37 ha. i.e., nearly 3.59% of the total cropped area. Most of the crops are raised only under rain fed conditions. The total number of holdings is around 14672 and small and marginal farmers account for 87 per cent of the landholdings.

Total population of the block is 49,526 with a female to male ratio of 935. The ST population is predominant in the block accounting for 93.78 per cent of the total population. The tribals in the block are ‗Malayalis‘ The Malayalis in this region are well-built and sturdy and capable of doing hard work. The literacy rate is poor among the local population.

SWOT Matrix of Kalrayan Hills:

Strength

 Special Cluster office (15 Panchayats)

 Woman SHG‘s (150)

 Local body members

 Youth members

 Govt. departments

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Weakness:

 Most of people illiterate  More no of Habitations  Habitations are scattered, the distance between the habitation are too long  Lack of transport facilities  Migration.  SHGs become defunct easily  Cosuming illicit liquor  Lack of awareness and interest in general  PLF not functioning properly  Not having proper road facilities.

Opportunities  Having resources (Hill based)  Unemployed youth  Scope of more group formation  Agricultural based activities  Group economic activities  Rural technologies (bio gas, Solar light)

Threat  Political pressure (Local Body)  Hilly area

Proposed new strategy for Kalrayan Hills.

In Kalrayan Hills all the 15 panchayats are having more than one habitation. The habitations are scattered and separated by long distance. As a result, the members are not participating in PLF meetings. This in turn leads to poor communication of the project activity. Instead of having one VPRC for a panchayat, we can divide the panchayats according to the number of habitations and its location and bring them under separate VPRCs. One panchayat may have more than one VPRC.

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Some selected members from each VPRC can conduct regular monthly meetings at the panchayat level. A member from the community may be selected and given the project training to carry out the project activities. He/ she can be paid from VPRC or the project. The performance of the member can be monitored by the PFT. The members can attend the PFT staff meeting and submit his/her report. Since transport facilities are not available, a vehicle (Jeep) is required for accessing the habitations without difficulty and ensuring close monitoring.

III) Interventions by State Planning Commission under State Balanced Growth Fund (SBGF) in Kalrayan Hills block

A Perspective Plan with details of development interventions required in the Kalrayan block was prepared by the SPC for Rs 2.5 crores in July 2013. In December 2013, 17 projects worth of Rs. 22.54 crores were sanctioned for undertaking various development works in the block. The projects include provision of basic infrastructure facilities in the GTR schools, improving the livelihood of the tribal people, educational improvement, improvement in healthcare facilities, provision of residential quarters to medical officers and staff, skill training to youth, building check dams for the augmentation of drinking water sources, establishing milk collection centres and marketing of milk, promotion of millet cultivation and value addition. (Appendix 5 provides more details about the schemes undertaken under SBGF in the block)

Status of development schemes under SBGF in the block

 Construction of Check dams and recharge shafts for improving drinking water supply sources has been completed.

 For improving infrastructure facilities in GTR schools, constriction of toilets, water supply facilities and compound walls are under progress. Construction of compound walls has been completed in 6 schools and the remaining 33 works are under progress. Renovation of school building and construction of additional buildings are also under progress.  Remedial Education centres are functioning in 40 villages to provide evening classes to weak children.

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 Blood storage centre is functioning with the necessary equipment  Construction of residential quarters for medical officers, nurses and health staff is nearing completion  Interventions for improving the health and nutritional status of tribes are underway through a survey followed by suitable IEC activities.

 For improving the livelihood of farmers, silver oak seedlings have been distributed to 750 farmers and demonstration plots have been established by 150 farmers in 10 villages. 250 farmers were also taken for exposure visit. Tapioca cutter were distributed to 500 farmers.  Milk collection centers have started functioning in 3 places and in one village the work is under progress.  Training has been completed to CLG members and machineries have been purchased for establishing the millet processing units for enhancing the price and value-addition in millets.  Youth Study Centers in 32 VPRC are put in place. Training in driving, computer skills, JCB operation, nursing and beautician trade is being provided to the identified youth in the block.

IV ) Child Labour in Kalrayan Hills and role of UNICEF

Integrated Child Protection project supported by UNICEF has been implemented in Salem district since 2009. The objective of the project is to provide protective environment for all children-especially to children working in cotton seed farms. The children from hilly region–Kalrayan hills and Javathu hills-are taken to Salem district and involved in cross pollination work from Oct-Jan. Usually farmers do not employ local children because of the nature of work. The children have to work for 12 hours from 6 am to 6 pm. A survey conducted by UNICEF reveals that 73 percent of children are from Vilupuram (44 percent) and Tiruvannamalai (29 percent) districts.

Various measures have been taken for preventing child labour in cotton seed farms. Consultations were also organized in Kalrayan hills and Javathu hills. However, the problem still exists. In 2014, 14 child labourers were rescued and 10 among them were from Koodaram and Uppur villages of Kalrayan hills block. There is a need to

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work in convergence for ensuring education for all children in the block. According to District Child Protection Officer, Vilupuram district, Village Level Child Protection Committees (VLCPCs) have been formed in all villages in the district and meetings are organized regularly to discuss the issues of children including child labour. (For details regarding the child labour and school education issues in the block see Appendix 6 on Unicef Consultation report)

There are many success stories of child labour rescue and rehabilitation in Salem district under National Child Labour Project(NCLP) .(see Appendix 7) .The project can be extended to Viluppuram district also especially in Kalrayan Hills block where child labour is an important development issue.

V) NGOs in Kalrayan Hills :

There are some NGOs have knowledge and experience in working with Tribals whose expertise can be used for undertaking development work in Kalrayan Hills. Appendix 8 provides details of such NGOs whose collaboration will help implementation of government programmes including under SBGF .

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Chapter- 6

Conclusions and Recommendations

The objective of the study is to understand the factors underlying the socio- economic backwardness in relation to the literacy rate in Vilupuram district- ranked as the third lowest in the state. The literacy rate in the district is only 72.08 per cent against the state average of 80.33 per cent. Since the district is the second lowest in terms of Human Development Index , the socio-economic factors assume significance with respect to literacy and educational attainments.

The study was carried out in a comparative perspective in two blocks- in the most backward block in terms of socio-economic conditions as well as in relatively less backward block. Towards this end, block level analysis of secondary data on socio economic backwardness has been undertaken using a number of development indicators. We have also conducted field surveys with group interviews and household surveys in a selected set of villages.

These exercises are aimed at developing an understanding of the influence of socio-economic factors like caste, income, employment, land holdings , assets, poverty etc on literacy and education at the local level. We have also drawn attention to the relevant issues with the help of a review of existing studies focussing on the linkage between education and backwardness. In what follows, we summarise the findings of the study, conclusions and recommendations for interventions.

Conclusions

Poverty and Education

It has been well established from various studies that education and poverty are inter-related and there is a vicious cycle operating with poverty and education. While lack of education results in low income, low incomes could hamper poor children acquiring education. As factors like poverty is related .to socio-economic backwardness, the study analysed the influence of various factors related to backwardness and the linkage of such factors with literacy and education.

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Literacy and Gender Gap

As per the 2011 census, the literacy rate of the district is 72.08 per cent . The male population has a literacy rate of 81 per cent and the female population has 64 per cent literacy rate. As a result, the gender gap is quite significant in the district- amounting to 17 per cent. The positive development is the fact that the overall literacy rate had improved and gender gap had come down between 2001 and 2011. In the case of literacy, Viluppuram, Chinna Salem, Marakkanam and Kandamangalam are the top four blocks among the 22 blocks in the district with literacy rate ranging from 77 to 88 per cent. The bottom four blocks are Risihivandyam, Thirunallur, Ullundurpettai and Thyagathurgam with literacy rates ranging from 63-68 per cent. While gender gap with respect to literacy is the highest in Koliyanur, Kandmanagalam,Vanur and Vikravandi, the lowest blocks are Viluppuram, Kallakurichi, Thirukoilur and Ulundurpet.

Enrolment Ratio

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is around 100 percent across all the blocks in the district. When it comes to Net Enrolment Ratio (NER)–Primary, the district‘s performance is 99.79 percent while the state average being 99.80 per cent. In seven blocks, NER-Primary is better than the district average. When considered taking all communities into account, boys show better enrolment than girls in NER–Primary. However, this does not hold true for SC and ST communities. The NER-Upper Primary of the district is 99.39 percent against the state average of 99.10 percent. It is observed that the ratio is less for the SC students than that of other students. Similarly, the ratio is less in the case of girls than boys.

Dropout Rate

The dropout rate is one per cent for the entire district. The state dropout rate is a slightly lower 0. 95 per cent. Thirukoilur and Viluppuram blocks show higher dropout rates than the district. The dropout rate is relatively less among the SC students and highest among the ST students. However, the dropout rate is higher

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among girls than boys across all communities. This is observed with respect to both primary and upper primary schooling .

Out of School Children (OSC)

Child labour prevalent in the district is seen as an important reason for children remaining out of the school . Because of poverty, children from Kalrayan hills migrate to Salem and Dharmapuri districts and are employed in the cotton farms in the districts. A Unicef survey has identified 463 migrant children in 2012 and a project for their rehabilitation is now being implemented. The role of some NGOs in both identifying the OSC children and bringing them to the learning process needs mention.(eg.CARDS) With the help of such NGOs, awareness about the importance of education can be created.

Transition Rate

In both the primary and upper primary levels, the district has a better transition rate than the state. The transition rate is better among the SC students than among other students. However, the transition rate is lower than the district average in otherwise developed blocks such as Vilupuram and Koliyanur.

Education Development Index (EDI)

Education Development Index (EDI) has four components namely access to schools, infrastructure facilities, teachers availability and teaching quality. Rishivanthiyam, Kallakurichi and Ulundurpet blocks are ranked as backward in primary and upper primary education in terms of the EDI. These blocks need help to improve their performance in various aspects of education development. Gingee, Viluppuram and Koliyanur blocks are identified as educationally developed ones. The ranking of the blocks remain the same for both the primary and secondary education.

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Linkage between Education Attainment and Socio Economic Conditions – Findings from the household survey

In order to understand the influence of socio-economic factors on education attainment at the field level, a household survey was carried out in four villages falling in two blocks. The blocks were selected on the basis of a backwardness index: one block which is least developed or most backward viz. Kalrayan Hills (also mainly tribal populated) and another block viz. Koliyanur which is relatively less backward were selected. The survey covered various socio economic groups. The findings of the survey are given below.

Land ownership

Landlessness is reported in 52 percent of the sample households of the survey. Landlessness is 53 per cent in Koliyanur block and 48 percent in Kalvarayan block. Among the land holders, marginal farmers owning up to 2.5 acre constitute about two thirds of the total households. The share of marginal farmers is 73 per cent in Kalrayan Hills (most backward block) and 58 per cent in Koliyanur block.

Source of Income

Agriculture accounts for about 60 per cent of the income in all the villages. However, the relative share of agriculture income is larger in tribal villages (Kalroyan hills) than in non-tribal villages (Koliyanur). When average household incomes are considered, non-tribal villages are better placed than tribal villages following the general pattern set by other indicators. The fact that the farm income is lowest in Thoradi pattu in Kalrayan hills could point to low returns realised from cultivation in tribal villages.

Literacy and Educational attainment of households

The developed block Koliyanur is far ahead of the under developed block Kalrayan Hills in literacy. The literacy level of the former is more than double that of the latter. Secondary and post-school attainments are also higher in Koliyanur block than the tribal block. Even within the tribal block, there are variations in the literacy

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rate among villages. In the tribal village of Thoradipattu, for instance, the illiteracy rate is around 42 percent-against the district average of 28 percent. Thus there are considerable variations in the level of literacy and education.

Water and sanitation

It is an important problem faced by both blocks, but more in the Kalrayan hills than the non-tribal block. Lack of access to safe water is more pronounced among SC and ST households than other households.

Indebtedness

It is found that around 60 percent of the households are indebted. Indebtedness is more prevalent in tribal villages than in non-tribal villages. As for the purpose of borrowing, while 28 percent of the loans were availed for productive purposes, most of the loans were borrowed for household consumption. Only around 7 per cent of the loans were borrowed for education purpose.

Ration cards

While the largest category is the BPL in Koliyanaur block, the AAY is predominant in the tribal block. This shows the difference in the relative position of blocks in terms of the officially defined poverty levels of households.

Drop out

It is observed that most of the dropouts occurred at 6th and 10 th standards .More dropouts took place in Koliyanur than in Kalrayan Hills. Lack of interest in studies was the most cited reason for dropping out. Financial problem was cited as the reason- next to lack of interest- in the tribal village of Thoradi pattu. It was also found during the survey that children from Kalrayan hills were employed in cotton farms in Salem and Dharmapuri districts due to poverty.

As many as 463 migrant children were identified by a Unicef survey in 2012 and a project for rehabilitation of these children is being implemented. In other villages, where lack of interest was cited as the main reason by most of the dropped out students,

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attention needs to be paid to quality of teaching and school governance. Migration of families of drop out children could be reduced by enhancing the employment and livelihood opportunities for poor households in these villages.

Scholarship

While around 17 per cent of the households received scholarships, 40 percent of scholarships were availed by students undergoing higher education (BE,BSC &Diploma). Of the remaining 60 per cent, the largest share of 30 per cent was availed at 6th standard. Most of the Higher education scholarships were received by students in the Koliyanur block and most of the school-level scholarships were received by the students in the Kalrayan Hills.

Correlation between educational attainment of Household members and their socio-economic conditions

The evidence from household survey shows that social and economic factors play a important role in determining the educational status of household members. Regression analysis also indicates that overall there is a strong relationship between education attainment and socioeconomic conditions of households especially caste, per capita income and official poverty status of HH.

Kalrayan Hills and State Intervention

The State Planning Commission (SPC) has undertaken a number of initiatives under the State Balanced Growth Fund to solve the development problems of Kalrayan Hills ,the most backward block of the district. The initiatives started off by the SPC include provision of basic infrastructure facilities in GTR schools, improving the livelihood of the tribal people and improving the educational and healthcare facilities. There are also measures for the provision of residential quarters to medical officers and staff, skill training to the local youth, check dams for augmentation of drinking water sources, establishing milk collection centres and marketing and promotion of millet cultivation and value addition.

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Tamil Nadu Government has prepared a Draft Plan for the development of the Kalrayan hills block in response to the direction of the Madras High Court in a public interest litigation. Apart from presenting an account of the existing livelihood opportunities and the physical and social infrastructure, the Draft Plan details the development gaps in the most backward block in the district. The Plan also provides a roadmap for bridging the gaps in terms of development requirements. When it is implemented, the Draft Plan would meet the problems related to the socio-economic backwardness including education of the Kalrayan hills.

Recommendations

Though Viluppuram district is considered as the most backward in literacy and education, there are significant differences among its blocks ,some blocks are educationally more backward than others. Based on the Education Development Index (EDI), Rishivanthiyam, Kallakurichi and Ulundurpet blocks are identified as backward blocks whereas Gingee, Viluppuram and Koliyanur are ranked as relatively educationally developed blocks. The EDI takes into account both primary and upper primary education. The backward blocks require special attention in various aspects of education development.

Gender gap is an important issue identified by the study. The gender gap is found increasing as the level of education increases. Blocks such as Koliyanur, Kandmanagalam, Vanur and Vikravandi need special attention on this score.

As poverty and education are intricately linked, livelihood programmes should be undertaken in areas that are backward both in terms of education and socio- economic development. Rishivanthiyam, Thiyagadurgam, Ulundurpet,Thirukoilur ,Mugaiyur are such blocks lagging in education as well as socio-economic development. The blocks identified as backward require special attention in various aspects of education and socio-economic development by the state .

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Literacy Gender Gap in Education • Rishivandayam Literacy • Rishvandhyam • Thirunallur • Koliyanur • Kallakurichi • Udundurpettai • Kandamangalam • Ulundurpettai • Thiyagathurgam • Vanur • Thirukoilur • Vikravandi

Backward Blocks Identified For Intervention

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Returns from agriculture are reported to be low in some villages especially in tribal areas. Agriculture development programmes are needed in these places. Increasing income from non-farm sector is also important. Agro processing industries will help boost the local economy by creating employment and preventing of migration.

Poverty-driven child labour is one of the important factors for dropping out. The existing development schemes like Agriculture Land Development Scheme, Entrepreneur Development Scheme, Self Employment for youth, Pudhu Vazhvu etc can be better utilised in the backward blocks. Schemes initiated by the State Planning Commission under the State Balanced Growth Fund are an important contributor towards this end.

Road and transport facilities are other important factors and any improvement in these facilities would positively impact the attendance of both teachers and students. Filling up of teacher vacancies with locally available qualified candidates will be of help in reducing the absence of teachers in single-teacher schools. Local youth with teacher-training could be employed in the tribal areas. Relaxation of the appointment norms for these youth would help in improving the situation.

Regular monitoring of attendance and dropping out would go a long way in improving the educational attainments. The involvement of local organizations such as PRI, VEC and NGOs would help improve the school governance and education attainment.

To reduce the drop-outs from migrant families, especially from hill areas like Kalrayan hills, residential schools for both boys and girls are required. Without safe residential schools, the girl students are likely to drop out and migrate with their parents. Special schools for drop-outs can be opened in the blocks where the number of drop-outs is significant.

Health check up of children in the schools are supposed to be conducted periodically by the doctors from local PHCs. It is reported that the health check-ups are often not carried out regularly. In most cases, there is at best one check-up in a whole year. Worm infestation, acute respiratory diseases and dental problems are the important health issues faced by the school-going children.

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References

1. Jandhyala B G Tilak,(2005) Post‐Elementary Education, Poverty and Development in India, Post‐Basic Education and Training Working Paper Series ‐ Nº 6 , Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh

2. Sharma, Savita (2004) Poverty Estimates in India: Some Key Issues. ERD Working Paper no.51. Manila: Asian Development Bank.

3. Jandhyala B G Tilak,(2005) Jandhyala B G Tilak,(2005)-Ibid

4 http://www.chronicpoverty.org/uploads/publication_files/WP131_Rose_and_ Dyer.pdf

5. Report of the working group on urban poverty, slums, and serivce delivery system Steering Committee on Urbanization Planning Commission, New Delhi 2011

6 . Govinda, Rangachar (1995): ―Status of Primary Education of the Urban Poor in India: An Analytical Review‖, IIEP Research Report No 105, UNESCO: International Institute for Educational Planning, Paris.

7. Urban poverty and basic education deprivation 2002, National Institute of Advanced Studies IISc Campus Bangalore-560012

8. Monica Banerjee, Elementary Education of the Urban Poor: Policy context, text and Practice in Delhi,Economic and Political Weekly, Vol - XLIX No. 37, September 13, 2014

9. Cameron, S. (2012). Education, Urban Poverty and Migration: Evidence from Bangladesh and Vietnam‘, Working Paper 2012-15, UNICEF Office of Research, Florence.

10. The World Population Situation in 2014 A Concise Report United Nations. New York, 2014,Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division

11. Leela visaria, Population, Education and Development, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol - XLIX No. 45, November 08, 2014

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12. Barbara Harris- White and Aseem Prakash, Social Discrimination in India: A Case for Economic Citizenship,IHD and Oxfam India Working Paper Series, Institute for Human Development, New Delhi.

13. Leela visaria (2014),Ibid

14 . Children, Social Exclusion and Development, Working Paper Series, Volume I, Number 01,Exclusion and Discrimination in Schools: Experiences of Dalit Children Geetha B. Nambissan,Indian Institute of Dalit Studies and UNICEF

15. R. Shanmugam, Monitorable Indicators and Performance:Tamil Nadu Monograph 17,Madras School of Economics, Chennai, 2012

16. Caste, Class and School Local Education Report,National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, 2002

17. Unicef (2011): Identifying Fifty Most Backward Blocks In Tamilnadu, A Report Of The Study ,by PRIA Foundation, Chennai.

18. SPC (2014) : Evaluation study on economic backwardness in Dharmapuri district with special reference to literacy, (funded by Tamilnadu State Planning Commission), PRIA Foundation ,Chennai

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Appendix 1

District wise Human Development Index Tamilnadu- 2011

No. District HDI-2011 Rank 1 Chennai 0.817 1 2 Kanniyakumari 0.812 2 3 Coimbatore 0.802 3 4 VIrudhunagar 0.795 4 5 Thoothukodi 0.789 5 6 The Nilgiris 0.787 6 7 Kancheepuram 0.787 7 8 Thirunelveli 0.777 8 9 Thiruvallur 0.776 9 10 Namakkal 0.768 10 11 Thiruchirapalli 0.766 11 12 Vellore 0.756 12 13 Krishnagiri 0.748 13 14 Salem 0.747 14 15 Erode 0.746 15 16 Ramanthapuram 0.744 16 17 Cuddalore 0.742 17 18 Dindigul 0.741 18 19 Karur 0.740 19 20 Thanjavur 0.737 20 21 Madurai 0.736 21 22 Sivagangai 0.733 22 23 Nagapattinam 0.728 23 24 Pudukkotai 0.723 24 25 Theni 0.722 25 26 Thiruvarur 0.720 26 28 Thiruvannamalai 0.713 28 29 Dharmapuri 0.707 29 30 Viluppuram 0.704 30 31 Perambalur 0.692 31 32 Tamil Nadu 0.765 Source: Dept. of Economics and Statistics, GoTN, Census of India (2011) and State Planning Commission (TN)

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Appendix-2

Ranking of Blocks in Viluppuram district based on Composite Backwardness Index

Indicators Not Percenta Not Not Childre Acces Not ge of Transition Access GER GER n never s to Access to Illiterac Malnour rate from Name of the Blocks to IMR MMR Primar Seconda enrolled Toilet Pucca y Rate ished Primary to Drinkin y ry in Facilit Houses Childre Upper g Water schools ies n(0-5) Primary Koliyanur 0.66 0.014 0.231 0.017 0.078 0.12 0.001 0.277 0.338 0.00004 0.0098 Sangarapuram 0.66 0.038 0.345 0.015 0.178 0.31 0.003 0.081 0.299 0.00004 0.0084 Gingee 0.77 0.024 0.167 0.026 0.220 0.27 0.003 0.159 0.326 0.00004 0.0022 Thirukoilur 0.72 0.092 0.185 0.016 0.105 0.33 0.003 0.214 0.272 0.00004 0.0023 Vikkiravandi 0.73 0.053 0.241 0.019 0.140 0.24 0.002 0.436 0.271 0.00004 0.0025 Vanur 0.68 0.068 0.283 0.016 0.179 0.22 0.002 0.521 0.236 0.00004 0.0016 Mailam 0.85 0.039 0.268 0.017 0.056 0.28 0.003 0.407 0.265 0.00004 0.0079 Chinnasalem 0.80 0.043 0.404 0.014 0.071 0.30 0.003 0.105 0.385 0.00004 0.0026 Thiruvennainallur 0.61 0.025 0.314 0.025 0.106 0.32 0.003 0.357 0.337 0.00004 0.0067 Vallam 0.79 0.060 0.245 0.020 0.052 0.27 0.003 0.532 0.304 0.00004 0.0076 Olakkur 0.72 0.037 0.284 0.024 0.010 0.30 0.003 0.431 0.404 0.00004 0.0013 Kallakurichi 0.83 0.054 0.141 0.018 0.107 0.30 0.003 0.464 0.352 0.00004 0.0025 Melmalayanur 0.70 0.065 0.420 0.014 0.098 0.29 0.003 0.412 0.350 0.00004 0.0047 Kandamangalam 0.76 0.051 0.447 0.018 0.090 0.23 0.002 0.757 0.104 0.00004 0.0011 Thirunavalur 0.72 0.067 0.239 0.008 0.010 0.35 0.004 0.567 0.248 0.00004 0.0025 Kanai 0.75 0.048 0.315 0.024 0.166 0.28 0.003 0.558 0.316 0.00004 0.0029 Mugaiyur 0.79 0.037 0.309 0.017 0.184 0.28 0.003 0.431 0.292 0.00004 0.0097 Marakkanam 0.60 0.020 0.527 0.014 0.150 0.21 0.002 0.607 0.396 0.00004 0.0028 Thiyagadurgam 0.72 0.013 0.409 0.018 0.095 0.34 0.003 0.357 0.299 0.00004 0.0115 Ulundurpet 0.78 0.053 0.585 0.009 0.030 0.35 0.003 0.057 0.394 0.00004 0.0077 Rishivandiyam 0.62 0.168 0.491 0.021 0.121 0.37 0.004 0.643 0.356 0.00004 0.0081 Kalrayanhills 0.69 0.088 0.34 0.032 0.010 0.40 0.004 0.676 0.534 0.00004 0.11

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Appendix 2 ... continued Indicators Share of Female Compo Not Transition pupil Drop out Elected site Name of the Block rate from Drop out Female Irrigation Cropping sex teacher in Representat Backwa Rank Upper Primary secondary Illiteracy Intensity intensity ratio ratio primary ivies in rdneess to Secondary (primary) RLBs and Index ULBs Koliyanur 0.0112 0.007 0.016 0.169 0.42 0.0101 0.0112 1.003 0.31 0.185 1 Sangarapuram 0.0024 0.003 0.021 0.390 0.31 0.01 0.0086 0.982 0.39 0.202 2 Gingee 0.0175 0.004 0.011 0.349 0.39 0.0102 0.0105 0.983 0.4 0.207 3 Thirukoilur 0.0059 0.014 0.027 0.416 0.35 0.01 0.0102 0.964 0.44 0.209 4 Vikkiravandi 0.014 0.007 0.012 0.316 0.39 0.0086 0.01 0.982 0.39 0.213 5 Vanur 0.0059 0.003 0.026 0.297 0.41 0.0129 0.0104 0.981 0.34 0.215 6 Mailam 0.004 0.004 0.013 0.369 0.35 0.0102 0.0104 0.995 0.36 0.215 7 Chinnasalem 0.0059 0.002 0.013 0.398 0.41 0.01 0.0102 0.981 0.42 0.219 8 Thiruvennainallur 0.0203 0.012 0.030 0.428 0.35 0.01 0.0112 0.973 0.46 0.220 9 Vallam 0.0045 0.001 0.011 0.366 0.41 0.0111 0.0122 0.976 0.37 0.223 10 Olakkur 0.0038 0.000 0.020 0.388 0.41 0.0107 0.0111 0.999 0.44 0.225 11 Kallakurichi 0.012 0.010 0.012 0.396 0.33 0.01 0.0102 0.969 0.5 0.226 12 Melmalayanur 0.015 0.006 0.012 0.383 0.38 0.0113 0.0125 0.998 0.38 0.228 13 Kandamangalam 0.0048 0.004 0.012 0.308 0.41 0.01 0.0123 1.006 0.33 0.228 14 Thirunavalur 0.0217 0.012 0.023 0.478 0.34 0.01 0.0111 0.965 0.48 0.228 15 Kanai 0.0136 0.005 0.017 0.367 0.39 0.0097 0.0106 0.977 0.4 0.232 16 Mugaiyur 0.019 0.011 0.025 0.375 0.41 0.0086 0.0109 0.977 0.46 0.233 17 Marakkanam 0.013 0.004 0.019 0.273 0.38 0.0104 0.0108 0.998 0.43 0.233 18 Thiyagadurgam 0.0355 0.015 0.035 0.445 0.39 0.0094 0.0105 1 0.47 0.234 19 Ulundurpet 0.0238 0.013 0.030 0.448 0.41 0.01 0.0111 0.998 0.49 0.235 20 Rishivandiyam 0.0046 0.012 0.035 0.471 0.37 0.0101 0.0102 0.973 0.51 0.260 21 Kalrayanhills 0.145 0.019 0.042 0.556 0.50 0.01 0.0105 0.988 0.33 0.274 22

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Appendix 3

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136 Appendix 4.

List of Arts and Science, Education and Engineering colleges in Villupuram District

Sl.No District Region Govt/Aided Domain Address

1 Villupuram Trichy GOVT ARTS Arignar Anna Government Arts College, SVS Avenue, Villupuram, 605 602. 04146 290 681.

2 Villupuram Trichy GOVT ARTS Thiru.A.Govindaswami Government. Arts College, Tindivanam – 604 002.

3 Villupuram Trichy AIDED ARTS Srimath Siva Gnana Balaya Swamigal Tamil College, Mailam – 604 304.

4 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Aavalurpettai Arts & Science College, (Co-Ed), Aavalurpettai, Gingee.

5 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Bharathi Arts & Sci., College., [Co-Ed], Thatchur, Kallakurichi, Villupuram - 606 202.

6 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS BWDA College Of Arts And Science, Kolliangunam Village, Tindivanam.

7 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Immaculate Women‘s College, Sankarapuram, Viriyur. Villlupuram Taluk.

137 8 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Indira Gandhi Jayanthi College, [W], 88E, Gingee Rd., Tindivanam – 604 001.

9 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Jawaharlal Nehru Women's College, Paligramam, Ulundhurpettai (Tk).

10 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Joseph College., Of Arts & Sci., [Co-Ed], Thirunavalur - 607 204.

11 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS K.S. Raja Arts And Science College, Chellapirati Village, Gingee Tk.

12 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS R.T.J. Arts And Science College, Gingee.

13 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Rajeswari College Of Arts And Science For Women, Vanur.

14 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS RK Shanmugam College., Of Arts & Sci., [Co-Ed], Indili Vil., Ulaganathan [P].

15 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Rook Arts & Science College ( Co-Ed), Perambai, Vanur Vattam.

16 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Sangamam Arts & Science College, Annamangalam, Gingee Tk, Villupuram District.

138 17 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Saraswathi Arts & Science College, (Co – Ed), Olakkur, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram District - 604 307.

18 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS SIGA College Of Management And Computer Science, Kappiampuliyur Village, Villupuram.

19 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Sithar Sivagnani Arts & Science College For Men, Pommaiyapalayam.

20 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Sri Aravindar College., Of Arts & Sci., [Co-Ed], Pondy-Mailam Main Road, Agasampattu.

21 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Sri Lakshmi Arts And Science College, Bangaram, Thottium Post, Kallakurichi Taluk, Villupuram District.

22 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Sri Saradha Mahavidyalayam Arts And Science Women College, Vivekananda Nr, New Edaikkal, Pullur Village.

23 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Sri Vinayaka Arts And Science College, Ulundurpet.

139 24 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Swamy Vivekananda Arts & Science College, (Co- Ed), Laxmipuram, Orathur X Road, Gingee Main Road, Villupuram - 605 602.

25 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Theivanai Ammal Women‘S College, Trichy Trunk Rd, Villupuram.

26 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Thirukoilur College., Of Arts & Sci., Sandhapet, Thirukoilur - 605 757.

27 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE ARTS Valliammai ( W ) Arts And Science College, S. Kollur Village, Vedakarai Thazhanur.

28 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN A.K.T. Memorial College Of Education, Neelamangalam, Kallakurichi, Villupuram District.-606 202. Ph: 04151- 223963, 223655

29 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Bharathi College Of Education, Near Power House, Salem-Chennai Main Road, Chinnasalem 606 201. Villupuram District Ph: 04151- 222288

140 30 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Bharathiyar College Of Education, Urani Village, Pallakadu Village Road, Mandavai Post, Marakkanam – 604 303 Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram District Ph: 04147 – 239204

31 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Billgates College Of Education, Gengavaram, Kanakkan Kuppam Post, Gingee Taluk, Villupuram District – 604 151 Ph: 04145-201600 / 293950

32 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Danie College Of Education, Melkalavai, Kariamangalam X Road, Chellaperattai Post - 604210, Gingee Taluk, Villupuram District Ph: 9360763662/ 04145

33 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Dr. R.K. Shanmugam College Of Education, Indili, Ulagankkathan Post, Kallakurichi Taluk, Villupuram District-606 202. Ph: 04151-222620 / 220277 / 320525

34 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Dr.Rajabather-Tagore Women‘s Teacher Training College, No.88- E, Gingee Road, Tindivanam, Villupuram District - 604 001. Ph: 04147- 322242

141 35 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN E.S. College Of Education, Chennai Trunk Road, Ayyankoilpattu, Villupuram – 605 602 Ph: 04146222876, 220574

36 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Kalaivani College Of Education, Salem Main Road, Porpadakurichi, Kallakurichi Taluk, Villupuram District – 606 202. Ph: 04151-223508

37 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Kamala College Of Education, Thirunavalur, Villupuram District - 607 204. Ph: 04149-224226 / 4149

38 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Kasturiba Gandhi Jal (Spain) College Of Education For Women, Mazhavanthangal, Kandachipuram, Villupuram District – 605 701 Ph: 04153-291918 / 291915

39 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Krishnaveni Ammal College Of Education, Thumbur, Ashokapuri & Post, Villupuram District – 605 203 Ph: 04146- 265246

142 40 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Paulsons Teacher Training College, Paulson's Nagar, Pullichapallam, Vanur Taluk, Villupuram District - 605 109. Ph: 0413-6536518

41 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Raja Desingh College Of Education, Kalaiyur Village, Vallam Post, Gingee Taluk, Villupuram District-604 206. Ph: 04145- 208161, 235440

42 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Saithanibi College Of Education, Avalurpet Village, Ginge Taluk, Villupuram District – 604 201. Ph: 9994665960 / 9362503911

43 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Siga College Of Education, Kappiyampuliyur, Villupuram Taluk, Villupuram District-605 601. Ph: 04153-291918

44 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Sree Velavan College Of Education, College Road, Melpakkam Village, Near Tncc Godown, Ayyanthoppu Post, Tindivanam Taluk, Villupuram District Ph: 04147-292333

143 45 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Sri Balaji College Of Education, S.F.No. 8/2, 8/1A, 9/13, 8/1A, 8/1D, 8/1C, 9/13A, 9/13C, 9/13E, A.Vasundenur Village, Salem Main Road, Chinna Salem, Poondi Village, Kallakurichi Taluk, Villupuram District – 606 201 Ph: 04151- 236588

46 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Sri Lakshmi College Of Education, Bangaram Village, Salem Main Road, Kallakurichi Taluk, Villupuram District – 606 202 Ph: 04151-290667

47 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Sri Ramakrishna College Of Education, Meleri - Melapattu Village, Sankarapuram Taluk, Villupuram District - 606 208. Ph: 04151- 209033

48 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Sri Rangachinnammal College Of Education, Alampoondi Gingee Taluk, Villupuram District-604 151. Ph: 04145- 222202

49 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Sri Rangapoopathi College Of Education, Alampoondi Village, Gingee T.K. Villupuram Dist - 604 151. Ph: 04145-222202

144 50 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Sri Sarada College Of Education For Women, Sri Sarada Ashram Campus, New Edaikkal, Ulundurpet, Villupuram District- 606 107. Ph: 04149- 209997

51 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Sri Saravana College Of Education, 2A, Alambadi Village, Thirukoilur Taluk, Villupuram District – 605 701 Ph: 04153-231564 / 9444126021

52 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Sri Vinayaga College Of Education, Ulundurpet, Villupuram – 606 107. Ph: 04149- 222889

53 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN Susila College Of Education, Kuppuswamy Nagar, Chennai Main Road, Veeracholapuram Post, Kallakurichi Taluk, Villupuram District - 606 206 Ph: 04151224633

54 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN T.S.M. College Of Education, Kaniyamooir Village, Kallakurichi Taluk, Villupuram District- 606 201. Ph: 04151- 257355

55 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN V.E.T. College Of Education, Mabalapattu Road, Kanai, Villupuram District-605 301. Ph: 04146- 234466

145 56 Villupuram Trichy SELF-FINANCE EDN VPN College For Teacher Education, No.209/2, 4&5, Thiruvannamalai Road, Semmedu Village, Gingee Taluk, Villpuram District -604 152 Ph: 9282521506

57 Villupuram Trichy UNIV. CONSTITUENT CONS Thiruvalluvar University Constituent College, Kallakurichi, Villupuram - 605 110.

58 Villupuram Trichy UNIV. CONSTITUENT CONS Thiruvalluvar University Constituent College, Tiruvennainallur Village, Thirukoilur Taluk, Villupuram District - 607 203..

Source: Directorate of Collegiate Education

146 LIST OF ENGINEERING COLLEGES IN VILLUPURAM DISTRICT

Sl. No. Name of the College

1 A.K.T. Memorial College of Engineering and Technology

2 A.R. Engineering College

3 Annai Teresa College of Engineering

4 Dr. Pauls Engineering College

5 E.S. Engineering College

6 Idhaya Engineering College for Women

7 IFET College of Engineering

8 Maha Barathi Engineering College

9 Mailam Engineering College

10 Saraswathy College of Engineering & Technology,

11 Sri Aravindar Engineering College

12 Sri Rangapoopathi College of Engineering

13 Surya Group of Institutions

14 T.S.M. Jain College of Technology

15 University College of Engineering, Tindivanam

16 University College of Engineering, Villupuram

17 V.R.S. College of Engineering and Technology

18 Vedhantha Institute of Technology

Source: Anna University

147 Appendix- 5. Details of State interventions under SBGF in Kalrayan Hills block in Viluppuram district

Sl. No Intervention Sector Rs (lakhs) Details of Interventions

1 Drinking Water, Toilet, Income, 557.75 The project would approx. benefit 80 schools, with 3000 students. Additional Building,New Employment These schools lack basic amenities such as toilet & water supply. Buildings & Compound Wall to For improving their functioning additional building, compound wall GTR Schools at Kalrayan Hills & maintenance of existing buildings are required. The Literacy rate of Kalrayan hills is 24 per cent. The drop out rate in primary is 2.55 per cent and girls droup out 2.75 per cent, in Secondary is 1.11 per cent. Improving these facilities the dropout can be reduced to 0.5, enrolment will be improved and overall literacy rate will be increased by 15 %

2 Formation and Improvements Income, 1200.00 The project would approximately benefit 13 habitations with a to Eluthur to Chinnathurupathi Employment population of 5000 families. The road connectivity is very poor to Road in km 0/0 – 22/0 access higher Secondary Schools, PHC and Markets. This would improve enrolment, reduce dropout and improve healthcare access, and increase in income and employment opportunities.

3 Formation and Improvements Income, 650.00 The project would approximately benefit 12 habitations with 2500 to Employment families. The road connectivity is very poor to access higher Karunelliupiuriviu to Manapachi Secondary Schools, PHC and Markets. This would improve

148 Road in km 0/0 – 13/0 enrolment, reduce dropout and improve healthcare access, and increase in income and employment opportunities

4 Formation and Improvement to Income, 160.00 The project would approximately benefit 7 habitations with 1000 Sirukkalur falls road km. 0/0 – Employment families. The road connectivity is very poor to access higher 5/5 Secondary Schools & PHC. This would improve enrolment, reduce dropout and improve healthcare access, and increase in income and employment opportunities.

5 Providing Remedial education Education 11.2 Ensuring 100 percent school enrolment and reduction in dropout towards primary education for rate by 90 percent. Ensuring the quality of education and improving all the completion rate Identification and skill development programme for 50 select students in each village panchayat.

6 Livelihood Intervention towards Poverty, 12.33 60 percent of the trained persons will be employed are starting self

enhancing farmers income Income & employment and increase of Rs.2000/- p.m. in the family income. Atleast 25 percent of the agri. Dairy and NTFP farmers will have Employment adopted the new technology. Increased productivity of crops due to tranfer of technologies. Millet cultivation focussing on increase yield and income will be demonstrated in 100 acres of land.

149 7 Millet Processing Unit Income, 37.06 The project would approx. benefit 2000 families. The present level (4 regions) Employment of income is Rs.12,500/- less than the district per-capita income of Rs.27405/-By providing this facility the average increase in income will be Rs.36000/- per annum. In addition this will improve local consumption of millets, and hence improve the nutrition status.

8 Milk Collection Centres Income, 92.45 The project would approx. benefit 5500 families. The present level Employment of income is Rs.12,500/- less than the district per-capita income of Rs.27405/- By providing this facilities the average increase in income will be Rs.50000/- per annum. In addition this will reduce mal-nutrition among children.

9 Skill development for Youth Income, 77.23 The project would approx. benefit 1159 youths. The present level Employment of income is Rs.12,500/- less than the district per-capita income of Rs.27405/- Skill Development Programmes implemented through TNSRLM, Mathi, DIC, INDSETI. with placement arrangements. The net increase in income will be to the tune of Rs.60,000/- p.a.

10 Blood Storage Centre Health 4.00 This project would address Health, reduction in MMR The present MMR is 290 in Kalrayan hills which is very high. Prevalance of Anaemia is 30.9 per cent. Provision of this facility will help in reduction of MMR by 50 % and health expenditure due to lack of blood storage within the block.

150 11 Medical Officers Quarters at 3 Health 220.00 At present there are no facilities for Doctors and paramedics to PHCs and 1 CHC (11) stay in the villages. Providing this facilities would help in making them stay in the block. This will enhance health care service delivery, reduction in IMR and MMR.

At present there are no facilities for Doctors and paramedics to stay in the villages. Providing this facilities would help in making them stay in the block. This will enhance health care service 12 Staff nurse Quarters (6Nos.) Health 195.00 delivery, reduction in IMR and MMR.

13 Hospital Workers Quarters (8 Health 80.00 At present there are no facilities for Doctors and paramedics to Nos.) stay in the villages. Providing this facilities would help in making them stay in the block. This will enhance health care service delivery, reduction in IMR and MMR.

14 108 Ambulance (1) Health 25.00 In Serapattu and Kilakadu PHC area the nearest ambulance service is from Kariyalur which is 30 km away. Due to difficult terrain it takes more than an hour for the ambulance to reach this area. Providing 108 ambulance service for this area would help the people to reach medical facilities. This would reduce Maternal Mortality, death rate.

151 15 Health & Nutrition Intervention Health 8.25 Around 5000 adelescent girls, 1000 pregnant mothers, 3000 under

towards healthy generation for 5 children and their mothers from 8000 house holds would be

Kalrayan hills covered. Anaemia will be reduced by 25 percent among adelescent

women and pregnant women. 100 percent institutional deliveries

and 95 percent early registration of pregnancy.

16 Construction of recharge shafts Agri 87.00 These 10 checkdams would help to augment 23 drinking water

and Checkdam Helps to sustain drinking water supply even during summer and

thus helps more than 4000 population

17 Distribution of Silver Oak Infrastructure 62.50 Promotion of hybrid Tapioca, Silver Oak and farmers awareness

seedlings for 750 Farmers, Income, through exposure visit and training. The present level of income is

Exposure visit, Tapioca Cutter, employment Rs.12,500/- less than the district per-capita income of Rs.27405/-

Agri. information centre An area of 3000 hectares would be covered under improved

varieties.

152 18 Demonstration plots (200 Income, 200.00 Promotion of hybrid Tapioca, Silver Oak and farmers awareness

farmers), Distribution of Silver Employment through exposure visit and training. The present level of income is Oak seedlings for 750 Farmers, Rs.12,500/- less than the district per-capita income of Rs.27405/- Exposure visit, Tapioca Cutter An area of 3000 hectares would be covered under improved (for 500 farmers), Agriculture varieties. information centre

19. Improvement to Mel vazhapadi Infrastructure 250.00 Laying of BT road to the Megam falls would ensure continuous flow to Megam falls road of tourists to Kalrayan hills and it can benefit both the tourist as well and improve the overall economic condition of the people in the long

153

APPENDIX - 6

CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP TO PREVENT THE MIGRATION OF CHILDREN FROM VILLUPURAM AND THIRUVANNAMALAI DISTRICTS TO SALEM DISTRICT TO WORK IN COTTON FARMS AND DEVELOPING A DISTRICT SPECIFIC ACTION PLAN FOR ERADICATION OF CHILD LABOUR.

154 Background and Rationale

The Integrated Child Protection Programme (ICPP) being implemented in Salem and Dharmapuri districts coordinated by the department of Labour with support of UNICEF since 2009. ICPP has been taking various measures to prevent child labour in cotton farms of Salem and Dharmapuri districts. Village link volunteers conducted a survey in the cotton farms and created awareness among farmers and children. They identified 330 migrant children in 2011 and 463 migrant children in 2012. Majority of them were from Vellimalai block in Villupuram district and Javvathuhills in Thiruvannamalai district.

Consultative workshops were organized by the district administrations December 2013 at Villupuram, in January 2014 at Thiruvannamalai for preventing children migrating to other district and an action plan was evolved. As per the workshop various activities after the consultative workshop were carried out by the districts.

In these circumstances a special enforcement drive was conducted in Salem and 14 child labourers were rescued from cotton fields. The village administrative officers filed complaints against the erring farmers found and five of them were arrested under Section 365 and 367 of IPC. Most of the identified children belong to Vellimalai and Javvathu Hills blocks.

On this basis, Commissioner of Labour addressed the District Collectors of Villupuram, Thiruvannamalai for organising a consultative workshop to developing a district specific action plan for eradication of child labour. Hence the consultative workshops were planned and organised by the district administrations.

Consultative workshop held at Vellimalai (Forest Department Training Centre), Villupuram District on 07.04.2015.

Participants

124 Participants took part in the programme. ( Annexure 1 –List of participants).

The participants included the representation from

155  Dept of Education, SSA and RMSA  Officials from Department of Labour.  Revenue Department  Union Chairman and Panchayat Presidents.  Dept of Adi Diravidar and Tribal Welfare  Headmasters of Government Schools  Head Masters of GTRS  Police Department  Department of Forest  Department of Social Welfare  Child Welfare Committee  Child line -1098  Pudhuvazhvu Project  Mahalir Thittam  Block Development office  Department of Health  SHG representatives  Youth group representatives  Employers association.  NGO representatives

Proceedings of the consultative workshop

The consultative workshop held on 07.04.2015 at Vellimalai and started with a warm welcome by Mr.Ramu, Inspector of Labour, Vilupuram. Mr.Velli, Panchayat union Chairman, Vellimalai block shared that the children migrate to Salem and other places due to lack of opportunities for their education. He expressed that there is a need for creating opportunities for children‘s education by ensuring teachers availability and basic infrastructures in schools. The role of panchayat presidents is very crucial in ensuring education and preventing migration of children. He assured for all support for this cause and thanked officials for conducting the program in Vellimalai.

156 Ms.Malathi,Revenue Divisional Officer,Kallakurichi.

In her presidential address, she pointed out that the right to free and compulsory education for children is guaranteed in Indian Constitution. However, the parents from Vellimalai migrate to various places for want of employment. Their poverty forces them to migrate. The exploiters use this as an advantage and motivate the parents to send their children to cotton seed farms. The children are sent and they suffer a lot. They have to work for long hours and are paid less. They are under clutches and exploited to a greater extend. For addressing this issue, we have to work in convergence. All departments should come together for addressing this issue effectively. All participants should openly express their views, opinions and ideas on how we can prevent child labour.

Thiru. Jeyaprakash, State consultant shared the material based on the action plan already prepared by the Commissioner of labour includes the aactivities and responsibilities to be undertaken by the departments for eradication of child labour (Annexure- 2). Similarly a district action plan may be developed from the workshop. As per recent survey by SSA, Vilupuram district ranks first as far as number of out of school children is concerned. The district collector had decided to conduct the workshop in Vellimalai and invited officials from concerned department so that they can develop concrete plan of action with roles and responsibilities of each department. We have to discuss all issues and develop an action plan so as to address all problems related to schools and community. Dept of Labour will provide required support for implementing the action points discussed in the consultation. The Commissioner of labour is very keen in addressing child labour issues in Tamilandu. She would support our efforts by all means.

Thiru.R.Vidyasagar, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF:

In his inaugural address, he shared the background and objectives of the consultation. He pointed out that Tamilnadu excel in development indicators and there is a significant reduction in child labour compared to 2001 census. More than, 98 percent enrollment and retention is achieved in Tamilnadu. However, there are problems in reaching the last mile population especially the children in hilly regions and tribal pockets. The schools are not child friendly. It is not attractive to children.

157 There are issues in effective functioning of schools. In many schools especially in GTR schools, the teacher‘s position is vacant and RTE norms of TPR are not followed. In some schools, teachers are not attending the school on a regular basis due to various reasons such as transport, access etc. If the existing situation continues to be the same, the children in tribal areas cannot enjoy their childhood. Moreover, if children in present generation are given opportunity to study, the next generation will also get benefited. We need to discuss how we can improve the status of children in Vellimalai hills and how we can ensure them opportunities to develop them. We need to make the schools child friendly and ensure education for all children. He also insisted that there should a system to monitor the plan of action developed in the consultation.

Thiru.P.Bala Murugan,ICPP- Consultant, Unicef,Salem District

Integrated Child Protection project supported by UNICEF has been implemented in Salem district since 2009. The objective is to provide protective environment for all children especially responding to exploitation of children working in cotton seed farms. The children from hilly region – Vellimalai, Javathu hills, are taken to Salem and involved in cross pollination work from Oct-Jan. In general, farmers do not employ local children because of the nature of work. The children have to work for 12 hours ie. 6 am to 6 pm. A survey conducted by UNICEF reveals that 73 percent of children are from Vilupuram (44 percent) and Tiruvannamalai (29 percent) districts. Various measures have been taken for preventing child labour in cotton seed farms. Consultations were also organized in Vellimalai and Javathu hills. However, the problem still exists. In 2014, 14 child labourers were rescued and among them, 10 were from Koodaram and Uppur village of Vellimalai block. We need to work in convergence for ensuring education for all children in Vellaimalai block. In this consultation, we need to chalk out a concrete plan of action for addressing this issue.

Thiru.Savarimuthu, Head Master, GTR School:

He shared his experience and also the difficulties faced by the teachers in attending the schools. Many schools do not have road and transport facilities. There are many GTR schools with single teacher. Many parents admit their children in hostels in Kallakurichy thinking that the children cannot come back and study well. In his school, there is neither absenteeism nor drop out. He never allows children to go on

158 holidays during Saturdays and Sundays. He ensures that all children are staying in residential school. When parents migrate from village, they inform him and request him to take care of their children. The local youth are engaged for a minimum honorarium so that the education for children is ensured. He expressed that with all difficulties, the teachers and Headmasters are managing the schools. HM has to do all activities – teaching, cooking, cleaning, reporting, attending meetings etc. The basic infrastructure is not available in many schools. These issues had been discussed during the consultation held in 2013. However, he pointed out that no action has been taken so far as a result of consultation held in 2013. The problems discussed during 2013 are still not sorted out. He requested for action on the issues. There are 40 schools with single teacher.

Ms.Nirmala, District Adi Diravidar and Tribal Welfare Officer

She shared that the students are not staying in residential schools due to various reasons though food and accommodation is given. The most important problem in GTR schools is vacancy of teachers. All schemes of Govt of TN is given to children. Teachers though posted in hilly terrains, they do not stay here. As of now, there are 72 teachers position vacant in hills. The department is taking action to appoint teachers at the earliest. Often, many people without understanding the ground reality, used to complaint that the teachers are not attending the schools

Thiru.Vidyasagar expressed that the meeting is not to find fault with teachers and departments but basically to discuss the existing situation and measures needs to be taken for ensuring education for all children and prevent migration. The salient features of discussion will be shared with state level officials for further action.

Dr.K.Kalapna, Program Director, Life Line Trust,Villupuram

She shared the intervention of Life Line Trust with a support of UNICEF. 100 village link volunteers are identified and trained. In all panchayats, Village level child protection committees (VLCPC) had been formed. Orientation to panchayat president and VLCPC members were completed. Awareness on child protection issues – child labour, child marriage, child sexual abuse have been created among stakeholders. She pointed out that parents get advance from employees and send their

159 children to work. For preventing child labour issue, social pressure should be there. Though VLCPCs are formed, its function depends upon the cooperation from various departments. She requested all departments to cooperate to conduct VLCPC meetings regularly.

Thiru.Dhanasekaran, District child Protection Officer, Vilupuram district

There are 1104 villages in Vilupuram district. VLCPCs are formed in all villages. Once in three months, meetings are organized for VLCPC. They discuss the issues of children. He opined that VLCPC can play pivotal role in preventing child labour

Thiru.Bosco, Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee

He pointed out the need for working together for addressing the issue of child labour. The Governmentt has to address the issue. He emphasized the need for convergence among various departments to address the issue effectively. He shared that a research on child labour was conducted in Vilupuram. The children should be motivated to use child line – 1098 in case of any protection issues. He suggested for a forum / network to monitor the implementation of the action plan. Each department should have a representative and there should be a convener for the network. He also suggested for a legal action against the seed companies and agents who employ the children.

Thiru.Vidyasagar responded that there are activities carried out in coordination with seed companies. We also expose the companies who employ children. But the actual problem here is that the companies are not involved in seed production. The foreign companies get the patent right and engage local companies in seed production. The local companies enter into contract with farmers and produce the seed. In the contract, it is clearly mentioned that the farmer should not engage child labourers. We work closely with local companies. Some companies offered incentives to farmers for not employing child labourers. In Andhra Pradesh, the company is running a school as a result of our intervention. Nationally and internationally, lobbying is done by UNICEF to prevent child labour in the supply chain.

160 Thiru.Kanagaraj, Panchayat president

He expressed Efforts should be taken for alleviating poverty. The teachers associations should fight for the appointment of teachers in GTR schools. Most parents are illiterates. So awareness programs should be conducted on a regular basis. Transport facilities should be improved. Infrastructure in schools should also be improved. He assured the cooperation of elected panchayat representatives for ensuring education of children in their panchayats.

Group work and presentation

The participants were divided into four groups to discuss the following topics. There was more number of teachers. Hence 2 groups were given the same topic.

1. What are the problems in retention of children in schools and solutions 2. What are the problems in retention of children in schools and solutions 3. What can done at the panchayat level and role of panchayat presidents 4. Role of other departments / NGOs

After the discussion, the groups made the presentations. The presentation is given in annexure-3

The participants, panchayat presidents and officials shared issues and concerns during their speech, group discussion and presentations. The salient points are classified and highlighted hereunder for further action:

Recommendations

At the Family and community level

 The vulnerable families should be identified and alternate employment opportunities should be created

 Appropriate skill training along with employment opportunities should be given to people. Pudhu Vazhu program has 32 offices in Vellaimalai, they can implement livelihood program.

161  Awareness programs (through folk arts – villupattu, exhibitions, cultural programs) should be conducted in every village for creating awareness among parents and children about the importance of education

 Industries should be established in the hilly regions so as to prevent migration and ensure livelihood opportunities for parents

 Creating awareness on various social protection schemes of govt and linking the eligible families with respective schemes.

 Awareness and sensitization to parents about importance of education and how child labour affects the lives of children should be done.

 VLCPC meetings should be conducted every month. All officials at panchayat level should take part in the meeting. Necessary action in this regards should be taken by DCPO.

 PRI, SMC, VEC, VLCPC, SHGs and CBOs should be involved in monitoring the functioning of schools.

 Panchayat presidents should ensure that all children above 5 years are attending schools regularly.

 Proper counseling to parents and children should be given.

 Simplifying the procedures for getting community certificate for availing govt schemes, support and subsidies

 Maintain data base for all children (0-14 years) at panchayat level

 Giving awards to Panchayat presidents who make their panchayat child labour free

 Pass resolutions in grama sabha for sending all children to school

 Creating adequate facilities for marketing the grains produced in the hilly terrain

 Improving the road networks and transport facilities

162 At the school Level

 Adequate teachers should be appointed as per RTE norms.

 Vacancies of sweeper and cook especially in GTR schools should be filled up immediately.

 Infrastructure in the schools such as adequate class rooms, drinking water, functional toilets, electricity, lighting, compound wall, play ground, sports materials should be made available at the earliest.

 The schools should be made as child friendly

 Life skill education and goal setting should done for all children in schools.

 Hostel facilities for boys and girls should be constructed separately with adequate facilities so that the parents would leave their children with confidence when they migrate to other places.

 Music, drawing and sports teachers may be appointed (part time as in PUP schools) and materials may be provided for preventing drop outs.

 Education assistance to all children may be given irrespective of gender. Now, girl children are given assistance of Rs.500

 Many youth in hilly terrain have completed teachers training course. They are unable to find job and appearing TET examination. Relaxation may be given to them and they may be given priority in the appointment in hilly terrain.

 Govt may take measures to arrange for educational tour twice in a year to make education interesting for children.

 Uninterrupted power supply (UPS / solar) to schools should be ensured

 The facilities for teachers stay should be made either in the school or villages so that the teachers should regularly attend the school that too in time. This should be monitored by PRIs and SMCs.

163  Regular monitoring of children for drop out and absenteeism (at least once in three months)

 For each school, an action plan should be developed and monitored by concerned authorities.

Others

 Formation of task force for monitoring and implementing the plan of action.  Stern action against the employer and filing cases for severe punishment and fine  Strengthening the child protection structures at panchayat, block and district level for addressing the issues of children in need of care and protection.

In his concluding remarks, Mr.Jeyabalan, Joint Commissioner, Dept of Labour, Vellore shared the role of each department in ensuring child labour free panchayats. (Annexure-7). He shared the details of inspecting authorities under CLPRA and motivated the participants. It is a social concern which needs all of us to come together and work. He assured to cooperate with all departments for bringing changes in the lives of children.

The consultation came to an end with a vote of thanks by Mr.Ramu. The participants departed with a hope.

Group presentations:

Group -1,

What are the problems in retention of children in schools and solutions?

 Proper and effective counseling should be given to parents  Awareness programs (through folk arts – villupattu, exhibitions, cultural programs) should be conducted in every village for creating awareness among parents and children about the importance of education  Industries should be established in the hilly regions so as to prevent migration and ensure livelihood opportunities for parents

164  Govt may take measures to arrange for educational tour twice in a year to make education interesting for children.  Music, drawing and sports teachers may be appointed (part time as in PUP schools) and materials may be provided for preventing drop outs.  Education assistance to all children may be given irrespective of gender. Now, girl children are given assistance of Rs.500  Many youth in hilly terrain have completed teachers training course. They are unable to find job and appearing TET examination. Relaxation may be given to them and they may be given priority in the appointment in hilly terrain.  Uninterrupted power supply (UPS / solar) to schools should be ensured

Group 2

What are the problems in retention of children in schools and solutions?

 Twice in a month, meetings may be organized at panchayat level for preventing drop outs. Parents, VEC members, Panchayat president, HM, teachers should participate and monitor drop outs.  77 second grade teacher‘s positions are vacant in GTR schools, Vilupuram district. Govt should take immediate action to appoint the teachers in GTR schools.  Road network and Transport facilities should be made to all schools located in hilly terrains  Relaxation / priority in employment should be given to children who studied in Govt schools  Encourage the children (0-18 years) to use 1098 for their issues related to child labour, child marriage and child sexual abuse

165 Group -3

What can done at the panchayat level and role of panchayat presidents?

 Taking measures to ensure that all children above 5 years are attending schools.

 Appointing teachers under the supervision of panchayat presidents

 Eligible candidates should be identified from local and appointed in schools

 Identifying the vulnerable families and linking them with Govt schemes

 Support the families either through Govt or NGOs for getting adequate income

 We will take efforts to fill the vacancies in schools.

 The issues of children will be discussed in VLCPCs and action will be taken to address the issues.

Group -4

Role of Government departments / NGOs:

 Simplifying the procedures for getting community certificate for availing govt schemes, support and subsidies  Maintain data base for all children (0-14 years) at panchayat level  Giving awards to Panchayat presidents who make their panchayat child labour free  The officials should undertake regular monitoring visit to schools to ensure effective functioning of schools  The eligible families should be facilitated to avail schemes from THADCO  Cultural programs, rallies, campaign programs may be organized in all panchayats to create awareness for eliminating child labour  Pass resolutions in grama sabha for sending all children to school  Creating adequate facilities for marketing the grains produced in the hilly terrain  Improving the transport facilities

166  Using the services of 1098 toll free number for preventing abuses against children  An action plan including all activities mentioned above should be created and action taken report should be received from concerned authorities during periodical review meeting

Tentative Action Plan

S.No Issue identified Action plan Department Time line

1. School Mapping School Education department June 2015 inaccessible areas

2. OSC & Child Child labour SSA,RMSA,Pudhu June 2015 labour Mapping, vaazhvu Project

Enrollment campaign

3. Inaccessible area Provide Transport State transport June 2015 facilities corporation & Forest

4. Migration of Hostel facilities SSA,RMSA, Social June 2015 Parents / lack of welfare higher education

5 Migration of Identify eligible skill SSA, Labour & June 2015 youth training for youth Empolyment / PVP

6 Children Prevention of State transport June 2015 migration trafficking corporation, Revenue & Police

7 CP.Structures Create Education, Pudhu June 2015 district/block/village vaazhvu, Social welfare level structures.

8 Teacher vacancy Fill up posts AD. Welfare June 2015 in Schools at Hill

167 Appendix-7

Success Stories of National Child Labour Project in Salem District, Tamil Nadu. The National Child Labour Project is being implemented through a Registered Society called SMILE [Society for Monitoring and Implementation of (child) Labour Elimination] from the year 1995-1996. The Project was given a sanction for running 40 special schools and 40 special schools were run previously. Due to dearth of child labour children, we are running 36 NCLP special schools at present, spread over the district, in the child labour prone areas. The Scheme is being implemented quite successfully in this district. This will be evident from the fact that Salem District was selected as the Best District in the implementation of NCLP Project – rescue and rehabilitation of child labourers in the State level – and the Hon‘ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu handed over the Best Collector Award to Thiru K. Maharabushanam, IAS,District Collector and Chairman, NCLP, Salem on 14.11.2011.

Besides implementing the Project successfully, we are concentrating on the follow up of the mainstreamed children into regular schools. On an average, every year 600 children are being mainstreamed into regular schools. So far as follow up is concerned, our Teachers go to the schools where the children have been mainstreamed on a regular basis and obtain the signature from the Headmaster of the School regarding their continuance. Besides, they are are following up the children who have joined Colleges after completing XII standard and those who joined Polytechnics, Teacher Training Courses and Industrial Training Institutes.

In this manner, we have identified 3138 mainstreamed children and they are being closely monitored by the Teachers by visiting the respective schools and also by meeting the parents of the concerned children to ensure that they continue their school education and also perform well. UNICEF is extending their financial assistance for this Follow Up programme by way of sanctioning of Travelling Allowance/Consolidation fee @ Rs. 1000/- p.m. per head for the NCLP Special School staff and NCLP Society staff since July 2009.

168 As a result, Ex. Child Labour students of NCLP special training centres appeared for the X Standard Annual Exams and out of them, 211 out of 297 children have passed out scoring high marks during 2011-2012. One girl has got ]III rank at the State level. Follow up is being given to all of them for continuing their education. 103 out of 126 ex child labour children who were mainstreamed from the NCLP special schools appeared for Plus Two Annual Exams have passed scoring high marks. Two of them have scored 1125 and 1101 out of 1200 marks and have come in first and second in the State level. Their photographs and background details are given below:

NATIONAL CHILD LABOUR PROJECT – SMILE – SALEM – TAMILNADU.

XII STANDARD STATE LEVEL TOPPER – 2012.

Thiru P. Mohan – State level First Rank holder among ex NCLP special school student.- Thiru P. Mohan son of Thiru T.S. Prasad who appeared for XII Standard Annual Examinations 2012 has secured 1125/1200 marks [93.8%] and has stood FIRST in the State level among ex NCLP special school students in Tamil Nadu. He was working as a child labourer in a powerloom from where he was rescued by the NCLP staff and admitted him in the NCLP SMILE special school at Dasamanaikadu. He had his Higher Secondary school education in the S.R.V.S. Matriculation Hr Sec School, B. Komarapalayam, Namakkal District.

NATIONAL CHILD LABOUR PROJECT – SMILE – SALEM DISTRTICT – TAMILNADU.

XII STANDARD STATE LEVEL TOPPER – 2012.

Miss B. Sharmila, State Level Second Rank Holder among Ex. NCLP special school students – 2012.

Miss B. Sharmila has secured 1101/1200 marks in XII Standard Annual Exams held in 2012 and has stood SECOND in the State level among Salem District ex NCLP special school children in Tamilnadu. She was working as a child labourer in a powerloom unit from where she was rescued and admitted in the NCLP SMILE special school at East Gandhipuram. Thereafter she had her higher secondary education in the JKK Nataraja Higher Secondary School, B. Komarapalayam, Namakkal District.

169 Ex NCLP Special School children studying in Colleges

As on date 215 children are studying in MBBS / BE / BVSc / BSc[Horti] / B.Pharmacy/ B.Sc./ B.com/ BA etc/ Diploma courses.

58 children have completed their courses viz. 5 in B.E., 14 in Degree courses 8 in Diploma Courses and one from I.T.I.

Selvi R. Nithya has joined MBBS course in Govt Medical College, Thiruvarur during this year is given below:

R. NITHYA

Selvi R. Nithya d/o Thiru S.K.Ramakrishnan now residing at 9/174, Anna Maduvu, Anthiyur, Bhavani Tk, Erode dist, was working in the Powerloom from where she was rescued by the NCLP SMILE special school teachers of East Gandhipuram,B. Komarapalayam and admitted in their school. After spl school study, she finished her Plus Two in Adarsh Vidyalaya Hr Sec School, Anthiyur last year and scored 1134/1200 marks. Though she joined the Hr Sec School at Anthiyur, she was being followed up by the NCLP special school Teacher Bharathi continuously.

But with this total, she could not get admission in MBBS in Govt Colleges where the fees will be minimal and so she joined in BVSc in the Tamilnadu Veterinary and Animal Science University, Chennai last year. During this year, she has again applied for MBBS degree course and got selected in the counseling for admission into Govt Medical College, Thiruvarur. She came to Salem and met the District Collector, Thiru K. Maharabushanam, I.A.S., and she was honoured by the District Collector by presenting a Book in the Grievance Day assembly [30-7-2012]

The success stories of the ex child labour children rehabilitated by the NCLP Society Salem who have completed their degree course and joined Engg Colleges are given below:

170 R. RAMYA

Selvi R. Ramya d/o Thiru J. Raghupathy residing in Door No. 348/17, Opposite to Pillaiyar Koil, Sivadapuram, Salem 636307 was rescued from the Silver Chain manufacturing unit as a child labour and rehabilitated by admitting her in the NCLP Special School at Sivadapuram. After competing her studies in the Spl School, she was mainstreamed into the Jayarani Girls Hr Sec School, Salem where she performed quite well and as a result, was able to join Pavai College of Engineering, Pachal, Namakkal District.

She has now finished her B E [EEE] degree course this year and she has scored 85% in every semester and is one of the outstanding students of the College. She attended the Campus Interviews conducted by M.N.C.s.

She has been selected in T.C.S., Chennai, Allsec Technologies, Chennai and Digital Nirvana, Coimbatore. She has decided to join T.C.S. viz. Tata Consultancy Services as a Software Engineer and is expecting the letter from the Company.

Coming from a remote backward area, she has blossomed into a successful Engineer who has been selected in a No. of Companies in the Campus Interviews which is really superb.

THIRU D. DHANASEKARAN.

Thiru D.Dhanasekaran who is an ex child labour rescued from a butchers shop and rehabilitated through NCLP SMILE Project had his initial studies in the NCLP SMILE special school at Thalavaipatti. Thereafter he was mainstreamed into the theGovt High School Muthunaickanpatti for studying Stds VI to X and in the Govt Hr Sec School Chinna Gollapatti, Salem Taluk.

Thereafter he joined B.E. [Mechanical] course in Muthayammal Engineering College, Rasipuram and is now completing his final year. He has scored 92% in his Exams. He has been continuously performing well in his College studies.

Being one of the outstanding boys of the above College, he has been selected in the Campus Interview in the M.N.C. called E.D.O.C., a subsidiary of SPIC, at,

171 Chennai and he has been offered Rs. 15000/- as wages during his training period and after training his salary will be hiked.

THIRU S. KUMARESAN. Thiru S. Kumaresan s/o Thiru N. Sivaraj, 3/202, Meyyan Street, near Kottai Vinayagar koil, Sivadapuram 636307, Salem District who is an ex child labour working in a silver chain manufacturing unit and rehabilitated through NCLP SMILE Project had his initial studies in the NCLP SMILE special school at Sivadapuram. Thereafter he was mainstreamed into the Govt Higher Secondary School, Sivadapuram. Salem Dist.

Thereafter he joined B.E. [Computer Science] course in A.V.S. Engineering College, Salem and has completed his final year this year and he is writing the last semester exams in June 2012. He has been continuously performing well in his College studies. He has scored an average of 74% marks in his semesters so far.

Being one of the outstanding boys of the above College, he has been selected in the Campus Interview in the M.N.C. called ―E. Venture, Pondicherry‖ and he has been offered Rs. 7000/- as wages during his training period and after training his salary will be hiked.

Incidentally, his brother Thiru S. Mohanraj who is also an ex child labour rescued and rehabilitated by this Project and studied in the same institutions upto XII std, is also appearing the final semester for B.E.[ECE] course this June and he studied in Mahendra Engg College, Namakkal District. He has scored an average of 78% so far in his semester exams. He is hopeful of joining a MNC very shortly.

THIRU G. MANI Thiru G. Mani son of Thiru Ganesan, who is an ex child labour working in a coir twisting unit and rehabilitated through NCLP SMILE Project had his initial studies in the NCLP SMILE special school at Thalavaipatti. Thereafter he was mainstreamed into the theGovt High School Muthunaickanpatti for studying Stds VI to X and in the Govt Hr Sec School Chinna Gollapatti, Salem Taluk.

172 Thereafter he joined B.E. [ECE] course in Erode Sengunthar Engineering College, Erode and is now completing his final year. He has been continuously performing well in his College studies.

Being one of the outstanding boys of the above College, he has been selected in the Campus Interview in the M.N.C. called M.R.V. Infotech, Chennai and he has been offered Rs. 15000/- as wages during his training period and after training his salary will be hiked to Rs. 36000/-.

The District Collector and Chairman, NCLP SMILE, Salem and Project officials encouraged and guided the ex NCLP child labour students who passed out in Higher Secondary course [Plus Two Exams] to continue their studies in their colleges.

The Government of Tamil Nadu have extended their assistance by giving educational assistance @ Rs. 500/- p.m. for those studying in the Colleges in professional courses, degree courses, diploma course and Industrial Training Institutes from the year 2011-2012 and all the beneficiary children got the lumpsum amount of Rs. 6000/- each which is of great help to them.

Thus Salem District stands in an outstanding position in the ex NCLP special school children getting good placements and resulting in a bright future for them and their families.

Story of Lalitha

I am Lalitha 20 years old hailing from Periyaputhur village, Veerapandi, Salem district. My father A.Gopal is and my mother Sivagami are working at silver anklet chain making unit (kolusu pattarai). My father is an alcoholic. Though, I was the only child to my parents, I was not enrolled into school. I had to accompany my father to work at silver anklet chain making unit. I had to work for long hours. My father used to get my wage. I enjoyed nothing but pain every day. When I see other children going to school, I felt very bad that I couldn‘t attend the school. Fortunately I was rescued by NCLP officials and enrolled in Sivadhapuram NCLP school which was three and a half kms away from my home. I studied there for five years and mainstreamed in VI std at Sivadhapuram Govt school. As I was unable to walk everyday, I joined VIII std at Panchayat union middle school at our village. Uma

173 mahershwari teacher and Mr.Nehru from NCLP helped me a lot. They convinced my parents and supported me joining IX std at Govt Hr.Sec.School at Konlampatti.

I could score only 260 marks in X public exam and 650 marks in XII exams due to my family situation. My alcoholic father used to quarrel with my mother and create unnecessary problems. In the morning, my grandmother fed me as we didn‘t cook at home. I struggled to complete my studies. NCLP teachers motivated and encouraged me. I was monitored by them regularly which led to the completion of schooling.

Again my parents denied sending me to higher education. Mr.Nehru intervened and got me admitted in B.Com (computer application) at Mahendra Arts and Science college in 2011. As a result of the negotiation of Mr.P.V.Viswanathan, Project Director, NCLP with management committee, I was given free seat and fees Rs.18000 was waived off for every year. The transport to college is also free. I walk from home to Konlampatti to get the college bus. From NCLP, I have received Rs.6000 as assistance. Apart from that they help whenever I am in need of money for books and educational materials. Every month, the teacher meets me under follow up programme of UNICEF and encourages me. I want to pursue MBA and work in the corporate company. NCLP is making my dream a reality. I thank for all their support.

Story of M.Divya

Sivadhapuram village, salem district is the home for 22 years old Divya who is living with her parents and a brother and a sister. Manivannan, her father is a two wheeler mechanic and her mother Chitra is a house wife. Her brother Nandakumar is in first year B.E. Her sister Priyanka is in VIII std.

Being an eldest in the family, she had to share the responsibilities with her parents. Her father didn‘t get regular income which forced the family to send her to work at silver anklet chain making unit. She had to work for long hours and she didn‘t know how was paid for her work. Her parents used her earning for meeting the day to day needs. She couldn‘t even think of going to schools. She was rescued by the NCLP teachers and enrolled in to NCLP school at Sivadhapuram village. She was happy attending the school with other rescued child labourers. She completed V std within

174 three years and mainstreamed at Sivadhapuram Govt. Hr.Sec.School. She scored 58 percent in SSLC public exam and 50 percent in plus two public examination.

She wanted to pursue her degree course. Her parents hesitated to send her to college. She approached the project Director, NCLP. He placed a request with Sakthi Kailash college for giving free admission to her. The request was accepted by the management and she was waived off all the fees for three years to the tune of more than Rs.one lakh. She was admitted in B.Sc. (mathematics). In addition to the College fees, uniform, transport, notebooks were given to her at free of cost based on the request made the project director, NCLP. She scored 70 percent in BSc.

By the time she completed her degree, her father had started getting regular income as he opened a two wheeler mechanic shop. NCLP teachers motivated her to continue her studies further and discussed with her father. She expressed that she want to become a teacher. Her father agreed and admitted her for B.Ed. Of course, he managed to pay the fees by pledging the jewels and borrowing money from relatives. Now she is preparing for TET exam.

In her words, ―I never thought that NCLP would rescue me and support me for my further studies. As I continued my studies, my parents didn‘t stop my brother and sister from going to school. They are also studying well now. Now the financial situation of my family is far better and my parents are motivating me to get through in TET. Shanthi teacher from NCLP school makes visits every month and motivates me. I thank NCLP for their support and encouragement. I am confident that I would realise my dream very soon‖.

Story of Anandraj – B.Pharm, Vinayaga mission university

Tharamangalm is the home for 20 years old G.Anandaraj who is studying in third year B.Pharmacy at Vinayaga Mission College. His father is a daily wage labourer and her mother is a construction worker. He has two brothers and a sister.

Once, his parents were working in a quarry. The meager income earned was not adequate to meet the day-to-day needs of the family. Being the eldest son, Anandaraj was forced to accompany his parents to the work. He had no other option. He had to work in the hot sun and suffered a lot. His tender fingers got injuries with a

175 sharp stones while working and suffered pain. It was a hard work. He was looking for a way out. Lakshmi, a teacher from NCLP rescued him when he was nine years old and enrolled into NCLP school. He studied there for three years.

The teacher also supported him to get admission for VI std at Sengunthar Mahajan Hr.Sec.School in Tharamangalam. He completed higher secondary education in pure science branch with an intention to study medicine. However, the marks scored by him were not adequate to enter into medical college. He opted for B.Pharm. He approached the Project Director, NCLP. PD contacted the authorities and got him a free seat. He is also exempted from paying fees. He has to pay only the exam fees. Anandraj and his family are happy that he is able to pursue the studies. In his words, My dreams have been realised with the support of NCLP officials. I am proud to study in Vinayaga Mission University. Every month, the teacher meets me and gets my signature. I thank NCLP for their continuous support and encouragement.

Silver Anklet Making to B.E.

The nineteen years old P. Kanimozhi is the only daughter of Rani her mother, a home maker and Pazhanaisamy her father who works in a handloom factory as a coolie for monthly income of Rs. 4000/-. The family lives in Pudhur village of Neikarapatty, Panchayat, Salem district. She is now doing her B.E. Government Engineering College, Salem. To reach this level she had to go through many hardships from her childhood.

Her father kept borrowing a lot of money from the local money lenders as he could not meet his entire family needs from his salary alone. He pays a lot interest for the money he has borrowed. He needed additional income. Silver Anklet manufacturing business being the wide spread industry in the surrounding attracting young children he did not hesitate to send her six and half year old daughter to work in the industry. She was not paid even a pie in the hand; her father received her payment which she did not know how much. She worked from 9.30 a.m. to 10 p.m. at night with half an hour break for lunch in the afternoon. She packed her lunch took to the factory. In between no refreshment was provided by the company.

176 Kanimozhi‘s house is located near the Smile School, Perumal Koil Saradu, Sivadhapuram. Ms. Shanthi, the Smile School teacher suspected that she was going for work and confirmed her doubt by enquiring her one day. Kanimozhi revealed to the teacher that she was interested in studies but only her father forced her to work because of the overwhelming debt. The teacher contacted her parents and convinced them to send Kanimozhi to Smile School for which they did not have to incur any expenses but rather the NCLP Scheme would take care of them. With the consent of the parents kanimozhi happily started her schooling at the age of eight.

She was mainstreamed into the regular school from 6th grade at Sivadhapuram Government Higher Secondary School. Later she was shifted to Pudhur where she studied upto 10th standard. She completed her higher secondary education from Vasavi Higher Secondary School. She was regularly monitored by NCLP workers to prevent her from dropping out. The scheme also supported her financially every month which enabled her to continue her studies without break due to economic constraints.

Her parents have understood the necessity of educating their daughter and are very supportive nowadays. Her father is still borrowing money to pay for her fees and other educational needs arising now and then. She says that now it is her father who keeps motivating her. Mr. Nehru, the NCLP staff, visits her family regularly to enquire about her study which encourages her and the family.

Kanimozhi feels that the NCLP Scheme should reach and benefit many more children who are working in factories or dropped out of school at primary level.

Case Study – 3

R. Saravanan was a bonded child labourer 14 years ago. He sent to work in Silver Anklet Industry at the age of 7 in order to pay off his father‘s debt borrowed for the wedding expenses of his elder sisters. He used to from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. He was not allowed to take leave. During the long hours of work no refreshments were provided by the employer. He worked for four years. His father formerly an agricultural labourer sells Tapioca Chips on the roadside and runs a Tiffin centre in the evenings. The family literally struggled to survive before becoming self employed. His mother helps his father with his business.

177 After the intervention by NCLP worker, Mr. Nehru, life took a new turn for Saravanan. He joined the Smile School at the age of 11 in 1998 and studied for two years. He showed tremendous aptitude for learning. He was mainstreamed into the regular school at Sivadhapuram Government School where he completed his 10th grade. He went on to do his higher secondary from Vasan Higher Secondary School.

The former Salem District Collector, Chandrasekar IAS, recommended him to Mahindra Arts and Science College where he studied B.C.A. for three years for free of cost. His father who has taken to drinking is not much bothered about the family. Saravanan took up a part-time job in a courier service and earns Rs. 3, 000/- per month. He gives his earnings to his mother who takes care of personal and the additional educational expenses.

He is now studying first year MCA from KSR Ranagasamy College of Technology at Thiruchengode, Salem district. He gets Rs. 500/- every month from the NCLP Scheme. He has applied for an educational loan from Indian Bank from where no positive reply has come for the lost three months in spite of repeated visit to the bank to plead for the loan. He has not yet paid his semester fee. Without educational assistance he is on the verge of discontinuing his studies.

His heart is full of gratitude for. He says that without NCLP Scheme he would have grown still working in the Silver Chain industry with all sorts of bad habits with other peers in the industry. He wishes that the Scheme should reach out to every nook and corner of the state so that child labour can be eradicated completely.

Source: NCLP-Unicef, Salem

178 Appendix 8 List of NGOs in Kalrayan Hills

The following NGOs have knowledge and experience in working with Tribals whose expertise can be used for undertaking development work in Kalrayan Hills.

1) Life Line Trust Chandran Garden, 3rd Cross Street, Hastampatti, Salem – 636007

2) TDH Terre des hommes Core (Children‘s Organization for Relief and Education) No 102, Perumpakkam Road, Tiruvannamalai Ho, Tiruvannamalai – 606601 .91-9443248911

3) Arcot Lutheran Church (ALC) - Community Health Development Project - Mr.Kumar 9626589893

4) Daughters of Mary immaculate (DMI) – 9444390726

5) Muthukuyil Federation (Community based organisation promoted by World vision. (World vision is not there now. ) contact Selvam 9489101325.

6) Don Bosco is working in P.N.Palayam. - Fr.Gabriel - 8300151098.

7) Rural Women Development Society, no: 1, new muslim st, polur road, Thiruvannamalai. Ms.Rajammal – 9443203837

8) Village Community Development Society , vellakulam block, Marakkanam VCDS - Ms.Josephine - 9840912503, 9443237274

9) SCOPE India - Dr.Sathya Babu - 9600237970, Vilupuram

10) Association for Rural Development (ARM) - - 9840351828

11) P.Sakthivel, MGENM - 9842769358 - Kolli hills, Namakkal district

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