Sambavas: The Poor Backward People

“According to 1981 census the scheduled caste population in India was 10.4 cores which constituted 16 percent of total population”. This large chunk of population has been suffering for ages and they have been given name in different forms like Shudras, unapproachable, depressed classes and Harijans etc. But their conditions remained pathetic and they continue to suffer socially, educationally and economically. The Central and State Government implemented the article by providing different schemes and provisions for the welfare of the scheduled caste but the achievements are far from satisfactory.

Though we claim that we are living in a developing India, it faces issues in various fields such as illiteracy, caste problems, economic and educational problems etc. Even though facilities as provided by the government to scheduled castes, their problem still continues. The Sambavas (also called Parayas) constitute a negligible population of Kerala. They are spread widely in all part of Kerala State.

In the case of scheduled areas, the Dhaber commission in pursuance of Article 339 of the constitution deals with the problems of scheduled caste/scheduled tribes comprehensively the commission recommended that in tribal area a school should not be located at a distance of more than one mile. But in fact, the Sambava children walk more than one mile and Sambava colonies are situated in hilly areas. So, it is difficult to reach the school in time and this is still a common phenomenon in the state, and also caste discrimination is another problem of Sambavas. These factors are also creating difficulties and problems in the Sambava children and result in mass dropout in schools.

Even today Sambavas did not have any social and educational status. The natural’s corollary to this conclusion is that they were denied the necessary economic opportunities too. Even today social status of Sambavas is weaker than other communities. Caste discrimination, child marriage, lack of facilities, also shows the social conditions of Sambavas. Caste discrimination is one of the main problems of Sambavas. For example, Cherumala Sambava colony, Kozhikode still facing lot of caste discrimination barriers. The Government Welfare L P School situated near the Sambava colony. But nothing has changed for the good at Government Welfare School Perambra. Even after starting the LKG section and providing best amenities, including Pedagogy Park and smart class room. The school remains ‘Untouchable’ for the civil society.

No non-dalit student has studied in the school during the last 15 years. A teacher of the Government welfare school said, “The upper caste parents told us that they don’t want their kid to sit with Parayas (Sambavas)”. The Headmaster Raghudas Tettiyil said that “the School have very good infrastructure but people don’t send their kids to school and there are only fifteen students in the school and all of them belongs to Scheduled Caste category and no upper-class students have studied here in the last fifteen years, even though we tried out to increase the strength”.

99 percent of Sambavas said that they were insulted by calling their cast name. “Not only children, if you are born in a lower cast family you will always be out of the society. Upper cast people will insult you calling your cast name, they will discriminate you as your skin color is dark and your language has a different accent” says one resident of the colony. Even after 70th years of independence, the scheduled caste of India still remains socially, economically and educationally backward. The socio-economic development of the scheduled caste is closely related to the educational advancement. But these days also illiteracy is the main problem of scheduled caste people.