Tribal Welfare
Arulagam is deeply committed to conserving nature and empowering the indigenous communities, who are the real custodians of forest ecosystems. We empower these communities through education, advocacy, and sustainable livelihood initiatives.
Arulagam primarily works with communities in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, specifically in the Gudalur area of the Nilgiri District and the Thalavady area of the Erode District.
In Gudalur, Arulagam runs 12 evening education centers for over 150 tribal children from grades 1 to 12. These centers offer two hours of teaching daily, Monday to Saturday, in the children’s native language. On Mondays and Fridays, we provide a nutritious health mix made in-house with 25 natural ingredients and no preservatives to support their well-being.
To further support women’s livelihoods, we’ve set up a tailoring center for Paniyar Pengal, where over 30 participants are trained in both machine and hand embroidery. This program is aimed at enhancing economic resilience and improving their standard of living.
In Gudalur, the Arulagam team is also actively involved in providing essential community services. One key initiative is conducting surveys to identify and support tribal individuals who lack basic documentation, such as Aadhaar card and Public Distribution Cards and assisting them through the application process.
Led by Field Coordinator Mr. Madhan, the team engages closely with the local indigenous population. During one such survey, several community members shared that their homes were leaking during the rainy season. Recognising the urgency of the situation, Arulagam initiated a housing support project to repair and reinforce these homes.
Through this initiative, 50 households are being assisted with essential plastering and structural repairs, carried out by masons using quality cement. This effort not only improves living conditions but also reinforces Arulagam’s commitment to supporting the dignity and well-being of the communities it serves.
Thalavadi Block, located in Erode district of Tamil Nadu, comprises 19 tribal hamlets with an estimated population of 1,500 people, most living in extreme poverty. The region is home to economically marginalized tribal communities who depend on cattle rearing, minor forest produce collection, and agriculture.
Arulagam, in collaboration with the Thalavady Farmers Foundation, is supporting children, women, and school dropouts and livelihood of the community; this initiative is enabling a generation to rise beyond survival and move towards opportunity.
The tribal communities of Thalavady have long faced challenges related to education, poverty, and survival. Recognizing this, Arulagam and Thalavady Farmers Foundation team jointly took the initiative to study the ground reality in these hamlets. He closely examined why children were not attending school, why dropout rates were high, and how families were surviving mostly through daily wage labour or forest-based livelihoods. Recognising an opportunity for Arulagam, we were introduced to the situation, leading to a meaningful collaboration between Arulagam and the Thalavady Farmers Foundation. Together, we began working to support school dropouts, especially indigenous youth and girls, by helping them access school and higher education. Currently, ten students are continuing their education thanks to this initiative.
Among them are:
- A student in her first year of B.Sc. Computer Technology at KG College of Arts and Science in Coimbatore.
- Two students joining the B.Sc. Computer Science course at TSA College arts and science college in Coimbatore.
- A student enrolling in the Diploma in General Nursing and Midwifery (DGNM) at a nursing school in Coimbatore.
- A single mother who returned to education, completed her SSLC, is preparing to join +1, and is aiming to take the TNPSC Group 4 exam.
- Four students from the Solagardoddi tribal hamlet, who had previously dropped out of school, are now rejoining and enrolling in 9th standard at a higher secondary school in Aruvankadu, Coonoor, in the Nilgiris district.
- Two students preparing to join +1.
To ensure children don’t drop out due to lack of proper transport, bicycles were distributed to tribal students from Solagardoddi.
Beyond education, Arulagam, with the support of State Street volunteers, also built a community hall now named the Thalavady Indigenous Women Association. This space serves as a storage area for forest produce collected by tribal women and also stands as a symbol of community empowerment. Together, these efforts represent a vital step toward improving education access, economic resilience, and long-term well-being in Thalavady’s tribal village.
At Arulagam, conservation goes hand in hand with community empowerment—because when people thrive, nature does too.
