Demographic Profile of Tribal Population of Kodagu District, Karnataka

Abstract

India has several socially disadvantaged communities and Scheduled Tribes are the most deprived ones. In Census 2011 the Government of India identified 10,42,81,034 citizens as Scheduled Tribes constituting 8.6% of the total population of the India (As per 2001 Census, it was 8.2% of the total population of India). In India, each state is practically equivalent to a country with its own specific socio-economic level, different ethnic groups, food habits, health infrastructures and communication facilities. Kodagu is one such district located on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats in Karnataka and is home to many communities with diverse ethnic origins, and tribes such as the Yeravas, Kurubas and Kudiyas, who are of hunter-gatherers of forest origin. The present study focuses on the socio demographic and economic conditions of the Yerava, Jenu Kuruba and Malekudiya tribes. There have been changes especially in the social and economic life of these tribal people though, differences were found in their social, demographic and economic conditions.