The Kalrayan Hills are a range of hills situated in the Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu with an elevation ranging between 600 and 1,200 meters and an area extending 1,095 square kilometers. The hills are divided into Chinna Kalrayan and Periya Kalrayan, and fall under the Salem and Kallakurichi districts. While Chinna Kalrayan averages an elevation of 800 meters, Periya Kalrayan averages around 1,200 meters. The climate ranges between 19 °C and 27 °C.
Until as recently as the mid-1970s, the hills were under the rule of three Jaghirdhars, who were unwilling to recognize the Indian government. Despite this, on June 25, 1976, by invoking the Slavery Abolition Act of 1963, the Indian government finally brought the Kalrayan hills under its authority. However, the government’s schemes failed to reach the tribal people, who were also known as ‘Malayali.’
In 1980, the tribal development department of the Tamil Nadu government approached Mr. R. Venkatachalam, founder of both The Community Services Guild (CSG, 1980 - 2010) and Trust for Rural & Urban Social Transformation (TRUST, 1990 - present), to help the government in bringing its programs to the tribal people.
Having had this experience with CSG in the past, malayalis from some of the villages approached TRUST in early December 2023 with a request to return to their hills to help them learn better farming methods suitable to that area, identify appropriate produce to grow/farm, aid them in selling their produce at a fair price, acquire new income generating skills, and secure loans at reasonably low rates for all their activities. In general, they were seeking assistance for their overall development in all spheres of life.
At present, the Tamil Nadu government’s records show that the Salem District portion of Kalrayan Hills comprises of 71 villages with a population of about 21,000. Although, in general, the malayalis’ income has grown by a few times, the lives of small and marginal farmers have not seen much change.
Following up on the villages request, TRUST held a meeting with the small and marginal farmers in December 2023. During the meeting, the tribal farmers reiterated their needs (as mentioned previously), and once more sought TRUST’s assistance and support. Given that CSG worked extensively in the Kalrayan Hills in the past and passed its programs to TRUST upon its closure, we at TRUST, feel compelled to help empower the malayalis in their efforts to better their lives.
With this in mind, in January 2024, TRUST conducted a study with a sample of 110 farmers from four villages. Based on findings of the study, TRUST has initiated our newest endeavour,
The Kalrayan Tribal Program is very much in its nascency, with TRUST just having begun its work in December 2023. In 2024, TRUST expects the Kalrayan Tribal Program to cover between 20 and 30 villages, initially in Chinna Kalrayan.
The following projects will be initiated during this period.
TRUST will provide training to improve their cultivation methods and find appropriate crops to raise. TRUST has already been working with Krishi Vigyan Kendra, commonly known as KVK. The KVKs are an integral part of the National Agriculture Research system created by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which was established to impart vocational training, including newer methods in farming to practicing farmers and field level functionaries, soil testing, introducing newer varieties of crops and other agro-based activities.
TRUST will initially implement this project in households from three villages. As the Kalrayan Tribal Program develops and progresses, TRUST hopes to expand this project to more villages in order to help farming families generate a sustainable and continuous source of income.
Knowledge is the main ingredient in order for any program to succeed. This is possible through various means including direct education, online learning, mentoring, training, etc. For TRUST’s purposes, we find that training sessions and workshops are the most suitable method for imparting knowledge and skill/capacity building for the constituents.
TRUST will arrange skill enhancing training for its constituent farmers (both men and women) in better and improved agricultural practices, horticulture (for specific vegetables/fruits), flower cultivation, beekeeping, and so on.
On January 29, 2024, TRUST began its work for this project by partnering with KVK to provide farmers with training on natural farming. Pictured below.
TRUST places great importance on regular savings by the constituents (both men and women), while also helping them in planning and prioritizing their requirements. This will be done via training and follow-up meetings.
According to our survey, none of the farmers have participated in any crop insurance program. Most parts of the Kalrayan Hills are drought prone and the borewells go only as deep as 200 to 275 meters. Every effort will be made to motivate constituents to buy insurance for their crops during each crop season.
Equal importance will be placed on encouraging all constituents to invest in life insurance. TRUST hopes that by doing this, any constituent family’s financial suffering will be greatly reduced should any family head unfortunately pass.
TRUST plans to set up a Marketing and Sales unit within the organization in 2024. This unit will have all quality control measures in place before initiating any purchase of products from the constituents. Through this project, TRUST will help the constituents get the best competitive prices in a timely manner and can also ensure the purity and quality of products.
TRUST believes that its work cannot be a substitution for government schemes. It believes in working in close partnership with the respective government departments, banks, individual specialists/resource persons, NGOs with similar programs, and, most importantly, fund granting corporates/organizations. It would like to collaborate with those who can help make the program a success and pave the way for our constituents’ holistic development and empowerment.
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