Poverty among Panians – A primitive tribal group in the Nilgiris district

Economic growth with social justice’ or ‘growth with equity’ has been the basic objective of public policy in India since independence. It refers to a broad based strategy of development with an emphasis on reduction of poverty. The extent to which the poor have actually benefited from the growth process has always been an issue of academic debate. The available data shows that the percentage of poor in India had declined from 54.9percent in 1973–74 23.6 percent in 2004 (National Sample Survey, 2004). But in a plural society like India, with people of different castes and religions, it is equally important to focus on ‘horizontal inequalities’, (i.e.) disparities between certain identifiable groups in the economy. In India, ‘scheduled tribes’ is a historically marginalized social group. In 2004–05 the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes constituted 25.4 percent of the total population of India (NSS, 61^st Round). Among these two groups, while scheduled castes suffer from social stigma due to untouchability scheduled tribes have been characterized by their primitive traits, distinct culture, geographical isolation and general backwardness. Against this backdrop, the present study analyses the prevalence of poverty among the Panians a primitive tribal groups in the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu.