Impact of Off-seasonal Migration of Hilly Tribes in Tiruvannamalai District of Tamilnadu

Aim: The present study was designed to study the impact of off-seasonal migration of hilly tribes in Tirvannamalai district of Tamilnadu.

Study design: Ex-post facto research design.

Place and Duration of the study: Tiruvannamalai district was purposively selected for this study since it is one among the districts where hilly tribes’ population is high. This study was confined with seven villages namely Kovilur, Nammiyampattu, Kanamali, Veerappanur, Melsilambai, Palamarathur and Kuttakarai of Jamunamarathur (Jawadhu hills) block during April 2017 to November 2017.

Methodology: The sample size entailed of 240 respondents selected from these villages with proportionate random sampling method. The respondents were interviewed personally by a well-structured and pre-tested interview schedule. The collected data were analysed with percentage analysis statistical method. The findings on the results were interpreted with relevant conclusion.

Results: In this context, the impact of off-seasonal migration of hilly tribes in Tiruvannamalai district were thoroughly analysed and discussed with nine sub-headings. The overall impact of migration revealed that majority of the migrant hilly tribes had no changes in agriculture (91.25%), healthcare and sanitation (95.00%), urban contact (91.25%), savings and investment (88.64%), standard of living (66.00%), social status (64.08%), consumption pattern (52.17%) and purchasing power (52.17%). Increased change observed with the employment status (80.20%) of the migrant hilly tribes.

Conclusion: Since, the income obtained from the off-seasonal migration activities, but it is mostly spent on debt borrowed by the hilly tribes for the seasonal activities and further improvement can’t be obtained and hence necessary credit facilities have been provided for the migrant hilly tribes.