An Analysis on Constraints Faced by Scheduled Tribes in Access to Social Institutions in Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu

The study was conducted to find out the constraints faced by scheduled tribes of Tamil Nadu in accessing the social institutions and availing their services. Ex post facto research design was used for this study. The study was conducted in Pethanaickenpalayam, Jawadhu hills and Kalrayan hills blocks of Salem, Tiruvannamalai and Viluppuram districts respectively. A list of constraints related to the social institutions has been prepared and survey was conducted among 270 tribal respondents in the study area. It has been found from the study that changing size of family into nuclear family, difficulty in adopting the spiritual needs, indebtedness of family hampers the schooling of children, poor awareness level of various developmental programs, and an increase in indebtedness among tribes were the major constraints concerning the family, religion, education, panchayat and economy respectively. Also suitable suggestions and strategies such as increase the number of schools and colleges near to the tribal villages, increase financial literacy among the tribes and create awareness among the tribes about various development programmes available to them were discussed to overcome the identified constraints in this paper.