A new dawn beckons tribal youth of Jawadhu Hills in Tiruvannamalai where generations have lost themselves to earn quick money by cutting red sanders.
Treading away from the path of their ancestors, a group of determined unemployed educated youth including girls, who belong to Malayalee tribe in the hills, are charting new paths. They successfully cleared the recently held Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) Group IV examinations after a five-month rigorous free coaching given by Forest Department to them at the Forest Higher Secondary School at Jamunamarathur village in the hills.
“I studied only Class ten as I have to support my family’s daily income. I used to go to work during weekdays and attend free coaching at weekends to prepare for competitive examinations. It was tough but managed to clear it,” says M. Indumathi, a tribal from Bargur hamlet in the hills.
Ms. Indumathi was selected for the post of forest watcher in the Department of Forests. She was among 22 tribal aspirants, who cleared the examinations, underwent intense coaching at the forest school and cleared the examinations. “It was a herculean task to convince tribal elders to send their children, especially girls, to prepare for competitive examinations. But they (village elders) trusted us (Forest Department) when we explained the merits of such free coaching classes,” says S. Gunasekaran, forest range officer, Forest Research Institute (Chengam).
It was the first attempt by the Forest Department in the hills to bring tribal youth into conservation of forests in the hills by providing free coaching on public examinations after the idea was suggested by the then Tiruvannamalai District Forest Officer (DFO) P.G. Arunlal to tap unemployed educated tribal youth in the hills into it.
Initially, the forest team decided to focus on TNPSC Group-IV exams as a large number of posts for tribal youth were available. For example, of the total 865 forest watchers, 220 vacancies were reserved for tribal youth alone. “Our aim was to push more tribal youth into government service. Later, they can write departmental examinations to move up in the hierarchy,” says G. Vinoth Raj, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Tiruvannamalai.
Around 155 tribal aspirants including 82 girls in the hills enrolled at free coaching held at the Forest School in Jamunamarathur on Saturday – Sundays since January 22. Classes were held between 9 a.m and 6 p.m in the campus.
Aspirants were given food, study materials and writing kits free of cost. Classes were taken by new recruits of the Forest Department as they have practical knowledge in appearing for competitive examinations. Mentors from coaching institutes were also invited.
Forest officials managed to get study materials including syllabus, previous years question papers, mock test, and books for the TNPSC exams at a subsidy rate through Rotary clubs. Each aspirant was given complete study materials. After a five-month coaching, aspirants appeared for Group – IV examinations held on June 9 for which results were announced recently. Most of the posts include junior assistant, typists, forest watchers and steno-typists.
Published – November 10, 2024 06:37 pm IST