COIMBATORE: Students belonging to the Kattu Naicker community who were denied education due to lack of community certificates can continue their studies, assured Madurai district collector Anshul Mishra. He was responding to a query pertaining to a group of residents from a settlement in Sakkimangalam, Madurai, presently living in the city, who is unable to get their children admitted in city schools as they did not have community certificates.

Chinnakannan Subbiah, a senior member of the community, said there are around 1,000 members of their community in Madurai. Traditionally, they are part of a nomadic tribe who make a living through begging, selling items and more commonly by performing acts. They go back to their settlement, allotted by the government, once a month.

For years there have been controversies regarding their caste and hence caste certificates were not issued. This hindered admission for their children in city schools. “Most students will not be able to complete class 10 because of this. A few who have managed to complete high-school, have not been able to pursue a college education,” says Raja, a member of the community. Therefore, they are unable to have a decent career. The children are forced to continue in the tradition of their parents regarding their livelihood.

Officials say there are many controversies surrounding this community. A senior official said that only a few of them are actually Kattu Naickers who come under the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category while the rest belong to other castes in the Backward Category. The latter group has been denied their community certificate. The issue became more complex when some of the community members got their certificates. A committee has been appointed to study the case.

Anshul Mishra said that he has instructed education officials to ensure education of these children is not interrupted due to lack of caste certificates. He assured that in case of any problems, the district administration would look into it.

“We don’t want our children to follow in our footsteps. We want them to have a better life. Despite the hardships, many of us are sending our children to government boarding schools. With higher education, we hope that our youngsters can join the mainstream,” said Subbiah.