S Rathnamma, a woman from the Soliga tribe in Karnataka, scripted history when she became the first PhD holder from her community in 2020. More than two decades later, she is proud that a member of the scheduled tribe community, Droupadi Murmu, has become the President of India, but says the progress of scheduled tribes, especially the forest tribes, is a long and challenging journey.
The 50-year-old health worker and activist belongs to the Soliga tribe, a forest tribe in Karnataka that resides in the forested areas of Chamarajanagar and Mysore, and is predominantly found in Maleya Mahadeshwara Hills, Biligiri Rangana Hills and Bandipur.
From becoming the first PhD holder from the community to encouraging other girls in the community to achieve their dreams, Rathnamma is a woman of many firsts. “Unlike others, we cannot dream easily, even for basic education and employment. Education is a far-fetched resource for the forest tribe, even today. I did my primary schooling in an ashram just because they used to give food. I used to attend school, not for education, but to feed my stomach,” said Rathnamma, who later went on to complete her PUC (Class 11 and 12) and a degree in arts at Maharani College, Mysore. She also completed an MA in Sociology at Manasagangotri College in Mysore in 1998.
However, her education journey came with its own struggles. Staying in a hostel, traveling in a bus to her native place during college holidays and learning urban lingo did not come easily to Rathnamma. “I was not used to the urban lifestyle at all. I found it very difficult to adapt to the new urban culture because of the backward region I came from. I had to deal with a lot of insecurity during my early days,” said Rathnamma, who completed her PhD research from Hampi University in 2020 where she studied the social and cultural aspects of the Soliga tribe.
Before pursuing her PhD, Rathnamma also tried getting a government job through Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) but failed. “I tried applying for an assistant teacher role, labour inspector, health worker, but faced rejections everywhere. Although there is reservation for scheduled tribes, it does not address the lack of opportunities for the forest tribes, who are at the extreme bottom layer of the tribal community,” she said.
“This triggered my interest in going back to education in 2015 and pursuing my PhD, which I completed in 2020. The motive was that I should become the first generation from the Soliga tribe to pursue higher education and become a research scholar,” said Rathnamma, who credits Dr Boralingiah, former vice-chancellor of Hampi Kannada University, and her research guide K M Methvi, who was the head of tribal studies at the university, for supporting her.
Even though her foray into the worlds of education and employment was marked with highs and lows, Rathnamma is now on a mission: to ensure that no child, especially the girl child, is cloistered in a tribal hamlet, yearning to achieve his or her dream.
“The forest tribe still has not made any strides in encouraging girls to pursue education. Hence, I have taken up the onus to make door-to-door visits and create awareness among the Soliga community to send their children, especially the girls, to make them understand the importance of education,” she said.
“I want to become the bridge between the tribal children and educational institutions, and ensure they are not deprived of their basic fundamental right,” said Rathnamma, who is creating several educational programmes in her tribal hamlet through her Sai Pragati Foundation. She is also actively involved in bringing students, who dropped out of SSLC, back into the education system.
Realising that it was important for the forest tribes in Chamarajanagar, Mysore and Bandipur to be self-reliant, Rathnamma is now promoting self-sustainability and helping them sell their products in a formalised market place. “Forest tribes are self-made entrepreneurs in their own way. However, they do not have the market to sell their products,” she said. “Lantana (an invasive weed) is available in abundance in our region. Although they know how to pluck it, they are not aware of the products they can manufacture. Every year, I make efforts to arrange a training programme by collaborating with industry officials, zilla panchayat members, forest officials who know the process of manufacturing chairs, dustbins, sofa sets etc using lantana,” she said.
Such measures, Rathnamma believes, can help create a livelihood by tapping forest resources. “These are naturally sourced resources which are sustainable and are a potential ingredient to manufacture many goods,” said Rathnamma, who is planning to make 300 forest tribes, including the Yaravas, Betta Kurbas and Koragas, attend the training programme this year.
Rathnamma also has her hands full with creating awareness among the tribal community about sickle cell disease, a deadly genetic disorder that has killed many, including small children, in her tribal hamlet. “JSS Medical College, which is associated with Indian Council of Medical Research, is working on addressing this deadly disorder and I have been roped in to assist health officials in conducting medical check-ups of the tribal community,” she said. “This is a genetic disorder which can cause intense joint pain and stomach pain and children are vulnerable to this. Moreover, our tribal community is not aware of the health cards and insurance covers they are entitled to. Hence, it is important to create awareness and work towards reducing the risk of exposure to such diseases,” she added, saying that she was conducting surveys and health awareness programmes at the taluk level on this issue.
A mother of two, Rathnamma wants her children Gopika M D and Soumya M D to become a doctor and IAS officer respectively. While Gopika has already cleared her NEET exam, Soumya will be preparing for the UPSC exam after completing her engineering course “My aim is to make my two children pursue medical and civil services respectively. I want them to give back to their community,” she said.
Rathnamma weighs in on President Droupadi Murmu’s election, saying it was “indeed a milestone moment for the tribal community”. “However, it is important that forest tribes are given equal opportunities and more reservation in government offices, especially in the education sector, because education can address many social issues and forest tribes can see true hope when they become educationists and policy-makers,” Rathnamma said.