Joseph Stalin started Rural Development Council in the year 1990 as a kind of youth club for doing some welfare activities. It did not have a specific vision according to Stalin. The vision emerged in 1995 as Stalin moved deeper into the developmental activity in Tamilnadu and by 1995 it was to bring about a classless and caste-free society. The mission was to change the life situation of oppressed caste and class of society in the plains area of Tiruvallur and Chengalpet districts of Tamilnadu.

The year 2001 brought about an organic change in RDC. There was a change in the geographic location of the operational area to Denkanikottai, Dharmapuri district of Tamilnadu and the adivasi community became the target people. K. Gowri who had been awarded a fellowship by Nirnaya, joined Stalin. Nirnaya awarded him also a fellowship and the two between them, set to out transform the lives of the Irula tribal communities in the reserve forest area of the Krishnagiri hills. The vision now is to bring about equality for adivasi people in socioeconomic, cultural and political spheres. The mission / goal is to organize all the tribals in Denkanikottai taluqs of Kelamangalam and Thalli blocks through training, meetings and lobbying with various actors of civil society. The strategic objectives are

1. Formation of sangams
2. Facilitation activities for enabling target community’s access to basic needs
3. Education outreach for all target community’s children
4. Addressal of livelihood issues and community right over MFP

The individual strengths of the team combine towards the rapid growth of RDC. Both Gowri and Stalin are good trainers for the community and documentation is systematic. Rural Development Council has undergone an organic growth which will sustain it as long as the leadership remains strong and committed.

In the words of sangam (community women’s group) leader Letchumi, ‘we neither knew that we had rights nor dreamt that our children could have a life different from ours. Now with the motivation and training of Gowri ‘akka’ and Stalin ‘anna’ we are able to lobby with the district collector for education for our children, fulfillment of our basic needs and not only open accounts in the bank but also take loans. We got our tribal caste certificates which reinforces our rights as tribal peoples.’


Development of the Rural Oppressed People’s Service Society (DROPSS)
Vinnarasi Mallika had registered an organization but it remained dormant till 2002. Nirnaya extended a fellowship to Mallika in year 2000 and since then it has been a climb upward both for the community women among whom DROPSS works and the organization itself. DROPSS works in 8 slums in Karaikudi, Sivagangai district, Tamilnadu. In a society where the caste you are born into decides your whole life, DROPSS works with about 1800 women from the most discriminated sections of dalits - the scavenging community women. The team has not only to address its focus group but also the group members' families, the community as a whole, other communities, local government, media, political parties and professionals if it is to reach its goal of accessing the fundamental rights of the focus group.

The team’s persistence has reaped benefits for the women who have acquired skills beyond their dreams. Seven of the women have learnt driving and two of them have been sanctioned subsidized loans for three wheeled autorickshas by the local government. Tamilarasi, one of the drivers says, the struggle is now to secure a separate parking lot for us since we are not allowed to share the parking lot of the upper caste men drivers. We are the first in the district to drive autorickshas and rank among the top 5 in the state of Tamilnadu. Breaking this male domain by ‘low caste’ women is an insult that the ‘respectable’ locals of Karaikudi are not taking kindly to and the target is DROPSS. The latter is continuing undeterred by the threats with the support of the community women who are confident that the only way is to achieve what is their right. Kaliammal one of the community women leaders was able to mobilize an entire village community to break an 80 year old restriction imposed by the ‘upper caste’ on the dalit because of which the latter neither had access to drinking water nor a pathway to the cremation ground.

In response to the tsunami disaster, DROPSS has taken up the task of helping young women between 18 – 25 years of age in 10 villages of Cuddalore district to piece together their lives as they are bereft of both parents and all assets.