tribes in Udumalaipet, Tamil Nadu, trek ten kilometers of steep terrain to go out their democratic responsibility

About 100 tribal men and women exercised their right to vote at a polling place at Thirumoorthy tribal settlement in Udumalaipet on Friday after walking nearly 10 km through hostile terrain. There were numerous complaints at the time about wealthy and educated people failing to exercise their right to vote by owning cars and vehicles in cities.

The tribals fulfilled their democratic duty by forgoing breakfast and walking for almost four hours in the blistering heat—a moving example of political consciousness at the grassroots level.

Thirumoorthy Hills, which is part of the Pollachi Lok Sabha constituency, is said to have one voting station serving the five tribal villages of Kurumalai, Mel Kurumalai, Poochikottamparai, Isaltattu, and Thirumoorthi. Sixty-eight voters call these communities home.

To get to the voting place, tribes from Mel Kurumalai and Poochikottamparai must trek over 10 kilometers across steep inclines. To avoid being attacked by animals, they had to travel in groups. Once everyone in the group had cast their vote, they had to trek back home. In these four tribal communities, there are almost 600 households. Most of the households have little parcels of land.

To avoid being attacked by animals, they had to travel in groups. Once everyone in the group had cast their vote, they had to trek back home.
Voting tribes in Tennessee forego breakfast and journey over four hours across steep mountain slopes, where they “drank stream water to quench their thirst.”

Although the majority of households rely on modest forest products to survive, others also cultivate a few veggies and potatoes. The majority of males leave their communities on Fridays to work as weekly laborers in Udumalaipet town.

These communities are next to two government schools, where two instructors instruct children in grades 1-6. For the tribe to get cell phone service, they must hike down the hill for at least 500 to 600 meters.

Neelamegam, a 29-year-old tribal from Poochikottamparai community, told TNIE, “We had to start early and skip breakfast because we need to walk for four hours more.”

In all, around 60 of us—friends and neighbors included—travelled about 10 kilometers across steep terrain to get to the Thirumoorthy tribal village voting place. A tribal woman named Mallika (32) said, “I was really hoping to vote, but I’ve been having severe knee pain for the last two weeks. Around seven in the morning, a couple of my neighbors and I headed to the polls.

A few of my neighbors had brought fermented rice, or “pazhaya soru,” with them. On the journey, I only drank water from streams in the woods. We vote at approximately ten in the morning. After voting, because the most of us had missed breakfast, we ate at a nearby restaurant. Kurumalai resident K Kannamal, 33, stated in an interview with TNIE, “My spouse and I left our house at 7 a.m.

We chose to take a shorter path, around 7 km in length, which winds through a dense forest and is dotted with boulders and shrubs, since the village is almost 40 kilometers from the voting place. We drove to the polling place around three hours later. We arrived at the polling place at approximately ten in the morning.

An official from the Tiruppur district administration told TNIE, “We are aware of the hardship that voters face.” Already, petitions and demands to establish a polling place in the highlands have been received. We have suggested building a voting place at Kurumalai, which is close to Mel Kur Malai and Poochikuttamparai—just two kilometers away.