TUDI- A Saga of Educational Empowerment

Education is one of the most important means of upward mobility for the tribals. This is a research narrative on how an NGO, named TUDI (Tribal Unity for Development Initiative) achieved phenomenal results in a period of two decades among the group of tribals called the Paniyars in the Wayanad district of Kerala, India. The systematic and consistent efforts of TUDI at the integral development of the tribals, with great emphasis on empowering them through education, have born rich dividends. This study explores how TUDI was instrumental in bringing out many graduates, post graduates and government and other employees in just 20 years from a community whose children hardly progressed beyond the primary school level two decades ago.