Mysuru: A young woman belonging to the Paniyan tribal community has become the first one from her clan to get a doctorate degree. SR Divya, the daughter of Raju and Lakshmi, who resides in the Sebinakolli Hadi(area meant for tribal people is called as hadi) )of HD Kote Taluk in Mysuru, has done a Ph.D. She belongs to a tribal sect which lives in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.
Under the guidance of Profesoor KM Meitri from the Department of Tribal Studies, Kannada University in Hampi, Divya has completed his Ph.D. in the field of Social Studies of the Paniyan Tribe. Raju and Lakshmi have three children named Divya, Deebu, and Deeba. They are living in the forest area. Faced with poverty and joblessness, her parents used to work for Rs 75 once to run their family and raise children.
Due to financial problem, Divya's brother Deebu (10th class), and sister Deeba cut short their education (7th standard) and went to work as a labourers. There is no electricity connection in Divya's house. She completed her education in the light of lamp. She studied high school, PUC in HD Kote taluk, and completed her graduation from a hostel.
Divya has secured a B.Ed from Chhayadevi BED College, Mysuru and MA from Kannada University, Hampi. Later, she completed her PhD there. Divya is the first person in the Paniyan community to get a Ph.D. degree.
Divya's achivement is seen as an inspiration to students for tribals, especially the Paniyan community, which is the largest populated tribe in the Wayanad district of North Kerala. According to the 2011 census, there are 88,450 Paniyans in Kerala, 10,134 in Tamil Nadu and 495 in Karnataka.
The community speaks Paniyan, a dialect of the Dravidian language. This members of the tribr reside in Sebinakolli Hadi, and Anemala Hadi under Dodda Bairanakuppe village panchayat of HD Kote taluk. Hundreds of Paniyan families are settled in some parts of Veerarajpet, Kushala Nagar taluk of Kodagu district in Karnataka.
Speaking to ETV Bharat on phone, SR Divya said, "I am very happy to have completed my PhD. My goal is to contribute something to my community. Our community has no political backing and is economically weak. I hope to see my communty gain political importance. I also want to see it becoming educationally and economically powerful,'' She said.
