Team
Ms. Devaki A is the first elected District Panchayath President from a tribal community in the state of Kerala with also being the only tribal woman to hold this title. She also served as Vice President, Standing Committee; Chairperson, Education and Health Affairs of Wayanad District Panchayath. She has a decade of experience in the area of decentralised governance. She started her career in tribal development as a voluntary social worker for a mass literacy campaign. She also served as the member of Forest Rights Act 2006 (FRA) District cell and President of Wayanad Girijana Samsakirika Sangham. Her entry to social activism started with Wayanad District Tribal Development Action Council (WDTDAC). She also represented WDTDAC in the 9th International Gene Treaty 2022 at New Delhi.
Aneesh EB played a crucial role in the genesis of ‘Thudithalam’, a tribal art and folk group functioning in Wayanad. He also served as resource person at Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) and KIRTADS, Kerala. At present he is actively involved and leading the De-addiction initiative of Excise Department, Government of Kerala.
K Anandan kananchery is the traditional farmer belonging to Mullukuruma tribal community. He is conserving and cultivating two varieties of traditional paddy and vegetables for subsistence farming. He is also involved in various social and cultural awareness programmes. He also served as external advisor for tribal development planning of panchayaths at grass root level. He is also associated with various campaigns for agrobiodiversity conservation.
Balan Erumadu is a successful farmer belonging to the Kurumba community of Nilgiri region. He was the first secretary of Adivasi Kurumbas Munneta Sangham formed in 1997. This organisation mainly aims to protect and enrich tribal folk arts, agriculture and educational advancement. He is also the treasurer of tribal Farmers Interest Group formed to enhance productivity and livelihood through cooperative.
Kelu Athikolly is a traditional farmer belonging to Athikolly Kurichya Tharavadu of Kerala. He also served as member of MNREGP Monitoring Committee. Besides, he also served as Orumoopan of the hamlet, Secretary of Kallampetty Drinking Water Supply Committee, and District General Secretary of Patika Vargha Morcha. He also represented WDTDAC in the 9th International Gene Treaty 2022 at New Delhi.
Balan Paramoola in his tharavad consisting of 28 small families’ conserves 6 traditional varieties of rice in their jointly owned sixteen acres of wetland. In addition to rice, they also maintain traditional varieties of banana, legumes and vegetables. They are also conserving numerous rare, endemic and threatened plant species in their land. He has also represented his community and the efforts in agrobiodiversity conservation at various forums including the Ist India International Biodiversity Congress at New Delhi in 2016.
Pushpa poothamoola is the woman representative from Paniyan community in the executive committee of Wayanad Tribal Development Action Council. She has proved her leadership in community mobilisation and contested in election of the local body.
Bindhu Balakrishnan is the woman representative from Thachanadan Moopan community in the executive committee of Wayanad Tribal Development Action Council. She is working as the executive member of village development committee of Kairali settlement
Noonjan Mylampadi belonging to Paniyan community has contributed extensively in various tribal development movements across Wayanad. He also served as member in various grassroots level Tribal Development Planning Committees in Wayanad.
Keshavan has been the coordinator of various movements related to land acquisition in Wayanad under the aegis of Adiwasi Kshema Samiti. At present, he is the State Joint Secretary of Adiwasi Kshema Samiti and Member, Moopainad Grama Panchayath.
Balakrishnan Vythiri is the member of Paniyan Samajam, a group working towards the upliftment of Paniyan community. He also served as a member of Governing Body for Ennooru Tourism Initiative.
Vipindas P is the office correspondent of Wayanad District Tribal Development Action Council and also serves as Development Coordinator at CAbC MSSRF
