ABSTRACT

This chapter looks deep into the grassroots realities of Kerala. The visits to the panchayats revealed the harsh realities of life at the grass-roots level. Studies of the Kerala development experience treat both fisherfolk and tribals as ‘outliers’, implying that the society are marginalized and have not yet benefited much from the development pursuits of Kerala society. The chapter provides an overview of the panchayats, analysis of the demographic characteristics, habitation, sanitation, source and scarcity of drinking water and availability of facilities and possessions. It presents an index of the level of poverty and affluence, the population is classified into very poor, poor, middle-class and rich. The chapter analyses the educational and marital aspects of the household members of the mid-level panchayat. Chi square tests of independence and coefficient of variation tests were conducted in order to understand the relationship between the various categories of sanitation and factors, which influence the type of sanitation.