ABSTRACT
The habitual offenders' reformation has been unique as this has been the first known attempt at reform of the socially abandoned classes of indigenous society in an open-air atmosphere without removing the individuals form their natural habitats. The joint efforts of a reformer couple's organization, Samskar, and the Norwegian agency, Humanist Action for Human Rights, constitute a significant experiment in laying hands on reform and rehabilitation work in the denotified tribe settlements along the east coast of India. Three decades of terror by the Yerukula tribe in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka has been dealt with in an amicable way by the social reformer-couple. Their saga of struggle to convince the stubborn criminals, who were involved in committing dacoities, house-breaks and thefts besides petty crimes begs description.
