| 1.13.1. The Village Council |
| Every adult male of the community has the right to attend and actively participate in the deliberations of the village council which is an alive, active and a very old traditional organization. Even the adult women have the right to attend and participate in the proceedings of the council, but generally the women members of the society never attend unless the presence of a particular woman is essential. Even in such cases, the council’s law allows the woman to refrain from attending the meeting. As a rule, every council meeting is represented by all the heads of the particular group of families. The village council’s functions cover all corporating activities of social, political, economic and religious spheres of the village. The main functions of the council can broadly be grouped into two classes. |
| i)Dealings of civil problems, and |
| ii)Dealings of criminal problems |
| 1.13.1.1. Civil Problems |
| Disputes over the agricultural land and the division of labour related to the improvement of the village are discussed and settled. In addition to this, the council discusses the modernisation of the village in detail and through the memorandum attested by the members, representations are sent to the government seeking help to the community and for improvement of the village. Generally, the representation covers electrification of the village, construction of forest roads, construction of houses, financial assistance to dig wells and the purchase of bullocks, necessity of schools etc. These representations are written in Tamil with help of the Tamil speaking non-tribals live in that area. |
| 1.13.1.2. Criminal Problems |
| Intra and inter family disputes between individuals include quarrels between son and father, husband and wife, between relatives, etc. In every such problem, generally, the decision of the council is final and proper respect and abidance is shown by the involving parties to the judgement of the council. |
| 1.13.1.3. Crime and Punishment |
| Though the crime among Uralis are very rare, it is not absent totally. Crime among Uralis can be grouped broadly into three categories. They are quarrel, theft and sex related. |
| Quarrel can be an outburst of disharmony among the husband and wife or the other members within the family or it can be due to some other causes such as land disputes etc., involving the neighbours. Also, it is observed that such quarrels are only verbal, although at times these lead to physical injury to the persons involved. |
