Kerala Vision 2047 must be judged not by how it uplifts the largest communities, but by how carefully it includes the smallest and most invisible. The Domban community is among the lowest-population Scheduled Castes in Kerala, numerically tiny, geographically scattered, and often absent from mainstream policy discourse. Precisely because of this invisibility, Dombans face a higher risk of permanent marginalisation. An exclusive empowerment vision for the Domban community must therefore be data-driven, targeted, and outcomes-focused, ensuring that by 2047 the community is fully integrated into Kerala’s social, economic, and institutional life.
The estimated population of the Domban community in Kerala is extremely small, likely well below 5,000 individuals statewide, spread thinly across districts without significant concentration in any single taluk. This dispersion creates a structural disadvantage: welfare schemes designed around population clusters often fail to reach Domban households. Kerala Vision 2047 must begin with a complete, audited Domban household census within the next three years, mapping every family, habitation, landholding status, education level, and income source. Without precise numbers, inclusion becomes accidental rather than intentional. By 2030, Kerala should maintain a living digital registry covering 100 percent of Domban households.
Housing security is the first pillar of empowerment. Field-level assessments suggest that a significant proportion of Domban families live in semi-permanent or insecure dwellings, often without clear land titles. Vision 2047 must ensure that every Domban household has ownership or long-term legal rights to a minimum 5-cent residential plot and a permanent house meeting Kerala housing standards. Given the small population, this is fiscally feasible. Even assuming 1,200 to 1,500 households statewide, full housing coverage would require a fraction of the state’s annual housing budget, yet would permanently eliminate shelter insecurity for the community by 2035.
Education outcomes for Domban children are constrained less by access and more by continuity and aspiration. While enrolment at the primary level may approach state averages due to universal schooling, dropout risk rises sharply at the upper primary and secondary stages. Kerala Vision 2047 must adopt a zero-dropout target for Domban children, with explicit annual tracking. Residential schooling support, transport assistance, and direct mentoring must be provided to ensure that at least 95 percent of Domban students complete Class 12 by 2040. Higher education participation should be raised to a minimum of 40 percent of eligible youth by 2047, with targeted scholarships, hostel access, and entrance exam coaching.
Livelihood vulnerability remains a central challenge. Domban adults are often engaged in irregular, low-paying informal work, with average household incomes estimated to be significantly below the Kerala median. Vision 2047 must guarantee income stability rather than short-term employment. This requires structured inclusion in public employment pipelines such as municipal services, sanitation systems, logistics support, healthcare assistance, and skilled trades. A realistic target would be to ensure that at least one member of 80 percent of Domban households holds a formal or semi-formal job with predictable monthly income by 2040. Apprenticeship reservations and assured placement mechanisms must be created specifically for micro-population SC communities like the Dombans.
Skill development must be demand-linked and scale-appropriate. Large training programs often fail small communities due to batch-size logic. Kerala Vision 2047 must adopt micro-batch skill training models for Dombans, with cohorts as small as 10 to 15 trainees, aligned to local labour demand. Priority skill areas should include electrical maintenance, plumbing, waste processing operations, healthcare support roles, digital service assistance, and public infrastructure maintenance. Certification and placement, not training hours, must be the success metric.
Health outcomes among Domban families require focused attention due to poverty-linked risks such as chronic illness, undernutrition, and limited preventive care. Vision 2047 should assign Domban households to named primary health teams, ensuring continuity rather than episodic intervention. Annual health screening coverage must reach 100 percent of the community by 2030. Nutrition support programs should ensure that no Domban child falls below minimum growth indicators, and maternal health outcomes must match district averages within the next fifteen years.
Financial inclusion is another weak link. Many Domban households lack access to institutional credit, insurance, and long-term savings instruments. Kerala Vision 2047 must ensure universal bank account coverage, life and health insurance enrolment, and pension access for eligible adults. Micro-enterprise support, even if limited to 200 to 300 units statewide, can have transformative effects given the small population base. Revolving credit funds and credit guarantees must be designed specifically for low-population SC communities to avoid exclusion due to scale bias.
Social dignity and visibility are as critical as economic indicators. Dombans often experience a double invisibility: they are neither large enough to be politically significant nor visible enough to be culturally acknowledged. Vision 2047 must integrate Domban history and presence into local governance records, school curricula at the district level, and official data systems. Representation in ward sabhas, beneficiary committees, and district advisory bodies must be ensured through nomination where elections are numerically impractical.
Women within the Domban community face compounded disadvantage. Vision 2047 must ensure that at least 50 percent of all education scholarships, skill training seats, and enterprise support reach Domban women. Women-led self-help groups, even if few in number, should be prioritised for steady service contracts with local bodies. Economic agency for women is the fastest route to household stability in micro-population communities.
By 2047, success for the Domban community should be measurable in clear terms. One hundred percent housing security. Ninety-five percent school completion up to Class 12. At least 40 percent higher education participation among youth. Eighty percent of households with stable monthly income. Health indicators matching state averages. Visible representation in local governance structures. These are not aspirational numbers; they are achievable targets precisely because the population is small.
Kerala Vision 2047 must recognise that justice is most clearly expressed at the margins. If even the smallest Scheduled Caste communities like the Dombans can stand with dignity, stability, and voice by 2047, Kerala’s development story will carry genuine moral weight.
