1 PSYCHO-SOCIAL PROBLEMS OF ELDERLY WOMEN AMONG MUTHUVAN TRIBES OF KERALA Prof. Ushvinder Kaur Popli * & Sulfikar C ** Abstract: The phenomenon of population ageing is becoming a major concern all over the world. Tribes constitute 8.61% of the total population of the country and cover with 15% of the country’s area and most of them remain at the lowest stratum of the society (Census 2011, Government of India).The elderly women in tribes are the most vulnerable and marginalized section (Gurumoorthy & Thirumalraja, 2015). The study was conducted among elderly women in Muthuvan tribal community of Urangattri Gram Panchayath, Areacode Block, Malappuram District of Kerala. The research design was descriptive, and quantitative and qualitative inputs were used. The data was collected by interviewing the elderly women using interview schedule and observation techniques. The research result reveals that 50% of the respondents were in the age group of 60- 64 years. About 83% belongs to the nuclear family. 93% of the respondents were illiterate and 83% of the respondent’s monthly income was between Rs.1000-2000. 50% of the respondent’s health condition was poor. 50% of the respondents were not feeling depressed, more than half of the respondents use to feel isolated/loneliness. Majority of the respondents opined that they need sufficient money or financial security for future life. Key Words: Elderly, Elderly Women, Psycho-social Problems, Muthuvan Tribes in Kerala INTRODUCTION Ageing process is multi-disciplinary in nature, because it is a result of complex phenomena related to the physiological, psychological and social factors. It is not only a biological reality of its own dynamic, largely beyond the human control, but also subject to influence by the society. Old age begins approximately at the age of sixty years and characterized by certain physical and psychological changes that leads to the poor adjustment and psycho-social problems. These are marked individual differences in the effects of ageing. The second largest tribal population of the world is also characterizes in India. The tribes are the children of the nature and their life style is conditioned by the ecological systems and forest. The total scheduled tribe population of India stands at 104,281,034 as per 2011 census and accounts for 8.6% of the total population of the country (Census 2011, Government of India). According to the 2011 Census, the total tribal population of Kerala was 426,208. This constitutes only 1.28% of the total population of the state. Chandrika C.S & Nandakumar PM (2014) opined that major problems faced by the tribal population of Kerala are, land alienation, displacement from traditional avenue * Professor and Head, Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi-110025 ** PhD Research Scholar in Social Work (UGC JRF), Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi-110025 Email ID: sulfikarchali@gmail.com