International Journal of Management Research and Social Science (IJMRSS) ISSN 2394-6407(Print) Volume 7, Issue 4, October – December 2020 ISSN 2394-6415(Online) 136 DOI: 10.30726/ijmrss/v7.i4.2020.74026 Socio Economic Benefits from Tribal Co-operative Societies to their Members in Western Ghats Regions of Attappady Rohith Ravi Assistant Professor& Head, Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Kizhatoor, Malappuram, Kerala Abstract — This paper presents the members socio economic benefits from tribal cooperative societies in Western Ghats regions of Attappady Kerala. The main focus of the paper was to understand the member ’s various socio economic benefits from four tribal sholayoor, kottathara, kurumba and pudurco operative societies, the study mainly focused on the major socio economic benefits from tribal cooperative societies in Attappadi. The data for this study collected 115 respondents in Attappady tribal area in Kerala. Arithmetic mean standard deviation and ANOVA analysis was used for the analysis purpose and it is finding that the various socio economic benefits of members from tribal cooperative societies. And this study tries to know significant difference between members of tribal category with regard to their social benefits through tribal cooperative society. Keywords — Social Benefits; Economic Benefits; Tribal Cooperative Societies. 1. Introduction Tribes are considered as the most subdued category in India. These people constitute 8.6% of India’s total population, and this is the largest population of the tribal people in the world.(census of India,2001) Tribal people groups in India ordinarily called as 'Adivasi', it is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous arrangement of the ethnic and innate gathering thought about the native populace in India. The larger part of the clans customarily lived in the timberland and they thought about woodland as their salary for business. India has one of the world's largest tribal centers. Preceding the selection of Indian constitution the tribes were differently termed as aboriginals, Adivasi, forest tribes, slope tribes, primitive tribes and so forth. Up to 1919, the tribes were incorporated under the head of discouraged classes; the Indian Franchise Committee in 1919 agreed a different terminology for the evaluation reports in 1931 primitive tribes; 1941 tribes and 1951 scheduled tribes. Attappadi is among the biggest tribal settlements in Kerala at Palakkad district. It is an extension of mountain valley of 731 sq. km. in the area lying at Western Ghats ranges. Attappadi is situated in the middle-eastern part of Kerala on the northeast side of the district of Palakkad, adjacent to Coimbatore and the district of Nilgiri in Tamilnadu. The tribal region of Attappadi consists of Agali, Pudur, and Sholayar tribal villages. Over 10,000 families are live in 187 ‘Ooru’ settled all over Attappadi. Muruga, Irula, and Kurumba are the three tribal groups in Attappadi. Based on the review of literature, it is felt hat some question need to be addressed here such as what is the role of TCS in NTFP procurement and marketing, what are the members perception towards the services provided by tribal cooperative society in Attappady, what are the socio economic benefits of members from tribal cooperative society and what are the problems faced by members while procuring NTFP. The problem of the study is formulated here based on these research questions. 2. Statement of the Problem Tribes are considered as the most subdued category in India. These people constitute 8.6% of India's total population and these were the largest population of the tribal people in the world. Agriculture and non-timber forest products collection are the two major lively incomes for tribal community in Kerala. For uplifting tribes and protecting them to the exploitation of private parties, tribal co-operative societies were established. In the initial stage, their functions were concentrated on providing agricultural assistance, running consumer stores, providing training for tribal women's etc. When achieving all the above functions TCS concentrated on NTFP procurement and marketing. When the TCS move to NTFP procurement and marketing more tribes are involved in the active participation of TCS. But tribal co-operative society still follows the old rules and bylaws for their functioning. At the same time, Kudumbasree and other self-help group are engaged in NTFP procurement and marketing and that reduce the quantity of NTFP procured by TCS, and these agencies offer a high price for NTFP products to attract collectors to these institutions. There arise some questions as to what is the role of TCS in NTFP procurement and marketing, at the current scenario, it is necessary to know what kind of strategies they adopted for NTFP procurement and marketing, what are the member’s socio economic benefits of TCS. 3. Objectives of the Study  To assess socio economic benefits from tribal co operative societies to their members in Attappady.