Erode: District collector H Krishnanunni handed over the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community certificate to the villagers of Thalavadi and its surrounding hamlets adjoining the Sathyamangalam tiger reserve (STR) in the district on Sunday evening. This was a long pending demand of the villagers. The villages house people from Cholagarkal, Uraligal, and Lingayat communities. The villagers had made several representations to the district administration over decades for their community certificates. Collector Krishnanunni, who came to know about this long-pending demand, directed Gobichettipalayam revenue divisional officer (RDO) Palanidevi and Thalavadi tahsildar Umamaheswaran to look into the issue. They subsequently conducted inquiries with the tribal people.