Charting Uncertain Futures: Diaspora, Citizenship and Belonging among Up-country Tamils death, Pradeshiya Sabha members are peripheral to the life of most Sri Lankans, who tend to see them as corrupt, inefficient, and out of touch (Uyangoda 2012, 375–377). Pradeshiya Sabhas have limited revenue, and so can only do limited things, but even those small improvements would be significant changes for Upcountry Tamils, and the potential foundation on which to build greater participation in and returns from the democratic process. While these problems indicate the various ways that Upcountry Tamils remain second-class citizens, many Up-country Tamil leaders are also concerned about dwindling demographic numbers, which is a common concern among minority populations. The decennial census has perennially undercounted Up-country Tamils due to their marginality, but also because many identify as “Sri Lankan Tamils” to census officials. This is partly because the official name for the community remains “Indian Tamil”, which has little meaning or relevance to most Up-country Tamil youth. In the summary report of the 2011 census, census officials even admitted that “It was documented that some Indian Tamils have misreported as Sri Lankan Tamils during the Census 1981”, the last reliable island-wide census before 2011 (Bandara 2012, 73). Yet, this has been a trend for decades, as Up-country Tamils having become Sri Lankan citizens came to identify as “Sri Lankan Tamils”; and the 2011 census simply reflects and extends these developments (Bass 2012, 61–63). Table 1 shows the sharply declining number of “Indian Tamils” in recent decades, despite the steady growth in the total number of Tamils on the island. 9