The number who could speak is about 5,000 only and another 1,000 could write. It is only about 6,000 who declare their origins as Tamils as most of them have got well integrated with the local population. Most of them have lost their Tamil identity and are Tamils only in name. The South Indian Sanmarga Sangam is the pioneer body that forged the Tamil culture, Tamil education and the Hindu practices in the country for a long time. In 2005, it was revealed that in the 20 primary schools managed by TISI, out of the 4940 students, 1765 took Tamil classes.