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Best, Suman

Wednesday,24March2010

ProblemsofIndianTribesand
measuresfromGovernmentof
India
ProblemsofIndianTribesandmeasuresfrom

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Over the last 20 25 years, the international tribal community has
beenincessantlytryingtodrawtheattentionoftheworldsleading
powerblockstosavethemfromperennialmiseries.Currentlythere
are about 300 million indigenous people in 70 countries (Beteille
1998).TheyhavecometogethertoseekhelpfromtheUNtoputan
endtotheirpovertyaswellastosocialdiscriminationagainstthem.
In response, the UN has taken some decisive steps. Among these
is a series of programmes under the Declairation of the
International Decade of Worlds Indigenous People, aimed at
strengtheninginternationalcooperationonredressalofcrisesinthe
areas of humanrights, environment, development, education and
health.TheWorldHealthorganisation(WHO)hasemphasisedthat
indigenous people have higher rates of infant mortality, lower life
expectancy and more cases of chronic illness than the non
indigenouspopulationsintheirhomecountries.Itisarguedthatthe
indigenous people are among the poorest of the poor. They suffer
fromextremediscriminationandleadalifeofmiseryanddestitution.

Theories
DEVELOPMENTRELATED
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The development discourse, therefore, needs to concentrate on

findinganeffectivestrategytomitigatethesecrises.

September(1)

Following is a presentation of some major problems which present

day tribal people faces. It should be remembered that problems
which Indian tribes face can be sectorally divided as Problems of
Poverty, Health Problems and social problems like lack of
education, however, it is more pertinent to look at each categories
intogreaterdetailsbycarefullytakingintoaccountthenuancesof
aproblem.

April(1)

Problemswithlandalienation
Landasaprimeresourcehasbeenasourceofproblemintriballife
because of two related reasons, first, Dependency, i.e. tribal
dependency on land and second, improper planning from
governmentagencies.
Tribal people in India can be classified on the basis of their
economicpursuitsinthefollowingway:
1.Foragers
2.Pastoral
3.handicraftmakers
4.Agriculturists
5.Shiftinghillcultivators
6.labourers
7.Businesspursuits
All of these occupations involve direct or indirect dependency on
land.

June(6)

March(3)
ProblemsofIndianTribes
andmeasuresfrom
Govern...
Functionalism:thebasic
anthropologicalidea
Notionsofculture

Therewasanerrorinthisgadget

ItsKaleidoscope
SumanNath
Acotravelerwho
seatsendlesslyona
chairthatwetendto
callworldandmoves
throughwonderplaces.Trynotto
movefromthechair,transcending
time.Trytounearthsilencesand
capturethroughmultiplelenses.
Behindthecornerofmyeyesthere
arethingsIcannotsee...thingsI
donotunderstand...SohereIam
withwordstoshareandbecomea
cotravelerfrommybeing.Yes,so
manythingstoexpressbutnot
genuinelygiftedwithskills.

Landrightsandalienation:

Viewmycompleteprofile

Landrightsandchangesinrulesgounnoticed.Tribalareunaware
or are made unaware about the rules which governs Indias land
rights.

MYOTHERSTUFFS

TheTribalsdonothaveaccesstolandrecords,noteven
the Record of Rights. This lends them to a higher
probability of getting exploited, by the nontribals and in
some cases by the local officials. Wherever lands are
givenyetthepattasarenotgiven,orpattashandedover
yetthelandisnotshown.
There is a discrepancy in demarcation of Scheduled
Areas. In some places it is village wise and in some
places it is area wise. There should be a clear village
wise demarcation of the Scheduled Area to avoid
ambiguitiesandexploitationoftriballands.

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Therearemanytribalvillageswithpopulationsmorethan
50 percent and contiguous to the existing scheduled
areas.Yettheyarenotdeclaredasscheduledareas.In
West Godavari district in the K. R. Puram ITDA area
providesstrikingexampleforsuchambiguities.
Some of the tribal villages surrounding the Scheduled
Areas are administratively called the Tribal SubPlan
Areas, where land alienation is high and has numerous
pendingcases. Land restoration and issuing title deeds
to tribals as per Land Transfer Regulation (LTR) Act
should be implemented immediately in all these areas.
This issue has to be immediately addressed, since only
land situated in those villages that fall within the
ScheduledAreasenjoytheprotectionundertheLTRAct
1/70inAndhraPradesh.

Alreadyamember?Signin

When taluks were divided into mandals in AP in 1986,

some of the scheduled villages got included in the plain
areamandals.Landalienationisveryseriousproblemin
these areas and the administration is not implementing
the LTR Act here, as these areas are a fraction of the
total area of mandals. The mandals and Scheduled
Areasshouldbecoterminus.
TheAgencyRevenueDivisionalOfficersserveasjudicial
magistratesandconductagencycourtsintheScheduled
Areas. They are not knowledgeable of judicial matters
and LTR, as they are posted from the Revenue
Department. Because of their inexperience, numerous
land alienation cases are pending in such courts. Some
suchSDCsaregivenchargeofmorethanonedistrict,or
havetodealwithbothplainareasandscheduledareas,
causing all sorts of logistical and experiential problems.
They need to be trained in their LTR and judicial roles
effectively.
The revenue authorities (SDCs) are not restoring lands
back to tribals even after High Court issued orders.The
implementation of the LTR Act seems to be restricted to
small nontribal land holdings, while the big landlords
withhugetractsoftriballandremainunaffected.
At the local level some of the land disputes could be
solved and tribals' rights could be settled by the SDC
taking the assistance of the traditional leadership in the
villageswho have knowledge of the actual ownership of
the lands and who have customary modes of dispute
resolution. Oral testimonies could be accepted for
settlement of rights where written revenue records are
not available or are distorted by mischief. Such a
provision exists in the Agency Rules of 1870. This
systemcouldbeadoptedbothforsettlementofrightson

revenueandforestlands.
The need to recognize traditional legal systems to deal
withcivilcasesandrelatedmatterswouldstrengthenthe
legal framework in Scheduled Areas and would be
harmoniouswiththespiritofPESA.
Some lands in the Scheduled Areas are under the
Endowments department, like in Bhadrachalam. These
lands are being taken over by nontribals while the
tribals have no access to their ancestral lands. In fact,
TheEndowmentsdepartment has plans to auction such
lands to private bidders. These developments are in
contraventionoftheFifthScheduleandtheLTRActand
thereforesuchmovesshouldbewithdrawnforthwith.
Nontribals are using Court stay orders, and even
acknowledgements from the High Court to halt the
restoration of lands in LTR cases. Steps need to be
taken to ensure that stay orders do not stall the
restorationprocess.Onepossibilitywouldbetoenshrine
theLTRActundertheIXScheduleoftheConstitution.
Nontribals are taking possession of lands in Scheduled
Areas by marrying tribal women. Most often, the tribal
women, who are legal owners of lands and yields,
become concubines and are denied all enjoyment over
suchrightsbythenontribalmen.Thechildrenofanon
tribal father should not be given tribal status as most of
the tribal groups in the country follow a patriarchal
system of identity and ownership over property. It was
feltthatthissystemshouldbefollowedinthetribalarea
as well in order to prevent land alienation. Section 3(1)
of LTR Act should be accordingly amended prohibiting
transfer of land to children of tribal women married to
nontribalmen.

Landalienationwithintribesisaseriousprobleminsome
areas.Forexample,therecognitionoftheLambadasas
a Scheduled Tribe in 1977 in Andhra Pradesh, who do
not have this status in other states, has led to large
scale migration of this tribe into AP. The Sugali
populationwas1,32,464in1971by1981theSugaliand
Lambadapopulationstogetherbecame11,58,342,a774
percent increase. By 1991, they were16,41,897 in
population. They have largely spread in the districts of
Adilabad, Khammam, Warangal, Mahaboobnagar,
Kurnool, Nalgonda and Prakasam, while scattered in
other districts to a lesser extent. They have taken over
the lands of the local tribes like the Gonds, Chenchus,
Koyas, Kolams, etc. The Chenchus have been worst
affected by this migration. This conflict is serious where
lesser assertive tribes, like the Chenchus, have lost
lands to the Lambadas. Such land alienation should be
arrested.Aspecialprotectionshouldbeprovidedforthe
local tribes by a process of categorization of tribes both
forthepurposeofpreventinglandalienationfromlesser
developed tribes, and for a more equal distribution of
reservationsandotherconstitutionalprovisions.
Collectedfrom:http://www.arsap.org/land.html
Alienation:
Throughout the history of Indian Civilization tribal people have
increasinglyloosetheirlandbecauseofstatesencroachment,and
alsolackofunderstandingbetweentribalmodeofrelationshipand
outsidersinterests.
Tribal peoples mode of land ownership is quite different from the
rest. With cross cultural research three kinds of land ownership is

noted
1.Communitybasedownership
2.Clanbasedownership
3.Familybasedownership
As commons are difficult to manage, tribal people have frequently
beendeniedfromtheirrightsoverland.
The first phase of alienation began with the state formation and
incorporationoftribalterritorybyMedievalrulers.ScholarlikeSingh
(1987)andDasgupta(1991)havedepictedcasesfromIndiawhere
Kingsactuallytoearnmoreresourcesfromthelandtakenfromno
agriculturalist tribal people and distributed to caste people. In
tripuraforexample,itisarguedthatKingsinvitedoutsidersastribal
people were not ready to cultivate, in consequence, they became
marginalised.
The second phase of land alienation starts with colonial rule of
banningshiftingcultivationandpromotespecifickindsofcultivation
by outsiders within tribal territories. Their compulsion lead to a
situation where tribals purchased seeds and other components
from local money lenders in loan which ultimately displaced them
fromtheirlandsduetochronicindebtedness.
Thethirdphaseofalienationresultedindirectdisplacementoftribal
people from their homeland because of large project constructions
andoutsidersinterventions.
LandAlienationasaConcept:
As per Marx, in a Capitalist society an alienated man lives in an
alienatednatureandheperformsestrangedlabourandtheproduct
ofhislabourbecomesalientohim.Alienationasaconceptisused

by many social scientists in India, merely as a sociological

phenomenon. Since land alienation is the crux of the
depeasantization of the tribals, the concept assumes utmost
importanceintheanalysisoftribalrightsasapartofhumanrights
discourse. The problem of land alienation is a much deeply
connected phenomenon with full of contradictions related to the
existing socioeconomic order. The separation of land from the
tribal communities can be understood in a more scientific way with
the assistance of the theoretical formulations of the concept of
alienation.
AlienationwasdefinedbyHegelandwasusedbyMarxtodescribe
and criticise a social condition in which man far from being the
activeinitiationofthesocialworldseemedmoreapassiveobjectof
determinate external processes. Marx says, alienation is
fundamentallyaparticularrelationofproperty,involvinginvoluntary
surrender to autagonistic 'other'. Alienation is inherent in
exploitativerelationsofproductionanditsnaturevarieswiththatof
exploitation. Hence alienation's manifestations also differs among
societies based on slavery, serfdom and capitalism etc. Thus the
concept of alienation may be interpreted to understand a specific
problemofthetribalswherelandbecomestheprimordialsourceof
exploitation and results in the creation of a society where
exploitativeproductionrelationsexit.
Formsofalienation:
The first and foremost is the manipulation of land records. The
unsatisfactorystateoflandrecordscontributedalottotheproblem
of land alienation. The tribals were never legally recognized as
ownersofthelandswhichtheycultivated.
Thesecondformoflandalienationisreportedtohavetakenplace
dueto'benami'transfers.ThereportofthestudyteamoftheUnion

HomeMinistry(May1975)pointedoutthatlargescaletransfersof
ownership of the Adivasis' lands are being allowed to go out of
hands through illegal and benami transactions, collusive civil
proceedings etc., in which land remains to be in the names of the
originalownerswhoarereducedtothelevelofsharecroppers.
Another form of land alienation is related to the leasing or
mortgagingoftheland.Toraiseloansforvariousneedsthetribals
havetogivetheirlandasmortgagetothelocalmoneylendersorto
therichfarmers.
Encroachment is another form of dispossessing the tribals of their
lands and this is done by the new entrants in all the places where
there were no proper land records. Bribing the local Patwari for
manipulating the date of settlement of land disputes, antedating
etc.,areresortedtoclaimthetriballands.
Concubinage or marital alliance is another form to circumvent the
lawandgrabtriballandsatnocostatall.
Fictitious adoption of the nontribals by the tribal families is also
anothermethodtosnatchthelandsofthetribals.
Alsotheslacknessintheimplementationoftherestrictiveprovisions
encourages the nontribals to occupy the tribal lands. Lands
alienationwhichtakesplaceinvariouswayshasassumedalarming
proportion threatening the right to life of the tribal population.
Thoughtheproblemlieselsewhere,itisbeingunfortunatelyalways
interpreted as the handiwork of certain individuals like the
moneylender, traders, land lords, etc, without understanding the
class connection of these individuals. The unsystematic land
recordsoftheprecolonialandcolonialperiodswasfollowedbythe
present State. There was collection of 'taxes (a strange
phenomenon for the natives and it was the beginning process of
alienation)inthetribalareas.

In the name of protecting the interest of the tribals stringent laws

were enacted by the government but the nontribals found the
loopholes to their advantage. This double edged nature of State
policyinoneofthefacetsoftheexistingcontradictionsintheIndian
Tribal Society. The process of land alienation is not an accidental
one, but it has arisen because of the concerted efforts of the
antagonisticclassinterestthatareoperatinginthetribalareas.This
isnotjustmigrationofthenontribalsintotribalareasratherthereis
a history behind this migration and the State has supported the
migrantnontribalstothesettledowninthetriballands.
However, being the natural owners of forests and its adjoining
lands the tribals are being deprived of their rights to own them.
Theyhavebeenrelegatedfromtheirearlier'selfreliant'statustoa
'dependent' one. Coupled with the exploitation by the nontribals,
the State legislations also proved detrimental to their interests.
Therefore to understand the root causes of the land alienation
processofthetribalcommunitiesitsrelationshipwiththechangesin
thesocioeconomicstructureshavetobeunderstoodproperly.
Taken

from:

http://www.dhdi.free.fr/recherches/environnement/articles/rout.htm
Protestsandvoices:
Atleastthreetypesofprotestsarefoundfromthetribals
a) Complete silence of the tribal: partly because of their shock
andpartlybecauseoftheirunderlyingphilosophyandbelief
on the welfare nature of the states there are instances of
silencefromtribals.KoltribesofMirzapurisanexample.
b) Violent protest: There are instances, for example in kerala,
where gruesome outcome happened as the state had to
shotdown16tribalpeople.

c) Third agent protest: Protest often involves voluntary

agencies. For example in Andhra Pradesh SHAKTI is
struggling against non tribal intruders and to combat
situationatlarge.
Policyintervention:
Strong tribal movements and protests have resulted is Supreme
Courtsdecisionofforming6 thscheduleand5 thscheduletoprotect
tribalpeoplefromoutsidersexploitation.
Forestpolicyandalienation
Analysisofforestpoliciesshowhistoricallyforesthasbeenseenas
a commodity. It was a view primarily related to colonial
administrators. In post colonial period forest is continued to be
viewedasacommoditybuttherewassubstantiveconcernforforest
protection. This protection initiative ultimately resulted in forest
protectionattheexpenseoftribalrights.
Forestdependency:
Indian tribes have historical connection with forest. They are
functionallyandemotionallyattachedtotheforest.Functionallythey
collect Food, Fuel and Fodder three most vital ingredient of their
daily life. These three was designated as Minor Forest Produce as
itscommercialvalueislesserthantimbershencetheMajorForest
Produce.However,withchangeinforestpolicythesevitalitemsof
forestarenowredesignatedasNonTimberForestProduce.
Colonialforestpolicyandalienation:
Colonial administrators found Indian forests as commodity as a
result several forest acts gradually denied tribals access to forest
land.Theforstact1855firsttimeputrestrictionontheexploitation

of forest by tribal people. Subsequently acts of 1878, 1898, 1927,

1935 have systematically reduced tribals access to and command
over forest. While tribes gradually loose their access increasing
commercialexploitationincreased.
Postcolonialforestacts:
After independence, the nature of the acts remained largely the
same until 2006. When the demands of modern industries situated
outside the tribal areas led to the commercial. exploitation of
forests.Thesebecamethenanimportantsourceofrevenueinthe
state, and to regulate the extraction of timber and other produce
largeforestareasweredesignatedas"reserved"andputunderthe
controlofagovernmentdepartment.Tribalcommunitiesdwellingin
enclaves inside the forest were either evicted or denied access to
the forest produce on which they had depended for many
necessities. Thus arose a conflict between the traditional tribal
ownership and the state's claim to the entire forest wealth.
Numerous revolts, one of which will be described later in this
chapter,werethedirectresultofthedenialofthelocaltribals'right
in the forests which they had always considered their communal
property. While they were forbidden to take even enough wood to
buildtheirhutsorfashiontheirploughs,theysawcontractorsfrom
thelowlandsfellinghundredsoftreesandcartingthemoff,usually
withthehelpoflabourbroughtinfromoutside.Wheretribalswere
allowed access to some of the forest produce, such as grass or
deadwoodforfuel,thiswasconsidereda"concession"liabletobe
withdrawn at any time. The traditional de facto ownership of tribal
communities was now replaced by the de jure ownership of the
state, which ultimately led to the exploitation of forest resources
with total disregard for the needs of the tribal economy. In recent
yearsmanyprojectshavebeenstartedwhichchangethecharacter
offorestsinsuchamannerthattheyserveexclusivelycommercial
interests and no longer benefit the original forest dwellers. The

natural mixed forests, which provided the tribesmen with the raw
materials for many of their household implements, cane and
bamboo for baskets, and such items of food as mangoes,
tamarinds, jack fruits, mahua corollae , and edible berries, are
being replaced by plantations of teak, eucalyptus, and various
coniferoustrees.
An extreme example of such a commercialization of forests at the
expense of the local tribal population is a project in Madhya
PradeshwhereRs46,000,000aretobespentonconverting8,000
hectares of forest in the Bastar Hills to pine forests to feed the
paperpulpindustry.
In a recent symposium on "Forests, Tribals and Development," Dr.
B. D. Sharma, who is Tribal Development Commissioner,
Government of Madhya Pradesh, stated the position very clearly
whenhesaid:
As the ownership of the State gets consolidated and formalised
and the decision making recedes farther away from the field, the
specialrelationshipofthetribalswiththeforestisnotappreciated.
Their rights are viewed as a 'burden' on the forests, and an
impediment in their scientific and economic exploitation. . . . Since
theforestproduceistreatedasnature'sgift,theStatestakesitsfull
claim over it. At the best, the tribal may be allowed a reasonable
wageforthelabourwhichhemayputinforthecollectionofminor
forestproduceorextractionfmajorproduce.Thus,thedefactoand
conventional command of the tribal over resources is completely
deniedinthisperceptionandheisreducedtothestatusofmerely
acasualwageearner.
Dr. B. D. Sharma included in his exposition a detailed plan for a
reconciliation of the interests of tribal communities and forestry
development, largely by the economic involvement of tribals in the

managementandutilisationofforestresources.Hesummarisesthe
basicprinciplesofthisplanasfollows:
It is clear that the development of the people and development of
the forests, as two coequal goals, are fully consistent. Certain
basic needs of the local community must provide the solid
foundation for rational utilisation of forest resources. The socio
economic conditions of tribal communities must be accepted as an
important boundary condition for determining the level of
technologyandintensityofoperationsinanarea....Theplanfor
tribal development must take the forest resources as the base on
which tribal economy can progress with greatest confidence. . . .
Planning without participation of the people and their active
involvement cannot be expected to be realistic. The tribal should
become a cosharer in the new wealth created in these areas and
shouldbecomeanactiveparticipantintheirmanagement.
Taken

from

http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?

docId=ft8r29p2r8&chunk.id=d0e1668&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e166
8&brand=eschol
The national forest policy in 1952 clkearly stated the national
interest which much plausibly involved commercialisation. Forest
policy of 1978, goes even further to classify forest into reserve
forest, protected forest and village forest which was based on
Indian Forest Act of 1927 that totally curtailed tribals access even
further.
However, throughout these phases tribal people protested
frequentlyitresultedinkillingoftribalpeople.Forexamplein2003
about16peoplewerekilledinMuthungaforestinKeralaasaresult
of their conflict with state machineries. However, in 2006 India
reassertedtribalsaccessandrightsoverforestlandonwhichthey
have depended for centuries. This act is viewed by many as

undoing the historic injustice to the forest dwellers with an

emphasison
Empowermentoflocalgovernment
Addressingthelivelihoodsecuritiesofthepeople.
Addressing conservation and ecosystems management from
participatoryperspectiveexemplifiedbyJointForestManagement.
DevelopmentInducedDisplacement
Infrastructural development projects carried out by states, often
withtheassistanceoftheinternationalcommunity,frequentlyresult
inthedisplacementofpeoplesfromhomesthatstandinthewayof
dams, highways, or other largescale construction projects. New
standards are emerging for states to address the displacement
consequencesofdevelopment.
World Bank estimates that only in post 1990s the construction of
300 high dams displaced four million people each year, urban
projectshavedisplaced6millionpeopleeachyearworldwideeach
year.
Ongoingindustrialisation,electrificationandurbanisationprocesses
are likely to increase, rather than reduce, the number of
programmes causing involuntary population displacement. Causes
or categories of developmentinduced displacement include the
following: water supply (dams, reservoirs, irrigation) urban
infrastructure transportation (roads, highway, canals) energy
(mining, power plants, oil exploration and extraction, pipelines)
agriculture expansion parks and forest reserves and population
redistributionschemes.
SituationinIndia:

Despite of the abandonment of many high cost projects during

1950s and 1960s which displaced about 40 50 percent of the
tribalpeoplefromtheirhomeland,manyoftheseprojectsareinthe
processofrestarting.In1994thegovernmentofIndiaadmittedthat
10millionpeopledisplacedbydams,mines,deforestationandother
development projects were still awaiting rehabilitation, a figure
regardedasveryconservativebymostindependentresearchers.In
China the government has admitted that 7 million development
inducedIDPslivedinextremepovertyin1989(InternationalRiver
Network 1998). Estimates suggest that in Andhra Pradesh 27% of
the tribal people are displaced. Orissa has a displacement of 22%
of her tribal communities. Similar situation prevails in Jharkhand,
WestBengalandKerala.
Protests:
It has been left to NGOs, the media and academics to probe the
governmentinflictedhumanrightsabusesrelatedtodevelopment
induced displacement and to highlight the plight of millions of IDPs
forcedofftheirland.If,aswehaveseen,theGuidingPrinciplesand
binding international human rights law (Universal Declaration of
Human Rights) prohibit forced displacement (conflict or
developmentinduced) not justified by overriding public interest,
however,duetopoliticalorunknownreasonstheUNbodiesareat
complete silence. In India some famous example of such peoples
movementincludeNarmadaBachaoAndolan,andKoelKaro Hydro
Electric Power Project where protest resulted in death of 9 and
additionally22peoplewereinjuredon2 ndFebruary2001.
ImpactAssessment:
Michael Cernea, a sociologist, who has researched development
induced displacement and resettlement for the World Bank, points
out that being forcibly ousted from one's land and habitat carries

withittheriskofbecomingpoorerthanbeforedisplacement,since
a significant portion of people displaced do not receive
compensation for their lost assets, and effective assistance to re
establish themselves productively. Cernea (1999) has identified
eightinterlinkedpotentialrisksintrinsictodisplacement.
1.Landlessness: Expropriation of land removes the main
foundation upon which people's productive systems,
commercialactivities,andlivelihoodsareconstructed.
2.Joblessness:Theriskoflosingwageemploymentisveryhigh
bothinurbanandruraldisplacementsforthoseemployedin
enterprises,services or agriculture. Yet creating new jobs is
difficultandrequiressubstantialinvestment.
3.Homelessness.Lossofsheltertendstobeonlytemporaryfor
manypeoplebeingresettledbut,forsome,homelessnessor
a worsening in their housing standards remains a lingering
condition. In a broader cultural sense, loss of a family's
individualhomeandthelossofagroup'sculturalspacetend
toresultinalienationandstatusdeprivation.
4.Marginalisation. Marginalisation occurs when families lose
economic power and spiral on a downward mobility path.
Manyindividualscannotusetheirearlieracquiredskillsatthe
new location human capital is lost or rendered inactive or
obsolete. Economic marginalisation is often accompanied by
socialandpsychologicalmarginalisation.
5.Food Insecurity. Forced uprooting increases the risk that
people will fall into temporary or chronic undernourishment,
defined as calorieprotein intake levels below the minimum
necessaryfornormalgrowthandwork.
6.Increased Morbidity and Mortality. Displacementinduced
social stress and psychological trauma, the use of unsafe
water supply and improvised sewage systems, increase
vulnerability to epidemics and chronic diarrhoea, dysentery,

or particularly parasitic and vectorborne diseases such as

malariaandschistosomiasis.
7.LossofAccesstoCommonProperty.Forpoorpeople,lossof
access to the common property assets that belonged to
relocatedcommunities(pastures, forest lands, water bodies,
burial grounds, quarries and so on) result in significant
deteriorationinincomeandlivelihoodlevels.
8.Social Disintegration. Displacement causes a profound
unravelling of existing patterns of social organisation. This
unravellingoccurs at many levels. When people are forcibly
moved,productionsystems,lifesustaininginformalnetworks,
tradelinkages,etcaredismantled.
Rehabilitationresettlement:
Indian land acquisition act being non participatory promotes a top
down process which coupled with lack of political will from the
ministryofrehabilitation.EvenUNbodiesarequitereluctanttotake
initiative for proper rehabilitation and resettlement. Even today the
guidelineisrestrictedtoaffirmationofafewbasicrights
Right to participation of local people in decision
making.
Rightstolifeandlivelihood
Rightsofvulnerablegroups
Rightstoremedy
However with this passive attitude the mitigation of the problem of
displacement largely depends on activists and pressure of civil
societythemselves.

Indebtedness
Landlessness has been arguably the major cause of indebtedness
among the agriculturist tribals in India. In India 58% of the tribal
people Below Poverty Line with a high concentration in states like
Andhra, Rajastan, UP, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal. The land
alienation with its long history has natural consequence of
indebtedness, which further lead to dispossession of tribal land.
The poverty, land alienation indebtedness and landlessness is
workingacyclicalway.
Economicallyindebtednessisanoutcomeofa)deficitfamilyincome
andb)socialcompulsions.Sinceethnographicstudyhasshowsthe
selfcontainedtriballifeamongthehuntersandgatherersandtheir
lackofconceptofloanandinterest,itisreasonabletobelievethat
indebtedness is an outcome of interaction between non tribal and
tribal people. The tribals lack of education and understanding of
loanandinterestshaveprovidedtheincentivestothenontribalsto
systematicallyexploitthem.
Clearly for mitigating the issue one or more of the following
measurescanbetaken
1.prevention
2.protection
3. promotion of micro credit facilities through formal and
favourableterms
Theimmediatestepscanbethefollowing
a) spreadofbanking
b) focusonpovertyalleviation

c) entrepreneurship
d) debtrelieflegislation
e) legalaid
f) awarenessandeducation
Bondedlabour
Slavery convention (1926) and International Labour Organisation
(ILO) (1930) argue forced labour, bonded labour is to be defined
on the basis of labour and services extracted from a person as a
penalty where the person has not involved voluntarily. United
Nations sees bonded labour as a special kind of forced labour
(1956). However in India bonded labour is characteristically more
complex.
FeaturesinIndia:
SeveralfeaturesofbondedlabourinIndiaistypicalinitscharacter
andthedegreeofacceptancelevel.
Creditor debtor relationship which can spill over to
othermembersofthefamily
Ithasaninfiniteduration
Adversecontractmorefrequentlyillegal
Notpurelyeconomicterms.Afterentrytherelationshipis
often subjected to multiple asymmetries and reified
relationship.
The relationship often has a customery backup which
reinforcesthebondage.
Causesofbondedlabour:
Thoughsystematicstudyofthecausesandconsequenceshasnot

beendone,studiessuggestthreemajorreasons
Linkbetweencaste,socialstructureandbondage
Traditionalfeudalsocialrelationsandbondedlabour
However, among tribal India, the causes demands multisectoral
analysis.
1.Agriculturalsector:
Landalienation.
DenialofaccesstoCommonPropertyResources.
Socioeconomicdominanceofcertaingroups
Changing labour requirement with capitalist
investment.
Social rituals, illness and substantive absence of
cash resulted in indebtedness and bondage (e.g.
KolTribalbondageinMirzapurdistrictofSouthern
UP).
2.BrickKilns:
Employment through middlemen who are paid from
wagesofthelabourers.
Partofthepaymentismadeonweeklybasisandbulk
payment is made on end of the month and season
asaresultlabourersbecomebonded.
3.Stonequeries,crushersandminers:
Small scale and localised quarrying and mining invite
labourers from nomadic tribes and rural poor. They
are irregularly paid and are made bonded without
proper work place protection. Instances are

reported from Hariyana, UP, MP, Rajastan,

KarnatakaandTamilNadu.
4.Powerloomsandhandlooms:
Especially reported from Tamil Nadu and Andhra
Pradesh. The bondage is formed on the basis of
capitalandmaterialinvestmentbyoutsiders.
Mitigation:
Indiahasastrongandsubstantivisticbondedlabourabolitionactof
1976.Itrecognisesa)overlapbetweenforcedandbondedlabour,
b) contract labour and interstate migration issues, c)
embeddedness within social customs. However, since states
showed reluctance and it is challenging to identify bonded labours
supremecourthavetaskedNationalHumanRightsCommissionfor
monitoringtheimplementationoftheact.
Issuesrelatedtohealth
Tribal people from their basic ways of living remote places and
shyness of mixing with community at large frequently are worst
sufferers of health hazards. Leprosy, skin disease, tuber culosis,
anaemia and diarrhoea are very common among them. The health
hazards related to pregnancy and malnutrition are faced by more
than90percentofthetribal.
Povertydiseasenexus:
The percapita health expenditure among tribal is higher than
regular population. Many Scholars have focussed on health and
povertyasmaintainingastronginterrelationshipwherethenexusis
foundtoworkasadoubleedgedsword.

Figure1diseasepovertynexus
Maxwells vulnerability model (1999) goes on far to argue that
povertydeterminesthechoicemakingcapabilitiesofthepeopleno
matterwhateverinputsaregived.
Infrastructurefacilities:
The available health infrastructure, i.e. number of health care
centres, professionals and distance is considered to be
determinants of the quality of health care facilities available.
However, many recent studies have shown that sometimes even if
health care facilities are available tribal tend to depend on their
traditional system (Kumar 1974). The World Health Report (2000)

therefore have stressed on the importance of health delivery in

healthoutcomes,alsostressingontheawarenessgenerationabout
hygene and available health infrastructure. Case (2002)
emphasisedmoreontheroleofindirectinterventionwhereremoval
of chronic poverty and a culture change was thought to be the
primefactorforimprovementofhealthandhygene.
Policyregardingservicedelivery:
Atthetimeofindependencethegovernmentsystemofhealthcare
waswhollyurbancentred.Theruralareasdependedontraditional
faith healers and voluntary agencies especially those of
missionaries.Thehealthsurveydevelopmentcommitteeheadedby
Bhore (1946) has argued that the importance of making health
service facilities available at micro level with more emphasis on
tribals.
However, India since 1952 is following a pyramidal structure of
health service delivery. It has primary health centres and
subcentres at the local level and hospitals at district level. Since
1970s the multi sectoral and intertwined nature of issues is well
understood. As a result the health issues are dealt by clubbing
them together with nutrition, sanitation, family planning, health
education,awarenessgenerationetc.Thevillagecommunityhealth
workers chosen by village people it now follows a decentralised
agenda.
Education
Traditionally tribal communities have undergone drastic changes
due to large scale migration, encroachment by outsiders and
increasing vulnerability of the resources on which they have
traditionally depended. Though many measures like scheduling of
tribal areas, creasing land transfer and recognition of the rights
over resources is encouraged by the Government of India. Yet,

tribal are facing problems of land alienation, displacement,

indebtednessandbondedlabour.Manyoftheproblemsarerooted
from their increasing attachment with dominant culture and lack of
basic competence in education. As Walter Fernandes (2005)
argues that their attachment with the dominant culture though
changed their expenditure but never empowered them truly from
within.
Theexistentialneed:
Neheru advocated for adopting a nonisolation strategy for tribal
but failed to build capacity for tribal to cope with challenges put
forth by modern culture. The capacity building initiatives quite
clearly must involve a high emphasis on the education sector, i.e.
educationfortribalstogainthepowerandselfrelianceandtocope
with and transform their material reality. The unversalisation of
primary education in India since 1950 is emphasised but yet
remainedunderperformed.
National Policy of Education (NPE) in 1986 and 1992 have
thereforestressedon
1. Making provisions for primary education by formal and
nonformaltechniques
2.Retentionofallchildrenandincreaseenrolmentrate.
3.Provisionsofquality.
In recent decade a number of incentives are provided, e.g. Sarba
Siksha Mission in 2003 providing elementary education to all
childrenintheagegroupof614bytheyear2010.Middaymeal
scheme2001,whichgivesamiddaymealtoschoolgoingchildren
thatdramaticallyincreasedtheenrolmentrate.

However,in9 thplanspecialprovisionincludingpreandpostmatric
scholarshipandhostelfacilitiesareinitiatedexclusivelyfortribals.
Housing
Housing facilities being most fundamental requirement of human
survival and a question of identity requires special attention. In
India in 1996, 28% of the tribals were without houses (Economic
Survey 1998). The situation is even more dreadful while trials are
displaced and/or affected by development projects or natural
calamities.
Initiatives:
Forthefirst25yearsofindependence,theproblemofruralhousing
didnotreceivespecialattentionfromthegovernmentexceptingthe
rehabilitation of 5 lacks refugees till around 1960s. and part of
Community Development Programme in 1957, which resulted only
informationof67000houses.
However, major initiative was started in 1980s when the
constructionofhousesbecomesmajoractivitiesoftheEmployment
Guarantee Programme which began in 1983. The major scheme
which provided an integrated approach on rural housing started in
1985 launched under rural Landless Employment Guarantee
Programme (RLFGP), which further gets integrated to Jwahar
RojgarYojna(JRY)in1989.ThisschemeisknownasIndiraAwas
Yojnawhichtargets
BelowPovertyLevelpeopleinruralareasbelongingto
SCsandSTs.
Freedbondedlabourers
BPLwhoaregeneralcastes.

Widowandsinglewomen
SC/STvictimsofatrocityornaturalcalamities
Physicallyhandicapped.
PostedbySumanNathat20:45
Labels:ScheduledTribes,TribalProblemsinIndia,Welfaremeasuresfor
ST

12comments:
DipMondal 14March2011at01:39
Helpfull.
Reply

PARNILYODHA 28April2012at22:16
incredidblywritten!bravo!
Reply
Replies
SumanNath

7November2012at12:18

Thanksalotfortheseencouragingwords
Reply

siddhi 9September2012at02:11

informative!
Reply
Replies
SumanNath

7November2012at12:19

thanksalot...:)
Reply

Jeyapandi 18September2012at16:13
ITSINCREDIBLYUSEDFORMYPh.DTHESIS
Reply
Replies
SumanNath

7November2012at12:19

Good to know that it helped you... :) all the best with

yourthesis
Reply

SOOFI21 17December2012at01:12
Gr8...,avrygudjob,itzreallyinformative..,keepitup.
Reply

pinaki 27February2013at22:34

dearsuman
thanx a lot for the entire effort and your attempt to brief the
anthropological concepts for the beginners of anthropology. it is
very helpful to me to enrich my students at the light to the
theoreticalissuesofanthropology.
great.
regards
pinaki
Reply

VanumuChittabbai 16April2013at08:29
Well don, Super collection . I sure that You should more
information about tribal development and measures. I hope you
will send the data. Presently I am doing my ph D at andhra
University.Pleasehelpme
SriChittabbai
AssistantProfessor
DepartmentofCommerce
GOVERNEMNTDEGREECOLLEGE
NARSIPATNAM
AndhraUniversity
Visakhapatnam
AndhraPradesh
Emailchittabbai@gmail.com
Reply

VanumuChittabbai 16April2013at08:31
sorrymyemailidchittabbaivanumu@gmail.com
Reply

SumitiPuri 7June2015at23:33
Solutions????
Reply

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