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The Constitution of India does not define Scheduled Tribes as such. According to Article 342 of the
Constitution, the Scheduled Tribes are the tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within these tribes
and tribal communities which have been declared as such by the President through a public notification. As
per the 1991 Census, the Scheduled Tribes account for 67.76 million representing 8.08 percent of the
country¶s population. Scheduled Tribes are spread across the country mainly in forest and hilly regions.

The essential characteristics of these communities are:-

1. Primitive Traits
2. Geographical isolation
3. Distinct culture
4. Shy of contact with community at large
5. Economically backward

Tribals in India are economically and socially very backward. More than 3/4th of Scheduled Tribes women
are illiterate. They have high dropout rates in formal education, resulting in disproportionately low
representation in higher education. They have very low levels of nutrition. The proportion of Scheduled
Tribes below the poverty line is substantially higher than the national average. Most of the Tribals are
engaged mostly in low-skilled, low-paying jobs, especially in primary sector. The Constitution of India
incorporates several special provisions for the promotion of educational and economic interest of Scheduled
Tribes and their protection from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.

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Subjugation and exploitation of Tribals is something not new, only the scale and rate at which it has taken
place in 18th century onwards is unprecedented. Tribals have always lived in a condition of economic
autarky, marked by common ownership of land & forest resources.

Tribals were always seen as backward and different from mainstream, and who were to be incorporated into
mainstream. So, historically, they have either adopted or were subjugated and mainstream cultural, social,
political, religious, economic structures and practices imposed upon them.
Earlier tribal societies had a hierarchy of clans, lineages or even villages. But, with the incorporation of the
tribes and tribal communities in the larger political system, the basis of inequality in forms other than rank
(position) and status began in tribal societies. The alien rulers claimed sovereignty over tribal territory and
collected revenue from tribal cultivators through tributaries/zamindars who were often outsiders and
sometimes included tribal chiefs whose power increased. Tribal village councils were superseded by the
council of the chiefs/rajas that often comprised of the king¶s followers and friends. Grants of customary
rights over villages were made to such followers. Thus the jagirdaari system or the system of service grants
was introduced in tribal areas.

Privatization of land during British era led to a flow of capital and penetration by market opened the gates for
influx of non-Tribals especially money-lenders and traders into tribal areas. This opened up the way for large
scale alienation of land from tribes to non tribes, especially after tribal areas came to be linked by roads and
railways. The mechanism through which this was achieved was fraud, deceit, coercion, and most often debt
bondage. This reduced tribal cultivators to the position of tenants, landless labourers, and bondsmen. Thus
three-tier agrarian categories emerged in tribal areas, namely, feudatory chief¶s/zamindars, well-to-do
peasants that included a section of Tribals especially village headsmen, and a very large section of small and
poor cultivators and landless labourers who were mainly Tribals.

Post-Independence period saw the introduction of various land reform measures as well as measures
specially meant for the protection and welfare of tribal people. This succeeded in restricting the transfer of
land from Tribals to non-Tribals and also promoted a rich stratum of buyers from among Tribals paving the
way for differentiation within tribal society. Consequently Tribals have now been differentiated into
categories such as rich, middle and poor besides the landless. Such differentiation has given rise to a type of
class relations that was traditionally absent within tribal societies.

Much of the forested land was declared as government land after survey and settlement. Earlier, Tribals only
had to part with a portion of their produce and land belonged to them, but once the land was declared as
belonging to Government in British era, the Tribals were declared encroachers upon the very land that they
had lived on for centuries. In most cases, as tribal land was commonly owned it never had a owner which
government can recognise. Claims of tribes over vast tracts of land were dismissed. Trees and Forests
became government property who was now free to exploit them.

The dispossession of Tribals from their land and restriction of control over forest and forest produce that
occurred during the colonial period pushed tribal people into the wider labour market. They were compelled
to find employment as labourers in nearby quarries, coalfields and emerging towns. One of the most
important sectors that Tribals moved en masse was the plantation sector that opened up in Bengal and
Assam. They have also been affected by two more sectors of modern economy-industry and mines. Work in
these sectors is divided into various types and grades depending upon skill and knowledge required for work.
Not used to work other than cultivation and not being in possession of modern skills and knowledge a very
large majority could secure only lowest paid jobs. The entry into white collar occupation has been very
difficult.

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After Independence, it was thought that Tribes are backward due to their isolation from the mainstream and
assimilation with mainstream is the only way for their development.

The different measures taken up for their upliftment are usually divided into three categories

1. Protective: include constitutional and legislative rights that safeguard their interests.
2. Mobilizational: reservations extended to Tribals in various fields.
3. Developmental: programmes and activities initiated for promoting their welfare.

These goals were to be pursued under a kind of administration that was infused with principles of
Panchsheela i.e. to let people develop along the lines of their own genius and avoid imposing anything on
them and to encourage their traditional arts and culture, their lands and forests to be respected, they be
allowed to administer themselves and avoid influx of too many outsiders into tribal territory in the name of
administration, not too overwhelm them with schemes and work in cooperation with their own social and
cultural institutions, to judge the results by actual level of human character developed.

Taking lessons from the effects of European civilization on tribal population in other parts of the world
especially in America and Africa, where traditional tribal ways of living and their culture was destroyed, it
was cautioned that the µ Indian Civilization¶ should not have any disastrous consequences on its Tribals. The
developmental programmes were to be initiated keeping tribunals in mind and they were to have the final
say. Also their traditional rights over forests and land and other resources were to be respected.

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Yet the approach adopted toward tribes has been quite the contrary mainly due to imperatives of national
development. Measures undertaken for bringing about the rapid national development were seen as an
important mechanism for the integration of tribal society into the national polity. The national objective to
build productive structures for future growth and resource mobilization for development was given far more
importance than issues concerning the welfare of the tribes and interests of the later were invariably
sacrificed in the name of former. activities such as building infrastructure, setting up industries and
constructing dams for irrigation and power projects for electricity and light included extraction and
exploitation of mineral and forest resources. a substantial part of these projects were initiated in the areas
inhabited by Tribals as these areas happen to be rich reservoirs of mineral and forest resources. This led to an
inevitable conflict between tribal and national interests.

These developmental policies drastically altered the relationship of tribes with the natural environment and
resources lying therein. Earlier these resources were either individually or collectively owned. But due to
policies of state, as aforementioned, there has been a steady erosion of control and use of these resources by
Tribals. Tribals were most drastically affected by the exploitation of land and forest. But major source of
land alienation, post independence, has been the process of development that the Indian state has followed.
Large scale industrialization and exploitation of mineral resources and construction of irrigation dams and
power projects that the tribal areas have seen during the period have been responsible for uprooting Tribals
on a far larger scale than the transfer of land from tribunals to non Tribals on an individual basis.

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Tribals underwent a change not only in their relationship with land but also in their relationship with forests.
Tribes were greatly dependent on forest for their day-to-day needs, including food, shelter, instruments,
medicine, and in some cases even clothes. As long as the tribes were in control of forest and unrestricted use
of its produce, they had no difficulty meeting these needs. In turn they preserved the forest as it was their life
support system. As said before, it was the entry of British that drastically altered this relationship. To British
, the forest were an important source of revenue and profit, hence their forest policy in traduced state control
over forest resources and imposed the curtailment of rights and privileges over them. This policy was
continued in post-Independence era of economic development with even stricter regulation and enforcement.

These policies also lead to environmental degradation as total forest cover went down from 40% in 1950¶s to
just 10% in 1980¶s.

Tribal areas in India have also seen an influx of people from outside in search of employment in industry,
mines, railways, government, and ancillary activities that followed as corollary to former activities. These
activities have given rise to increasing urbanization of tribal areas but also have caused large scale migration
of non-Tribals into tribal territory depriving Tribals of fruits of development in tribal areas. In Jharkhand out
of total urban population of the region only 17% are SC¶s and ST¶s.
This development process has been of little use to the tribal population. Rather, development of tribal areas
has had a deleterious effect on Tribals. The industries and other development projects that have come up
have not made jobs available to them. The benefits arising out of power and irrigation projects have not
reached the Tribals. There are fewer tribal villages that find electrification and the tribal land under irrigation
is almost negligible. By March 2001 only 25% of villages in Jharkhand were electrified and only 18% of
total area was under irrigation. In, short the fruits of development have not gone to Tribals but to people from
outside. They find themselves increasingly subjected to exploitation and oppression. The movement of
population from outside threw tribes open to vagaries of greed, exploitation, and even oppression. The result
was that the tribes found themselves uprooted from their lands and resources on a scale unprecedented in
history and were forced to move out of their homelands for survival.

This phenomenon of µresource curse¶ is not unique to India. In most nations of the world a high level of
mineral dependence is associated with retarded economic performance. World Bank attributes institutional
weakness and political economy as some of the reasons behind the resource curse. Resource rich countries
exhibit weaker institutions compared to resource-poor countries. Mineral rich states have weaker property
rights and poor enforcement of law and these lead to retarded development outcomes. In India also mineral
dependence has led to poorer quality institutions which in turn result in impaired growth and development
outcomes. Point resources- resources extracted from a narrow geographical base- weaken institutions and
accountability. In the case of a country with all of its wealth concentrated in a few pockets most of the
political and administrative power goes into promoting and facilitating extraction of these resources instead
of focussing on the development of area.

Resource curse is very much a reality in mineral rich areas of India. Of the 50 major mining districts, 60%
figure among the 150 most backward districts of the country.

Poverty and lack of development extract a terrible price. And one of them has been the rise of Naxalism.
Tribals now see no other option but to embrace Naxalism in the present model of development, where
forceful acquisition of land and displacement of thousands by State are order of the day.

Naxalism began as a peasant movement in 1967 in tiny hamlet of Naxalbari in West Bengal. The
fundamental demand was a radical land reform- land to tiller-and a violent takeover of power was seen as
only means of achieving this. Governments then were completely unwilling (as they are even now) to yield
to these demands and the movement was brutally crushed.

Naxalism then capitalised on the tribal angst against the development model being followed by the state.
Tribals saw this as an opportunity to escape out of the poverty, displacement and deprivement of lands being
forced upon them by successive governments. Militants have used various tactics to oppose industrial
investment. This involves destroying government infrastructure, private machinery, roads, bridges, railway
tracks, electric lines, and other industrial infrastructure. This is done under the pretext of µprotecting the tribal
homeland by cutting it off from the reach of oppressors¶. They also resort to kidnapping of government
officials and employees of private companies.

The rise of Naxalism can be directly linked to a certain crisis of faith. India¶s marginalised populations
including its Tribals can no longer trust their lives and livelihood in the hands of their government. For them
these developmental projects literally pushed down their throats by government have become synonymous
with poverty and insecurity. With their backs to the wall, these communities believe they have found their
way out in the violent ways of Naxals In a sense, the phenomenon of Naxalism is as much a crisis of political
empowerment as it is sheer economic backwardness, as it is sadly one of the rare opportunities still available
to marginalised communities to express their aspirations.

A prime reason for spread of naxalism has been failure of state to provide remote areas with facilities for
health and education, and prospect for dignified employment. People in these areas have had to cope with an
administration that is always indifferent, often corrupt and sometimes brutal. Meanwhile economic
development has been powered in good part by wood, water and minerals found on these lands and for
whose profitable exploitation they have often had to make way- most of the time involuntarily.

Indian government considers Naxalism only as an µinternal security threat¶. Naxalism and its supporters need
to be stamped out by State¶s police and army in a decisive manner. It is precisely this myopic vision that is
real problem. Poverty, unemployment, starvation, malnutrition, lack of access to basic necessities like health
and education, forced eviction of people from their lands for µdevelopment projects¶, these do not qualify as
µinternal security threat¶, reactions to all these and resistance and protest against them do.

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Earlier, the failure development programmes was attributed to traditional socio-economic and cultural system
of the Tribals. Hence the emphasis has invariably been on introducing values, attitudes, and institutions that
would help them take advantage of fruits of developmental projects. Tribes were seen as backward, ignorant,
superstitious and unable to overcome their worldview to recognize and exploit the wealth of resources
present in there forest and surroundings in which they live. Of late however, it is increasingly being pointed
out that development would be more effective if programmes and schemes were to be evolved in consonance
with the ecology, social organization, and cultural values of Tribals.
üarious experience shave proved that vastly different strategy is required if governments are really keen to
solve the problem. The first step is unambiguous acceptance that development policies have failed vast
majorities in country. Second is an understanding of basic reasons behind the failure of development policies.
And third is to institutionalize the alternative policies.

The issue at forefront today is development but without or with minimal cost to ecology and environment.
From this perspective now tribes are seen as representing a storehouse of world-views, systems of
knowledge, and ways of life which stands separate from and opposed to the ones governing the modern,
industrial world. The tribal communities then stand as the other in whom a search for an alternative is
postulated. Now the emphasis is being laid increasingly on the need for conservation. There is also an
increasing realisation that conservation is not possible without the participation of rural and tribal
communities.



1. Rich lands, Poor People By Center For Science and Environment

2. Women and Gender in the Study of Tribes in India by üirginius Xaxa.
3. Tribes in India By üirginius Xaxa
4. http://tribal.nic.in/tribes/introduction.html
5. http://tribal.nic.in/forestright/pdf/E-Act-2006.pdf
6. http://www.vanashakti.in/
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Rights_Act
8. http://www.aitpn.org/Issues/II-09-06-Forest.pdf
9. http://www.vasundharaorissa.org/download22/Orissa%20mining%20and%20industrialisation
%20note.pdf