1.4 tribal development in india

Tribal development in India with special focus on Jharkhand

1. Tribal Development in India Rajeev Kumar MSW (TISS, Mumbai) M.Phil (CIP, Ranchi) Doctoral Fellow, IIT Kharagpur

2. Recap of previous classes

3. Recap of previous class: एलएलबी की पढ़ाई-   प्रफेसर:  अगर तुम्हें किसी को संतरा देना हो तो क्या बोलोगे?  छात्र:  यह संतरा लो।  प्रफेसर:  नहीं, एक  वकील  की तरह बोलो।  छात्र: मैं एतद् द्वारा, अपनी पूरी रुचि व होशो-हवास में और बिना किसी के दबाव में आए इस फल, जो कि संतरा कहलाता है, और जिस पर मैं पूरा मालिकाना हक रखता हूं, को उसके छिलके, रस, गूदे और बीज सहित आपको देता हूं और इसके साथ ही आपको इस बात का सम्पूर्ण व बिना शर्त अधिकार भी देता हूं कि आप इसे काटने, छीलने, फ्रिज में रखने या खाने के लिये पूरी तरह स्वतंत्र हैं। आप यह अधिकार भी रखेंगे कि आप किसी भी अन्य व्यक्ति को यह फल इसके छिलके, रस, गूदे और बीज के बिना या उसके साथ दे सकते हैं। मैं घोषणा करता हूं कि आज से पहले इस संतरे से संबंधित किसी भी प्रकार के वाद-विवाद, झगड़े की समस्त जिम्मेदारी मेरी है और अब के बाद मेरा किसी भी प्रकार से इस संतरे से कोई सम्बन्ध नहीं रह जाएगा। 

4. Recap of previous class

5. Lessons from those Small discussion Move on to present class

6. Tribal development in India

7. Who are tribal ? In India the tribes have been designated as “Scheduled Tribes” under the Constitution. There is a procedure for including tribal groups in the Scheduled list. Communities are notified as Scheduled Tribes under Article 342 of the Constitution based on the characteristics such as – primitive traits, geographically isolated, distinct culture, and shyness of contact with community at large, and economically backward. When labelled “scheduled tribe” the community becomes entitled for some constitutional protections and developmental programs designed to end their marginalization and help assimilate into mainstream society. A similar protection is available to Hindu “low-caste” communities which have historically faced discrimination and exclusion at the hands of “upper-caste” people. They are labelled “Scheduled Caste.”

8. Tribal

9. Difference between scheduled tribe and scheduled caste The  Schedule Caste  people are the one who were previously  untouchables . According the Hindu mythology, this is the fifth category in the Varna System. They are called  Ati Shudras  (Untouchables) and were condemned for all dirty and polluting jobs.They named themselves as  Dalits or Harijans  (son of God) On the other hand,  Schedule Tribes  are community of people who lived in tribal areas ( mainly forest ). They make up to 7-8% of Indian population. They have traditionally been marginalized and not in the mainstream of the society. They are also known as  Adivasis .

10. How many tribes are in India? There are 573 different tribal communities spread all over India. As per official data, only 258 tribal communities speaking about 106 different languages are notified as “Scheduled Tribes”. About 80 percent of tribal populations are to be found along the Central India belt and the rest 20 percent are in the North‐Eastern States, Southern States and Island groups. The numerically strong Scheduled tribe groups include Santhals , Gonds , Bhil, and Oraon . Smaller tribal groups are to be found in A&N Islands ( Andamanese , Onges ) and Kerala‐Tamil Nadu ( Paniyans and Kattunaickens ). 75 tirbal groups have been categorized as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) (Earlier known as Primitive Tribal Groups (PTG)) for special development assistance.

11. Tribes in India

12. Tribal belt in India

13. Tribal population in India Tribal Population in India Year Year tribal pop % in pop growth rate 1951 19,111,498 5.29 41.19 1961 30,130,184 6.86 33.84 1971 38,015,162 6.94 24.80 1981 51,628,638 7.83 24.69 1991 67,658,638 8.08 23.79 2001 84,326,240 8.20 22.70 2011 10,43,000,00 8.61 23.70

14. Constitutional provisions for scheduled tribes Article 342 lays down that the President may by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within tribes or tribal communities or parts which shall for the purpose of this Constitution deemed to be Scheduled Tribes According to this provision, President of India has specified these communities through Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) order, 1950 S.R.0.570

15. Constitutional provision Article 164 provides for a Ministry of Tribal Welfare in each of the State of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa which have large concentration of Scheduled Tribes population. These Ministries are required to look after the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes in their respective States. Article 244 provides for the inclusion of a Fifth Schedule in the Constitution for incorporating provisions for the administration of Scheduled Areas and Tribes of the States which have sizeable tribal population (other than those of Assam)

16. Tribes Advisory Council The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the setting up a Tribes’ Advisory Council in each of the States having Scheduled Areas. According to this provision, Tribes’ Advisory Councils have been set up so far in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal. The duty of these Councils is to advise the Government on such matters concerning the welfare of Scheduled Tribes and development of Scheduled Areas. Advisory Boards for the Scheduled Tribes have been set up in Assam, Kerala and Mysore to advise the State Governments. Tribes’ Advisory Committees have also been formed in the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Island, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura.

17. Continued Article 275 provides for the grant of special funds by the Union Government to State Government for promoting the welfare of Scheduled Tribes and providing them with a better administration.  Under Article 330 and 332 of the Indian Constitution, seats have been reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Lok Sabha and state Vidhan Sabhas .

18. Commissioner for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes Under Article 338 of Indian Constitution a Commissioner has been appointed by the President of India. The main duty of the Commissioner is ( i ) to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution and (ii) to report the President on working of these safeguards.

19. Welfare Department in the States Under Article 164 ( i ) of the Constitution there is a provision of Welfare Department in the States of Indian Union. In Bihar , Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, Welfare Departments in the charge of a Minister have been set up. Welfare Departments have been set up in these States as well us in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala; Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura.

20. Tribal development in five years plans In the Five Year Plans, the programmes for the welfare of the schedule tribes aim at: 1. Raising the productivity levels in agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, cottage and small-scale industries etc., to improve the economic conditions. 2. Rehabilitation of the bonded labour. 3. Education and training programmes. 4. Special development programmes for women and children.

21. First fiver year plan priority to the welfare and development of Scheduled Tribes right from the beginning of the country's developmental planning, launched in 1951. The First Five Year Plan (1951-56) clearly laid down the principle that `the general development programmes should be so designed to cater adequately to the Backward Classes and special provisions should be used for securing additional and more intensified development'.

22. Second five year plan The Second Five Year Plan (1956-61) envisaged that the benefits of economic development should accrue more and more to the relatively less privileged classes of society in order to reduce inequalities. As for the Scheduled Tribes, `Welfare Programs have to be based on respect and understanding of their culture and traditions and an appreciation of the social, psychological and economic problems with which they are faced'.

23. continued they are faced'. This was in tune with "PANCHSHEEL" -the Five Principles of Tribal Development -enunciated by the first Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. An important landmark during the Second Plan was the creation of 43 Special Multi-purpose Tribal Blocks (SMPTBs) later called Tribal Development Blocks (TDBs). Each was planned for about 25,000 people as against 65,000 in a normal Block. An amount of Rs.15 lakh per SMPTB was contributed by the Central Government. The Committee on SMPTBs set up under the Chairmanship of Verrier Elwin (1959) studied the working of these Blocks and found that they were providing very useful services.

24. Panchsheel 9th October, 1958 Jawaharlal Nehru (From the Foreword to the Second Edition of the book 'A Philosophy for NEFA' by Verrier Elwin t is evolved. (1) People should develop along the lines of their own genius and we should avoid imposing anything on them. We should try to encourage in every way their own traditional arts and culture. (2) Tribal rights in land and forests should be respected. (3) We should try to train and build up a team of their own people to do work of administration and development. Some technical personnel from outside will, no doubt, be needed, especially in the beginning. But we should avoid introducing too many outsiders into tribal territory. (4) We should not over-administer these areas or over-whelm them with multiplicity of schemes. We should rather work through, and not in rivalry to, their own social and cultural institutions. (5) We should judge results, not by statistics or the amount of money spent, but by the quality of human character that is evolved

25. Third The Third Five Year Plan (1961-66) advocated the principle to establish greater equality of opportunity' and to bring about reduction in disparities in income and wealth and a more even distribution of economic power. While appraising the programmes of the Third Plan the Shilu Ao Study Team remarked that `if progress is to be judged by what remains to be done to bring the tribes at par with the rest of the populations, the leeway is still considerable'.

26. Fourth The Fourth Five Year Plan (1969-74) proclaimed that the `basic goal was to realize rapid increase in the standard of living of the people through measures which also promote equality and social justice'. An important step was setting up of six pilot projects in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa in 1971-72 as Central Sector Scheme with the primary objective of combating political unrest and Left Wing extremism. A separate Tribal Development Agency was established for each project.

27. Fifth The Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) marked a shift in the approach as reflected in the launching of Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) for the direct benefit of the development of Tribal. The TSP stipulated that funds of the State and Centre should be quantified on the population proportion basis, with budgetary mechanisms to ensure accountability, non-divert ability and utilization for the welfare and development of Scheduled Tribes. With this thrust the concept of Tribal Sub-Plan came into action during the Fifth Plan. There has been a substantial increase in the flow of funds for the development of Scheduled Tribes under this arrangement, resulting in the expansion of infrastructure facilities and enlargement of coverage of the target groups in the beneficiary oriented programmes.

28. Sixth The Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85) was sought to ensure a higher degree of devolution of funds so that at least 50 per cent of tribal families were provided assistance to cross the poverty line. Emphasis was on family-oriented economic activities rather than infrastructure development schemes. A "Modified Area Development Approach" (MADA) was devised for pockets of tribal concentration with population of 10,000, at least half of them being Scheduled Tribes, and 245 MADA pockets were delineated. Also, 20 more tribal communities were identified as "primitive", raising the total to 72.

29. Seventh In the Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90), there was substantial increase in the flow of funds for the development of Scheduled Tribes, resulting in the expansion of infrastructural facilities and enlargement of coverage. Emphasis was laid on the educational development of Scheduled Tribes. For the economic development of SCs and Scheduled Tribes, two national level institutions were set up viz.,( i ) Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation (TRIFED) in 1987 as an apex body for State Tribal Development Cooperative Corporations; and (ii) National Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC) in 1989. The former was envisaged to provide remunerative price for the Forest and Agriculture Produce of tribal while the latter was intended to provide credit support for employment generation.

30. Eight In the Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97), efforts were intensified to bridge the gap between the levels of development of the Scheduled Tribes and those of other sections of the society so that by the turn of the century, these disadvantaged sections of the population could be brought on par with the rest of the society. The Plan not only emphasized elimination of exploitation but also paid attention to the special problems of suppression of rights, land alienation, non-payment of minimum wages and restrictions on right to collect minor forest produce etc. Attention, on priority basis, continued to be paid for the socio-economic upliftment of Scheduled Tribes.

31. Ninth The main objective of the Ninth Five Year Plan was to intensify the efforts to bridge the between Scheduled Tribes and the rest of the population. Literacy states is one of the key indicators of socio-economic development and the relative employment opportunities largely depend on the level of education, for this purpose strengthened of infrastructure facilities like construction of school building, additional classrooms, laboratory buildings, provision of lab equipment, computers, furniture and play material, up gradation of school's at all levels, opening of residential schools, construction of vocational training centers , provisions of basic amenities like toilets, drinking water etc.

32. Tenth In the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-07)Guided by the conclusions that were recorded in the Mid-Term Appraisal of the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) stating that ‘A small bunch of bureaucratic programmes had done little to avert the precipitous pauperization, exploitation and disintegration of tribal communities and therefore, most of the persistent problems like poverty, indebtedness, land alienation, displacement, deterioration of forest villages and the tribes living therein, shifting cultivation etc., continue to persist even till today as the ‘Unresolved Issues of Tribal Development’, the Tenth Five Year Plan lays down its first priority in finding solutions to these very Unresolved Issues. Solutions to this effect can best be found only when the deprivation and exploitation of tribes is eradicated. The Tenth Plan will, therefore, adopt eradication of deprivation/exploitation of tribes as the centre-point in its approach, while pursuing

33. Eleventh The Eleventh Plan has experienced a paradigm shift with respect to the overall empowerment of the tribal people, keeping the issues related to governance at the centre. The operational imperatives of the Fifth Schedule, Tribal Sub Plan 1976, Panchayat ESA 1996, RFRA 2006; the desirability of a tribal-centric, tribal-participative and tribal-managed development process; and the need for a conscious departure from dependence on a largely under-effective official delivery system will be kept in view during this shift.

34. Tribal culture

35. Forest right act 2006 The law concerns the rights of forest dwelling communities to land and other resources, denied to them over decades as a result of the continuance of colonial forest laws in India. Supporters of the Act claim that it will redress the "historical injustice”. It will provide a legal right for communities themselves to protect the forest. Opponents of the law claim it will lead to massive forest destruction and should be repealed. They see it as a ‘land redistribution exercise’.

36. Continued The Law as passed in 2006 has the following basic points. 1) Types of Rights 2) Eligibility Criteria 3) Process of Recognition of Rights 4) Resettlement for Wildlife Conservation Any corresponding law for mineral and rights over other kind of resources yet to be formulated . Mechanism needed to divert benefits to people rather than government machinery or private sector.

37. Present scenario India is not the only country where mining and industrialization in tribal areas is linked with retarded economic performance. Resource curse. Blame on institutional weakness and political economy. People embrace Naxalism due to present model of development. It gains popularity by focusing on attainment of tribal self determination and control over local resources. Crisis of political empowerment.

38. Continued Naxalites have attacked both private companies and government institutions. The government has acted in a stubborn manner, myopically seeing it as only a ‘internal security threat’. Need to recognize the failure of governance, understand the basic reasons and to have political will to institutionalize alternative policies. To give people and communities the right to say ‘no’ to a developmental project.

39. Social consequence of development Depletion of forest resources. Furthermore, developmental projects have seen large scale immigration of people from outside, in search of employment, thus distorting demographics. Often tribals become minorities in their own traditional living areas. Sometimes it has also lead to oppression of indigenous populations. The benefits of large scale expansion of industries and infrastructure, never reaches these tribals .

40. continued Employment opportunities are denied to them. Overall development of tribal areas has had a deleterious effect on tribals . They are increasingly subjected to oppression and exploitation. This has contributed to rise of Naxalite movements . The above policies have also led to environmental destruction.

41. Social consequence The Developmental policies drastically altered the relationship of tribes with natural environment and resources. Changed the pattern and methods of ownership and usage. Land and forest most exploited, fundamentally altering the tribal way of life. Land made a saleable private property. Unscrupulous methods used. Modern communication and transport technologies hastened the process. High migrations and uprooting. The dissatisfied tribals now turn to Naxalites

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