Collective Social Responsibility A Tribal World View

Edited by Dr. Ambika Prasad Nanda Collective Social Responsibility A Tribal World View

Edited by : Dr. Ambika Prasad Nanda

Publishd by : Sikhyasandhan, ND-7, VIP Area, IRC Village, Bhubaneswar, Pin-751015 Tel. : 0674-2556109, [email protected]

First Published : 2018

Printed at : Siksha Prakashani, ND-7, VIP, Area, IRC Village, Bhubaneswar, Pin-751015

Price : 900 /-

ûû ûû 2 Foreword

Tribal communities in India are faced with a peculiar dichotomy. On the one hand, they comprise more than a hundred million citizens of India which is a population exceeded by less than fifteen countries worldwide. And the quest for sustainability in the modern world which seeks a more organic and empathetic society, is actually nothing but a quest for the tribal way of life and in no uncertain terms, the richness of its nature-oriented knowledge and life systems. But on the other hand, the tracts of our country that face the most acute developmental challenges, and, at the same time, bear the greatest burden of our developmental excesses, are regions where our tribal people live. This dichotomy makes it imperative for all of us to reflect on the real perspective, voice and agency of our tribal women and men in the policy and development space where ‘solutions’ are formulated. The answer certainly lies in encouraging the production of knowhow from the real tribal India, and helping create a space for it in academia. It is with this context that the Samvaad papers series was commenced a few years ago, where we endeavor to provide a space for grassroots tribal thoughts to manifest themselves in the written long form. We have built up a database of over a hundred such papers which represent some outstanding thinking by and for tribal India, as may be evident from the wide range of subjects covered in this book. I join my entire team in the hope that each paper in this book will go on to scale newer heights, each subject will be appreciated by newer readers and each reader will be an ambassador for the rich tribal heritage of India. Johar! Sourav Roy Chief CSR, Tata Steel

ûû ûû 3 ûû ûû 4 Acknowledgement

The book, “Collective Social Responsibility: A Tribal World View” is a collection of papers presented in “Samvaad- a Tribal Conclave” in 2017. This conclave makes an attempt to bring together people working on tribal issues to write and present academic papers to engage with researchers and policy makers for progressive and people centered “Sustainable Development Agenda”. In pursuance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the role of the private sector has been further reiterated and to rise to the occasion, Tata Steel makes an attempt to bring people from all walks of life to come together, debate, discuss and carve a new path for development solutions. The engagement of Tata Steel with the tribal communities for social and economic development as part of Corporate Social Responsibility is further strengthened by the work done on “Tribal Culture and Ethnicity”. Culture always provides a platform to promote dignity and identity. In the era of the market economy, the engagement with the tribal communities would surely provide a ray of hope to uphold one’s own culture and identity. In this regard, the conference held last year brought in large number of people from different walks of life to come together and discuss about issues affecting the lives of the tribal people. We express our deep sense of gratitude to CYSD for providing the support to hold this conference. We express our thanks to all the presenters, organizers and the colleagues of Tata Steel and TSRDS for making it a successful one. We are grateful to Mr. Sourav Roy, Chief CSR- Tata Steel for his support and encouragement to make this book possible. We are thankful to Biren Bhuta , Kabir, Amit, Nilutpal, Kumar Saurabh, Dibyahas Ray, Bhesaj, Asit and many others who have contributed in facilitating the paper presentation event a great one. We are thankful to Mr. Anil Pradhan and the team of Sikhyasandhan to agree to publish these selected papers in a book form within a short notice.

Dr. Ambika Prasad Nanda

ûû ûû 5 Table of Contents

Introduction 7

Adivasi Engagements in the Politics of Dispossession 11 Gayathri Krishnam, Shibili Shahadathi, Vineetha Venugopal

Debt Sustainability and its ill Effect on Tribal Human Development in Nagaland Keliihol Tase 25

Market economy and Tribal Way of Life Abhay Kujur 48

Parental Involvement in Education of Scheduled Tribes Children: A Study of Kandhamal District of Odisha Sasmita Padhi 76

Poverty and Human Development Issues of Tribal Population in Jharkhand Digvijay Kumar 92

Primitive and Non-Primitive Tribes: TSP and governmental categories Kunhikrishnan V 112

. Simon Turns Drought Prone Region into Vegetable Basket Parth Sarthi 139

ûû ûû 6 Introduction

“Samvaad- a Tribal Conclave” is a platform for the tribal communities across India and some selected countries to come together and discuss about their struggles, issues and moments of happiness to find new vistas of their dignified existence. In this context, Tata Steel facilitated an academic discussion to bring together the “communities of practices” to interact and interface with “communities of knowledge” to carve out sustainable development perspectives. This book, “Collective Social Responsibility: A Tribal World View” is a publication of the selected articles presented during Samvaad 2017 and would surely help the reader to understand the issues of the indigenous communities in the contemporary world. The paper related to “Adivasi Engagements in the Politics of Dispossession” by Gayathri Krishna, Shibili Shahadathi &Vineetha Venugopal gives a cursory account of the introduction of the neo-liberal policies and its impact on the contemporary society. In this context, they have given an account the development agenda pursued in India, which has many issues related to land acquisition and especially dispossession of a large number of communities mainly belonging to subalterns. The term subaltern refers to the oppressed and marginalised section of the society. Their forced dislocation has led to the eruption of various local protest movements all over India, irrespective of the politics of the ruling party. Among these are the protest movements by the Adivasis living in resource rich areas. The Adivasi engagement with state is critical in questioning the legitimacy of the forced development and dispossession. This paper also looks at their perception of development. Even though these movements appear as local and single-issue movements, in some areas they have managed to come together as trans-local movements based on a common identity, formed against exploitation of nature and encroachment into their way of life. These movements are also to be seen in the context of the historical and structural marginalisation faced by the indigenous communities across the world. In another paper, Mr. Keliihol Tase, “Debt Sustainability and its ill Effect on Tribal Human Development in Nagaland” gives an interesting account of debt sustainability, keeping in mind the FRBM Act. Nagaland was formed ûû ûû 7 on 1 December 1963 as a Special Category State. Nagaland started functioning with the total budgetary provisions of Rs. 3.88 crore. It took 15 years (1963-78) to reach the figure of Rs. 98.02 crore fiscal deficits. The election campaign and a provisioning of Rs. 222.58 crore in 1982-83 to build a ‘New Nagaland’, which swept the sustained debt. The state’s debt burden kept increasing and during 2002-03 stood at Rs.2104 crore. The brief account of various government and their declarations of financial assistance to reduce the fiscal deficit makes an interesting reading. The paper finds that the Nagaland government needs to come up with financial and fiscal disciplines to keep the deficit in a manageable limit so that it does not impact on the development spending. The author also highlights that the need for more investment in health and education is required so that the capacity of the human resources is built to harness economic development. The paper by Mr. Abhaya Kujur, “Market Economy and Tribal Way of Life” highlights the reasons for present economic complexities of tribal society; evaluate tribal way of life for becoming an entrepreneur and emerging as a leader in the market economy. The entire paper makes an attempt to evolve a strategy on how core values, competencies, present skill set and environment including government institutions can be in sync for sustainable business model for tribal communities. This article gives a brief account of the tribal world view and its focus on common property resources. The traditional approach of analyzing “economically poor” need resource support is challenged by identifying the “capacities” in the same communities makes an interesting narrative. This paper also highlights the contribution of the tribal people in various sectors in building the identity of India in the contemporary world. The “human resource development” approach in this paper brings a positive story and makes an interesting reading. Subsequently, the paper by Ms. Sasmita Padhi, “Parental Involvement in Education of Scheduled Tribes Children: A study of Kandhamal district of Odisha” focuses on child’s learning process in a tribal society and the involvement of the parents in promoting education. In any tribal society, modern education looks contextually inappropriate and inefficient to promote sustainable livelihoods based on protection and promotion of common property resources. However, the introduction of market economy and private property has played an important role in shaping the lifestyle of the tribal communities. Parental involvement in children education from an early age has a significant effect on educational achievement. The more parental involvement in the educational life of a child results in more ûû ûû 8 constructive and productive way of building their better future. It acts as an inspiration towards schooling and education and enhances the educational achievement of the children. The paper by Mr. Digvijay Kumar, “Poverty and Human Development Issues of Tribal Population in Jharkhand” gives a brief account of Jharkhand which is a rich state with the abundance of minerals and also have high rate of poverty and backwardness. More than a quarter of the population of the state is formed by the tribal population. Chronic poverty is disproportionately high among the tribal group. The reasons for the backwardness of the state lie in political instability, corruption, low human development and policy failure of the state. Expropriation in terms of land acquisition, dispossession and displacement are the main challenge of this social group. It has social, political and economic factors that neglect the tribal in the name of development and integration. Human development aspects of a majority of the tribal population are very low in almost all the indicators. The status of health and education, an important indicator of human development, is lag behind the average level of the state. Mr. Kunhikrishnan V in his paper, “Primitive’ and ‘Non-Primitive Tribes: TSP and Governmental Categories” makes an attempt to contextualise various categorizations given to the tribal population during the colonial and postcolonial times and to explicate the decisive rationalities went behind the making of such forms. The paper delineates the trajectory of tribes’ journey across time, assuming/receiving different governmental, constitutional and administrative appellations. Such appellations/ categorizations have been justified time and again by the logic of appreciating the difference along with positive discrimination, with a benevolent concern for up-liftment of the marginalised communities. The analysis then moves on to the contemporary administrative categorization of tribes into ‘primitive’ and ‘non-primitive’ to see whether it continue to hold any relevance after the implementation of Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) and decentralised governance. It is also important to see whether developmental interventions through TSP and decentralisation are really informed by these important categorisations in the state of Kerala. The paper by Mr. Parth Sarathi, “Simon Turns Drought Prone Region into Vegetable Basket” makes an attempt to share the exemplary work of Mr. Simon Oraon, who is popularly known as Baba (father), Parha Raja (tribal chief) and Jalpurush (waterman) in Jharkhand. The implementation of the traditional knowledge in modern world by collectivising people who are in margins is would surely help the readers to appreciate the knowledge and ûû ûû 9 action of the “subalterns”. The conservation and promotion of common property resources have been the driving spirit for translating ideas into action. The promotion of diversified agriculture, horticulture and various other allied activities have encouraged people to live a life of dignity and also reduced distress migration from that region. The struggle and success of Mr. Simon Oraon is going to motivate many to make such attempts. The series of papers makes an interesting reading to understand and comprehend the tribal issues analysed by authors coming from different states, societies and political understanding. This book is going to be an interesting reading for many as it makes an attempt to bring history, politics and economics to a common platform and analyzes from the tribal world view. Protection and promotion of common property resources along with sustainable harvesting are the key lessons for sustainable development and this can only be achieved by collectivising people for self governance. The story of commons in promoting sustainable development is surely going to be a ray of hope for the planners and policy makers. The book comes up many examples from different part of India to highlight “Sustainable Development” as a way of life in tribal culture. The cultural traits which promote collectivisation and ways to live in harmony with nature needs to be shared with the current and future generations. Bringing together all these views and articles makes the book an interesting reading and would surely help the reader to appreciate the issues faced by the indigenous communities across the world and may help the policy makers and development agencies to incorporate the tribal views in carving out sustainable development solutions.

Dr. Ambika Prasad Nanda Head CSR Odisha- Tata Steel

ûû ûû 10 Adivasi Engagements in the Politics of Dispossession

Gayathri Krishna, ShibiliShahadathi & Vineetha Venugopal

Abstract With the introduction of the neo-liberal policies, development in India has become synonymous with land dispossession for a large number of communities mainly belonging to subalterns. The term subaltern refers to the oppressed and marginalised section of the society. Their forced dislocation has led to the eruption of various local protest movements all over India, irrespective of the politics of the ruling party. Among these are the protest movements by the adivasis living in resource rich areas. The adivasi engagement with state is critical in questioning the legitimacy of the forced development and dispossession. This paper also looks at their perception of development. Even though these movements appear as local and single-issue movements, in some areas they have managed to come together as trans-local movements based on a common identity, formed against exploitation of nature and encroachment into their way of life. These movements are also to be seen in the context of the historical and structural marginalisation faced by adivasis in India. Thus, commodification of land and subsequent dispossession leads to a new strain of politics which challenges the major tendencies of electoral politics. Introduction The development of a nation is often perceived as progression from agricultural economy to industrial economy and is often associated with “de-peasantization” (transfer of peasants into ûû ûû 11 labourers in the industries and agricultural land for industrial purposes), “de-tribalization” (forcing the tribals to shed the attributes which made them different from the mainstream) and “compulsory modernization” (as cited in Kapoor 2011). Adivasis are historically marginalized (Nilsen 2013) and the cultural and political hegemony of affluent castes and classes have muted their voices. The concept of subalternity as proposed by Antonio Gramsci (1992) truly encompasses the state of adivasis in India, because of their continued oppression under the hegemonic rule of state in the colonial as well as post-colonial period. The disregard for their lives, culture and even existence can be observed in the various hegemonic expressions of political, economic and social dominance of the state. They fell prey to the elitist interpretation of development and have been forced to join the mainstream. The adivasis are being continuously dispossessed of their land and livelihood, either because of the “for greater good of the nation” argument of the postcolonial Indian state or the neoliberal capitalist forces which took shape after the economic reform of 1991. The Indian state under the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru pushed for industrialization in the country to boost the economy that was plundered by the British regime immediately after gaining independence. These large scale projects were seen as development of infrastructure by the state that is committed to the people. The displacement induced development at this stage was met with criticisms and objections, but as Foucault points out “government defines a discursive field in which exercising power is ‘rationalized’ “ (as cited in Lemke 2010, p 191). The post liberalisation Indian state is viewed with more suspicion because it has withdrawn from its role as a welfare state and is increasingly becoming a moderator for private investments. Foucault (1997) points out that the justification given for limiting governmental action in the neoliberal framework is considering state as a rational- economic actor (as cited in Lemke 2001). The government itself becomes an enterprise which universalises competition and rediscovers systems which are suitable for the market for institutions, groups and individuals (Lemke 2001). This has accelerated the process ûû ûû 12 of development in the interests of the growing middle class of the country and facilitating a global marketplace through transnational corporate investments (Kapoor 2011). It is essential to analyse the notion of state in these two contexts through the eyes of a subaltern who has been systematically deprived of their rights through state induced dispossession. Marginalization and Dispossession in the Neoliberal Era Neo-liberal theorizations highlight that state should be in favour of private property rights and should act as a catalyst for free functioning of markets and free trade (Harvey 2007). This is based on the premise of “tragedy of commons” (Harvey 2007, p 65). The tendency of individuals to over-exploit the common property is taken as the rationale for the assignment of private property rights. In other words, the concept of common property is the biggest institutional barrier for economic development as well as human welfare. By taking this stand, the neo-liberal theorists propose commodification of essentials as a solution, i.e., the basic necessities such as land and water should be privatised. For adivasis, the forest and their surroundings are considered as common property. It is also their source of livelihood. Due to the increasing state-driven invasion by private stakeholders into the forest, the adivasis are displaced from their natural habitat. These pseudo development activities inflict cultural violence and extermination of subaltern ways to dispossess them of the meaning they attach to- not just land or livelihood but their rootedness in culture (Nilsen 2012). Neoliberal theorists believe that the political stability of a country should be guaranteed through the strong presence of middle-class (Harvey 2007). Harvey (2007) looks at communism, socialism, fascism and even the majoritarian democracy with suspicion. He argues in his critique that neoliberalism proposes governance by elitists and experts. Thus, negotiating a space in the mainstream politics for subaltern discourse is practically difficult. In a neoliberal economy, market cannot surpass the marginalisation that is structurally inbuilt in the socio- economic system of the country. Thus, the essence of neoliberalism is in itself discriminatory towards subalterns who have been structurally marginalised for ages. ûû ûû 13 Harvey (2007) explains the act of state as benevolent provider of subsidies for the adivasis and recognising their rights with the concept of ‘pragmatism of state’. He means to say that it can be viewed as the opportunistic act of the state to attract political support. Harvey (2007) makes clear that in the event of a conflict, a typical neoliberal state will lean towards a good business climate as opposed to collective rights and quality of life or environment’s capacity to regenerate itself. The competition between the nation states have been increasing and it is being used as a rationale for disciplining the movements that opposed the neo-liberal agendas within the states by using the means such as propaganda, defamation and police forces. The stigmatisation of adivasis as “Maoist” and “anti-national” is not so strange. By publicizing this propaganda, the state tries to build rationale for oppression as well as the dispossession of adivasis. How do Adivasis Perceive Development? They perceive state as an imposer of rules and “everyday tyranny” (Nilsen 2013). Adivasis are mostly dependent on natural resources and closely engage with the elements of nature for their survival. The colonial government imposed restrictions on their movement into the forest by turning forest into game reserves for hunting activities and to preserve timber to act as input for the industrialization projects in Britain. This was done under the name of conservation of forest to prevent unruly use of the forest resources by the adivasis. The Indian state took forward the conservationist principle even after independence. The conservationist and developmental state formulated laws on forest by rejecting the wisdom of the adivasis on forest and other natural resources as primitive. The reckless formulation of laws by the state, ignoring the indigenous knowledge and culture in the name of development and conservation gave rise to development refugees (Penz 1992) and conservation refugees (Dowie 2005) respectively. The development activities initiated by the Indian State have now undergone a major paradigm shift and so has its policies. The state, market and civil society actors play their respective roles in advancing neoliberalism- as overt champions of neoliberalism, as civil society actors committed to humanizing capital and as socialist market ûû ûû 14 economies renegotiatingrelations with an unrulypeasantry (Kapoor 2011). The neoliberal state prepares the field for foreign direct investment, large mining projects and other development (as perceived by the mainstream community) through policies which have direct implication on the lives of subalterns and criminalizes their livelihood (Nilsen 2013). These rules are imposed through small everyday instances of violence and instigation of fear through its machineries- the forest guard officials, police, and revenue officials (Nilsen 2013). They internalised this fear and are unaware of their rights- a combination that kept their engagements with state minimal. The corporate NGOs were used by the state to entice subalterns into development projects and stifle activism (as cited in Kapoor 2011). Nilsen (2013) in his study in a Bhil village on the banks of Narmada River recounts how adivasis carrying a sickle or axe were beaten up and bribed by the forest officials. This has instilled an image of terror in the minds of the adivasis. For them, their basic idea of sustenance clashes with the rules imposed by the state on use of land and forest. But, who made these laws that govern their day to day lives? Why do the adivasis have to follow a rule in which they had no say in? Nilsen (2013) cites in his study on political mobilization of adivasis that Mundas perceive the state as a dangerous entity and hence they are reluctant to engage with it. They turn to the traditional sacral polity to develop an alternative political order to escape subordination by local elites and secular Indian state (Nilsen 2013). Kapoor (2011) suggests that adivasis primarily view development as a form of exploitation and dispossession. The subaltern view of development or progress thus in reality becomes conflicting to the others. There is deliberate stoking and active promotion of division and disunity among subalterns by the agents of development and caste-class interests (Kapoor 2011). Development is also referred to as violence by adivasis, that is, as a process involving the physical/material destruction of nature and dispossession of subalterns, or what Shiv Vishvanathan (1987) has referred to as “development triage” (as cited in Kapoor 2011). Political Mobilization of Adivasis Tracing the features of political mobilization of adivasis in the country it can be observed that political uprisings were there in colonial ûû ûû 15 period as well. Many of the social movements of adivasis during this time had been categorized as freedom movements or ‘anti-colonial’ movements despite the fact that these movements were often against elitist class within the country. The mainstream literature which deliberately sees adivasi movements as peasant movements also becomes problematic (Shah 2004). K.S Singh (1985) challenges this notion by arguing that tribal movements were both agrarian and forest based. The tribal revolts were the result of the ethnic identity that formed due to alienation faced from zamindars and petty government officials. Apart from it, many of the early literature on the adivasi social movements in the post-colonial period neglected the aspect of political autonomy as an essential characteristic of these movements (Shah 2004). Therefore, the existing typologies are not enough to view the recent movements around the issues of forest rights and environment (Shah 2004). Further, displacement of the tribal due to ‘development’ programs cannot be seen from peasantry movement perspective. To some extent, adivasi organisations were a reaction to the homogenising logic of state. The movements like Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha (AGM) in Kerala were to challenge state induced displacement as well as an attempt to mainstream the political identity of adivasis (Steur, 2009). A critical analysis of culture, history and beliefs of the adivasis and the way that used for social organisation shows the relevance of ‘identity components’ and its mileage for a political mobilisation (Steur, 2009). But, as Nilsen (2013) points out it is necessary to move beyond the state centrism and anti-statism in order to develop a politically enabling engagement with contemporary adivasi mobilisation in India. The social movement of adivasis in the post-modern phase clearly shows their aspiration for self-management of their resources, identity and ethnicity (Shah, 2004). These movements focus on their relationship with nature and resources, concerns over environment, ethnicity and the interrelations are giving new dimension to these movements (Shah, 2004). The state driven ‘privatization’ and exploitation of common properties will be quite contradictory with the adivasi’s idea of ûû ûû 16 development (Shah, 2004). This has become the backbone for current uprising of different adivasi social movements in India. Politics of Dispossession Niyamgiri is one of the well-known examples of tribal community successfully fighting against displacement by state-corporate nexus. The movement started in 2002 when Odisha government gave permission for U.K based Vedanta aluminium limited to start an aluminium refinery in the foothills of Niyamgiri. This area was occupied by Kudia Kondh tribe along with other poor farmers. In 2004, Government also gave permission for bauxite mining for U.K based Vedanta Alumina jointly with Orissa Mining Corporation, in the mountain region occupied by Dongria Kondh. Dongria Kondh tribe’s livelihood mostly consisted of fishing, farming and gathering of forest products. They also worshipped the Niyamgiri hills as the abode of their deity ‘Niyam Raja Penu’ (Sahu, 2008). This area is also rich in biodiversity and has high environmental importance. The tribal population protested against the refinery and mining as it would destroy local environment, cause pollution and negatively impact their livelihood and culture. Resistance grew as they witnessed construction activities on their lands and thousands of tribals fought against this forceful land grabbing. Vedanta and the government retaliated using economic as well as non-economic coercion. Gradually this movement got national attention and became part of national advocacy networks (Kraemer, Whiteman and Banerjee, 2013). International organisations also began to engage. In 2010, Ministry of Environment and Forest revoked the environmental clearance for Vedanta. Vedanta appealed against this decision and in 2013, Supreme Court upheld the ban and ruled that rights of tribals must be taken into account. Consequently, the gram sabhas were consulted and all 12 of them voted against mining (12th gram sabha too votes against Vedanta mining, Hindu) Here we are analyzing the tribal mobilisation in Niyamgiri using the framework of ‘Politics of Dispossession’ given by David Harvey and elaborated by Levien(2013). According to Harvey, in the era of neoliberalism, accumulation by dispossession of private and common ûû ûû 17 wealth is more prominent than accumulation by exploitation as given by Marxist theorists. Accumulation by dispossession refers to the process of expropriation of land from the rural farmers to state or metropolitan capitalists. Agricultural land is increasingly forcibly acquired for industrial projects, infrastructure and real estate projects. Harvey (as cited by Levien, 2013) says that accumulation by dispossession has quite distinct features from Marxian concept of accumulation by dispossession. For example, Accumulation by dispossession is the result of advanced capitalism while early capitalism is the result of primitive exploitation. Also, accumulation by exploitation takes away the surplus but accumulation by dispossession takes away the very means of production and livelihood. Wage labourers are the affected communities in accumulation by exploitation while farmers are the main losers in the latter. Accordingly, Harvey theorizes that politics arising from dispossession, called ‘’politics of dispossession” is distinct from the politics of exploitation described by Marx. ( as cited in Levie 2 013). He says thatpolitics of exploitation arises from a shared relationship with the means of production while politics of dispossession arises from shared experience of dislocation (as cited in Levien 2013). Polanyi terms this as politics of commodification as arising from the commodification of fictitious commodities like land (as cited in Levien, 2013). In that context, accumulation by dispossession can be considered as coercive commodification of land. Levien(2013) has expanded on the idea of politics of dispossession further and analyzed its characteristics such as targets, strategy, political organisation, class component, goal, etc. In the following paragraphs, we are using Levien’s conceptualisation to understand the characteristics of the Niyamgiri movement State and the Dispossessed The tactics used by state in facilitating dispossession is to appeal to public in the name of national interest. People were more willing to accept this argument in the Nehruvian era, where land was acquired for public purposes like Dam building and heavy industries. But in the neoliberal era, where state function like a broker for transfer of land for real estate purposes, the legitimacy of the ‘public interest’’ argument ûû ûû 18 is increasingly questioned. As state visibly takes part and use extra economic coercion to acquire land, it has to justify itself. This is achieved by giving material promises of compensation, jobs and land for resettlement. These tactics in turn shapes the targets of the politics of dispossession. In any anti-dispossession movement, there will be two categories of landowners- those who are willing to accept dispossession in return for higher compensation and those who take a non-compromising stand and refuse to part with land at any cost. Even though the overall Niyamgiri can be counted as success, some of the studies show that there were internal contradictions and conflicts in the movement. Due to the work of the neighbouring pro-mining corporates, local contractors, agents and the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities of the Vedanta, a number of villagers became willing to accept higher compensation and welcomed mining activities. But majority of the villagers stuck to their original stand due to the strong grassroots movement (Kreamer, et al, 2013). This can be attributed due to the comparatively low importance of money in their life as they depend on forest for most of their needs and have not integrated completely into a money economy. The tactics used by the people in anti-dispossession movements are also different. Dispossession is such a sudden threat that the protest starts as ad-hoc, localized, immediate and spontaneous movements. Large scale mobilization and violent protests are organized. The aim here is to retain possession of land against all odds. So people use a variety of tactics including obstructing initial surveys and blockading the road, etc. They also challenge the acquisition on the basis of environmental laws and forest right act as well. For example, Kadar community in Kerala successfully fought off dispossession for the Athirappilly hydro-electric programme by declining Gram Sabha permission under forest right act. In Niyamgiri, affected community invoked the clause in Indian Constitution Schedule Five prohibiting the transfer of tribal land to non tribals. Attempts were also made to get international attention and thereby forcing the shareholders of Vedanta to terminate the project. Action Aid and Survival International played a major part in this internationalisation. ûû ûû 19 Organisation of anti-dispossession Movements Anti-dispossession movements generally start based on localized single issues. For example, Niyamgiri movement started against Vedanta’s mining and refinery activities in the area. Levien (2013) observes that the trajectories followed by such movements can be classified into three: (1) Joining a national alliance, (2) being part of revolutionary armed struggle, (3) joining hands with the opposition party. The most common path chosen by movements is joining a national alliance. One of the excellent examples of tribal agitators joining a non-violent non-party left alliance is NAPM (National Alliance for People’s Movements) where different issue based movements came together to protest against land acquisition. Movements like NAPM are not against development per se but want it to be democratically determined by the local communities. Such trans-local alliances can offer a model for more democratised development (Levien, 2013). In the context of Niyamgiri, Kraemer, Whiteman and Banerjee (2013) observe that Dongria tribes and Kudia Kondh tribe joined hands in 2004 under mediation from activists from national level. The larger Niyamgiri movement gathered national attention and became part of Indian national advocacy network around 2003. Several civil society members and various NGOs also visited Niyamgiri during this time and extended support. National activists also helped file a case in the Supreme Court in 2004. Some of the anti-dispossession movements also get absorbed into revolutionary armed struggle as a result of disillusionment with the system. Continuing marginalisation tribals faced in India has led some of them to lose belief in Indian state and to join the maoist struggle. Ramachandra Guha (2007) describes this as a double tragedy. According to him, the ultimate aim of maoists is power capture where tribal is just a stepping stone and they at times turns against tribals themselves. At the same time, rather than making tribals partners in development, state is indulging in further land grabs, Thus adivasis are caught between state and the maoists. Towards the end of movement, such a revolutionary marxist influence began to spread in Niyamgiri. Here, the underlying ideological perspective is the class struggle for control of resources. However, it didn’t turn into maoism as in the case of Bastar. ûû ûû 20 Anti-dispossession movements do not associate themselves with political parties as dispossession cuts across all political streams and people tend to come together under an issue based common platform. But occasionally, they get support from opposition political parties. Protests against forced dislocation in Singur and Nandigram in Bengal where Mamata Banerjee (the leader of the then opposition party) offered her support are examples for this. But adivasi anti- dispossession struggles generally do not get this type of support. This could be because they do not constitute a vote bank. Class Component of Dispossession Politics According to Ramachandra Guha (2007) , adivasis have gained least and lost most from six decades of democracy and development in India. Their closeness to natural resource rich areas resulted in dispossession of land and livelihood in the name of development. Both development and exclusive conservation resulted in losses to adivasis and benefits to mainstream societies. Anti-dispossession movements unite people cutting across differences of tribe, class, caste, etc. But internal conflicts happen as the movement tend to reflect local power structure and differences. NAPM is one successful example where they managed to bring two rival tribes – Bhil and Bhilala under a common umbrella along with upper caste Hindu farmers. Rate of Accumulation by Dispossession Levien (2013) uses the term ‘Rate of Accumulation by Dispossession ‘ to describe the extent of profit made by the capitalist. According to him, “rate of accumulation by dispossession is the ratio between cost of government acquired land and its ultimate appreciation in the hands of a capitalist”. Farmers who want a share of the resultant profits due to dispossession, bring down this rate while some others refuse to engage in this commodification of land at all (Levien, 2013). Corporates use various strategies to divide the people and weaken the opposition against land commodification. Kraemer et al (2013) describes one such incident in their studies of Niyamgiri where youth participating in a Vedanta CSR funded cricket club assaulted anti Vedanta protesters. They also narrate a story of a young tribal youth who was one of the main spokespersons for the resistance and ûû ûû 21 later changed sides as Vedanta arranged him opportunities for higher education. Having said that, adivasis have resisted commodification of land more than any other communities. Some of ideas put forward by Levien (2013) are discussed below. Firstly, adivasi areas fall in remote hilly regions. So the level of compensation they get is much lower compared to urban areas. So compensation by itself is not attractive enough to accept dispossession. Also, their livelihood generally depends on common property resources including forest, stream, rivers, etc. But, these losses are not accounted for in the compensation package. Another reason could be the mismatch present between skillsets available in the community and the skillsets that are required for the employment created by the extractive industries. Due to this, adivasis are not able to make use of the alternate employment generated. Also, adivasis mostly practice a subsistence economy deeply entwined with the surrounding landscape with minimal dependence on money economy. That adds to their reluctance to give up the independence that comes with this lifestyle (Levien,2013). Another reason could be the Cultural identities of indigenous groups, which are strongly associated with their land and thus preventing the commodification of land. As mentioned previously, Gondriya tribe worships ‘Niyam Raja Penu’ who they believe lives in the Niyamgiri hills. So there is religious and cultural significance attached to the land.Levien (2013) says there is a historic dimension to this as well. Historically, adivasis have rebelled against feudal lords and later colonial rulers who tried to control their land and resources. e.g, Santhal rebellion .These political memories give an added impetus to the struggle. Conclusion From our analysis of various adivasi movements using the framework of politics of dispossession, it is clear that they share a lot in common with other anti-dispossession movements. But owing to historical marginalisation and subalternity of adivasis, there are local variations as well. While, adivasi movements may not have been able to gather as much political momentum as compared to ûû ûû 22 other movements, they have made significant progressive strides. For example, separate provisions have been made to address adivasi concerns in the Land acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. Similarly, progressive legislations were made to address dispossession of common property resources as well. For example, Forest Rights Act, 2006 can be seen as an important milestone in the political struggle and mobilization of adivasis. The amendments in the act which recognised the individual and community rights of the forest dwelling community which included the adivasis were a result of long struggles to bring the attention of the state towards the rights of adivasis (Bose 2010). The Forest Rights Act in its new form has been vocal about corporate land grabbing and protects the rights and meaning attached by tribes and forest dwellers. However, such positive intentions do not cut across all the legislations. For instance, the proposed Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill 2015 that was passed in the Rajya Sabha, in spite of widespread discontent, fails to recognise the rights of the forest dwellers. The bill initiates setting up of Compensatory Afforestation Fund at the central and state levels to receive payments for compensatory afforestation, net present value of forest and other project specific costs. While developing forests through afforestation drives is an appealing idea, the nitty-gritty and past experiences show the opposite. The bill gives powers to the state to plant huge number of trees in natural landscapes such as grasslands, common properties, individual lands, etc (Centre’s afforestation bill faces Rajya Sabha stumble, The Hindu, 13 May 2016). This again points to tendencies of state to acquire land without regarding the rights of the forest dwellers, tribes and adivasis and might dispossess them of their community rights. Even when evidence from around the world shows that the forest dwelling communities are the better caretakers of forest and directing this fund to local communities instead of corporate giants would help sustain the entire tribal economy the question remains why has the state pushed for this bill which dismisses their community rights (Whose forest are these anyway, The Indian Express, 28 July 2016). ûû ûû 23 It is clear that in the increasingly neoliberalized world, the competition for different land use, the conflict between the adivasi community and the industrial capitalist will only further increase. It remains to be seen whether the ‘divide and rule’ strategy and luring them with the fruits of development will significantly impact the unity of such movements. However, it seems reasonable to assume that adivasi engagement with the politics of dispossession will pose a significant threat to rampant neoliberal capitalism and force it to acknowledge and address the concerns raised by the adivasi community. References 1. Bose, I. (2010). How did the Indian forest rights Act, 2006, emerge.Institutions for Pro-Poor Growth. 2. Dowie, M. (2005). Conservation refugees: When protecting nature means kicking people out. Orion, 24(6), 16f. 3. Harvey, D. (2007). A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford University Press, USA. 4. Kapoor, D. (2011). Subaltern Social Movement (SSM) post-mortems of development in India: Locating trans-local activism and radicalism. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 46(2), 130-148. 5. Kraemer, R., Whiteman, G., & Banerjee, B. (2013). Conflict and astroturfing in Niyamgiri: The importance of national advocacy networks in anti- corporate social movements. Organization Studies, 34(5-6), 823-852. 6. Lemke, T. (2001). ‘The birth of bio-politics’: Michel Foucault’s lecture at the Collège de France on neo-liberal governmentality. Economy and society,30(2), 190-207. 7. Levien, M. (2013). The Politics of Dispossession Theorizing India’s “Land Wars”. Politics & Society, 41(3), 351-394. 8. Nilsen, A. G. (2013). Adivasi mobilization in contemporary India: Democratizing the local state?.Critical Sociology, 39(4), 615-633. 9. Penz, G. P. (1992). Development refugees and distributive justice: Indigenous peoples, land, and the developmentalist state. Public Affairs Quarterly, 6(1), 105-131. 10. Ren, X. (2016). Land acquisition, rural protests, and the local state in China and India. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, doi : 10.1177/0263774X16655802 11. Shah, G. (2004). Social movements in India: A review of literature. SAGE Publications India. ûû ûû 24 Debt Sustainability and its ill Effect on Tribal Human Development in Nagaland

Mr. Keliihol Tase

Abstract Nagaland was formed on 1 December 1963 as a Special Category State and is situated in the North-Eastern region of India bordering three States viz. Assam in North and West, Arunachal Pradesh in East and Manipur in the South. It has an international border with Myanmar in the East. It is the twenty fifth largest state in term of geographical area (16579 sq. km) as well as by population (1978502). In India, state of Nagaland has one of the highest numbers of tribes, this excludes the Nagas in the neighbouring States of Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and in the nation of Myanmar. Nagaland started functioning with the total budgetary provisions of Rs. 3.88 crore. It took 15 years (1963-78) to reach the figure of Rs. 98.02 crore fiscal deficit. Mrs. Indira Gandhi launched her party election campaigns announcing the budgetary provisions of Rs. 222.58 crore in 1982-83 to build a ‘New Nagaland’, which swept the sustained debt. The state’s debt burden kept increasing and during 2002-03 stood at Rs.2104 crore. The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced conversion of Rs 365- Crore loan to the state as a onetime grant. The debt increased to 47.95 crore in 2004, and continuously increased till 2010. In 2011, the government reduced the fiscal deficit of Rs 1.14 crore. The current fiscal deficit (2017-18) is Rs 1437.84 crore. The state needs to be more responsible in managing the fiscal deficit so that they have enough resources for planned development. ûû ûû 25 Introduction There are two ways to enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.” — John Adams (1797-1801) Second President of the United States and Patriot With the growing literature on public economics, the debate on pros and cons of fiscal debts are also growing. It is argued that debts, particularly, fiscal debts are not undesirable, especially, in developing countries like India where revenue resources are seriously constrained. There is general consensus among the researchers that there is need to contain debt within manageable limits (e.g. Maastricht Treaty 1991) rather than eliminating it at any economic cost. Rangarajan and Subbarao (2007) argued ‘It must be acknowledged upfront that fiscal deficits are not bad per se. In fact, they may be necessary, even desirable in some situations. The issues, therefore, are not whether or not there should be fiscal deficit, but its appropriate level.’ Endorsing the philosophy of manageable level of debts, there are several studies focusing on finding manageable or, particularly, sustainable level of debt at national and sub-national level. One distinct feature that has emerged from the recent literature is that the sustainability of subnational government (SNG) debts is equally important with sustainability of national government debt. The debt sustainability of SNGs is more crucial, especially, in a political setup like India. Conuto and Liu (2010) stated three main factors for this escalating importance of SNG debt sustainability. First, in the process of decentralization, sub-national governments are increasingly entrusted with large expenditure responsibilities with limited freedom to raise revenue through user charges or market borrowings. Secondly, state governments are in immense pressure of supplying quality social and economic infrastructure elevated from rapid urbanisation and catching up by the states in overall development. This has obligated the sub-national governments to undertake large borrowings. As debt servicing cost as well as benefits derived from the using infrastructure is spread across the generations, the inter-generational equity issue comes into the picture. Lastly, they ûû ûû 26 stated that private capital has become an important source of sub- national finances and often compete with bank loans. In the context of India, in the nineties almost all the SNGs went through a difficult phase of state finances. In the post reform period, fiscal health, both at the Centre and in the states, had weakened progressively since the mid-90s. The combined fiscal deficit of the Centre and the states which was 9.3 percent of GDP in the 1990-91 declined to 6.3 percent in 1996-97 before returning to 9.0 percent in 1998-99 mainly owing to the impact of the Fifth Pay Commission award. The impact of year- on-year deficits shows up in the stock of debt and interest payment indicators. The debt-GDP ratio of the Center and states combined had increased from 64.9 percent in 1990-91 to 79.5 percent in 2005- 06. Likewise, the ratio of interest payments to GDP had increased from 4.4 to 5.8 percent reflecting both higher debt stock as well as higher average interest rate (Singh 2004; Rangarajan and Subbarao 2007). Following the philosophy of growth inductive fiscal management and to reduce stock of debt, Indian government has adopted fiscal rules strategy by enacting long awaited Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBMA) in 2003 for prudent fiscal management. This act mandated the Central government to curtail its deficits and debts within prescribed limits. SNGs were also incentivised to adopt their own FRBMAs. The different Finance Commissions have offered various incentives viz. Debt Swap Scheme (DSS) and Debt Consolidation and Relief Facility (DCRF) to the SNGs which were linked to their adoption of FRBMA and fiscal performance. Acting in the response, almost all the SNGs have enacted their respective FRBM Acts. Against this background the current study aims to study the fiscal performance of the state in post-FRBMA period i.e. 2004-05 to 2012- 13 and to assess the sustainability of debt position of the Uttar Pradesh government during the period of 1991-2012, especially, in the light of state’s FRBMA and incentives linked therewith. The data for the current study is taken from the reports Handbook of Statistics on State Government Finances – 2010, State Finances: A Study of Budgets (various issues) published by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) ûû ûû 27 and Uttar Pradesh government Budget papers. The gross state domestic product (GSDP) data is recorded from the Uttar Pradesh Government’s Rajya Aay Anuman (State Income Estimates) Reports. However, the continuous income series at constant prices at one base year is not available. The rest of the study is organised in the following manner. Section II - Review of Literature Section III gives an overview of fiscal reforms in the State along with FRBM Act/Rules-2004 and revision in the target dates as mandated by Thirteenth Finance Commission. In the IV sectionFailure of the State Government to achieve the targets set in NFRBM Act. Section VDeficit and Government Debt. In section VI Empirical Measurement of the Effectiveness Of FRBM Act.Section VII gives the governmentDebt Forecasting and the final section VIII concludes the paper. I. Background of Fiscal Deficit in Nagaland Nagaland was formed on 1 December 1963 as a Special Category State and is situated in the North-Eastern region of India bordering three States viz. Assam in North and West, Arunachal Pradesh in East and Manipur in the South. It has an international border with Myanmar in the East. It is the twenty fifth largest state in term of geographical area (16579 sq. km) as well as by population (19,78,502). The state’s population decreased from 19,90,036 in 2011 recording a decadal decrease of 0.58 percent. Nagaland has a lower density of population, higher proportion of rural population, higher literacy rate and lower infant mortality rate as compared to the all-India average figures. The state literacy rate increased from 66.59 per cent (as per 2001) to 79.55 per cent (as per 2011 census). The state per capita income of the state stood 56,116 against the country average of 60,972 in the year 2011-12. Secretary of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Uttam Kumar Sangma said, “Nagaland has the lowest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 6.2.” Topographically, the State is mountainous and the altitude varies approximately between 194 metres and 3,048 metres above the sea level. With a geographical area of 16,579 sq. km i.e. about 0.51 per ûû ûû 28 cent of country’s total geographical area, Nagaland provides shelter to 0.16 per cent population of the country. Nagaland is basically a land of agriculture, with about 70 per cent of the population depended on it. Rice is the staple food. The age old industry of the state is cottage industry which plays a vital role in the village’s economy. Cottage industries which deserve emphasis are (1) weaving and dyeing (2) work in cane (3) work in wood, pottery and excavation of salt, pulp and paper mill. The key industries in Nagaland are bamboo, agriculture and allied industries, minerals and mining, handloom and handicrafts, and tourism. 1Nagaland started functioning with the total budgetary provisions of Rs. 3.88 crore inclusive of plan and non-plan. It took 15 years (1963-78) to reach the figure of Rs. 98.02 crore fiscal deficit. Mrs. Indira Gandhi launched her party election campaigns announcing the budgetary provisions of Rs. 222.58 crore in 1982-83 to build a ‘New Nagaland’, which swept the sustained debt. The state’s debt burden kept increasing and during 2002-03 stands at Rs.2,104 crore. The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced conversion of Rs 365 crore loan to the state as a one-time grant. It will enable the state to meet all its past liabilities and will also result in an annual interest savings of Rs 44 crore (440 mn) by the state. The debt increased to 47.95 crore in 2004, and continuously increased till 2010. In 2011, the government reduced the fiscal deficit of Rs 1.14 crore (2010-Rs 603.64 crore and 2011-Rs 602.3 crore).The current Fiscal deficit (2016-17) is Rs 1318 crore and is estimated to Rs 3357 crore by 2020. In the past few years, the Finance Ministry has been vociferously arguing for reduction of fiscal deficit and revenue deficit of the Union government, citing the targets set by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act and its rules. Hence, presently, the aspirations of the Planning Commission and Union government ministries with

1CAG detects major anomalies in various govt. Departments ûû ûû 29 regard to spending face the legal hurdle of this Act, which has made it mandatory for the Union government to show the revenue deficit as nil (total revenue expenditure not exceeding total revenue receipts by even a single rupee) and the fiscal deficit as less than 3 per cent of GDP. This means new borrowing of the government in a financial year cannot exceed 3 per cent of the country’s GDP for that year. II- Review of Literature Sustainability is a term that has been frequently used in the scholastic literature but with different connotations under different circumstances (Balassone and Franco 2000, Chalk and Hemming 2000). Customarily, fiscal sustainability has been assessed in terms of indicator analysis. This framework was first developed by Domar (1944) which states that a necessary condition for sustainability is that growth rate of income must exceed the interest rate. Subsequently, Buiter (1985) suggests a sustainable policy as one which is capable of keeping the ratio of public sector net worth to output at its current level. Broadly, sustainable level of debt refers to the level which can be serviced through future revenue without hampering the productivity and solvency of the government. In the context of India, the analysis of debt sustainability assumed critical importance during the late 1980s, with sharp fiscal deterioration both at national as well as sub-national levels. However, most of the studies on debt sustainability in the Indian perspective have tended to be confined to the Central government finances or to state finances only at a consolidated level viz. Seshan (1987), Buiter and Patel (1992) Pattnaik (1996), RBI (1999, 2001, 2002 & 2013), Pattnaik, Prakash, & Misra (2004). Some of the recent studies on debt sustainability of states are worth mentioning here. Prasad, Goyal and Prakash (2003) were one of the initial authors focusing on the debt sustainability of the Indian states. They warned about the pace of debt rise and argued the policy responses would only reduce debt by 1-2 percent only. In a report submitted to the Twelfth Finance Commission by the Dholakia, Mohan and Karan (2004) addressed two main issues: first, defining ûû ûû 30 sub-national debt to bring comparability across the SNGs and second, state-wise assessment of debt sustainability. Taking debt/GSDP ratio and debt/states own revenue ratio, they found yawning deterioration in SNGs debt position. Decomposing fiscal deficit into growth and fiscal behaviour components, they found that fiscal stance adopted by the SNGs was highly unsustainable. Regarding Uttar Pradesh, the Report suggested that although the current debt position is unsustainable but amenable to correction over time in fiscal stance, however, vulnerability is high because of risk posed by elevated levels of contingent liabilities. Similar findings were reported by Rajaraman, Bhide and Pattnaik (2005). They noted a steep rise in debt/GSDP ratio of SNGs during 1992-2002. Uttar Pradesh was ranked among the group of second category states having high unsustainable levels of debt. Rath (2005) analyzing the fiscal development in Orissa found low level of development the root cause for poor tax base and tax revenues. Consequently, the state was largely dependent upon ways and means advances from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to meet their routine expenditures. The debt position of the state was above sustainable level. Sawhney (2005) found that fiscal position of the Punjab government was in difficult situations during 1990s. Tamil Nadu also faced unsustainable level of debts during 1990s and in the early 2000s (Ianchovichina, Liu and Nagarajan 2007). III. Nagaland Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM), 2005 1 The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Bill (FRBM Bill) was introduced in India by the then Finance Minister of India, Mr.Yashwant Sinha in December, 2000. Firstly, the bill highlighted the terrible state of government finances in India both at the Union and the state levels under the statement of objects and reasons. Secondly, it sought to introduce the fundamentals of fiscal discipline at the various levels of the government. The FRBM bill was introduced with the broad objectives to reduce deficit spending and the enormous debt, the main ûû ûû 31 purpose was to eliminate revenue deficitof the country (building revenue surplus thereafter) and bring down the fiscal deficit to a manageable 3% of the GDP by March 2008. The Nagaland Government, faced with acute financial crunch, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Finance and has introduced fiscal as well as institutional and sectoral reforms. While the major fiscal policy initiatives are listed: a. Introduction of VAT in the state b. Legislation of Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management act, 2005. Under the act, the following important fiscal targets have been prescribe for giving effort to the fiscal management objectives envisaged in the Act. i. Strive to maintain revenue surplus by making a balance in revenue receipt and expenditure and build up further surplus. ii. Strive to bring down the fiscal deficit by 3% of projected Gross State Domestic Product(GSDP) by 2009 iii. Restrict debt stock within 40% of GDSP by the year 2010 iv. Follow recruitment and wage policy in a manner such that their total salary bill relative to revenue expenditure net of interest payment and pension does not exceed 61% in any financial year.

Legislative Research: The Nagaland Fiscal Rfsponsibility and Budget Management Act, 2005 (Act No. 7 of 2005) Received the assent of the Governor on 28.09.2005 and published in the Nagaland Gazette extra-ordinary dated 22.11.2005 An Act to provide for the responsibility of the State Government to ensure prudence in fiscal management and fiscal stability by achieving revenue surplus, reduction in Fiscal deficit, prudent debt management consistent with fiscal sustainability, greater transparency in fiscal operations of the Government and conduct of fiscal policy in a medium term framework and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.” ûû ûû 32 IV.Failure of the State Government to achieve the targets set in NFRBM Act

To quote Mark Twain, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” This is more truewhen it comes to government, debt and fiscal policy. Even as the FRBM bill was introduced, the fiscal situation of the Nagaland government is worse than it appears. 1. To Maintain Revenue Surplus:

Charts 1.1 and 1.2 present the trends in deficit indicators over the period 2007-12.

Trends in Deficit Indicators

1000 812.15 800 710.72

600 511.35 423.75 467.32 400 200 81.73 0 -26.64 -200 -159.09 -121.59 -312.6 -400 -340.63 -397.28 -600 -521.56 -538.98 -800 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Revenue surplus Fiscal Deficit Primary Deficit/surplus

Source: CAG report 2007-12

Chart 1.1 reveals that the revenue account experienced a surplus of ¹ 710.72 crore during 2011-12, an increase from ¹ 423.75 crore in 2007-08. However, the Revenue surplus decreased during the year 2008 and 2011 by ¹ 44.03 crore and ¹ 101.43 crore respectively as compared to the previous year. The primary surplus also turned into primary deficit from surplus of ¹ 81.73 crore in 2010-11 to deficit of ¹ 121.59 crore in 2011-12. ûû ûû 33 Act Act i.e 2. To bring down fiscal deficit by 3% of projected Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) by 2009 The chart shows that in the year 2011, the state could the government achieve target set in NFRBM

ûû ûû Source: CAG report 2007-12 years. previous to compared highest is deficit 2,81% .2009,fiscal In the 34 3. Torestrict3. debtstockwithinGDSPyearthe 2010. ofby 40%

Table1.3shows thetrends DebtofStock from 2007-12

ore CG eot 2007-12 report CAG Source:

ûû ûû 35 Source CAG Report 2007-12 Chart 1.4 of shows the payment Pension increased

ûû ûû 36 4. Revenue expenditure net interest payment and pension should not exceed 61% in any financial year. The expenditure on pension had increased by ¹ 326.95 crore (125.88 per cent) from ¹ 259.73 crore in 2007-08 to ¹ 586.68 crore in 2011-12. The pension payment were ¹ 154.44 crore more than the assessment made by XIII-FC (¹ 432.24 crore) and also ¹ 10.39 crore more than the assessment made by the State Government in its MTFPS (¹ 576.29 crore) for the year 2011-12. The pension payment recorded a growth of 74.62 per cent (¹ 250.71 crore) over the previous year The fiscal position of the State viewed in terms of the key fiscal parameters during 2011- 12 revealed that the State’s revenue surplus had declined by ¹ 101.43 crore while the fiscal deficit had increased by ¹ 226.38 crore and the primary surplus had turned into primary deficit by a margin of ¹ 203.32 crore in 2011-12 relative to the previous year. The overall fiscal liabilities of the State increased at a compound annual growth rate of 11.34 per cent during 2007-12. The fiscal liabilities increased by ¹ 866 crore (15 per cent) from ¹ 5,773 crore in 2010-11 to ¹ 6,639 crore in 2011-12. V. Deficit and Government Debt Nagaland economy is an under developed economy. Its vast resources are unutilized. A major section of man power is lying idle. The per capita income is low. Capital is shy and scarce and investment is lean. Production is traditional and the technique is outdated. The output is insufficient and the basic needs of the people remain unfulfilled A budget is an outline for the future which creates jobs, educates the children, provides healthcare for all citizens. The unjustified swelling of the budgetary deficit and the accumulation of public debts are destructive. Whether one run a record company or a grocery store, one will fear of big trouble when borrowing is more than the afford to pay back. Delaying the pain for future generations is suicidal. We’ve got to start getting the deficit down right now, not next year. ûû ûû 37 Table 1.5 shows trends of deficit from 2004 2016 to from deficit of trends 1.5 shows Table

ûû ûû 38 The chart reveals the increasing trends of deficit Budget, in 2010and 2016 the state government reduce the deficit by ¹ 1.34 crore and ¹ 225 crore, respectively. Table 1.6 from 2004 to 2016 Trends in Deficit

Graphically, the trend deficit of 2008-11 and 2013-16 shows a similarity. In 2010 and 2015, the deficit reached at its peak, subsequent year the state government reduce the deficit. It appears that the deficit is cyclical and nothing precludes the government from running a permanent budget deficit. VI. Empirical Measurement of the Effectiveness Of FRBM Act Fiscal deficit is basically the difference between what the government spends and what it earns. The study view higher the fiscal deficit, weaker the economy. On Fiscal Deficit, FRBM was implemented to bring fiscal balance. An attempt has been done to ûû ûû 39 examine whether the enactment of FRBM has brought the fiscal balance in terms of reduction in Fiscal Deficit. The data have been collected from secondary sources fromAudit Report on State Finances for the year ended 31 March 2012 and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Social, Economic, Revenue and General Sectors for the year ended 31 March 2014. The yearly time series data have been taken for the period from 2008-11 to 2013-16. Two tailed t test has been applied to examine the impact of FRBM Act on fiscal balance. Research Hypothesis H1 : Fiscal Responsibility framework permanently changed the budgeting process. H2 : Fiscal Responsibility framework prompts temporary consolidation. Data collection Budget Deficit from 2008-2011 and 2013 -2016

Year Deficit in Crores Deficit in Crores from 2008-11 from 2013-2016 General Election 425.77 899.45 A year after General Election 494.23 928.86 Two years after General Election 603.64 1542.71 Two years before the next General Election 602.3 1317.71

Significance level- 95% Two tailed test If p d” 5% reject the Null hypothesis If pe” 5% retain the Null hypothesis In statistical hypothesis testing, a dependent sample 2 tailed t test was used to check the effectiveness of Fiscal Responsibility in Nagaland. The statistical significance is attained: 1. The mean of Budget deficit from 2008-11 is 620.16 which is less than and the mean of Budget Deficit from 2013-16 is 1782.88. ûû ûû 40 Paired Samples Statistics Pair 1 Rs in crores from Rs in Crores from 2008-11 2013-16 Mean 620.16 1782.88 N 6 6 Std. Deviation 166.091 848.870 Std. Error Mean 67.806 346.550 ûû ûû 41 Paired Samples Test Pair 1 Rs in crores from 2008-13 - Rs in crores from 2014-19 Mean -1162.717 Std. Deviation 694.051 Paired Differences Std. Error Mean 283.345 95% Confidence Interval Lower -1891.079 of the Difference Upper -434.355 T -4.104 Df 5 Sig. (2-tailed) .009 ûû ûû 42 2. The mean difference is -1162.717 which is significantly very low. 3. The standard deviation is 694.051. SPSS have calculated for each year a difference between the Budget deficit from 2008- 11 and Budget Deficit from 2013-16 4. The test value is -4.104 which is a very small number and it correlates to a very small significant number .009 5. P= .045, there is a 4.5 % chance of difference with 95% level of confidence. 6. Evaluating the t test, we will reject the null hypothesis (Fiscal Responsibility framework permanently changed the budgeting process) as we have found enough evidence to suggest that the actual difference between the two mean is statistically significant. Therefore, the alternate hypothesis (Fiscal Responsibility framework prompts temporary consolidation) is accepted. VII. Debt Forecasting

ûû ûû 43 VIII. Conclusions Under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2002, the government is required to follow sound fiscal policies and must set limits on the size of the budget deficit over the next few years. The state government has not been able to keep to its deficit targets. If we don’t start trying to fix the debt now, it’s not going to magically go away. If Nagaland is to be great, Nagaland must fix the financial problem. Apart from the magnitude of fiscal deficit of State Government, it is important to analyse the debt sustainability and stabilisation of the State The fiscally irresponsible government has hampered the developmental activities In Emergent situations and disasters, the government is unable to be meet, isn’t able to carry on programs planned to provide fast relief to its citizens. A government fiscally irresponsible cannot even fund its own programs in ordinary times. The government should take steps to become more fiscally responsible. As per 13th Finance Commission Report, during 2011-12, Government raised internal debt of ¹ 1297.88 crore and GOI loans of ¹ 20.97 crore. Government repaid internal debt of ¹ 760.10 crore and GOI loans of ¹ 38.47 crore along with interest of ¹ 417.39 crore resulting in net increase in debt receipts by ¹ 102.89 crore during the year. Debt will stabilize if the quantum spread plus primary deficit is positive. However, it would be seen that the sum of quantum spread together with primary deficit remained negative during the year 2011- 12. The sum of quantum spread and primary deficit was ¹ 115.21 crore in 2010-11 against (-) ¹ 5.40 crore in 2011-12, which indicates that additional efforts are required by the State to stabilise the debt and then attain sustainability in the ensuing years. The persistent negative non-debt receipts (Resource Gap) indicate the non-sustainability of debt while the positive resource gap strengthens the capacity of the State to sustain the debt. The resource gap which was positive during 2010-11 ( ¹ 209 crore), turned into negative in 2011-12 (¹ 226 crore). This meant that the State depends on borrowed funds for meeting current revenue and capital expenditure. ûû ûû 44 Fiscal deficit can be solved by increasing revenues or by reducing expenditure, or both. As per CAG Report 20011-12, Fiscal Variables vis-à-vis Projections for 2011-12, the State Government could achieve two out of the three targets set in NFRBM Act and one projection out of the three projections made in the Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement (MTFPS). It appears that over the last years, nothing precludes the government from running a permanent budget deficit and conclude that there will be increase issuance of government debt. Fiscal responsibility laws can help coordinate and sustain commitments to fiscal prudence, but not as substitute for commitment and should not be viewed as ends. Restoring balance will necessitate bold and difficult reforms in government programs like ‘perform or perish’ and strict adherence to fiscal consolidation.

References 1 City Fiscal Conditions 2015 2 Christiana McFarland is the Research Director of the Center for City Solutions and Applied Research at NLC. 3 Michael A. Pagano is Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) 4 Fiscal Consolidation In India- Sanhita Sucharita 5 Fiscal Rules For Sub National Government: Can They Promote Fiscal Discipline? Teresa Ter-Minassian. 6 Fiscal Responsibility: What Exactly Does It Mean?- Jan Kregel Levy Economics Institute of Bard College June 2010 7 Restoring Fiscal Responsibility: A Guide to the Public Finance Act August 2005 8 U.S. Department of Labor Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2011- 2016- U.S. Department of Labor Hilda L. Solis, Secretary of Labor 9 The Debt Limit: History And Recent Increases 10 D. Andrew Austin Analyst in Economic Policy Mindy R. Levit Analyst in Public Finance ûû ûû 45 11 Fiscal Decentralisation And Local Public Sector Efficiency by 12 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Mater of Arts in Economics, National University of “Kyiv-Mohlya Academy “ Economics education and Research Consortium, 2003. 13 Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget, Twelve Principles For Fiscal Responsibility- Us Budget Watch 2008 14 Office For Budget Responsibility-fiscal Sustainability Report July 2013 15 Introduction to Fiscal Responsibilities a resource for governing boards ©2007 by the Community College League of California revised January 2012 and August 2014 16 Author: Cindra J. Smith, Ed.D., with updates by staff 2017 O Street Community College League of California Sacramento CA www.ccleague.org. 17 Balassone, F. and D. Franco. 2001. EMU Fiscal Rules: A New Answer to an Old Question in Banca d’Italia (ed.). Fiscal Rules. Rome. 18 Blanchard, O.J. 1990. Suggestions for a new set of Fiscal Indicators. OECD Working Paper, No. 79: Paris. 19 Buiter, W.H. 1985. Guide to Public Sector Debt and Deficit. Economic Policy, Vol. 1, No. 1: 13-79. 20 Buiter, W.H. and U. R. Patel. 1992. Debt, Deficits and Inflation: An Application to the Public Finances of India. Journal of Public Economics, 47: 172-205. 21 Canuto, O and L. Liu. 2010. Sub-national Debt Finance: Make it Sustainable. Sub-national Debt Finance and the Global Financial Crisis. World Bank Economic Premises Note, No. 13: Washington, DC. 22 Chalk, N. and R. Hemming. 2000. Assessing Fiscal Sustainability in Theory and Practice. IMF Working Paper, No.00/81: Washington DC. 23 Chouraqui, J., R. Chaude, P. Hagemann and N. Sartor. 1990. Indicators of Fiscal Policy: A Reexamination. OECD Working Paper, No. 78: Paris. ûû ûû 46 24 Dholakia, Ravindra H., T.T. Ram Mohan, Navendu Karan. 2004. Fiscal Sustainability of Debt of States. Report Submitted to the Twelfth Finance Commission. Indian Institute of Management: Ahmadabad New Delhi. 25 Domar, E. 1944.The Burden of Debt and National Income. American Economic Review, 34: 798-827. 26 Ianchovichina, E., Lili Lie & M. Nagarajan. 2007. Subnational Fiscal Sustainability Analysis: What can we learn from Tamilnadu?. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 52: 111-19. 27 Khundrakpam, J. K. 1998. Sustainability of Central Government Debt. Reserve Bank of India Occasional Paper, Volume 17(1): Mumbai

ûû ûû 47 “Market Economy and Tribal Way of life” Abhay Kujur

Abstract The paper would highlight the reasons for present economic complexities of tribal society; evaluate tribal way of life for becoming an entrepreneur and emerging as a leaderin the market economy. The entire paper will also make an endeavour to evolve a strategy on how core values, competencies, present skill set and environment including govt. machinery can be in sync for sustainable business model for tribal youths. And how they can play an important role with the existing resources in the competitive market. It will analyse the core values of tribal culture and its related competencies, which, in turn lead to a favourable and sustainable business proposals. It will also highlight the tribal way of life and their role in the market economy. Further how tribal way of life can contribute in present globalized scenario and make a dint in the market economy through sustainable models.

Introduction Tribal people constitute 8.6 per cent of India’s total population. This is the largest population of the tribal people in the world. Unlike castes, which are part of a complex and interrelated local economic exchange system, tribes tend to form self-sufficient economic units. Tribes normally believe in happiness and peaceful life with deep rooted connection with nature and its resources. In fact they worship nature.Conserving nature, biodiversity, ecology, green movement, environment subjects are core to the tribal ethos. Happiness is one of our core values which comes out naturally through our lifestyle, food habits, cultural rituals, profession, music & ûû ûû 48 dance etc. So it would be prudent to say that happiness is tribal societal vision and all activities—be it socio-economic or religious. So, for us, the notion of progress does not confine to income or consumption level. Other aspects are much more important, such as social connections, the psychological costs of alienation and isolation, the exposure to risks and the experience of vulnerability. Further what we believe in the Sustainable Development with values, which go along with the concept of wellbeing, culture, relationships, and balanced work life. For us, nature of development takes into account holistic, inclusive, equitable and sustainable practices,wherein nature and spiritual matters are in sync and well bonded. The Adivasis have preserved 90% of the country’s bio- cultural diversity. Excessive and indiscriminate demands of the urban market have reduced Adivasis to raw material-collectors and providers. It is a cruel joke that people who can produce some of India’s most exquisite handicrafts, who can distinguish hundreds of species of plants and animals, who can survive off the forests, the lands and the streams sustainably with no need to go to the market to buy food, are labelled as ‘unskilled’. Such a situation has risen because of the discriminatory and predatory approach of the mainstream society on Adivasis and their territories. The moral legitimacy for the process of internal colonisation of Adivasi territories and the deliberate disregard and violations of constitutional protection of STs. This pervasive mind-set is also a historical construct that got reinforced during colonial and post- colonial India. There is a whole history of legislation, both during the pre- independence as well as post- independence period, which was supposed to protect the rights of the Adivasis. As early as 1879, the “Bombay Province Land Revenue Code” prohibited transfer of land from a tribal to a non-tribal without the permission of the authorities. The 1908 “Chotanagpur Tenancy Act” in Bihar, the 1949 “Santhal Pargana Tenancy (Supplementary) Act”, the 1969 “Bihar Scheduled Areas Regulations”, the 1955 “Rajasthan Tenancy Act” as amended in 1956, the 1959 “MPLP Code of Madhya Pradesh”, the 1959 ûû ûû 49 “Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Areas Land Transfer Regulation” and amendment of 1970, the 1960 “Tripura Land Revenue Regulation Act”, the 1970 “Assam Land and Revenue Act”, the 1975 “Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction of Transfer of Lands and Restoration of Alienated Lands) Act” etc. are state legislations to protect Adivasi land rights. In Andhra for example, enquiries on land transfer violations were made in 57,150 cases involving 245,581 acres of land, but only about 28% of lands were restored despite persistent militant struggles. While in the case of Kerala, out of a total claim for 9909.4522 hectares made by 8754 applicants, only 5.5% of the claims have been restored. And this is happening in spite of favourable judicial orders - orders which the state governments are circumventing by attempting to dismantle the very protective legislation itself. However, the recent legislation of the Panchayat Raj (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996 has raised hope of a radical redefinition of self-governance. But many authorities are not genuinely recognizing the Adivasis’ traditional self-governingsystems and by not being serious about devolving autonomy, Historically the Adivasis, as explained earlier, are at best perceived as sub-humans to be kept in isolation, or as ‘primitives’ living in remote and backward regions. None of them have a rational basis. Consequently, the official and popular perception of Adivasis is merely that of isolation in forest, tribal dialect, animism, primitive occupation. Contrast this with the self-perception of Adivasis as casteless, classless and egalitarian in nature, community-based economic systems, symbiotic with nature and democratic, according to the demands of the times, accommodative history and people-oriented art and literature. The significance of their sustainable subsistence economy in the midst of a profit oriented economy is not recognised in the political discourse, and the negative stereotyping of the sustainable subsistence economy of Adivasi societies is based on the wrong premise that the production of surplus is more progressive than the process of social reproduction in co-existence with nature. ûû ûû 50 The source of the conflicts arises from these unresolved contradictions. The struggles for the rights of the Adivasis have moved towards the struggles for power and a redefinition of the contours of state, governance and progress. Impact of Globalization on Adivasis While going ahead, we also need to look at the Impact of Globalization on Tribals Displacement. It is estimated that owing to construction of over 1,500 major irrigation development projects since independence, over 16 million people were displaced from their villages, of which about 40 per cent belong to tribal population. The government and the planners are aware of a)the eroding resource base and socio-cultural heritage of tribal population through a combination of development interventions, commercial interest, and lack of effective legal protection to tribal. b)the disruption of life and environment of tribal population owing to unimaginative, insensitive package of relief (Planning Commission, 1990). Still the development process continued unmindful of displacement. A common feature shared by most of the tribal people is their remoteness and marginal quality of territorial resources. In the past, exploitation of such poor regions was found both difficult and uneconomic. But, the recent rapid technological advancement and unrivalled economic and political strength of world capitalism, and the rising power of neo-colonialism through the G-8 directly and the IMF, WB, IBRD, etc., as agencies, have created favourable conditions for the evasion and extraction of naturalresources from the ecologically fragile territories of tribal people. Thus, forced evictions of tribal to make way for mammoth capital-intensive development projects have become a distressing routine and ever-increasing phenomenon. There is a heavy concentration of industrial and mining activities in the central belt. All the massive steel plants, BALCO, NALCO, heavy engineering concerns etc. are based here. Most river basin development schemes and hydropower projects, a chain of forest- based and ancillary industries and an increasing number of highly polluting industries are located in this region. Despite intense industrial ûû ûû 51 activity in the central Indian tribal belt, the tribal employment in modern enterprises is negligible. Apart from the provisions of Apprenticeship Act and except few business group there is not much effort towards recruitment of dispossessed tribal workforce. The tribal are forced to live in juxtaposition estranged relations and cultures, with traumatic results. They are forced onto the ever-expanding low paid, insecure, transient and destitute labour market. About 40 per cent of the tribal of central India supplement their income by participating in this unorganised sector as daily labour. Many more are slowly crushed into oblivion in their homeland or in urban slums. India happens to be the second most dammed country in the world. It has invested over Rs. 300 billion on dams and hydropower projects by 2000. The World Bank has directly funded as many as 87 large-scale dam projects in India as against only 58 for the whole of the African continent and 59 for Latin America. Nearly 60 per cent of these large dams are located in central and western India where about 80 per cent of the tribals live. There is no reliable and complete information on the number of tribals displaced in the country since independence. The estimates range between 5 and 7 million - mostly by the dams, followed by mines and industries - or approximately one in every ten tribals has been displaced by different developments projects. It is not only the magnitude of involuntary tribal displacement that should attract the special concern but also the sacrifice of collective identity, historical and cultural heritage, and of course the survival support. Poverty, malnutrition, mortality, morbidity, illiteracy, unemployment, debt bondage, and serfdom among the tribals are markedly higher. Gains and Losses of Globalization A number of studies suggest that during the 90s, when policies of liberalization, globalisation and privatization were implemented in various degrees, income distribution, have worsened, and as a result are having a dampening impact on long-term economic growth and on the prospects for poverty reduction. Globalisation affects tribals differently. Urban and educated tribals may benefit from the increased opportunities for work that come ûû ûû 52 with the influx of foreign companies and investments. These employment avenues are complemented by greater opportunities to receive education and skills training of a higher quality. The new technologies that define this era, in particular the computer and Internet may be accessible to this group of tribals. In general, the liberalization of trade and financial markets also promise benefits for this group, including a greater variety of goods at cheaper prices due to increased competition and much more attractive interest rates to undertake business ventures. Conversely, poor, uneducated, credit-constrained, informal and agricultural sector tribals will benefit in a much less direct manner. They in general benefit from long-term economic growth brought about by correcting price distortions in factor and product markets. By making markets competitive, higher agricultural growth is expected and this in turn is expected to increase rural income. It is also expected that the expansion of the industrial sector would increase employment in the urban as well as in the rural areas. The proponents of globalisation argue that the process may entail some short- termdifficulties in terms of reduced income and consumption; unemployment might also increase. But eventually the reform process would lead to greater gains all around. But Short term alleviation and mitigation plan is must to redress the affected. The gains of globalisation have so far accrued to those who already have education and skill advantage, easier market access and possession of assets for use as collateral to access credit. For the tribals, globalisation is associated with rising prices, loss of job security, lack of health care and tribal development programmes. Globalisation may also weaken the Constitutional protections, in terms of education and job reservations, given to them. In view of above background , going forward since we have to come to mainstream and be part of bigger market , in depth analysis required on our resource strengths , core values , its associated competencies so that tribal youth can be developed in the open market with a business best fit and syncing the tribal way of life with sustainable business . ûû ûû 53 Resources with Tribals The core resource strength of Tribal communities are the following which needs to be recognised for overall development. Sustainable Agriculture: Almost eighty percent of tribals are directly or indirectly are connected with agriculture and its associated activities. The total arable land of India is around 159.7 million hectares (394.6 million acres) and is the second largest in the world, after the United States. In terms of area 25% of cultivable land is cultivated by the tribal communities who have the knowledge and acumen in sustainable agriculture keeping in mind protection and promotion of common property resources. Permanent Settled Cultivators: Like the cultivators of the advanced societies, some of the tribals in India are taking resort to permanent settled agriculture. The Oraon, Munda, Gond, Bhumij, Ho, Santal, are efficient cultivators at present. They practice wet cultivation by transplanting method. Artificial irrigation and application of compost manure are not unknown to them. Rotation of crops is within the knowledge of these cultivators. They work in their owned fields as well as in the fields of others as share-croppers (Bhag-Chasi). The major bulk of the tribal population work as agricultural labourers. In search of jobs, these landless agricultural labourers participate in seasonal migration to the neighbouring states. The social and religious organizations of these settled agriculturist tribes are much developed and highly complex. Forestry in India is a significant rural industry and a major environmental resource. India is one of the ten most forest- rich countries of the world along with the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, United States of America, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, Indonesia and Sudan. Together, India and these countries account for 67 percent of total forest area of the world. India’s forest cover grew at 0.22% annually over 1990-2000, and has grown at the rate of 0.46% per year over 2000-2010, after decades where forest degradation was a matter of serious concern. The tribal belt is one of India’s most impoverished regions. Many tribals traditionally lived off the forest. But the forest are shrinking and they have been forced to try and cultivate fields. But where they live land is often in short supply and not enough to go around. In ûû ûû 54 some cases tribal areprevented from chopping trees here and there while loggers and miners work illegally or bribe politicians to gain access to resources. In 2002, forestry industry contributed 1.7% to India’s GDP. In 2010, the contribution to GDP dropped to 0.9%, largely because of rapid growth of the economy in other sectors and the government’s decision to reform and reduce import tariffs to let imports satisfy the growing Indian demand for wood products. India produces a range of processed forest (wood and non-wood) products ranging from wood panel products and wood pulp for different uses. India’s paper industry produces over 3,000 metric tonnes annually from more than 400 mills. The furniture and craft industry is another consumer of wood. India’s wood-basedprocessing industries consumed about 30 million cubic metres of industrial wood in 2002.India is one of the 17 mega bio diverse regions of the world,25% area is forest out of total geographical area in India. India’s forests are homes to many Scheduled Tribes, who live in or near the forest areas. Nearly 250 million people live in and around forests in India, of which the estimated Adivasi or tribal population stands at about 98.7 million. Government policies on forest reserves have affected tribal peoples profoundly. State based machinery harnessing forests resources has seriously undermined the tribes’ way of life. Intensive exploitation of forests has often meant allowing outsiders to cut large areas of trees while the original tribal inhabitants were restricted from cutting, and ultimately replacing mixed forests capable of sustaining tribal life with single-product plantations. Where forests are reserved, outsiders have gained advantage with the help of local officials in some cases to secure use of forestlands. The final irony, notes von Fürer-Haimendorf, is that by the Swidden cultivation that many tribes practiced had maintained South Asia’s forests, whereas the intensive cultivating and commercial interests that replaced the tribal way of life have destroyed the forests. Protectors of Forests Adivasis or the aboriginal population of India has always lived in close proximity to the jungles. Adivasis are the protectors of our ûû ûû 55 forests. Many densely forested regions, especially in Central India are dominated by these tribes. There’s been an increasing discussion regarding their perceived socio-economic backwardness and lack of basic amenities. While we struggle to solve for the problems of food security and health, it’s also important to understand the Adivasi way of life and their co-dependence on the forests in a better manner for ensuring sustainable and long-term development. Apart from being a source of their basic needs, the Adivasis and forest dependent communities have a strong emotional connection with the forest. They have often ended up being the protectors of the greens. They have always revered the jungles and tried to prevent deforestation. According to Forest trend report published by Forests trends and Eco-agricultural partners, the role of communities in preserving forests and bio-diversity is clearly stated. Here’s what the report recommends: Community forest management has therefore been recognized as an essential means to sustainably manage forest resources while supporting local livelihoods and cultural values. This has led to an increasing interest in the role of community forest management that in many situations is more respectful of community rights and assets. Community forestry management is also emerging as more effective in reducing pressures on “wilderness areas” and better at providing compatible means of livelihood to people living within priority biological corridors. Fisheries: Many tribals whose main livelihood is fisheries live near water bodies like rivers and lakes. There is a case study of Tawa Reservoir how fishermen owned as a community and developed fisheries and earned more by owning the reservoir. From 1975-76 to 1993-94, the Tawa reservoir was under state control. In 1993-94, fish production was 84.42 tonnes, yield per hectare 6.960 kgs, stocking of fish seed 27.48 lakhs, stocking rate per hectare 226, total wages paid was Rs. 4.92 lakhs, average number of fishermen stood at 177 and the average income per fisherman was Rs. 2,780. ûû ûû 56 In 1994-95, the Fisheries Corporation privatised by leasing out the reservoir for one year on an ‘outright contract’ basis. In 1994- 95 fish production moved up to 176.18 tonnes, yield to 15.5 kg, stocking of fish seed to 17.96 lakhs, stocking rate per hectare dropped to 148, total wages paid climbed up to Rs. 11.2 lakhs, the average number of fishermen stood at 220 and the average income per fisherman moved up to Rs. 5,091. In 1995-96, the adivasis pitched up their demand to own the reservoir on the lines of the Bargi Dam and the entire fishing rights were vested with Tawa Matsya Sangh effective December 24, 1996 and actual fishing operations were initiated on January 2, 19 97. In 1998- 99, fish production went up to 344.811 tonnes, yield per hectare to 28.350 kgs, stocking of fish seed to 27.9 lakhs and stocking rate per hectare to 230, total wages paid Rs.44.73 lakhs, average number of fishermen 204 and average income per fisherman came to Rs. 21,926. About 40 per cent of the catch is sold locally with the rest being sold in Bhopal and Howrah in Calcutta, the biggest fish market in India. In the absence of a cold chain a huge catch brings down prices and the fishermen cannot hold on to stocks beyond a t best 24 hours. Yet Mr. Sunil Gupta claims TMS (Tawa Matsya Sangh) has probably the best marketing strategy perhaps surpassing such institutions in Kerala. A pleasant breeze nudges the waters of the reservoir which has dried up quite a bit in the absence of rains and though it had some risks too. Other Expertise Areas: Food Gatherers and Hunters: The nomadic primitive tribes like the Andamanese, Onge, Jarwa, Kadar, Kharia, Lodha, etc. are included in this category so far their subsistence economy is concerned. They usually live far away from rural-urban way of life and possess a simple type of social organization. Pastoral People: The Bhotia of Almora and the Toda of the Nilgiri hills of South India live on pastoral economy. They do not practice agriculture, hunting, fishing, etc. They also live far away from the sophisticated modern world and possess a slightly developed but non- complicated social structure. Both of them, practice polyandrous ûû ûû 57 marriage system. They rear buffaloes and cows, the milk- products are being exchanged to procure the commodities of day-to-day use. Crafts: Some of the tribals are still retaining their traditional crafts along with the principle sources of subsistence. The Naga and the Khasi are experts in coloured hand-loom products and the Lohar are traditional black smiths. With the marginal profit in their traditional specialized crafts,these tribals are at present, taking resort to other types of jobs. Their mixed pattern of economy reflects back adversely upon their social system. Mines & Minerals - Fortyfive major minerals (coal, iron ore, magnetite, manganese, bauxite, graphite, limestone, dolomite, uranium etc) are found in Adivasi areas contributing some 56% of the national total mineral earnings in terms of value. Out of 4,175 working mines reported by the Indian Bureau of Mines in 1991-92, approximately 3500 could be assumed to be in Adivasi areas. Income to the government from forests rose from Rs.5.6 million in 1869-70 to more than Rs.13 billions in the 1970s. The bulk of the nation’s productive wealth lay in the Adivasi territories. Yet the Adivasi has been marginalised and robbed of dignity by the very process of ‘national development’. The systematic opening up of Adivasi territories, the development projects and the ‘tribal development projects’ make them conducive for waves of immigrants. In the rich mineral belt of Jharkhand, the Adivasi population has dropped from around 60% in 1911 to 27.67% in 1991. These developments have in turn driven out vast numbers of Adivasis. And moved out for a living in the urban areas and in far- flung places in slums. According to a rough estimate, there are more than 40,000 tribal domestic working women in Delhi alone. Tribal Economy and Way of Life in sync with Nature The green economy also requires us to sustain good practices for example in agriculture. Tribals food production has always been primarily organic. Yet unless we consciously recognize and affirm its value to our environment and economy. The current business model, with its over emphasis on profit maximization, on increasing shareholder value at almost any cost to environment and to the community, is unsustainable. ûû ûû 58 From a Tribal standpoint, businesses – whether rural /state / national share equal responsibilities for improving people’s lives and contributing to their wellbeing and happiness. Businesses must explore fostering happiness and wellbeing as an alternative business purpose. Tribal way of life emphasize on psychological wellbeing, using indicators such as: life satisfaction, security, emotional balance and spirituality, which lead to their happiness in family and society. Other drivers of change were improved housing conditions, which improved life style plus increases in income per capita and in assets and improvements in environmental issues. Tribal have higher levels of social relationship with family, friends and neighbours. A sense of belongingness to the community. Government Policy and Tribal People Government policies on forest reserves have affected tribal peoples profoundly. Wherever the state has chosen to exploit forests, it has seriously undermined the tribes’ way of life. Intensive exploitation of forests has often meant allowing outsiders to cut large areas of trees (while the original tribal inhabitants were restricted from cutting), and ultimately replacing mixed forestscapable of sustaining tribal life with single-product plantations. Where forests are reserved, outsiders have gained advantage with close contact with local officials. Natural swidden cultivation many tribes practiced had maintained South Asia’s forests, but the intensive cultivating and commercial interests replaced the tribal way of life and on the way to destroying the forests. Going forward , we need to answer following questions before coming to mitigation plan and proposing ways for tribal youths for playing role in market economy - 1. Why less entrepreneurs/ business leaders amongst the tribes 2. What are core existing values supporting emerging business leaders 3. What are the natural higher level competencies in Tribal life which may help in sustainable businesses , which in turn help local as well as broader market economy ûû ûû 59 4. What are the areas/opportunities for tribal youths where they can perform better keeping in view its geographical locations, cultural values, skill/competencies, available logistics, supply chain, resources and internal /external support, which also keep them connected with Jal, Jangal and Jameen. Tribals as Entrepreneurs & Business Leaders. There could be many reasons for which we find very less number of tribal people as entrepreneurs and business leaders. Some of the reasons can be attributed to the following points. a) Funding – Financial institutions seek guarantors as well they assess the risk factors , in many case tribal cannot pass through the screening b) Networking& Communication – Mostly tribal are located in far flanged areas with low connectivity and less contact with peer business groups to get business tips and knowledge c) Geographical locations ( Mostly remote)- which affect the time, travel , unfavourable weather conditions and poor mitigation plan. d) Very few Tribal iconic Role model as business leaders to emulate e) Supply Chain Issues from resources ,inputs to market economy(Regional,state,national ,international level ) f) More needed in Handholding & confidence building – Adivasis also need role models to foray in different business in bigger market. g) Delay in mainstreaming- Govt. policies off late has come out to schemes to motivate and encourage them to have start-ups. h) Business acumen- new in niche market , in a competitive world some basic strategies for business and growth needed . Which many would not like to share. i) Stability – Tribals are hesitant to go in a quantum jump basis . Moreover they have a comfort zone and want to maintain stability. j) Aspirations level- with less materialistic expectations, their aspiration level is quite low and they want to stay in the comfort zone .In sports with larger exposure, beautifully they came out and performed brilliantly. ûû ûû 60 k) Strategies priority ( short term vrs long term)- Tribals live happily and they are by nature happy people with minimum needs and expectations and because of this their plans are short term , long term strategies such as for five years or next 10 years it is almost negligible. Core Values of Adivasis to become Business Leaders There are many inherent core strength with the tribal communities each can contribute in making of a sensible business leader. This begins with the basic premise of respecting and nurturing nature through sustainable developmnet perspective. Further to this it also believes in 'community living' which can be a major source of strength to address equity in business too. Some of the core values amongst tribes which could be a success factors for tribal entrepreneurs in market economy where they can contribute significantly are as follows: Adventure, Beauty, Collaboration, Community, Courage, Diversity, Empowerment Emotional Health, Environment, Equality, Family, Faithfulness, Gentleness,Genuineness Hard Work ,HonestyHospitality, Humour, Integrity, Justice, Love, Persistence, Respect Responsibility, Self Esteem, Sensitivity, Sincerity, Stability,Teamwork,Tolerance ,Trust and Truth. Tribal Competencies: Some of the tribal competencies which is there in their DNA are as follows:  Risk Taking ability  Team Work & Coordination  Empathy  Ecology /Biodiversity Appreciation  Leadership  Interpersonal Skills  Achievement Orientation

To plan better and to meet the objectives , the business which syncs with core values and competencies with greater skill and knowledge will be a sustainable one . ûû ûû 61 Eco Appreciation •.Beauty •Environment •Responsibility Leadership •.Faithfulness •Genuineness •Honesty •Integrity esteem •Self •Sincerity •Trust •Justice skills Interpersonal •Team work •Team •Communication •Humour ompetencies C Empathy •Love •Emotional Health •Gentleness •Hospitality •Respect Table of Table Risk Taking •Adventure •Courage • H e a l t hlifestyle y ment Achieve- Oriented •Persistence •Hard working Values Competencies ûû ûû 62 "In market economy different areas and opportunities for tribal youths where they can perform better keeping in view its geographical locations, skill/competencies, available logistics, supply chain, resources and internal /external support. Which also keep them connected with Jal, Jangal and Jameen.Tribal friendly businesses which is in tune with their lifestyle, bio diversity and ecology as well as cultural aspects. 4. What are businesses which are tribal friendly and can do business of interest with ease? Keeping above in perspective some of the areas where tribal can do better (keeping in mind their Cultural life, Competencies, Tribal ethos &values,Ecology,Biodiversity,Land, forest, water, which are directly connected to nature) a) Agro based Industries and Food Processing: Tribals can contritbute more to the primary sector as they are efficient in farming and especially organic and natural farming. Currently this sector contributes only seventeen percent share in GDP and based on demography and geographical reason and natural competencies, this is one of the forte for tribes where they can do better (Informed business, Govt. Support, Tax exemption, Sustainable, with the agricultural land decreasing it is going to be valued business, with natural competencies in this area) Food processing business in India. Only meat, fish, oil, vegetable, Fruits account for 40% of total Food Processing Business. b) Pisciculture – Given the access and life near water bodies, many tribes are surviving of fishing only. Also it’s a Low cost, high demand business. This is also close to nature and connected to water /land. c) Sericulture – This sector is primarily dominated by the tribal communities. This is primarily grown in the forest areas and as most of the tribals are forest dwellers and have accessed to forest, can contribute significantly in this sector. ûû ûû 63 d) Sports Related Businesses - coaching /training centres – Even all search engines display maximum prominent tribals from the Sports arena as compared to other areas where they have regional, state. National or international fame. Few of great Tribal sportspersons are –  MC Mary Kom – Boxer  Malavath Purna – Mountaineer  Durga Boro – Footballer  Kavita Raut – Athlete  Limba Ram – Archer  Laxmirani Majhi – Archer  Munmun Lugun – Footballer  Lal Mohan Hansda – Footballer  Sanjay Balmuchu – Footballer  Baichung Bhutia – Former captain, Indian football team  Dilip Tirkey – Former captain, Indian hockey team  Birendra Lakra – Indian hockey team  Manohar Topno – Indian hockey team  Masira Surin – Indian women’s hockey team  Sunita Lakra – Indian women’s hockey team  Jyoti Sunita Kullu – Former member, Indian women’s hockey team  Michael Kindo - Former member, Indian men’s hockey team, Arjuna awardee  Kisan Tadvi – Athlete  Shylo Malsawmtluanga – Footballer  Lalrindika Ralte – Footballer  Jeje Lalpekhlua – Footballer  Murli Gavat :- athlete Above personalities show natural talent among tribal and expertise /talent and with bit handholding sports training / coaching centres can be institutionalised, making inroads in sports business ûû ûû 64 e)Tribal Tourism – Deeply rooted with Jal, Jangal, Jameen – many tourists’ spots in MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, North East states etc. are in tribal habitat areas. Tribes are familiar with places with safety and security. Well connected with people and historical background. High level of hospitality.They can do business passionately and with dignity explaining in better way the history and related stories to tourists. Showcasing the tribal culture, dance, arts and crafts, natural beauties and people. f) Arts & Crafts – Natural high level knowledge, competency with high demand . Even high demand for export.  Chhou mask - Chhou is a type of dance done with colourful masks. The masks are made of paper mache in Singhbhum and purulia district of Jharkhand and west Bengal respectively. Paper mache of Saraikela and Charinda are famous for Chhou dance. Sometimesh it appears similar to the masks used in kerla in Kathakali.  Tribal woodwork - Jharkhand is full of good quality saal forest and hence wooden artwork in the “should” of tribals. The wood is used for cooking, housing, farming, fishing etc. The tribal artistsof some villages have explored their creativity in art, like beautifully decorative door panels, toys, boxes, and other household articles.  Tribal Bamboo Art work - The bamboo found in this area are different from bamboo of Southeast Asia. There is tourist place, Netarhat, which means a Bazaar of Bamboo. These bamboos are thin, and strong and flexible. The tribal people use bamboo for making baskets, hunting & fishing equipments. Specially the bamboo made fishing cage is very attractive.  Tribal Pottery - Tribal pottery is a part of tribals but still no specific working style observed.  Tribal jewellery - The tribal people particularly like jewellery. They use metallic ornaments made of gold, silver, brass, copper for their earrings, nose ring, bracelets, bangles etc.  Godna - Tribals use ornaments a lots but the spiritual concept of ornament is very different. They believe that all ornaments are human made and are mortal. Therefore, they invented tattoos as permanent ornament. Majority of tribal woman have tattoos called Godna, on their ûû ûû 65 bodies. However, tribal man also use Godna.They believe that Godna are the only ornament which goes with them after death also.  Tribal weapons - Bow and arrow is the symbolic weapon of the tribals of this area. Apart from this they use iron made Axes and Doulies and Ghana (Big hammer). g)Forest Resource based businesses –with details in background ,Leaves , herbs , Alternate therapies ( medicinal herbs & applications)- Jadi Booti , Many herbs are being commercialised by many institutions but tribals are on backfoot in this area where they had domain once. Still this is one area where there is ample opportunities where educated youths can venture with ease. h)Animal husbandry /Livestock management –Many tribes survive on cattle breeding, dairy produce High export earning is also in leather business. There is also projected 80% growth in meat export by 2022, Consumption pattern - 63% Indian population consume non veg. Buying & Merchandising Head for meat/ fish/ frozen category, Hyper CITY Retail, Dnyaneshwar Phadtare says , “The category is growing at an excellent rate and has a promising future. The market for this category in India is worth Rs 2,00,000 crore and is expected to triple by 2020.” (Source: India Food Report 2016). Motivational factors for tribal youths in market economy To motivate tribal youths in leading the business and taking risk in the market – a) Training, Confidence building b) Hand holding in entrepreneurship c) Start-up hassle free funding d) Market development and supply chain linking Some live example as below should motivate and encourage the youths - The Rayagada district administration has decided to set up an Adivasi Bazaar (tribal market) with an aim to strengthen the economy ûû ûû 66 of Dongria Kondh tribals and ensure that they get actual price for their,products. “Dongria Kondhs are unable to get the actual price for their products and being exploited by middleman and traders,” said collector (Rayagada) Jagannath Mohanty. “Though anyone is free to purchase commodities from the bazaar, but only tribals, especially Dongria Kondhs, can sell their products,” he added.The collector said Dongria Kondh Development Agency of Chatikona will look after overall functioning of the bazaar. An executive committee, comprising members from the community, will be formed to urge the tribals to bring their products to the bazaar, he added.”The traders will be asked to come to the market to purchase commodities,” Collector said. Officials said the first Adivasi Bazaar of the district will be established at Chatikona village in Bissamkatak block. Tribals can sell products like niger, mustard, turmeric, tamarind, banana, pineapple, orange, jackfruit, ginger, lemon and mahula apart from various minor forest produce. “At present, we have repaired a marketing yard of regulated market committee at Chatikona for this purpose and another market yard will be constructed soon. The bazaar will start functioning from first week of May,” the collector said. The administration will provide night shelter, drinking water and go down facilities to the tribals apart from transportation facilities to bring their produce from interior parts to the market. “If our model succeeds then a few more such bazaars will be established at Parsali village in Kalyansinghpur block for Dongria Kondhs and one at Gunupur for Lanjia Saura tribals,” he said. Dongria Kondhs have a population of 6,340 and they reside at 60 villages under Bissamkatak and Muniguda blocks in Rayagada district in the foothills of Niyamgiri Hills. “It is a good move by the administration. If this succeeds then the tribals will get actual price for their products” said Dongria Kondh leader Sikoka Adi. Such bazaar and cooperatives owned by tribal will greatly help the adivasis and help them stay connected with bigger market in the mean time they will get fair prices for their produce. ûû ûû 67 Challenges Ahead Challenges -But with opening up markets and due to globalization though markets are not very friendly to the poor, to the weak or to the vulnerable. Nor are the markets free. They are often the handmaidens of powerful interest groups, and they are greatly influenced by the prevailing distribution of income. In a capitalist economy, all are not in a position to compete in the market. Some like Tribals and Dalits who do not have enough education, health and nutrition to compete will fall outside the market place. That is why much better distribution of income and assets, of credit, of power structures and certainly of knowledge and skills are vital to making markets work more efficiently. Markets cannot become more neutral or competitive unless the playing field is even and playable. If globalisation are superimposed on a poorly educated and poorly- trained tribal people, Globalisation may no longer be an ideal solution for rural development. However, since there is not much option it must be implemented with a human face. The efforts to become competitive often hurt the social sectors first. It is most often these sectors that face budgetary reductions when liberalisation policies are implemented. Conservative monetary and fiscal policies are often undertaken and these too, independent of reductions in the size and scope of social sectors, can indirectly reduce allocations to social services and basic provisions. Such cuts in social spending are likely to hit the tribals the hardest who already have limited access to education and health facilities. It has been accepted as an undisputed fact that rural and tribal particularly women, have a very intimate and symbiotic relationship with the ecology around them as they are untenably linked to the natural resources. In India, people adversely affected by development have been mainly dalits and tribals and among them women, who suffer even severe forms of discrimination. Repeated displacement, migration and drastic changes in livelihood patterns have socially and culturally denuded the status of the indigenous people, increasing violence and abuse against them. ûû ûû 68 Widening gap and mitigation plan Now, there is no doubt that poverty has declined significantly in recent times in India. But can we say the same about inequality? The Credit Suisse report gives an unequivocal answer: No. Even nearly three decades after economic reforms and high growth, inequality continues to rise and wealth has become even more concentrated at the top. The share of India’s richest 10 per cent families has grown from 66 per cent in the year 2000 to 74 per cent today. India’s super- rich (top 1 per cent) who owned 37 per cent of India’s personal wealth in 2000, have even more rapidly increased their share to 49 per cent. This kind of regressive change surely has a link with the crony capitalism of the last three decades.. Meanwhile, millions of Indians do not find themselves a part of the growth story. And there is growing resentment over this gaping inequality. With greater access to the electronic media across the country, the differences are glaringly visible for those at the base of the development pyramid. Inequality in India operates on multiple axes — of gender, class, caste, region, religion and ethnicity. But perhaps the worst suffering is of India’s tribal people, who suffer a double whammy of both disadvantaged region and ethnicity. A paper in the Economic and Political Weekly, (Sanchita Bakshi et al: “Regional Disparities in India: A Moving Frontier”, January 3, 2015) reveals that if we want to get an accurate picture of regional inequalities, a well-recognised element of India’s growth experience, we have to look much deeper than just States or even districts. We need to go to the sub district or block level. And there we find that an overwhelming share of the most backward sub districts has a high concentration of tribal population. India’s forgotten People Official data on all indicators of development reveal that they are the worst off in terms of income, health, education, nutrition, infrastructure and governance. They have also been unfortunately at the receiving end of the injustices of the development process itself. Around ûû ûû 69 Indeed, contrary to what economic theory teaches, we find that many developed districts paradoxically include pockets of intense backwardness. Bakshi et al show that many districts include the most backward and most developed subdistricts of India; 92 districts have sub districts that figure in the list of both the top 20 per cent and bottom 20 per cent of India’s sub districts. To give a few examples, “developed” districts like Thane, Vadodara, Ranchi, Visakhapatnam and Raipur have some of the most backward subdistricts. In Korba and Raigarh districts of Chhattisgarh, Valsad of Gujarat, Pashchimi Singhbhum and Purbi Singhbhum of Jharkhand, Kendujhar, Koraput and Mayurbhanj of Odisha, the most industrialised sub-districts are flanked by the most underdeveloped sub-districts. And invariably these backward sub districts are overwhelmingly tribal. Clearly, the tribal people have not been included in or given the opportunity to benefit from development. So to take advantage of market economy such districts should be touched upon so that development should not confine to some pockets of tribal areas. Inequality is important not only because of the acute perception of injustice it creates. Even economists at the traditionally free- market fundamentalist International Monetary Fund, Andrew G. Berg and Jonathan D. Ostry have recently argued that “inequality can also be destructive to growth by amplifying the risk of crisis or making it difficult for the poor to invest in education”. They conclude: “reduced inequality and sustained growth may thus be two sides of the same coin”. Inclusive Growth for Sustainable Development What then are the elements of a vision of development much more inclusive and empowering of those left out? First, the overall direction of growth needs to change. We cannot continue with a pattern of jobless growth. It is clear that some models of growth are inherently more inclusive than others, which is why our focus should be not just on GDP growth itself, but on achieving a growth process that is as inclusive as possible. For example, faster growth for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises segment will generate a much broader spread of employment and income earning opportunities and is, therefore, more inclusive than growth largely driven by extractive industries or the service sector. It is also clear that sustainability has ûû ûû 70 to be at the core of our development strategy. This is because the poorest regions of India are also the most eco-fragile. If we truly want to build tribal incomes, we need to offer them a range of sustainable livelihoods, including non-pesticide managed agriculture, an imperative also for the health of Indian consumers, as well as for reducing the escalating financial and ecological costs of farming. Huge income-generation and biodiversity conservation possibilities also exist if we can imaginatively utilise the vast unutilised potential of the Non-Timber Forest Products market, which is estimated to run into several thousands of crores, of which only a minuscule fraction accrues to the tribal communities. Of course, this requires careful attention being paid to the rights of the tribal people, as enshrined in the Forest Rights Act and a complete restructuring of their relationship with the Forest Department, historically seen by the tribal communities as standing in an adversarial relationship with them. Government Policies: To sustain this market economy for tribal people, it requires participatory governance. In this regard we need to analyse the existing government policies so that, adequate and appropriate space is created to motivate the tribal communities to come forward and participate. This is further requird where we have high concentration of tribal communities. As these regions suffer not just from rampant market failure but also widespread government failure. A crucial reason why the poor are unable to take advantage of the possibilities opened up by growth even within their districts is the absence of requisite health and education facilities. Globally, India spends among the lowest share of its national income on public provision of health and education. These are the sectors in most urgent need of government reform. We need to equip our most disadvantaged people with the skills demanded by a rapidly changing economy. A key feature of the changing economy is growing market penetration. More than 80 per cent of India’s cultivators are small and marginal farmers and they are invariably hapless victims of participation in the market economy. But this need not necessarily be so. Wherever farmers have come together to form powerful ûû ûû 71 institutions to buy and sell, they have been able to compete on much fairer terms in the market. Most of all, the excluded regions and people need better governance, which is much more participatory in nature, for only then will the slogan of cooperative federalism really acquire concrete substance. Panchayati Raj institutions, including the gram sabha, need to be empowered and activated for this purpose. We need to learn to involve the “last citizens” in decisions that affect their lives, such as taking their consent while acquiring land for an avowed public purpose. There is nothing automatic about a decline in inequality under capitalism. Inequality did decline when the appropriate policy framework was adopted in Europe and America during the so- called golden age of capitalism in the mid-20th century. These were the decades that saw the emergence of what economist, public official and diplomat John Kenneth Galbraith termed “countervailing power”. And it is the unravelling of this balancing power and a shift towards free- market fundamentalism that led to the rise in inequality after 1980. Indian policymakers must recognise the urgent need to redefine the very meaning of reforms so as to make them pro-poor, rather than merely pro-corporate. Without these reforms, inequality in India will continue to escalate and create dangerous tensions, threatening the very survival of the delicate fabric of Indian democracy. Conclusion: Eighty percent of the most bio diverse areas on Earth are home to indigenous and tribal peoples, Long before the word “conservation” was coined, tribal peoples developed highly effective measures for maintaining the richness of their environment. They have sophisticated codes of conservation to stop overhunting and preserve biodiversity. Yet it’s often wrongly claimed their lands are wildernesses even though tribal communities have been dependent on, and managed them for millennia. Even the world’s most famous “wildernesses”, including Yellowstone, the Amazon and the Serengeti – are the ancestral homelands of millions of tribes, who nurtured and protected their environments for many generations. ûû ûû 72 Tribal peoples are being illegally evicted from these lands in the name of “conservation.” Now they’re accused of “poaching” because they hunt their food. And they face arrest and beatings, torture and death, while fee-paying big game hunters are encouraged. Their lives and lands are being destroyed by the conservation industry, tourism and big business. In India, tribal villages are expelled from tiger reserves at the same time as the forest department encourages rocketing tourism. The big conservation organizations are complicit. They fund militarized conservation which leads to the persecution of innocent hunter-gatherers, they partner with the big businesses that steal tribal lands, and they drive the projects that result in illegal evictions. Survival is fighting these abuses. We know tribal peoples are better at looking after their environment than anyone else. It’s time for a new type of conservation, one that puts tribal peoples’ rights at its heart, and that recognizes they are the best conservationists and guardians of the natural world. This would be the most significant leap forward for genuine environmental protection in history. To conclude conservation must accept the growing proof that tribal peoples are better at looking after their environment than anyone else. The huge sums spent on conservation must be given to the cheapest solution – upholding tribal peoples’ land rights. Thus to balance sustainable business syncing will tribal way of life cultural , economic , biodiversity and close interaction , proximity and entry into the market economy in above business proposals can do well , which in turn contribute greatly in regional, state and national market economy and new tribal youths will make a foray in new dimensions . The tribals are part of the Indian society, at the same time they are different. Special policy and programmes are required to address and redress these differences especially in the context of globalisation. When we plan for tribal development, we have to regard these differences, take a special note of their situations and capabilities and provide them facilities to develop on the line they want to take. Outsiders cannot develop tribes. They can become only facilitators and if they want to do so, if they have to unfold from within, they must have participation in any development decision. Their felt needs ûû ûû 73 should be transformed in development programmes. The tribals can participate in their development programmes only if they are considered to be equals and if unique identities are respected. Thus tribal youths can foray into the businesses connected to natural conservation and sustainable harvesting. Natural resources based (Jal Jangal,Jameen, underground minerals) and ecology through cooperatives in an organized manner can be the right approach to promote tribal leadership in business and enterprise building.

Bibliography: 1 PIB GoI Ministry of agriculture 2 Mr Vidhya Das - balanced development of remote tribal communities in Odisha Infochange News & Features, July 2010 3 All India Report of Agricultural census 4 Current science/Volumes/112/07/1327 5 All India National Sample survey Office 6 Lok Sabha Debates ser.10 Jun 41–42 1995 v.42 no.41-42, Lok Sabha Secretariat, Parliament of India, 1995, retrieved 2008- 11-25 7 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1968), The Selected Works of Mahatma Gandhi : Satyagraha in South Africa, Navajivan Publishing House, retrieved 2008-11-25, ...The Adivasis are the original inhabitants 8 2011 Census Primary Census Abstract 9 http://genecampaign.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/07/ Indigenous_knowledge_amongst_the_Tharus_of_the_Te rai_Region_of_Uttar_Pradesh.pdf 10 Acharya, Deepak and Shrivastava Anshu (2008): Indigenous Herbal Medicines: Tribal Formulations and Traditional Herbal Practices, Aavishkar Publishers Distributor, Jaipur- India. ISBN 978-81-7910-252-7 11 "Bringing rural realities on stage in urban India – The Hindu”. The hindu.com.Retrieved 2017-01-08.

ûû ûû 74 12 Mohammad Abbas Khan (2005), Social Development in Twenty First Century, Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 81-261-2130- 0, retrieved 2008-11-26, 13 Surajit Sinha, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences (1987), Tribal polities and state systems in pre-colonial eastern and north eastern India

ûû ûû 75 “Parental Involvement in Education of Scheduled Tribes Children: A study of Kandhamal District of Odisha Sasmita Padhi

Abstract The child’s learning process and education stems from his/her family in which the role of parents are very crucial. Parental involvement in children education from an early age has a significant effect on educational achievement. The more parental involvement in the educational life of a child results the more constructive and productive way of building their better future. It acts as an inspiration towards schooling and education and enhances the educational achievement of the children. Parental involvement of tribals towards their children education is adversely affected by low socio-economic status, education, home supervision, attending parents meeting, and since the tribal constitute the disadvantaged population, However, the present study aims to examine whether the rural tribal parents, of today, exhibit a positive and favourable involvement towards their children educational achievement is done or not though there is increasing awareness of values on education through Government Endeavors and initiatives. Introduction Family is the first school and parents are the first teacher of a child. They influence the personality of the child and teach him/her to behave others. The child’s learning process and educational ûû ûû 76 aspirations stems from his/her family background. After the family, there are other agencies with whom the child interacts. So, the importance of home and parent is very vital for the children. Parent, family and community involvement in education correlate with higher with higher academic performance and school improvement. When school, community and parents work together to support learning, students tend to earn higher grades, attend school more regularly and enroll in higher level programmes.(Dennis Van Roekel, 2008) Tribal parents are generally suffering from abject poverty, which necessitates both the parents to go out and work for their livelihood. As a result, there is a reduction of time available for ST parents, for concern about their child’s behaviour. The time of parents which could be used in giving emotional warmth and teaching their children as well as care and supervision is being utilized in outside home. Generally, tribal parents low aspiration towards their children. Lack of study atmosphere at home, parental encouragement at home, and clarity about their future resulted in low involvement among ST students and parents.

Review of Literature: Fan and Chen (2001) have examined parental involvement as a construct consisting of four dimensions: parent-child communication about school, home structure/supervision, parental participation in school-related activities, and parental aspirations/expectations. Of these four dimensions of involvement, parental aspirations/ expectations to be the dimension most strongly linked to student academic achievement. Parental aspirations and expectations had a much stronger correlation with student academic achievement than the correlation between the composite of parental involvement and academic achievement the correlation of any other dimensions of involvement and academic achievement. Desforges C & Abouchaar, A. (2003) in the impact of parental involvement, parental support and family education on pupil achievement and adjustment: a review of the literature. It established that parental involvement has a significant positive effect on children’s ûû ûû 77 achievement, and that the kind of involvement that makes the most difference is the conversations parents have with their children at home. The review emphasized that parent-child conversations in the home are more valuable, in terms of enhancing pupil achievement, than parents’ involvement in school activities. Smith (2008) surveyed 107 parents and 7 teachers to determine reported parental involvements and parent and teacher perceptions of that involvement. She suggested that the most important predictor of parental involvement was the amount of time they spent helping the child with homework. Other predictors are 1. Socioeconomic Status. 2. Parental Education. 3. Child’s gender. 4. Previous academic achievement. 5. Ethnicity of the child A substantial body of evidence confirms that parents’ socioeconomic status imposes a great impact on parental involvement and how it is translated into their child’s educational success. For instance, Katsilis and Rubinson (1990) (3) in their study reported that the parents’ socioeconomic status influences the educational success of their children at school to a great extent. Ho Sui-Chu and Willms (1996) (4) indicated that parents’ socioeconomic status has significant and positive relationship on parental involvement in their children’s education even though the relationship found was not strong. McNeal Jr. (2001) (5) in his study found that parents from higher socioeconomic status have better parental involvement which has greater effects on their children. Parental Involvement: Government has made various plans and programmes to promote the involvement of parents. Such programmes are: I. Parent Teacher Association (PTA): A parent-teacher conference is a meeting or conference between the parents and teachers to discuss children’s progress at school and find solutions to academic or behavioural problems. Parent-teacher conferences supplement the information conveyed by report cards by focusing on ûû ûû 78 students’ specific strengths and weaknesses in individual subjects and generalizing the level of inter-curricular skills and competences. II. School Management Committee(SMC): In India, the involvement of community members in school functioning has been institutionalized under the Right to Education (SMC has a very crucial role in actualizing the goals of RTE.) Act 2010. Under the RTE, School Management Committee’s (SMCs) are required to be constituted in every government owned/run elementary school in the country. Consisting primarily of teachers, parents/guardians and members of the community, SMCs are empowered with the responsibility of monitoring school functioning and managing its finances. On broader terms, as per the RTE act, School Management Committee (SMC) should perform the following functions: 1. Making School Development Plan (SDP) as per the RTE guidelines/norms 2. Management of school and Monitor the working of the school. 3. Supervising and supporting implementation of SDP 4. Supervision/monitoring of finance, management, academic progress, distribution of entitlements & other functions 5. Coordinating with the local authority, generating funds from other sources for development of schools 6. Monitoring academic progress of the children 7. Instituting social audit mechanism and processes to bring transparency in the system and ensure universal participation III. Village Education Committee (VEC): Village Education Committee visualized as part of the decentralized management structures envisaged under DPEP. Their role is to establish a link between the school and the community. In addition, they are also expected to take up the task of management at ensuring community participation. Village Education Committees with a view to facilitating and ensuring participation and involvement of local community in the educational process at village level. Village Education Committee (VEC) / Ward Education Committee (WEC) continues to function at ûû ûû 79  at school at Volunteering   PTO, etc PTO, Attending School  school personnel Contracting  and Home rules Home supervision Parental involvement  Checking home work home  at home at Reading (Structure (Structure of Parental Involvement)   Home  style Parenting and  Aspirations expectations  school activities Discussing ûû ûû 80 grassroots levels (at the level of Gram Sansads in rural areas and at the ward level in the urban areas) as a part of community participation in the process of development of primary education. IV. Mother Teacher Association (MTA): Mother Teacher Association has been developed at school level for close monitoring and evaluation of elementary education the locality. Their role is to establish a link between the school and the community. MTA members take effort to enroll and retain the students who are benefitted to come amongst the specifically needed children of the concerned area. MTA play significant role in micro-planning. Interaction with the media, the former HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said, “The community will itself have to ensure that provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, are implemented in letter and in spirit” and “schools must be community managed” (The Hindu, 2010, pp. 22).

2. Objectives of the Study : The broad objective of the study is to examine the aspiration and involvement of ST parents towards their children. The specific objectives are: 1. To study the socio-economic condition of tribal parents. 2. To assess educational aspiration of tribal parents towards their children. 3. To assess the parental involvement in school related activities and at home. 4. To find out the awareness of parents towards welfare programmes. 3. Research Methodology I.Type of researchdesign: The exploratory and descriptive research design was used by the researcher to conduct the present study. II. Universe of the study:-The universe of present study is all the tribal parents of Phulbani block of Kandhamal district. ûû ûû 81 III. Sampling: stratified purposive sampling method was adopted to gather the relevant information from the respondent. Out of 12 blocks of Kandhamal district, 1 block is selected i.e. Phulbani. At the second phase two Grampanchayat were selected, viz. namely Bisipada and Ganjuguda. From two panchayat 4 number of school were selected as per the dominance of the tribal population. The sample for the present study was 60 who were randomly chosen from the school register. Thus taking 15 respondents from each school 60 respondents were interviewed for the study. The school teachers, village leaders and Anganwadi worker have been taken as elite respondents to know the level of participation and involvement in school related activities of the ST parents. IV. Tools of Data collection: The researcher used structure interview schedule for data collection from respondent. The researcher had directly interviewed the respondents from the respective fields using the interview schedule. V. Home visit: The researcher visited home to interview the parents after taking the address from the school. VI. Observation: The researcher also keenly observed the respondent’s spontaneous reaction; feelings, attitudes, etc. while the respondent responding to various questions. 4.Analysis: Fig. no. 6.1 Educational Status of Parents

ûû ûû 82 The figure 6.1 represents the distribution of the respondent according to their educational qualification. Here it is clearly seen that, 45% of the total respondents out of 100% are illiterate where as 33.3% of the respondents are studied upto primary level. 13 numbers (21.7%)of the respondent are studied up to secondary level. The researcher found out that none of the respondent is from higher education. The most significant data is that 45% of the respondents are illiterate. Parents’ own educational attainment is a predictor of the expectations and aspirations they hold for their children’s educational attainment. From the study the researcher found out that 45% of the tribal parents are illiterate. So it is a hindrance for them to involve in educational life of their children.

Fig No.6.2 Parents wants to see their Children

It is viewed that maximum no.73.3% of the respondent expect their children to be job holder for their future security. Equally portion of the respondent i.e. 3.3% want their children to be in home, business and traditional occupation respectively whereas 16.7% of the respondent. Research studies show that tribal parents do not have aspiration whereas in this study the researcher found that 73% of the respondents want to be job holder. ûû ûû 83 Fig No.6.3 Parents Knowledge about Pta

The graph demonstrates that the knowledge about Parent Teacher Association. Here it signifies that out of 60 numbers of respondent 83.33% of them are unaware about PTA whereas only 16.7% of them are having knowledge about PTA. Srinivasa Rao Vasanta stated that participation of the PTA members in promoting their children’s education in tribal areas is largely neglected. Here in this study, the researcher finds out that the tribal parents could not able to distinguish between PTA andSMC. They are not attending PTA meeting regularly. Table No.6.4 Role of Parents in SMC No. of Role Of Parents Percent Respondent To discuss about school 4 6.7 Discuss about mid-day-meal 16 26.7 Discuss about the progress of child 10 16.7 To listen 13 21.7 Not ascertained 3 5.0 Not Applicable 14 23.3 Total 60 100.0 Table no. 6.4 is representing about the distribution of the respondent based on their roles in SMC meeting. The researcher finds out that only 6.67% of the total respondent are attending the SMC meeting to discuss the school and its improvement whereas the significant number i.e. of respondent are attending SMC meeting to ûû ûû 84 discuss the Mid-Day Meal. Out of 60 respondents, 16.67% attendmeeting to discuss about the progress of their children at the same time, while 21.67% of the respondents are going only to listen in the meeting. Whereas 5.0% of the respondents did not give the answer, in the previous analysis it is mentioned that 26.67% of the respondents do not know about SMC. Here it signifies that most of the parents i.e. 26% of respondents are attending the meeting to discuss about Mid-Day Meal whereas the least number of parents are attending to discuss about the school and its improvement. This symbolizes that the tribal parents do not have a positive role in the Parent Teacher Association which reflects the less parental involvement of tribals in their children education. Table No.6.5 Knowledge about (SMC) Parents Attending SMC meeting Cross Tabulation

Do you attend SMC meeting? Total

Knowledge about SMC Yes No

Yes (68.33%) (8.33%) (76.66%)

No (1.67%) (21.66%) (23.33%)

Total (70%) (30%) (100%)

The stronger positive relationship between knowledge about SMC and attending SMC meeting by the parents is underlined by cross- tabulating the two. Here, the statistical analysis states that 68.33% of the total respondents attend SMC meeting who have knowledge about SMC whereas 8.33% of the respondent do not attend meeting who have knowledge about SMC. The researcher also finds that 1.67% of the respondents attend meetings but they don’t have knowledge about SMC at the same time, while 21.67% of the respondents do not attend meeting as they don’t know about SMC. This clearly shows that those who are having knowledge about SMCare attending SMC meeting. ûû ûû 85 Fig No. 6.6 Information regarding if Parents go to School to Check the Progress of Children

The tribal parents are not only spending money on the education of their children but also visiting the school to check the progress of their children. The graph indicates that 75%of the respondents are going to school to check the progress of their children while at the same time 25% of the respondents are not visiting the school to check the progress of their children. It shows that tribal parents are aware and conscious enough for the progress of their children. Table No. 6.7 Information Regarding if Parents help their Child in Home Work Assignment If parents help their child in No. of Respondents Percent homework assignment

Yes 27 45.0

No 33 55.0

Total 60 100.0

The table reveals the distribution of the respondent helping their children in homework assignment. The statistical analysis reveals that 55% of respondent are not helping their children in the homework assignment whereas 45% of the respondents are helping their children ûû ûû 86 in homework assignment.Here, it signifies that 55% of the parents are not helping in homework assignment of their children. The majority i.e. 43.3% of the respondent are not helping their children as they are illiterate whereas 15% of the respondents don’t have time to spend as they are busy in their household work. At the same time, 1.7% of the respondents are not helping due to family problem and other reasons respectively but 45% of the respondents are helping their children in their homework assignment. Studies have shown that the higher the standard of parents’ education, the higher the involvement they have in their children’s education. Tribal parents generally do not help their children in homework assignment as they are illiterate.

Fig No.6.8 Information regarding if parents Are satisfied with the functioning of school

The graph demonstrates the fact that the majority of the respondents i.e. 78.3% of the total are satisfied with the functioning of the school whereas only 21.7% of them are not satisfied with it. ûû ûû 87 Fig No.6.9 Information regarding children sharing all school related activities with parents

Parental child interaction is an important predictor of parental involvement. The more the parent-child inter-action, the more parental involvement happens. Graph No.4.44 demonstrates the fact that 45%(27 out of 60) respondents viewed that their children do not share the school- related activities, while on the other hand, 55%(33 out of 60)respondents told that their children do not share any school-related activities. Fig No.6.10 Parents awareness on the last Academic Achievement of the Child

The academic result is the major attribute to measure the academic achievement of the children. Graph no.4.46 demonstrates the fact that 80% of the respondents don’t know about the last ûû ûû 88 academic achievement of their children whereas only 3.3% of the respondents opined that their children have secured first class, at the same time 1.7% opined that their children have secured second class and failed and 8.3% of parents said that their chidden were passed. This signifies that the tribal parents are not aware about the last academic achievement which shows that they are not properly involved in the educational affairs of their children. Fig No.6.11 Parents Awareness about govt. programmes and facilities

The government provides various programmes and facilities for tribal welfare. Questions were asked about the knowledge of the welfare services. The study reveals that the equal portions i.e. 24.8% of the respondents are aware of free books and uniform. Only 10% of them are aware of cycle where as 6.67% are aware of scholarship, 9.17% are aware of residential school and the maximum i.e. 25% are aware of the Mid-DayMeal. 5. Conclusion: I. Most of the tribal parents are illiterate and for this their awareness level is very low on the benefit of modern education. In order to avoid this, awareness campaign programmes must be conducted in each and every tribal village on a priority basis. For this, there should be at least one teacher per every 100 tribal households who would primarily be kept responsible for the conduct of village level awareness campaign or motivation programmes. II. The VEC be empowered to take control over the school, since the future of the innocent children is concerned. ûû ûû 89 III. PTA meeting should be done in each month to make the parents aware about the education of their children and other activities like curricular and co-curricular activities. IV. Parents may be encouraged to participate in the village primary school matter by increasing participation in PTA. A feeling has to be created among the parents that school belongs to the villagers themselves not to the government be informed of the mischief done by his child and they should be warned to caution his child. V. Some more teachers could be posted to the schoolbecause the researcher found there is a shortage of teacher in most of the school. VI.To increase the participation of the tribal parents in primary education matters, the efforts of NGO could be encouraged. VII. The teacher should frequently visit to the villagers and interactwith them, especially in the evenings when people get time after the daily work. He or she should act as a friend, philosopher and guide of the people and conduct himself as a Freudian of the children. VIII. There should be strict vigilance, close monitoring and concurrent evaluation. IX. Introduction of adult education in the villages to make the parents conscious regarding education. X. At last but not least, the main problem with the tribal parents is low income. So by income generating programmes, their economic standard could be raised which would be helpful to increase the education standard of their children.The influence of parents from an early age is very significant. So family as a whole should provide a suitable environment and favourable attitude towards the child which will directly influence the academic achievement of the child. If the tribals collectively take the responsibility of educating their children and thinking the schools their own, rather than that of the government business, theeducation standard would surely go up and surely the social development would follow. ûû ûû 90 References: 1 Cohen, E,G;(1965): Parental factors in educational mobility, Sociology of education, Vol.38 2 Gillborn David, Campbell Carol, Lall Marie (2004): parental involvement in education; Sheffield Hallam University; Research report31 3 Monica J. Jacob (2010): A study of Parental Expectations and Aspirations for their Children’s Educational Attainment: An Examination of the College-Going Mindset among Parents. 4 Puhan Rasmi Ranjan, Gamango Gorachando, Malla Lakshmipriya (2013); Educational Participation of Scheduled Tribal Women in Rayagada District: Analysis of the Barriers and Ongoing Measures by Government; IJERT; vol-4 5 Sujatha, K (1994); “Educational development among tribes: A study of sub-plan areas in Andhra Pradesh”; South Asia Publications, New Delhi. 6 Desimone, L.M. (1999). Linking parent involvement with student achievement: Do race and income matter? The Journal of Educational Research, 93(1), 11-30 7 Roekel Dennis Van (2008); “Parent, Family, Community involvement in education”; NEA policy brief; Education Policy and Practice Department 8 K. V Rajeswari, Usha, P; “Socioeconomic status and Parental Involvement: a Comparison among Tribal, Fisherfolk and Muslim majority Secondary Schools of Kerala”IOSR- JHSS; Vol.19, Issue 5, (May. 2014), PP 51-56

ûû ûû 91 Poverty and Human Development Issues of Tribal Population in Jharkhand

Digvijay Kumar

Abstract

Jharkhand, a rich state with the abundance of minerals, have a high rate of poverty and backwardness. More than a quarter of the population of the state is formed by the tribal population. Chronic poverty is disproportionately high among the tribal group. The reasons for the backwardness of the state lie in political instability, corruption, low human development and policy failure of the state. Expropriation in terms of land acquisition, dispossession and displacement are the main challenge of this social group. It has social, political and economic factors that neglect the tribal in the name of development and integration. Human development aspects of a majority of the tribal population are very low in almost all the indicators. The status of health and education, an important indicator of human development, is lag behind the average level of the state. Introduction The constitution of Indian under article 366 has defined scheduled tribe as such tribes or tribal communities or part or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under article 342 to be scheduled tribes for the purpose of this constitution. The essential characteristics, for a community to be identified as Scheduled Tribes, are –indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture, shyness of contact with the community at large, geographical isolation and backwardness. The scheduled tribes’ population of the country, as ûû ûû 92 per the 2011 census, is 10.43 crore, constituting 8.6 per cent of the total population. The population of scheduled tribes had grown at the growth rate of 23.66 per cent during the period 2001-2011. More than half the scheduled tribes’ population is concentrated in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. There are over 700 scheduled tribes notified under Article 342 of the Constitution of India, spread over different states and union territories of the country (Tribal Welfare and Development Report, 2014). The tribal people also referred to as ‘Adivasis’ meaning original inhabitants of the land were not considered part of the Hindu social hierarchy. The tribal population in India, though a numerically small minority, lives in about 15 per cent of the country’s areas and represents an enormous diversity of groups. They vary among themselves in respect of language and linguistic traits, ecological settings in which they live, physical features, the size of the population, the extent of acculturation, dominant modes of making a livelihood, the level of development and social stratification. They are also spread over the length and breadth of the country though their geographical distribution is far from uniform. Jharkhand is rich in natural resources such as forests and mineral resources. It has one of the richest deposits of coal and iron ore in the country. Other mineral resources like graphite, magnetite, bauxite, uranium, mica, fireclay and copper are also present in the state. The state contains nearly 40 per cent of the mineral reserves of the nation (Mahato, 2010). According to the 2011 census, the tribes constitute 26.2 per cent of the population of the state. The state has 32 tribal groups, divided into two categories namely major tribes and primitive tribes. They mostly live in relatively remote and inaccessible areas and are very poor and marginalized. Among the tribes of Jharkhand, Santhal is the most numerous, making up about a third of its tribal population; followed by Oraon (19.66 per cent), Munda (14.86 per cent) and Ho (10.63 per cent), each with more than 10 per cent of the tribal population of the state. The tribes of the state live mostly in rural areas. Although they represent only 9.8 per cent of the population ûû ûû 93 in urban areas of the state and 31.4 per cent of the population of the villages (Jharkhand Economic Survey, 2013-14). Eight of the tribal groups of the state namely; Asur, Birhor, Birajia, Korwa, Savar, Pahariya (Baiga), Mal Pahariya and Souriya Pahariya are particularly vulnerable tribal groups or previously known as Primitive Tribal Group (PTG). They live in small, scattered and inaccessible dwellings. Malnutrition, malaria and dysentery are common among these groups. The particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) constitutes around 2.23 lakh of the population as per 2011 Census which is 0.7 per cent of the state’s total population and about 3 per cent of total state tribal population. The criteria stated in the identification of the primitive tribes by Dhebar commission arepre-agricultural level of technology, extremely low level of literacy, and stagnant or very low growth rate of population. Even today most of the primitive tribes of Jharkhand reside in forestry and hilly areas. Their economy is still at the primitive stage of subsistence, where production is largely used for household consumption. Some groups are still in semi-nomadic, hunting and food gathering stage. Their level of literacy and health status are very low in comparison to its major tribe counterpart in the state (Verma, 2010).

Table 1: Demographic Features of Jharkhand and India in 2011 Jharkhand India Population 32,966,238 1,210,193,422 Decadal growth rate 22.34 17.64 Maternal Mortality Rate 261 212 Crude birth rate 25.0 21.8 Crude death rate 6.9 7.1 Infant mortality rate 39 44 Total fertility rate 3.0 2.5 Population Density 414 382 Sex ratio 947 940 Sex ratio at birth 919 905 Urbanisation 24 31.1

Sources: Economic Survey, Jharkhand, 2013-14 ûû ûû 94 Table 1 shows the above socio-economic and demographic indicators which reflect the poor and backward condition of Jharkhand in almost all the indicators. Poverty is caused from numerous factors, including from lack of purchasing capacity to absence of entitlements like access to health, education, food and shelter.

Causes of Poverty and Backwardness Poverty:Creation of Jharkhand was an attempt to revert the peripheral status of Jharkhand region as a backyard of industrializing India to a state for all-inclusive development of its people. The new economic spaces that have been erected in Jharkhand are essentially spaces rich in mineral ores. Most of the new investment in the state is concentrated in a few regions while other areas suffer from acute neglect. Development projects have been leading to massive displacement of people in general and of tribal in particular from their habitats and uprooting their livelihoods. Jharkhand is the fifth poorest Indian state with 51.6 per cent rural people below the poverty line (BPL) (Tribal Development Plan Report, 2013). According to Arjun Sengupta committee report on the unorganised sector, 79 per cent of the informal or unorganised workers, 88 per cent of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 80 per cent of the OBC population and 84 per cent of the Muslims belong to the poor and vulnerable group. They have remained poor at a bare subsistence level without any job or social security, working in the most miserable, unhygienic and unlivable conditions, throughout this period of high economic growth since the early nineties (NCEUS report, 2007: 8). A comparison of population share and poverty levels reveals a higher incidence of poverty among specific social groups. Among all social groups, STs have the highest incidence of poverty. The poverty reports reflect that those areas close to forests and mines have a high concentration of poverty. The inaccessibility and devoid of basic facilities such as education, hospital, roads, drinking water and banks have worsened the living condition of the tribal people along with the lack of economic opportunities. Such a continuous phenomenon has created a vicious cycle of poverty. The Naxalite hit districts like Palamu, Godda, Garhwa, Latehar and Dumka also have a high rate of poverty. The present debate, which is very much associated with the economic ûû ûû 95 growth, focuses development through the trickle down process. In the context of Jharkhand, it is assumed that mining will lead to development by extracting minerals but the statistics show that it is not happening in this manner rather it has been found that most mining areas in the state remain mired in grinding poverty and deprivation (Prakash, 2001). Such negligence or failure in disseminating the fruits of development through the process of trickle down has promoted the spiralling violence and the regions to be plagued by Naxalism. The lopsided and non-inclusive development has created a large section of poor and marginalised people in the mineral-rich state. Table 2: Poverty Ratio and Number of Poor in 2011-12 based on Rangrajan Committee. Rural Urban Total States percentage No. of percentage No. of percentage No. of of persons persons of persons persons of persons persons (in lakh) (in lakh) (in lakh) Jharkhand 45.9 117.0 31.3 25.5 42.4 142.5 India 30.3 2605.2 26.4 1024.7 29.5 3629.9 Sources: Planning Commission, Government of India. 2014 Table 2 shows the incidence of poverty in Indian and Jharkhand. It shows that the poverty rate in Jharkhand is relatively very high. Poverty rate in rural areas of Jharkhand where majority of tribal population reside is disproportionately higher. According to recently constituted Rangrajan Committee, poverty rate in Jharkhand is 42.4 per cent while it is 29.5 per cent at the national level. Table 3:Poverty Rate among Tribal in Jharkhand Scheduled Scheduled All Groups Tribes (ST) Castes (SC) Total 49.7 40.4 37.5 Rural 51.6 40.4 40.8 Urban 28.7 40.6 24.8 Source: Panagariya & More: Poverty by Social, Religious & Economic Groups in India and Its Largest States 1993-94 to 2011- 12: 2013 ûû ûû 96 Table 3 reflects the poverty rate among tribals in Jharkhand. According to Panagariya and More, the poverty level in Jharkhand is 37.5 per cent compared to 22 per cent in India in 2011-12. The poverty rate among tribal in the state is 49.7 per cent, 51.6 per cent in rural and 28.7 per cent in urban areas. Poverty rate among the tribal at the national level is about 43 per cent which is lower to the state level. It also shows the relatively poor conditions of the tribal in Jharkhand compared to national level. There is a large gap between the poverty rates among tribals and non-tribals in the state. Depleting Natural Resources: It has a large proportion of tribal communities which are highly dependent on the natural resource base for their survival and their livelihood systems revolve around forests, agriculture, livestock and wage labour. The lands of the tribal have become the objects to be predatory and acquisitive plundered by the governments, their corporate agents and the non-tribal entrepreneurs by the rapid enhancement of their economic prosperity and social security in the name of development. The diku (outsider) started as rent generators and rent collectors and spearheaded the development of commercial capitalism in the region. The tribal of south Bihar are presented as an undifferentiated mass of simple cultivators variously exploited by, and or misperceiving the actions of, non-tribal including the government (Corbridge, Jewitt & Kumar, 2004: 20). Land acquisition is one of the most and major instances of natural resource depletion. The land acquisition essentially has primary impacts on the livelihood of the tribes. Subsistence economy of the tribal families revolves around the pieces of cultivable lands or wastelands. Common property resources (CPRs) which provide an open access to people have been taken over by the mine owners. The tribal families fall short of grazing spaces for their livestock, which contributes essentially to the household economy. Water scarcity, particularly during summer, is being faced by thousands of the population, mainly by those who reside nearby mining areas. When the mine pits go deeper the tectonic water oozes out into the pit, which is continuously pumped out of the pit. The uninterrupted oozing and pumping out of the water from the pit makes the groundwater level fall in the harvesting structure like wells. Thus, the mining ûû ûû 97 operations have adversely affected the water sources including spring and streams. The environmental impact of the mining activity is visible in the form of dust, which not only affects the crop but also human health (Arjjumend, 2004). Land alienation causes marginalisation at the basic level, creating deprivation of the only asset owned by the tribal populace. This kind of deprivation is translated into social inequality and discrimination for the tribals resulting in the skewered power balance between the tribal and non-tribal populace. This is also an assertion of dominance over space in that there can be resource loss for a previously dominant society who then become subjugated in the same space. The new dominant position is taken by the non tribals who can rely on a wide rage of resources for sustaining livelihoods. Industrialization based on minerals resources has taken place in enclaves dominated by outsiders and has hardly provided any employment and other benefits to the local population (Dubey, 2004: 295). Industrialisation and its harmful side-effects have changed the life of tribal in a drastic way. It has plundered the resource base of tribal, resulting in the displacement of tribal and a lamentable fall in the quality of their life. The problems of tribal women even increasing more and more by modern economic development. Gathering of edible items, fetching drinking water and collecting fodder and firewood from forest areas are becoming increasingly difficult. The distance tribal women have to travel for all this is growing. Due to displacement problems, tribal are giving up their traditional economic pursuits and are migrating to towns and cities to work as labourers. Such tribal labourers, especially women, face exploitation and ill-treatment (Mukhopadhyay, 2004). Reduced Agricultural Output:Most of the companies are investing in mining and power sector which has resulted in massive deforestation and deprive thousands of tribals of their livelihood.Large- scale mining would also lead to conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. Thiswould increase pressure on agricultural land and aggravate problems of food security. Declining fertility of soils, increasing incidences of drought and seasonal shifts in rainfall patterns are affecting traditional cropping patterns and limit in harvests. About 75 per cent of the population of Jharkhand lives in ûû ûû 98 rural areas; a large section of the population living in villages depends on agriculture and associated activities for their food and livelihood and employment and incomes; for them, agriculture is a way of life. About 59 per cent of the workforce is dependent on agriculture. The agriculture sector contributes about 15 per cent to the GSDP of the state. Because of wide forest coverage and other geographical compulsions, only a small part of the total geographical area of the state is available for cultivation. The Net Sown Area (NSA) in the state is only about 19 per cent of its total geographical area. Marginal category of farm households constitute 68.21 per cent of total households but own only about 24.13 per cent of land in the state. Their average size of land holdings is as low as 0.41 hectare. The state agriculture economy is characterized by the existence of a large number of small and marginal farmers (84 per cent). Land distribution in the State is highly skewed. About 5.5 per cent of total farm holdings belong to medium and large categories of farm households but they own 22.14 per cent of cultivable land in the state. Scheduled tribes land holdings constitute 35.70 per cent of total land holdings but own 45.21 per cent of the total cultivable area in the state. Jharkhand has extremely low irrigation coverage. Only a little more than one-tenth of the net sown area is irrigated. It, however, has increased over a period of time; in 2010-11, the net irrigated area became 11.54 per cent. The total agriculture cultivated area is only 32 per cent while total irrigated areas is about 23 per cent. There is also a lack of irrigation facilities. A small section of the society holds a large part of the land and a majority of landless and small farmers are struggling for their livelihoods. The infrastructure in agriculture induced poor farmers and labourers to migrate (Jharkhand Economic Survey 2013). Social Capital: Tribal society is known as a collectivist society based on a subsistence economy. They are close to their community and live in harmony for their mutual survival. They have a symbiotic relationship with the environment. Social capital includes community- based institutions like health centre, school, religious place, culture and resources that hold the community together. To a vast number of tribal people, forest, as a natural resource, is a home, a livelihood and the very existence. Forest not only unites them from a religious point ûû ûû 99 of view only but also a common platform of the source of livelihood. Forest not only supply woods, etc. but also provide a number of raw materials for crafts like rope making, basket making and woodwork. Minor forest produce plays an important part in the tribal economy and also in exports from the state. The tribal collect these minor forest products and sell in the market. The different varieties of minor forest produce reclassified as plants for use in tanning, natural hums, resins and balsams, plants and seeds used in pharmacy and perfumery, and bidi leaves. Mahua is another significant minor forest produce, used by tribal from its timber to fruits (Mukhopadhyay, 2004). Education and health institutions are the platform to unite and the path towards development. The condition of these institutions in the tribal areas is pathetic in multistage. Firstly, there are very few institutions due to isolated geographical factor or unwillingness of the local government. Secondly, even if such institutions are established, which is primarily agovernment, it hardly works in regular and effective manner. Thirdly, even if these people get access to private institutions in the field of health and education, they are unable to afford their cost. Themedium of instruction in such institution is replacing the mother tongue even at the primary stage which de-growth the tribal culture as well. Decentralisation: There are many programmes and policies which have been in placed to impact on the conditions of tribal people in Jharkhand but failed to prove effective. The Panchayat Raj (Extension to Scheduled Area) Act (PESA) was approved in 1996 but the implementation process was too slow to execute it properly. It was only in 2010 that the Government of Jharkhand (GoJ) conducted Panchayat elections. Empowerment of these institutions by devolving finances and executive powers have not been started in de facto. Bureaucratic and political interventions at the local level curb the decentralisation process to work smoothly. Left Wing Extremism (LWE): There are about 14 districts, severely affected by Naxalite-Maoist insurgency. LWE on the one hand mobilizes the discontent amongst tribal people to its cause, and on the other hand, prevents the government to deliver services to improve their quality of life and living conditions. This is one of the ûû ûû 100 major problems which discouragesthe industrialists to invest in these regions and also create a problem for the government to administer. Social, Political and Cultural Dispossession- Owing to new forces in terms of unjust industrial policies and dominance of ruling class, after economic disruption, the social condition of the indigenous societies are also breaking down. They are losing their traditional social controls and social tension is increasing among them. They are feeling the deprivation of their sense of personal worth and a devaluation of their social identity. In the political sphere, their traditional political institutions are destroyed. They are incorporated into the state and they have to conform to and become integrated with the political institution of the dominant society. The process of disintegration of their traditional culture is further accelerated by deliberate programmes of integration and assimilation followed by the state to bring the indigenous people to the so-called national mainstream. There is a non-declared polity to suppress the language of the indigenous people and to impose on them the dominant language of the area. Proletarianisation of indigenous people are taking place through the process of disassociation of the indigenous people from their subsistent and self-sufficient economy which have destroyed and turned them into free workers, independent from and deprived of the material means of their own reproduction. The conversion of self-sufficient farmers into cheap wage labourers resulted in the spread of capitalist relations of production (Areeparampil, 2010: 161-166).

Tribal Economy of Jharkhand Tribal economy and society run economic underdevelopment and an absence of economic specialisation alongside the geographical isolation of tribal communities. Tribal economy which is dependent upon land and the forest has limited range of occupations practiced by India’s scheduled tribes in the form of pre-eminence of agriculture and forestry and above all ‘simple cultivation’ in the welfare of tribal communities apart from their engagement in hunting and fishing, slash and burn agriculture and cultivating without ploughs and without irrigation practices. For Schermerhorn, tribal communities take the form of Durkheim’s mechanical society. Their organisation, such as, ûû ûû 101 it is amorphous and diffuse; it is structured by ties of lineage (and family) which are made independently of the more functional and market-oriented demands of organic societies. Above all, the tribal communities lack a hierarchy; their communities are communities of equals. This lack of an economic hierarchy has in turn been traced back to a ‘psychology’ of tribal economics which might be described as Chayanovian at best and as irrational at worst (Corbridge, 1988). About 84 per cent of the STs are in agriculture, with a bulk of them as cultivators (53 per cent) (NCEUS, 2008).The simple technology and absence of technological aids are important features of the tribal economy. At the socio-economic and cultural level, the family is a unit of both production and consumption. The community itself acts as a cooperative unit. And tribal communities living in a village or locality are economically interdependent. The distribution is generally based on gift and ceremonial exchange. Dependent on forestry and livestock is another source of livelihood for them.

Table 4: Occupational Structure of Tribal in Jharkhand Group Primary Secondary Tertiary Scheduled Tribes 65.8 22.8 11.4 Non Scheduled Tribes 32.0 36.6 31.4

Source: NSSO 68th Round, 2012-13

Table 4 provides the occupational structure of scheduled tribes and non-scheduled tribes population presented in three broad categories in the state. Primary sector includes agriculture and the allied activities, the secondary sector includes manufacturing, and the tertiary sector includes the service sector. It clearly indicates large disparities in occupational structure between the two groups at the state level. About two-thirds of scheduled tribes of the state are still working in the primary sector, whereas this proportion is lower for non-scheduled tribes’ population. The involvement of scheduled tribes is low in the tertiary sector, as compared to non-scheduled tribes’ population. The tertiary sector also includes government and salaried jobs and low participation of the tribal population in this sector shows the informalisation of their work and working condition. ûû ûû 102 The traditional tribal economy was largely a combination of several types of activities. A number of tribes subsist on crafts and cottage industries like basket and rope making, tool making (iron and wooden), spinning and weaving, metalwork, ironworketc. Several landless and marginal tribal households are engaged as agricultural labour. With the opening of mines and industries in tribal inhabited regions, tribes in the surrounding areas have taken up non-agricultural labour as the primary source of livelihood. Some tribes from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have migrated to the tea estates in Northeast India and to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in search of unskilled employment. Over the decades, the tribal economy and the livelihood strategies have undergone substantial changes. Since the tribes were traditionally dependent on natural resources, the change was all the more visible due to the depletion of resources. In the post- independence period, the rapid phase of urbanisation and industrialisation alienated the tribes from their traditional natural resource base and forced them to search for newer livelihood options. Increase in population among some tribes, lower availability of food and alienation from natural habitatsmade the tribes dependent on urban markets. Many of them left their homes and migrated to urban areas, in search of income and employment. As a result, the already vulnerable tribes were exposed to all kinds of exploitation and marginalization in the new, unfamiliar urban space. Those who continued to live in their original habitats diversified their occupations to ensure their sustenance. Table 5 reflects some of the economic indicators to measure deprivations among the tribal in the state. The condition of tribal is worse in all the indicators. They are not only financially excluded but also have low assets and access to basic infrastructure. Having bathroom, latrine, electricity and telephone indicate the good living condition but the tribals are very poor-hardly above one-third of tribal households having bathrooms, less than one-sixteenth latrines, less than one-third houses, electrified and less than 5 per cent having a telephone. Less than one-third of the tribal households have access to drinking water supplied by government tap (28 per cent) or having own tap (4 per cent). The impure drinking water is one of the prime ûû ûû 103 reasons of poor tribal health and it pushes them towards high mortality rates especially children among them. Supply of safe drinking water to badly affected remotely located tribals is the basic and prime need to minimize the deaths of tribals due to diarrhoea, dysentery, etc. It is inferred from the foregoing discussion that tribal poverty and their low living standard is monitored considering some of the vital indices like housing condition (kuccha or pucca houses), amenities available and household assets. Table 5: Indicator of Economic Deprivation among Tribal in Jharkhand Indicators of deprivation ST ALL Households availing banking services 41.91 53.9 Television 11.3 26.8 Bicycle 62.9 58.8 Computer / Laptop 3.9 5.4 Mobile only 23.8 44.1 Two wheeler 7.5 16.1 Four wheeler 0.9 2.8 Households with TV, Computer/ Telephone/mobile phone and Scooter/ Car 0.8 2.9 Electricity 29.3 45.8 Number of households having latrine facility within the premises 8.3 22 Number of households having bathing facility within the premises 5.2 16.5 Main source of drinking away from premises 42.3 31.9

Source:Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Annual Report 2012-13

Education The literacy rate in the state, though less than the all-India average, has improved over a period of time. In the state, 67.63 per cent of the population is literate; 78.45 per cent of its males and 56.21 per cent of its females are literate. The literacy rate has ûû ûû 104 improved by about 14 percentage points; among males by about 11 percentage points and among females by 18 percentage points in the last one decade. Spending on education as a per cent of GSDP has been continuously declining in the last three years. Poor and slow improvements in education have also restrained the path of tribal development. The dropout rate from school between Class I and VIII is also very high. The survey of school education report 2009- 2010 shows that 76.8 per cent ST students in Jharkhand dropped out before Class VIII while 57.8 per cent drop out across the country. While primary education in Jharkhand, including those of the ST population, has to some extent progressed over past-decades, there is still vast ground to cover. The delivery of literacy, primary and secondary education is abysmally low. Progress of literacy and education amongst the ST population of the state are plagued by many structural issues, the main problems that hinder delivery of primary education in Jharkhand are rural impoverishment, particularly amongst STs, very low levels of literacy and use of non-mother tongue (Hindi) as medium of instruction (Prakash, 2007).

Table 6: Literacy Rate Among Tribal in Jharkhand

Male Female Person ST 68 46 57 Rural 67 44 55 Urban 83 68 75 ALL 77 55 66 Rural 73 49 61 Urban 88 75 82

Sources: Census of India 2011 Table 6 shows the low level of literacy rate among the tribal in the state. Less than half of the tribal women are still illiterate. Illiteracy is one of the major hurdle in getting employment opportunities. The literacy rate gap between male and female further widens in rural areas. The low levels of literacy and educational attainments and ûû ûû 105 high dropout rates of tribals in tribal areas are not only due to very poor educational facilities, lack of transport and communication but also due to their crushing poverty conditions. A very few come out from their remote areas to the nearby towns for higher education due to low purchasing power. It is very difficult to have minimum two meals a day and what they can think of acquisition of higher education. Health The health indicators of the state have improved over the years. The infant mortality rate in the state has declined from 48 per thousand live births in 2007 to 38 in 2012, well below the national average of 42 per thousand live births. Similarly, the state also performed well in reducing maternal mortality ratio at 219 per lakh live births in 2010-12, from 261 per lakh live births in 2007-09. In the last five years, the state has also been successful in reducing fertility rates; the total fertility rate has declined from 3.2 children per women in 2007 to 2.8 in 2012. This suggests the success of family planning programmes in the state. Over half of the eligible women in the state deliver births in safe conditions – either in a health institution or in the presence of trained health providers. The state has also performed well in immunization coverage among children aged 12-23 months. About 70 per cent of eligible children in the state receive full doses of all recommended immunization and the prospect of achieving universal immunization is high. Such improvement is really a positive sign but not enough. The overall health condition is still lag behind the national average. The overall sex ratio of the ST population in Jharkhand is 987 females per 1000 males which are higher than the national average (978) for the total ST population. According to National Family Health Survey 3 (NFHS 3), 69.5 per cent women between 15 and 49 years of age are suffering from anaemia while 85 per cent ST women suffer from the same problem in the state. When compared to ST women in India, there too Jharkhand tribal seem neglected as only 68.5 per cent ST women in the country suffer from anaemia. There is also a ûû ûû 106 difference between tribal and non-tribal in the state where 70.3 per cent non-tribal children between the age group of 6 and 59 months suffer from anaemia while 79.5 per cent ST children suffer from the same. The number of underweight ST children under five years is higher in Jharkhand than in the country. Only 54.5 per cent ST children are underweight in the country while 64.3 per cent are underweight in Jharkhand. Even when it comes to hygiene, the tribal households in the state lag behind. According to census 2011, in Jharkhand around 12.9 per cent of households have piped water source for drinking while only 5.6 per cent ST houses have it. Similarly, 7.7 per cent rural households have toilet facilities within the house premises while only 3.7 per cent ST households have it (Jharkhand Tribal Development 2013).

Table 7: Neonatal Mortality Rate, Infant Mortality Rate and Under-five Mortality Rate among Scheduled Tribes and Other in Jharkhand

Group Neonatal Infant Under-five Mortality Rate Mortality Rate Mortality Rate ST 64.3 93 138.5 Other 60.7 75.5 92.7

Source:International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS). National Family Health Survey, (NFHS-3), 2005-06: India. Mumbai.

Table 7 provides the estimates of Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), and Under-five Mortality Rate (U5MR) of Jharkhand. It may be observed that the estimated IMR for scheduled tribes was 93 per 1000 live births against an estimate of about 75 among other all social groups as per the Census of India, 2001. Neonatal and under-five mortality rates among tribal are also higher to non-tribal groups. U5MR is very high among tribal (138.5) in the state which requires a special attention from the government to reduce it. ûû ûû 107 Table 8: Determinants of Health among Scheduled Tribes and Non-Scheduled Tribes in Jharkhand Determinants Scheduled Non-Scheduled Tribes Tribes Availability of tap water within the households 2 9.8 Tap water from treated source 1.8 8.8 Improved sanitary facility 7.2 25.6 Open defecation 90.8 71.7 Use of clean cooking fuel (PNG/LPG) 3.9 15.3 Use of domestic cooking fuel (fire-wood, crop residue and cow dung cake) 28.9 18.8 Full Antenatal check-up in ever- married women aged 15-49 6.2 10.6 Institutional delivery in ever-married women aged 15-49 7.9 23

Sources: International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai. National Family Health Survey, (NFHS-3), 2005-06: India. Census of India 2011. Table 8 shows some of the determinants of health among ST and non-ST in Jharkhand. It indicates that very few tribal households have access to improved source of drinking water and sanitation. Accessibility to tap water, including those treated, differs widely across the states. Availability of tap water in the tribal households is less than 2 per cent compared to about 9 per cent in the non-tribal households. The sanitary facility in scheduled tribe and non-scheduled tribe households in the state by residence, in which access to improved sanitary facilities and open defecation has been compared. Only about 7 per cent of scheduled tribe households have access to improved sanitary facilities as compared with about 25 per cent of non- scheduled tribe households. Use of domestic cooking fuel which is dangerous to health is very high among the tribal households compared ûû ûû 108 to non-tribal in the state. The most advanced fuel used for cooking purpose was LPG by hardly 1.68 per cent tribals. The condition of tribals and their exposure to modern and clean fuel for cooking purpose is also very poor and to bring improvement on this front their accessibility to such fuels can be secured by raising their economic and educational status. The unclean cooking fuels directly or indirectly affect the health of all members of the household. Antenatal check- up and institutional delivery among tribal are too lowwhich result in high mortality rate among them. Conclusion Jharkhand is one of the richest states in terms of mineral wealth but grappled with extreme poverty. Tribal which constitutes more than a quarter of the state population is deprived of many basic amenities. Negligence and ineffective policies which have also been an outcome of political instability, corruption and red-tapism, have weakened the education and health system which restrain to provide employment opportunities and further hinder their development. Owing to the lack of employment diversification, sole dependency on primary sector and physical inaccessibility to infrastructures make them further impoverished. PVTG groupsare being ignored by both the state and a small section of the elite class of tribal who have gained political and economic power. After being ruled under the tribal chief ministership for the continuous fourteen years, only a few steps have been taken for the uplift of the tribal population. High level of poverty rate among tribal further aggravates their human development in terms of woeful health and educational status. Social marginalisation and social distance, one of the major factors, has compelled these groups to remain aloof from the path of development.

References 1 Areeparampil, M. (2010). Industries, Mines and Dispossession of Indigenous Peoples: The Case of Chotanagpur. In Tribal Movement in Jharkhand 1857-2007 (Mishra, A & Paty C. K. ). 142-168. New Delhi. Concept Publishing Company Pvt. Ltd. ûû ûû 109 2 Arjjumend, H. (2004). Land Alienation: Tribals’ Accountability in Jharkhand. Jharkhand Journal of Development and Management Studies. Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 1071-1092. 3 Corbridge, S. (1988). The Ideology of Tribal Economy and Society: Politics in the Jharkhand, 1950. Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 22, No. 1 (1988), pp. 1-42. Retrieved from 4 http://www.im4change.org/docs/704Jharkhand%202.pdf 5 Corbridge, S., Jewitt, S., & Kumar, S. (2004). Introduction: Jharkhand in Prospect and Retrospect. In Corbridge, S., Jewitt, S., & Kumar, S. (Eds). Jharkhand: Environment, Development, Ethnicity. New Delhi. Oxford University Press. 6 Dubey, M. (2004).Development Strategy for Jharkhand. In Jharrkhand Matters: Essays on Ethnicity, Regionalism and Development (Balakrishnan, R). 285-309. New Delhi. Konark Publishers Pvt Ltd. 7 Jharkhand Economic Survey 2013-14. Department of Finance, Government of Jharkhand, February 2014. Sources 8 http://finance-jharkhand.gov.in/updates/eco-serv2013-14/ EconomicSurvey2013-14.pdf 9 Jharkhand Tribal Development Plan.IPE Global 2013.Retrieved from 10 http://112.133.209.136:8000/dwsd/Documents/World%20Bank/ Tribal_Development_Plan.pdf 11 Mahato, P. P (2010). Assertion and Reassertion as Jharkhandi: A History of the Indigenous People 1763-2007. In Tribal Movement in Jharkhand 1857-2007 (Mishra, A & Paty C. K.).43-57. New Delhi. Concept Publishing Company Pvt. Ltd. 12 Ministry of Tribal Affairs.Government of India. Annual Report 2012- 13. Retrieved 13 http://tribal.nic.in/WriteReadData/CMS/Documents/ 201305090204592676637Annualreport.pdf 14 Mukhopadhyay, L. (2004). Social Capital and Tribal Development.Jharkhand Journal of Development and Management Studies. Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 1101-1112. 15 Panagariya, A. & More, V. (2013).Working Paper No. 2013-02. Poverty by Social, Religious & Economic Groups in India and Its Largest States 1993-94 to 2011-12. Retrieved 16 http://indianeconomy.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/ working_papers/working_paper_2013-02-final.pdf ûû ûû 110 17 Prakash, A. (2001). Jharkhand: Politics of Development and Identity. New Delhi. Orient Longman Limited. 18 Prakash, A. (2007). Case Study: Tribal Rights in Jharkhand. Towards Inclusive Governance Promoting participation of disadvantaged groups in Asia-Pacific. United Nations Development Programme. Thailand. Retrieved 19 http://www.mcrg.ac.in/development/P_writing/Amit1.pdf 20 Report of the Expert Group to Review the Methodology for Measurement of Poverty.Government of India Planning Commission June, 2014. Sources 21 http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/pov_rep0707.pdf 22 Reports on conditions of works and promotion of livelihoods in the unorganised sector.National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector.Retrieved June 3rd 2015. 23 http://dcmsme.gov.in/Condition_of_workers_sep_2007.pdf 24 Rich Lands, Poor People.Retrieved June 18th 2015. 25 http://cseindia.org/mining/pdf/miningpub.pdf 26 Singh, A. K. (2004). Jharkhander Katha: A Tale of Swadeshi Colonialisation. In Jharkhand Matters: Essays on Ethnicity, Regionalism and Development (Balakrishnan, R.). New Delhi. Konark Publishers Pvt Ltd. 27 Tribal Welfare and Development. 2014-15. Retrieved november 19th 2015 http://tribal.nic.in/WriteReadData/CMS/Documents/ 201504291141421695180AnnualReport2014-15.pdf 28 UNDP, Jharkhand – Economic and Human Development Indicators. Retrieved March 12th 2015. 29 http://www.in.undp.org/content/dam/india/docs/ jharkhand_factsheet.pdf 30 verma, U. K. (2010). Reflection on Development of Primitive Tribal Groups of Jharkhand.Jharkhand Journal of Development and Management Studies. Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 4097-4117.

ûû ûû 111 Primitive and Non-Primitive Tribes: TSP and Governmental Categories Kunhikrishnan V

Abstract This paper intends to contextualise various categorizations given to the tribal population during the colonial and postcolonial times and to explicate the decisive rationalities went behind the making of such forms. In other words, the paper would delineate the trajectory of tribes’ journey across time, assuming/receiving different governmental, constitutional and administrative appellations. Such appellations/categorizations have been justified time and again by the logic of appreciating the difference alongside that of a positive discrimination, with a benevolent concern of upliftment. The analysis then moves on to the contemporary administrative categorization of tribes into ‘primitive’ and ‘non-primitive’ to see whether it continue to hold any relevance after the implementation of Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) and decentralised governance. It is also important to see whether developmental interventions through TSP and decentralisation are really informed by this important categorisation. It conceives the ‘tribal question’ in Kerala as involving two equally significant aspects – one, the governmentalizing effects of categories that form the vital framework of tribal welfare policy in Kerala, and two, the question of tribal peoples’ access to key livelihood resources and capabilities. One of the guiding hypotheses of this work is that these two aspects are vitally interrelated; a primary aim of the present work is precisely to flesh out these interrelationships empirically. It seeks to reexamine the salience of the two central categories of ‘primitive’ and ‘non-primitive’ in the classification of tribal groups within the specific context of Kerala. ûû ûû 112 Introduction The effectiveness of the modality of the census to objectify population has become commonsensical ever since Bernard Cohn’s formulation (Cohn 1987). Many of the modern categorizations that are established themselves as facts, particularly those pertaining to caste groups, were constructed and normalised by the colonial technologies of classifying people (Dirks 2001). The making and normalisation of categories was certainly a time-consuming process. The census reports since 1901 seem to have attempting to answer two basic questions: Who are the tribes? And what is tribalism? The question remained to be contested/unresolved for quite sometime as one could see from different usages like aborigines, primitives, animists, tribes, hinduised tribes, jungle tribes etc. in the census reports to describe tribes 1(Tripathy 1998, Bates 1995). For instance, in the census of 1871, which is considered to be the first systematic census in British India, the category of ‘tribe’ had been used without any definition. A tentative definition of a tribe was first attempted in the Risley and Gait’s census of 19012 and the 1911 census followed the same definition to identify the most backward sections of the society. The identification of tribes was done mainly on the basis of the geographical location of the population; those population groups living in hills and forest were classified as ‘tribes’ in those censuses.

1 The people of India include a large number of primitive tribes, who subsist on hunting, fishing or by simple forms of agriculture. Various authorities have described them by different names. Risley, Elvin and Thakar called them Aboriginals, the native people, whereas Baines included them under the category of ‘Hill Tribe or Jungle Tribe’. Mr. Tallents and some others called them animists, who worship ghost and spirits. Those who engaged in primitive occupations such as cleaning, hunting and gathering of forest produce called primitive tribes (Mamoria 1957: 1-19). 2 A tribe as we find in India is a collection of families or groups of families bearing a common name which as a rule does not denote any specific occupation; generally claiming common decent from a mythical or historical ancestor and occasionally from an animal, but in some parts of the country held together rather by the obligations of blood-feud than by the tradition of kinship; usually speaking the same language and occupying, professing, or claiming to occupy a definite front of country. A tribe is not necessarily endogamous; that is to say, it is not an invariable rule that a man of a particular tribe must marry a woman of that cannot marry a woman of different tribes (Risley and Crooke 1999: 62-64). ûû ûû 113 However, the 1931 census, moved away from a notion of tribes on the basis of location, hills and forests, to that of ‘primitive tribes’. The identification of tribes in the earlier Census was based on physical characteristics of the people, which is common in a locality or a group living in particular locality. The category of ‘primitive tribe’ added more criteria for identifying the tribes, in terms of social and economic backwardness, customs and beliefs etc. The census for the first time gave a reasonably accurate estimate of the number and geographical distribution of primitive tribes in British India3. Notion of Tribes In fact, in each decennial census of colonial India, the term ‘tribe’ was equated with different nomenclatures without a proper definition, which is continued till date. This term was further institutionalised in Indian society through ethnographic and anthropological accounts written on them, along with the usage of heuristic tools like imagined racial typography, photography and anthropometric measurements. However the present notion of ‘tribe’ in India is seen as a colonial construction, a result of the colonial government’s manoeuvres to know the people whom they were ruling in their diversities and generate a systematic knowledge on them accordingly. This was done by classifying them into comprehensible and manageable units (Cohn 1987, Dirks 2001). The colonial classifications often invoked modern science and its discourses for giving authority to it, though some researchers argued that the classification was with a blatant political agenda of dividing Indian society (Pathy 1997) and the category of ‘tribe’ was a distinctive addition (Devalle 1997). This has resulted in the ethnicisation of India in a modern way. However, ethnicity cannot be simply invented or manufactured and enforce upon a people. As Fabian (1983) has argued in the context of Africa, colonial imagination and classifications were reinforced by the natives- different segments of native society with varying manner and intensity.

3In 1931 the term ‘Primitive Tribes’ used as to specify the tribal population in India, who were till then termed ‘Forest tribes’ and hill tribes (Revenkar 1971: 140). The population of PTGs in 1931 Census was 24613848 and in Kerala the Paniya, Irular, Kadar, Kattunaikan and Vishavan included in Primitive tribes where as Koraga in Mysore. ûû ûû 114 The colonial discourse of tribes as represented by anthropologists like Verrier Elwin have seen them as noble savages and hence should be isolated from modern civilization (Guha 1999). The ‘tribe’ became a nostalgic category for him and had advocated a life for them with utmost happiness and freedom without any external interference, be it administrative or missionary. The nationalist discourse with its Hindu foundations resented this. Anthropologists like Ghurye debunked Elwin’s vision as romantic and argued that tribes are in intimate contact with Hinduism. For Ghurye, the social position of the tribes could be improved only through asserting themselves as Hindus and getting integrated and assimilated fully with the Hindu/national society (Ghurye 1980). There are others who see the essential category of ‘tribe’ as constructed during colonialism historically invalid, but was used by indigenous elites to justify an internal hierarchy and claim parity with the European upper classes (Guha 1999). However, the majority of recent academic interventions see categories like ‘tribe’, ‘adivasi’, etc. as historically contingent creations, amenable to oppressive and resistive ideologies alike (Hardiman 1987, Sivaramakrishnan 1998, Damodaran 2009, Skaria 1999). The postcolonial government of India has taken a mixed approach of protection and assimilation towards tribes as one could see in the constitution. The idea was to give protection until they catch up and people like Vallabhai Patel believed that in the course of time the word ‘tribe’ could be removed altogether (Damodaran 2009). Protection was seen as a necessary precondition for effective and meaningful assimilation. That remains, however, a failed dream for the exponents of the constitution and a broken promise for the tribes even today. The creation of scheduled tribes by the Constitution of India (Article 342, Clause 1) was precisely with such an intention. The report of the Backward Classes Commission (BCC) describes the category as follows: “the scheduled tribe can also be generally ascertained by the fact that they live apart in hills and even where they live on the plains they lead a separate, excluded existence and are not fully assimilated in the main body of the people. Scheduled Tribes may belong to any religion. They are listed as scheduled tribes ûû ûû 115 because of kind of life led by them.” The first BCC was set up in 1953 under the chairmanship of Kaka Kalelkar to identify the most backward classes in India and the committee submitted its report in 1955. The commission also examined the list of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe and recommended certain addition to and deletion from this list (National Commissions for Backward Classes Annual Report 2005). In the course of time, as built into the subsequent censuses and committee reports, more traits of primitiveness were added like geographical isolation, distinctive culture, shyness to get in contact with the community at large and economic backwardness. The definitions contained in 1931Census, the reports of first Backward Classes Commission 1955, the Advisory Committee (Kalelkar), on Revision of SC/ST lists (Lokur Committee) 1965, and the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes orders (Amendment) Bill 1967 (Chanda Committee), 1969. Isolation has been a definitive criterion to be included in the schedule as it is stated that the tribes whose members have by and large mixed up with the general population are not eligible to be in the list of scheduled tribes (Behura, 1984). Singh (1997) argued that unlike the colonial period, the constitutional devise of scheduling tribes had much larger consequences; this has been increasingly internalised by the concerned sections and became the central aspect of their identity formation (pp 42-43). However, there are strong strands of continuity running between the colonial and the post-colonial categories, which were invented and reinforced not only through governmental technologies of enumeration and development but also through the politics of the dispossessed. As observed by Pradip Kumar Bose, ‘in many cases, classification criteria used by colonial governmental regimes have continued into postcolonial era, shaping for of both political demands and developmental policy” (Bose 1981). Nonetheless, the ‘tribe’ as a nomenclature carries different meaning to different people as definitions and appeal are multifarious. To the ordinary man the word ‘tribe’ suggests simple folk living in hills and forests, to the people who are a little better informed, it signifies colourful folk famous for their dance and song; to an administrator it means a group of citizens on whom the President of ûû ûû 116 India has special responsibility; to an anthropologist it indicates a special field for study of social phenomenon. Still, the dominant imagination about ‘tribes’ of today inherits heavily from the colonial framework of viewing them in savagery and stagnancy. It has got a heavy influence on the procedures for identifying tribes, apart from postcolonial policies aimed at tribal development. The academic interventions on tribes too mostly subscribe to this dominant view, attaching lesser emphasis to the historical transformation process. For instance, there are significant volumes of studies on tribes of Kerala focussing on anthropological, sociological and cultural aspects of tribal life. Majority of these studies focuses on the origin, traditions, customs and beliefs of Tribes.4 There is a near complete acceptance of the colonial categorization. Interestingly, the word tribe has not been defined anywhere in the Indian constitution. But the Article 342 states that the scheduled tribes could be “any tribe or tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community”, which the president may specify from time to time by public notification (Behura 1984: 1-16) It is certain that a combination of internal social organization, relationship with other groups, self-classification and perception by other groups and political imperatives, apart from governmental efforts of classification, all will have strong influence on the making of categories; which is at best inexact and open to doubt, making categorisations historically contingent. The element of contingency continues to hold salience in the new category of ‘primitive’ tribe that came into being in mid-1970s also, as it was in the case of the colonial ‘tribe’ and the constitutional ‘scheduled tribe’. The present study is particularly concerned with this categorisation formulated on the basis of an assessment by the government on the eve of the fifth plan as seen in the report of Sinha

4 Edgar Thurston (1909) gives a brief account of all the Tribes and Caste of South India; Anatha Krishna Iyyer (1909, 1922, 1937) took the ethnographic survey of all the jungle and hill Tribes and Scheduled Caste people of Kochin. AAD Louiz (1962) studied the Tibes of Kerala in a sociological aspects and it gives the changing pattern of Tribes in the State of Kerala. Mathur (1977), Jacob John Kattakayam (1983) gives the details of social structure and changes among Urali Tribe in Idukki Districts of Kerala. ûû ûû 117 and Sharma in 975. The historical conjuncture coincides with the introduction of TSP too. The Scheduled Tribes, who were identified as more backward communities among the tribal population have been categorized as ‘Primitive Tribal Groups’ (PTGs). The primitive tribes thus represent an outlier within the scheduled tribes and were found to be not evolving into the ‘modern time’ as expected. The administrative categorisation sought to bring the most archaic and stagnant among the scheduled tribes under a specific governmentality to uplift them to the status of their non-primitive counterparts at least. The classification sought its justification as an affirmative strategy aimed at ensuring the development of the primitive tribes: certain tribes were identified as PTGs in 1975-76 and a few more in 1993, which are regarded as the poorest of poor amongst the Scheduled Tribes (Sharma 2006). The major criteria formulated by the government of India for the identification of PTGs were (1) low population growth rate in comparison to the rest of the population and hence existing as small communities; (2) technological development of a pre-agricultural stage and (3) low level of literacy and lagging far behind the average literacy level of tribes as a whole (Sinha and Sharma 1977). Any tribe qualifying at least one of such criteria were stated as primitive tribe and accordingly 52 tribes were categorized as PTGs at the end of fifth plan. This included the five tribal communities from Kerala. As a result of the subsequent additions, there are seventy-five tribal communities that are identified as ‘primitive tribal groups’ in different States of India as of today. The corrective strategies were aimed at strengthening the adaptive basis in their characteristic habitat and extending the adaptive capacity beyond the traditional ecological niches into the larger arena of the region and the nation (Sinha and Sharma 1977). However, the very usage of the word ‘primitive’ by the Government to define the most vulnerable tribal groups is contested in the governmental apparatus itself. The National Tribal Policy proposes the alternative term ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups’ (PVTGs) instead of ‘Primitive’ Tribal Groups. Following protest from the Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Network and other NGOs during the drafting of the National ûû ûû 118 Tribal Policy, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been using the term PVTGs instead of ‘Primitive Tribes’ in its revised Draft National Policy. The present study, however, would not go into the merit and accuracy of the category of ‘primitive tribe’, but would focus on whether the welfare programs meant for the tribal population has really taken the categorisation seriously into consideration or not. The attempt is to see the salience of the categorisation after three decades of its adoption and measure of its success in relation to what was envisaged, in the context of Kerala in general and in the case of the four tribes under discussion in particular. Data and Methodology Keeping in view of the objectives of the study, both primary and secondary data are used here, with greater stress on the primary data. The focus of the study is on the developmental and welfare experience of four tribes- one primitive and one non-primitive tribe each from two regions in the state of Kerala. The primary data collected by making use of a structured questionnaire to capture the leveland experience of tribal groups under the study, and their access to developmental resources, capabilities acquired or lost consequently. The data collection paid particular attention to the experience of these different tribal groups regarding access to land, housing, health and education. The structured schedule was supplemented by intense personal interaction with the ‘recipients’ of governmental welfare to comprehend the nuanced ‘distributive’ development regime entrapping them. In order to map out how ‘prescriptive welfare’ is conceived divergently by the ‘recipients’ and ‘providers’, the beneficiaries, the intermediaries (for instance the ‘promoters’) and the officials were interviewed. The qualitative survey among the selected tribal groups also aimed at capturing their experience in the democratization and modernization processes in general and the decentralized governance in particular. Primitive Tribes of Kerala: Demography and Social Profile According to the set criteria, the government of India has identified five tribes of Kerala as primitive- they are Cholanaikan, Kurumba, Kattunaikan, Kadar and Koraga and together they constitute nearly ûû ûû 119 5 percent of the total tribal population in the state. Kerala is said to be running through an advanced phase of demographic transition: a situation in which low birth rate and low death rate are accompanied by slow growth of population (Rajan2004). The rate of growth of population in Kerala, in general, has been decreasing during the past three decades in tune with the accepted trend. But tribal population throughout the period has been showing an unusual trend as different from the trend in general population growth (see Table 1).

Table 1: Growth rate of Population among Scheduled Tribes and Castes in Kerala (Figures in percent)

Category 2001-2011 1991-2001 1981-1991 1971-1981 ST 24.88 13.47 22.75 -2.93 SC -2.7 8.23 13.22 - EX SC/ST* 5.06 9.51 14.35 - All Population 4.63 9.43 14.32 19.24

Source: calculated by using Census data

The total population of PTGs as per 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 records 9510, 12921, 17647, 24285 and 26273 respectively which shows an increasing trend in terms of absolute number. But the decadal growth rate shows a stagnant population growth since 1971, unlike that of the non-primitive tribes. Within the ‘primitive’ groups, there is a visible difference in the growth rate between the five tribal communities; but in general, they show a declining trend with an abnormal tendency of growth and decline. However, the decadal growth rate of 1970s, when the category of primitive tribes was formulated, presents an interesting picture, wherein Kadar and Kattunaikan were showing an impressive growth rate and the remaining three a minus growth rate. So the criteria adopted for identifying the primitive tribes could be seen as valid in terms of the general stagnant population criteria. However, it hardly showed any ûû ûû 120 improvement even after three decades and moreover, during the period between 1991 and 2001, all primitive groups except Kattunaikan show a negative growth rate. The trend has changed during the period between 2001 and 2011 (see Table 2). Table 2: Total Primitive Tribe Population from 1971 to 20011

Total population Population growth rate Primitive Tribes 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011 1971-81 1981-91 1991-2001 2001-2011

Cholanaikan 306 234 NA 363 409 -23.5 NA NA 12.67

Kadar 1120 1503 2021 1695 1974 34.2 34.46 -16.13 16.46

Kattunaikan 5565 8803 12155 18576 19995 58.2 38.08 52.83 7.64

Koraga 1200 1098 1651 1572 1644 -8.5 50.36 -4.78 4.58

Kurumba 1319 1283 1820 2079 2251 -2.73 41.86 14.23 8.27

Total 9510 12921 17647 24285 26273 35.9 36.58 37.62 8.19

S Source: Economic review 2007 and Working Group Report of Kerala State Planning Board 2017 Figures in italics is growth rate of population NA: Not Available Areas of Habitation: From the table, it is evident that the population of primitive groups in the states is only 26273 according to the 2011 census, which constitute 5% of the total Adivasi population in the state. The area of habitation of PTGs demonstrates that they are mostly concentrated in the Malabar region and distributed mainly in four districts named Wayanad, Kasaragod, Kozhikode and Palakkad (Table 3). There are 6771 families in the state out of which the Kattunaikan are more in population and the Cholanaikan are less in number. There are 5137 Kattunaikan families, distributed in three districts and they are heavily concentrated in Wayanad district. While Cholanaikan, Koraga and Kurumba concentrated only in one area- Nilambur, Kasaragod and Palakad respectively- the Kadar tribe is living in two districts though ûû ûû 121 less in population. In the case of Kattunaikan and Kadar female population outnumbered that of the male and while taking the overall population of the state too the female has a slight edge in terms of number. Table 3: Area of habitation of PTGs in Kerala No. of Name of Area of habitation Total Families PTGs population

Kattunaikan Waynad,Nilambur, 19995 5137 Kozhikode & Palakad Cholanaikan Nilambur 409 101 Kadar Trissur&Palakad 1974 545 Koraga Kasaragod 1644 445 Kurumba Palakad 2251 543 Total 26273 6771 Source: Working Group Report 2017, Kerala State Planning Board Literacy rate: The literacy rate was another criterion taken by the government to identify the primitive tribes. One of the chief attributives of the Kerala model of development is high literacy rate and educational achievements, which has contributed to the overall social development of the state. But the status of the tribes in this regard is far from satisfactory and they continue to be most backward in terms of educational achievement. While Kerala’s literacy rate which was21.92% in 1951 has almost two times doubled to 93.91 percentin 2011 (Economic Review 2016), the literacy rate of tribes in the state is far lesser and that of the primitive tribes even lesser. The literacy rate of PTGs as per the Baseline Survey Report 2006-07 is just 53.79 per cent (Kakkoth 2005). There is on an average 30-percentage point difference in the literacy attainment between STs and the general population in Kerala.5 While the difference is 26-percentage point in the case of male literacy, it is as high as 35 point for the females. This

5 The literacy rate among the Scheduled Tribes in the State was 77.44 percent as against 93.91 percent for Total population and 88.70 percent for Scheduled Caste according to 2011 Census. ûû ûû 122 shows that women are not only absolutely deprived but relatively too. The highest difference in literacy is found in areas in which the tribal population is highly concentrated (Shyjan & Sunitha 2008). The situation is much more serious in the case of primitive tribes of the state. The lowest literacy rate is found among the Cholanaikan (just 8 percent) and the highest among the Koraga (78.35 percent) (Economic Review 2016). However, the relatively high literacy rate does not imply that the socio-economic conditions of the Koraga are much better than other PTGs. Table 4: Illiteracy among the tribes of Kerala, 1971, 1981, 2001 & 2011 Tribes 1971 1981 2001 2011 Kadar 85.80 71.72 48.58 41.26 Kattunaikan 98.04 91.37 66.89 40.63 Koraga 94.20 76.14 49.48 21.65 Kurumba 87.41 86.75 58.69 43.64 Adiyan 91.56 85.00 56.08 33.74 Irular etc. 96.18 88.25 57.48 39.99 Kanikaran 58.50 46.51 29.12 15.24 Kudiya 0.00 60.36 36.69 20.31 Kurichchan 81.05 62.47 31.71 15.24 Kurumans 76.23 61.42 32.11 NA Malai Arayan 34.84 23.45 14.62 NA Malayarayan 23.77 24.68 16.01 NA Paniya 95.69 89.08 59.43 34.81 Ulladan 64.06 45.48 27.55 NA Uraly 73.70 62.52 36.67 NA All Scheduled Tribes 74.28 69.54 44.47 22.56

Author’s calculation uses 1971, 1981, 2001 and 2011 Census data Note: The Cholanaikan, another primitive tribe, in Kerala has been considered to be an offshoot of the major tribe ûû ûû 123 Kattunaikan. Separate census reports of Cholanaikan up to 1991 were not available since they had been included under Kattunaikan (Kakkoth 2005). The table 4 shows illiteracy among tribes in the state of Kerala as of 1971, 1981, 2001 and 2011. The figures demonstrate a positive trend of declining illiteracy among the tribes - the percentage of illiterates decreased from 74.28 percent in 1971 to 22.56 percent by 20011. However, the progress in this regard is not very impressive as the tribes still lag much behind the general population of the state in the case of literacy level. The proportion of literates in the population of Kerala as per the census of 20011 has been 93.91 percent (96.02 percent male literacy and 91.98 percent female literacy).6 Moreover, there is huge disparity between tribes; certain tribes fare better than others over years in this regard as the table indicates. There is also apparent difference between the literacy rates of primitive and non-primitive tribes- while the illiteracy rates of all the primitive tribes in the state are above the average that of non-primitive tribes shows greater disparity, with about 35 percent of illiteracy among Paniya and about 15 percent among Malai Arayans. If literacy is the lowest among Kurumba, a primitive tribe with 43.64 percent of illiteracy, it is highest among Malai Aryans, a non-primitive tribe with 14.62 percent of illiteracy. The two primitive tribes coming under the present study are at the bottom in terms of literacy and the proportions of illiterates are 40.63 percent in the case of Kattunaikan and 21.65 percent in the case of Koraga. In fact, the non-primitive tribes under study shows low level illiteracy compared to the primitive groups. The average illiteracy for the non-primitive tribes during 1971, 1981, 2001 and 2011 were 63.23 percent, 59.02 percent and 22.56 percent respectively, while it was 91.36 percent, 81.50 percent, 55.91 and 36.80 percent for primitive tribes during 1971, 1981, 2001 and 2011 respectively.

6 Kerala has the highest literacy rate in the country as per the latest census and it occupies the top slot in both male and female literacy; while Bihar is at the bottom of the ladder with 61.80 percent of literacy (Census 2011). ûû ûû 124 At the same time, tribes like Paniya, Irular and Adiya in the non- primitive category, continue to remain poor in terms of this capability, irrespective of affirmative actions through TSP etc. and a history of ‘public action’ at the state level. In the context of the present study, two broad suppositions may be postulated from this. One, the allocation and execution of TSP is not seriously informed by the inter-tribal disparities and second, the administrative categorization of primitive/ non-primitive that came into effect for preferential policy interventions has not been very successful in rectifying inter-tribal disparities. The outcome of TSP in this regard is puzzlingbecause the primitive tribes continueto be at the bottom of the literacy ladder and at the same time many tribes in the non-primitive category too are still with very low literacy levels. Tribes and their Educational Status in Kerala Literacy may be considered as one of the most fundamental capabilities, but mere literacy would not be capable of giving essential competencies to the people in terms of better livelihood options. Educational attainment of the people would be a more reliable indicator here, though it cannot be treated as an absolute capability, with a timeless and spaceless application. It is well known that the present pattern of economic development shored up by a service sector driven economy that necessities specific educational capabilities to stay competent in the employment market, is not giving any room for the marginalized sections (Kumar 2008, Salim 2008, Kunhaman 2002). However, the governmentalizing strategy has given priority to the educational development of the marginalized sections, something that was denied to them earlier. Even in this, the performance of the tribes is far from satisfactory and they continue to remain with very low attainment in the educational domain. When this is disaggregated into primitive and non-primitive categories, the pattern emerging yet again underscores the limited impact of interventions like TSP on the one hand and differing inter-tribal attainments on the other. The data from 1971 and 1981 censuses on educational attainment shows this in rather clear terms (see Table 5). ûû ûû 125 ûû ûû 126 The condition has undergone significant changes by the time of 2001 census. However, the pace of change is far from satisfactory. One among the primitive tribes, Koraga could achieve higher percentage than the average as far as the primary level of attainment is concerned, whereas in the other two higher stages of educational attainment none of the primitive tribes could achieve even the mean level. This certainly underlines the fact that irrespective of the administrative categorization into primitive and non-primitive tribes and a stated preferential treatment on the basis of it, the condition of primitive tribes did not catch up with the average level of tribal educational attainment. At the same time, many non-primitive tribes too lag behind the average level of attainment, which in a sense raise doubts about the salience of this administrative categorization. Table 6: Educational status of the sample households (figures in percent)

Kattunaikan Koraga Malakudiya Paniya

Category Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

Pre-primary 16 12 14 3.85 7.41 5.63 4.76 4.76 4.76 8.57 8.57 8.57 Illiterate 24 24 24 42.31 48.15 45.23 0 23.81 11.90 34.29 48.57 41.43 Literate with 8 8 8 0 3.7 1.85 0 0 0 0 2.86 1.43 out school Primary not 12 8 10 11.54 18.52 15.03 28.57 21.43 25 5.71 2.86 4.28 completed Primary 24 40 32 30.77 22.22 26.49 26.19 21.43 23.81 34.29 34.29 34.29

Upper primary up 12 8 10 7.69 0 3.84 26.19 21.43 23.81 17.14 2.86 10 to secondary Secondary passed 4 0 2 0 0 0 9.52 7.14 8.33 0 0 0 but have no degree Degree holders 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.38 0 1.19 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0 3.85 0 1.03 2.38 0 1.19 0 0 0 Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Source: Primary Survey The sample survey also reveals that the illiteracy is enormous among the tribal groups under study as a whole, though it is found to be more severe among the primitive tribes (see Table 6). It also demonstrates that the level of education among both the primitive and non-primitive tribes remain very low. Most of them have primary education or even lesser that; more than 65 percent for all the groups fall under this cluster. Malakudiya, the tribe, which is better, fared in ûû ûû 127 terms of land ownership, has the lowest proportion of illiterates (11.9 percent), which is significant difference when compared to other groups- Koraga (45.23 percent), Kattunaikan (24 percent) and Paniya (41.43 percent). In the case of higher education, the Malakudiya tribe performed better than others. However, the Kattunaikan, the primitive tribe, fares slightly better than the non-primitive tribe of Paniyas in this regard. The Kattunaikan have a far lesser proportion of illiterates than that of Paniya, yet again casting doubt about the salience of primitive and non-primitive divide. House Ownership: The provision of modern shelter has been one of the goevrnmentalising strategies aimed at the tribal population. This is in line with the uplifting stratagem through extending basic infrastructure to the tribal households in the state. The government initiated schemes like constructing houses for the tribes through the lakshamveedu (one lakh house) scheme, apart from extending resources to construct houses by their own through other housing projects. The sectoral distribution of TSP after decentralization allows investment of 30 percent of the fund in the infrastructure sector (Isaac 2000). All this cumulatively has resulted in a certain amount of positive outcome as far the housing of tribes in Kerala is concerned. The field survey shows that most of the tribal households are living in their own pacca houses (Table 3.2.7). But importantly 7.7 percent among the Koraga and 7.1 percent among the Kattunaikan, both falling under the ‘primitive’ category, do not have a house of their own.

Table 7: House ownership by category: Category Koraga Malakudiya Kattunaikan Paniya Self 93.30 100.00 92.90 100.00 Other 6.70 0.00 7.10 0.00

Source: Primary Survey On the other hand, all the households of the other two tribes belonging to the non-primitive category, in the present sample, own houses of their own. However, the condition of houses, which built after the decentralization, has been found poor in quality and the ûû ûû 128 living in such houses during the raining period has been difficult. Though most of them have concrete houses with two small rooms and one kitchen the roof is not good enough to resist the rain. Construction of latrine and electrification of houses also in the housing programs according to rule, but in the case of sampled households most of them don’t have the latrine facilities and they are blaming to the contractors for this. The most of the houses in the sample area, except in the case of Paniya, are constructed after the decentralization, underscoring the importance of decentralized governance in the provision of housing to the tribal people (see Table 8). Table 8: Provision Housing and its timing Timing of construction Kattunaikan Koraga Malakudiya Paniya Don’t know 7.14 20 11.76 7.14 After Decentralisation 71.43 60 76.47 42.86 Before Decentralisation 21.43 20 11.76 50 Source: Primary Survey However, decentralization hasn’t brought any noticeable transparency as it was expected to be. Most of the sample households have a number of complaints against the process of house construction, including disbursement of funds and involvement of middleman. This is particularly true in the case of the primitive tribal settlements under the study; the contractors take over the construction of houses and neither the allocated funds are not known to the beneficiaries nor they have a say in the plan andexecution. Some of the ‘primitive’ beneficiaries even worked as wage labourers in their own house construction. Strikingly, most of the houses are damaged within two years of its construction; it is particularly difficult live in the houses during rainy seasons. The non-primitive Paniya community is found to be less benefited from decentralization in this regard. The Paniyas in the sample hail mainly from the area of Muthanga of Noolpuzha Panchayat, where the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS) led land struggle occurred in 2000 (Bijoy and Raviraman 2003). The members Paniya community concerned were active participants of this struggle and a still supporter of the movement for land under AGMS, which has made the mainstream political parties ûû ûû 129 to turn against them and freeze development benefits and welfare. The households not involved in the land struggle continue to receive the benevolent welfare of the state. Here too the issue is neither the tribal welfare not thecategorisation as primitive and non-primitive as a leveling strategy, but a mediating political society that decides the disbursement of benefits and welfare. Prescriptive welfare is used as a strategy to make the marginalized docile and deny them alternative political spaces. The primitive tribes under the present study in general are yet to get themselves attuned with the cultural geography of modern houses. The best indication in this direction is that most of them refuse to cook inside the ‘modern’ houses and they erect separate huts outside for the purpose. It was found during the field survey that many of the Koraga families have a general apathy to use ‘modern’ houses and they prefer to stay outside. So the governmental initiatives of housing the tribes in ‘modern’ houses, has created discontents from many of its beneficiaries and hence are either not used or underused. This discontent is marginal in general among the non-primitive tribes. The governmentalhousing schemes as part of the ‘modernizing’ and ‘uplifting’ exercise hardly take these specificities into consideration and accordingly address the issue by taking the view of the beneficiaries. They remain to be recipients of welfare and not participants in it. The heterogeneity of tribal life and culture is the prime causality of these interventions; specific needs and necessities different groups are seldom built into programmes. Land ownership There is a strong interrelation between the livelihood resources available to the tribes and their capability to negotiate with the world at large. Forest and land were the most important productive resources at the disposal of the tribes, which gave means of livelihood for the majority of them. The commoditisation of timber and consistent promotion of agriculture in the wooded and wastelands in Malabar, alongside a parallel exercise of conservation through forest reservation, during the colonial time had either driven the tribes out of the forests or cordoned them off from it (Kunhi Krishnan 1995, Varghese 2006). The arrival of settlers from Travancore not only accelerated the process ûû ûû 130 of conversion of ‘empty’ spaces into productive locations but also unleashed a drive of appropriation of tribal land through foul means (Bijoy 1999, Sreekumar & Parayil 2002, Varghese 2006). It is not surprising that the rate of land alienation was at its highest during the 1950s when the migration of settlers to Malabar was at its peak (GoK 1979). It is estimated that 55.47 percent of tribes in the state of Kerala are landless and the incidence of tribal landlessness/ dispossession is particularly high in Malabar (Chathukulam & John 2006).7 The status of land ownership among the sample household demonstrates that except the Malakudiya tribe, all other groups under the study are either absolutely or marginally landless. In fact the Paniya tribe, who were mainly engaged in agriculture as bondedlabourers and later wage labourers, are found to be extremely poor in land ownership (see Table 9).Most Paniya households having individual landed property own just three cents of land, which is just sufficient to put up a house; while others who do not own land individually are allotted with houses on the commonly owned land. Table 9: Average Landholding per household of the four tribes

Average and-holding Number of Number of Tribes (in cents) Landless HH Houseless HH Koraga 14.87 3 1 Malakudiya 101.41 0 0 Kattunaikan 0 14 1 Paniyas 0.21 6 0 Source: Primary Survey On the other hand, the Malakudiya tribe in the sample not only has the highest attainment in education but also the highest quantum of capability in terms of land ownership. The average size of land owned by the tribe, per household, is around 1 acre. While it is

7 According to Ravi Raman and Bijoy around 30 per cent of the tribal households in the state are absolutely landless, with a higher incidence of land dispossession in the Malabar area when compared with that of former Travancore and Cochin states (Bijoy and Raman 2003). ûû ûû 131 negative in the case of rest of the tribes under study. It is also gauged from the field that irrespective of category of tribes, landlessness remains to be high among them. While 43 percent of Paniya households surveyed remain landless, it is 20 percent in the case of Korga, 100 percent in the case of Kattunaikan. The houses of Kattunaikan are established on land commonly owned by the community and none of the households individually own land. Malakudiya fare better in this regard, among whom no household is found to be landless and among whom 88 percent own more than 50 cents of land. Among the Paniyas on the other hand all land owning households own less than 20 cents of land (Table 10). So here we do find that in the surveyed sample, members of a tribe, Paniya that is recognized as ‘non-primitive’ are actually closer to the members of the primitive tribes in average landholding. The same relationship holds for landownership as well. Table 10: Land ownership Land distribution Kattunaikan Koraga Malakudiya Paniya 0 100.00 20.00 0.00 43.00 <20 0.00 60.00 12.00 57.00 20-50 0.00 6.70 0.00 0.00 50-75 0.00 6.70 47.00 0.00 75-100 0.00 6.70 6.00 0.00 100 above 0.00 0.00 35.00 0.00 Total 100 100 100 100

Source: Primary Survey Among the Koraga households, 20 percent are landless and 60 percent own less than 20 per centof land. Landlessness is still an enormous problem, for certain tribes particularly, making the primitive and non-primitive categorisation less salient. This continues to remain so irrespective of governmental efforts to restore dispossessed land and allocate new land for the tribe and spending a significant proportion of the annual plan for the same. The heads under which allocations are made and programs are executed at the state level indicate that special programs for primitive ûû ûû 132 tribes are not built into it. The allocations of funds are made under broader heads. ‘Special program for primitive tribal groups- Adiya and Paniya’ seems the only program directed specifically at the primitive tribes in Kerala, as documented in the Economic Review. The intra-tribal differences and categorisations are not seriously taken into consideration when allocation and spending are done as indicated by different heads under which allocation and expenditure are done (Table 11 & 12). Table 11: Sector wise expenditure of TSP During post and pre- decentralization (Figures in Lakhs)

Sectors Year SCA to Oth er *Assistance Administration Education Health Housing Total TSP expenditure To LSGs 1990-91 51.9 467.5 29.2 83.07 327.6 155 0 1114.2

1991-92 52.2 329.3 29.3 63.14 167.1 215.2 209.42 1065.7

1992-93 56.9 556.4 30.3 82.95 246 229.8 0 1202.4

1993-94 71.7 630.9 69.1 85.21 240.4 246.4 0 1343.8

1994-95 79.3 653.7 54.8 116.5 258.1 337.8 0 1500.2

1995-96 96.5 763.3 115 41.32 276.9 502.7 429.28 2225.1

1996-97 104 864.6 72.3 0.856 243.4 2216 313.79 3814.9

1997-98 114 1126 90.7 0 321.26 709.4 577.53 2939.5

1998-99 130 1174 97.77 7.266 363.8 832.6 617.08 3222.9

1999-00 172 953.3 85.91 0 359.6 307.9 153.55 2032.5

2000-01 178 1515 86.84 127.9 376.12 342.4 59.94 2685.8

2001-02 172 1384 109.5 257.9 314.44 4210 206.8 6655.4

2002-03 193 1748 215 288.7 467.18 6777 1907.2 11595

2003-04 1799 196.5 188.9 541.65 2535 257.71 5728.8 211 2004-05 221 2284 173.4 0 429.98 3457 244.02 6809.2

2005-06 236 2589 177.8 93.59 408.45 2902 371.71 6777.8

2006-07 546 3251 247.8 190.8 241.49 3538 NA 8014.9

Source: Finance Accounts Various Years, GOK ûû ûû 133 Note: Other expenditure includes rehabilitation, wells and water supply, inter-caste marriage, Adiya Paniya Package, which includes the programs of housing, education etc. for PTGs, financial assistance to the marriage of ST girls, agriculture, land schemes, cultural and youth festivals, PTGs development, social activists, programs like sugandhagiri, priyadarsini Tea estate and pookot diary projects. The expenditure in the heads of education includes Spending for Model Residence Schools, Stipends, assistance for post metric hostels, Bharat darsan, Health spending includes Manathavady health project, treatment and rehabilitation of STs affected TB, sickle cell anemia etc. the expenditure in the heads of administration includes Publicity, NA- Note available * Since decentralization the allocation to the LSGs directly goes to the local bodies, the details of Grant-in-aid to the Panchayats has given in separate. Table 12: Proportion of sector wise expenditure of TSP during post and pre decentralized periods (figures in percent)

Direction Assistance SCA to Other Year and Education Health Housing to Local Total TSP expenditure administration Bodies 1990-91 4.66 41.95 2.62 7.46 29.40 13.91 0.00 100 1991-92 4.90 30.90 2.75 5.92 15.68 20.19 19.65 100 1992-93 4.73 46.27 2.52 6.90 20.46 19.12 0.00 100 1993-94 5.34 46.95 5.14 6.34 17.89 18.34 0.00 100 1994-95 5.28 43.57 3.65 7.77 17.21 22.52 0.00 100 1995-96 4.34 34.30 5.17 1.86 12.44 22.59 19.29 100 1996-97 2.72 22.66 1.89 0.02 6.38 58.10 8.23 100 1997-98 3.88 38.32 3.09 0.00 10.93 24.13 19.65 100 1998-99 4.03 36.44 3.03 0.23 11.29 25.83 19.15 100 1999-00 8.47 46.90 4.23 0.00 17.69 15.15 7.55 100 2000-01 6.62 56.40 3.23 4.76 14.00 12.75 2.23 100 2001-02 2.59 20.80 1.65 3.88 4.72 63.26 3.11 100 2002-03 1.66 15.07 1.85 2.49 4.03 58.44 16.45 100 2003-04 3.68 31.39 3.43 3.30 9.45 44.25 4.50 100 2004-05 3.24 33.55 2.55 0.00 6.31 50.76 3.58 100 2005-06 3.48 38.19 2.62 1.38 6.03 42.81 5.48 100 2006-07 6.81 40.56 3.09 2.38 3.01 44.14 0.00 100

Source: Final Accounts ûû ûû 134 As the table shows, a maximum amount is spent for education, but without any specific programmes aimed at the literacy or education of primitive tribes. The expenditure on housing is on the decline and Special Central Allowance also shows a similar trend. The division into primitive/non-primitive seems to be a no-concern here, arguably leaving the space for such preferential and remedial treatment on the primitive groups to the local governments, while conceiving and executing their projects for tribes. But this seems to be not happening at the local level either. It is evident from the Development Reports of the Paivalike and Noolpuzha Panchayats that the programs being implemented in these Panchayats are untouched by the logic of positive discrimination as envisaged in the primitive/non-primitive categorisation. Most of the programmes in these Panchayats continues to remain the same and redundant since decentralization. In Paivalike Panchayat for instance, there are no special programmes targeting the Koraga, except the ‘Adiya- Paniya package’. Due to a large tribal population, which brings in larger funds, Noolpuzha Panchayat has more programmes for the tribes unlike Paivalike Panchayat. However, in both the Panchayats there are no specific programmes for primitive tribes and the tribal groups are treated as a single category while formulating plans and programs and executing them. The salience of this categorisation is left at an administrative-conceptual level without having any real implications when it comes to governmental distribution of welfare either at the state level or at the local. Summary The categorization-primitive and non-primitive- meant for the development of least developed sections of tribes is not really informing the programs aimed at tribal development. . There are still huge differences in the development outcomes of the tribes in relation to non-tribals and among themselves. The conditions of the primitive tribes do not show any significant improvement in relation to their non-primitive counterparts in the state. The difference is wide in land ownership, housing and educational achievement. At the same time, a non-primitive tribe’s-Paniya- deprivation close to that of primitive tribes, in terms indicators like land and education. ûû ûû 135 Reference 1 Asokan, A. 2007. ‘Koraga Hamlets Testifies’, Kerala Calling, August, pp. 28-29. 2 Bates, Crispin. 1995. ‘Race, Caste and Tribe in Central India: The early origins of Indian Anthropometry’ http:// www.csas.ed.ac.uk/fichiers/BATES_RaceCaste&Tribe.pdf, Accessed 30 June 2009. 3 Bose, Pradipkumar. 1981. ‘Stratification among Tribals in Gujarat’ Economic and Political Weekly, 16(16), pp. 214-216. 4 Centre for Development Studies. 2005. ‘Kerala Human Development Report 2005’, Planning Board Government of Kerala. 5 Cohen, Bernard S. 1987/2003. ‘The Census, Social Structure and Objectification in South Asia’ in An Anthropologist among the Historians and Other Essays’, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 6 Damodaran, A. 2009. ‘Preserving Micro- identities in a world of Directed Change: The Experience of Wayanad District in State’, in N.C. Narayanan (ed.), Natural Resources Conflicts and Challenges to Governance Where Do We Go from Here, New Delhi: Academic Foundation. 7 Damodaran, Vinita. 2009. ‘Place and agency; Landscape narratives of Singhbhum and the colonial discourse of tribal protection in Eastern India, 1830-1950’ Paper presented at the conference on ‘Asian Environments Shaping the World: Conceptions of Nature and Environmental Practices’, at the National University of Singapore, Singapore, March 20-21 8 Devalle, Susana. 1992, Discourses of Ethnicity: Culture and Protest in Jarkhand, New Delhi: Sage Publications. 9 Devika, J. 2008. ‘Welcome to Kerala’s Haven of Ease and Vice- Chengara’, http://kafila.org/2008/10/29/welcome-to-keralas- haven-of-ease-and-vice-chengara/. Accessed 4 June 2009. 10 Dirks, Nicholas B. 2001.Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India, New Delhi: Permanent Black. 11 Economic Review, various issues, Kerala Planning Board, Thiruvanathapuram ûû ûû 136 12 Elwin Committee. 1960. Reportof the Committee on Special Multipurpose Tribal Blocks, New Delhi: Ministry of Tribal Affairs. 13 Fabian, Johannes. 1983. Time and the Other: How Anthropology Makes Its Object, New York: Columbia University Press. 14 Ghurye, G S. 1980. The Scheduled Tribes of India, Washington: US Library Congress (Social Science Classics Series). 15 Government of India.‘Census of India 1971, 1981 and 2001, Vol. vii part v-A, Special Tables for Scheduled Tribes’. 16 Government of Kerala. 1979. ‘Socio-Economic Survey of Tribal Communities in Kerala’ Thiruvananthapuram: Government of Kerala. 17 Guha, Ramachandra. 1999. Saving the Civilized: Verrier Elwin, His Tribals and India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 18 Guha, Sumit. 1999. Environment and Ethnicity in India 1200- 1991, Cambridge: Cambridge Univerity Press. 19 Hardiman, David. 1987. The Coming of the Devi: Adivasis Assertion in Western India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 20 Hobson, Kevin. 2001. ‘The Indian Caste System and the British – Ethnographic Mapping and the Construction of the British Census in India’, http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/ h_es/h_es_hobso_caste_frameset.htm, Accessed 30 June 2009. 21 Iyyer, Ananthakrishna. 1909. ‘Tribes and Caste of Cochin’, New Delhi: Cosmo. 22 Jacob, Jeemon and Shantimon, Jacob. 1999. Sakavu Varghese: Adiyorude Peruman, Aluva: Pen Books. 23 Kunhaman, M. 1982. ‘The Tribal economy of Kerala: An Intra- Regional Analysis’, MPhil dissertation submitted to Jawaharlal Nehru University / Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum. 24 2002, Globalization: A Subaltern Perspective, Centre for Subaltern Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. 25 Louiz, A.A.D. 1962. Tribes of Kerala, New Delhi: Bharatiya Adimajati Sevak Sangh 26 Mamoria, C B. 1957. Tribal Demography in India, Delhi: Kitab Mahal. ûû ûû 137 27 Mathur, PKG. 1977. Tribal Situation in Kerala, Trivandrum: Kerala Historical Society. 28 Ministry of Tribal Affairs. 2006. ‘Standing Committee Report on Social Justice and Empowerment’, New Delhi: Government of India. 29 Pathy, Saguna. 1997. ‘From tribe to Caste: Domination Reaffirned’, in Dev Nathan (Ed.), From Tribe to Caste, Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Studies. 30 Planning Commission. 1975. Tribal development in the Fifth Plan, Some basic policy papers, Vol.1, New Delhi: Government of India. 31 Planning Commission. ‘Five-Year Plan’ various issues, New Delhi: Government of India. 32 Risley, Herbert and Crooke, William. 1999. The People of India, London: Thacker and Co. 33 Sinha, A.C. 1993. Beyond the Trees, Tigers and Tribes, New Delhi: Har Anand Publications. 34 Sivanadan, P. 1979. ‘Caste, Class and Economic opportunity in Kerala: An empirical Analysis’, Economic and Political Weekly, 14(7/8), pp. 475-480. 35 Sivanandan, P. 1976. ‘Economic Backwardness of Harijans in Kerala’, Social Scientist, 4 (10), pp. 3-28. 36 Sivaramakrishnan, K. 1998. Modern Forests: State Making and Environmental Change in Colonial Eastern India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 37 Thurston, Edgar. 1909/2001.Caste and Tribes of South India, New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. 38 Tripathy, S.N. 1998. Tribals in India the changing Scenario, New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House. 39 Varghese, V.J. 2006. ‘Memory as History: A Study of Peasant Migration in Kerala from Travancore to Malabar, 1920-70,’ Ph.D thesis submitted to the University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad. 40 Vasudevan, C.1998, Koragas the Forgotten Lot: The Primitive Tribe of Tulu Nadu: history and culture, Thrissur: The Ethos.

ûû ûû 138 Simon turns Drought Prone Region into Vegetable Basket

Parth Sarthi

Abstract

This paper has tried to understand the exemplary work of Simon Oraon, who is popularly known as Baba (father), Parha Raja (tribal chief) and Jalpurush (waterman) in Jharkhand. 51 villages have witnessed his scientific approach and dynamic strategies for the conservation of natural resources. This paper investigates how his governance skill has helped to secure not only sustainable livelihoods over more than 2000 acres of undulated land by developing watershed in an around 5000 acres of land, but the forest conservation in more than 600 acres of land by planting some 30,000 fruits trees with the help of villagers. The drought-prone area is converted to the vegetable basket of the state, which supplies approx 15000 MTs vegetables to its neighbour district and states per day. His efforthas fully checked the migration from the area. He is awarded Padma Shri8 by government of India in 2016. He is also the brand ambassador of Jharkhand state watershed mission. Introduction: “Environmental wealth – natural resources – is one of the main sources of growth in developing countries, and central to the livelihoods of poor people.” Hilary Benn, Minister of Development, UK

8Fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India ûû ûû 139 Natural resources are gifts of nature, which defines the existence of life. Natural resources were historically an important condition of the successful development of countries. The role of natural resources as the major driver of the economic and technological development became even more evident in the 20th century. Natural resources like soil, forest and water plays a vital role for their development. Natural ecosystems have several characteristics that make them attractive and accessible as a source of income to the rural poor. About three in four poor people live in rural areas, where they depend on natural resources for their livelihoods (USAID, 2006). More than 1.3 billion people depend on fisheries, forests, and agriculture for employment close to half of all jobs worldwide (FAO 2004). In the country like India where about 68 % (census 2011) population resides in rural areas. Agriculture has been the backbone of the country, but due to poor management of natural resources, this primary sector only contributes around 16% (census 2011) in the GDP in the country. The share of agriculture is declining day by day due to various factors related to natural resources and its management. It ranges from institutional backdrop to natural calamities. The government has adopted assets based framework for poverty reduction (USAID 2006) to improve social benefit in the society. MGNREGA and watershed development programs are one of those. Watershed Development in India has been a part of the national approach to improve agricultural production and alleviate poverty in rainfed regions since 1970s. Gray and Sridhi mentioned that the government of India’s initial interest in watershed development was spurred by a growing realization that there were production limits to agriculture from India’s Green Revolution (Joshi et al. 2005). Over the past fifty years, watershed development has evolved from a top– down, technical, and bureaucratic approach to a participatory, ecosystems-based approach including social, ecosystem-based, and technical interventions. Seeing the impactful and effectiveness of the program, number of non-government organization came into the ûû ûû 140 front as project implementing agency (PIA) in early 1990s (Gray and Sridhi). Watershed is an approach to address local needs of the community while preserving and promoting natural resources of the area. As per watershed guidelines in India, It addresses 5 Js (Jal, Jungle, Jammen, Janwar and Jan meaning water, forest, Land, Animal and human). It has been observed that the participation of local communities for the successful implementation of watershed programme (Bagdi and Kurothe, 2014). Hiwre bazar and Ralegaon siddhi are the highlighted example for the community participation in water conservation in India. Over the period of time, the focused has been shifted to conserve natural resources by improving the livelihoods of the poor people, who are fully dependent on natural ecosystem (World Bank, 2001). OCED (2008) hasidentified fishery, forestry, soil productivity, water security, etc. are the key natural resources for pro-poor growth. Objective - To investigate the factors behind his motivation for conservation of natural resources - To understand the approaches and strategies for developing watershed for securing sustainable livelihoods - To understand the scale of work done Methods of data collection This is an empirical study. Interview, observation, focused group discussion, case study, photography and triangulation methods have been used for primary data collection. Articles, journals and internet have been used for understanding the concepts related to the work. Area of Study Simon Oraon belongs to Khaksi toli, which falls in Bero block of Ranchi district of the state Jharkahnd. The area is tribal dominated. Agriculture is the main occupation of the area. Bero is well- known for vegetable production in the state. It is around 35 km far from the state capital Ranchi. ûû ûû 141 Bero block, Ranchi Context Setting: ‘If you want see the change, be the change’, the inspiring sentence of Mahatma Gandhi can be experienced in the form of Padma Shree Simon Oraon. Although, he is illiterate by certificates (educational norm), he is scientist by his profession and teaches professors. Amazing management skill and technical know-how make him extraordinary and differentiate him from graduate of top academic institutions. His dedication, determination and commitment has different story to say. For him, rewards do not matter any way. I am little fortunate spending time with him. I cannot forget the first meeting with him in his house situated in Bero, Ranchi. It was quite interesting to meet him due to first meeting, although, his home is around 16 km far from my house; it is just half an hour journey by bike. The pre-conceive notion was working on my mind about this man. I was thinking of his personality, assets, his work and many things that I could think of. With the help of local people asking his address, reached his home and got surprise. My pre-conceive notion got totally fail. His house was painted with green color and had a green tribal flag in the ûû ûû 142 entrance gate of the kaccha house. As I entered the campus of his house, I get shocked. The fore wall of the house was full of different newspapers with inspiring, praising and motivating headlines like Indra bhi jiske saamne maan gaye haar, Bero ke bhagirath simon (simon wins the battle from rain God), etc. The room next to the wall was full of certificates recognized by different institutions. He has no pucca house, illiterate, two rooms (kitchen and bedroom), lots of plants part9 (bark, leaf and root) in front of the house, wearing dirty jacket and dhoti above the knee and speaking saadri language was coming out from the kitchen room. Having all the above mentioned appearance, his confidence, motivation, freshness and excitement made me helpless to make myself understand that HE IS THE SIMON ORAON. He is 84 years old. He is now the chairman of 04 parhas10 which includes 51 villages.

Picture is depicting the fore wall of his home, pasted with different newspapers and magazines writings about Simon’s work.

Suddenly, he went to his room and brought three heavy files with full of newspapers cutting and articles. He showed me the files and said read it out by saying he is drop out after 8 months of schooling. The files were applauding his journey from dropout to environmentalist. After having a fast look over those papers, I asked him with smile and curiosity, are the people of Jharkhand stupid or mad? During the same period (1960s), Dasrath Majhi11 was carving a mountain somewhere in Dhanbad12 and you were planting trees here in Bero, Ranchi? He politely replied, when I used to go grazing of goats, I had

9 He also a traditional healer who prepares herbal medicines for diseases 10 Oraon tribal administration, which includes cluster of villages 11 Mountain Man of India 12 Another district of Jharkhand State in India ûû ûû 143 a bag hanging on my shoulder, where I put mango seed and planted it in the field. He asked to me, would you like to count such trees? Then, he scouted us towards his work. He has planted more than 30,000 trees of jamun, mango, jackfruit and saal and still plants. According to him, he has begun the journey of planting tree since he was 7 years old. He was born in around 1937-38, according to him. Breaking the Vicious Circle: Motivation from Starvation His work started with the philosophy of Ramakrishna Parmahamsa, who said, ‘God is everywhere but he is most manifest in man. So serve man as god. That is as good as worshiping god’. According to him, Water reservoir, roads, tress, land and above all human beings are the god because water and land gives food and from which we interact daily. He says Aan hai to jan jai, Jaal hai to Dhan hai. Roads are the sacred place, where everybody walks over. The natural gift of god never bifurcate with humans but human beings does among themselves in base of religion and strata. There are only two castes in the society i.e. male and female, he advocates. I asked a question to him, what was the reason of doing so? (Perhaps everybody was asking the same question to him). With a silent voice and gesture he replied, pet karata hai (stomach makes do). He explains how the villagers were struggling for bread for one time in a day. They himself had four siblings. They divided one chapatti into four and used to have it. They had land but paddy hardly grown due to undulated land and high runoff. The rainfall records more than 1200mm13, however, due to heavy runoff, it was flown to the river. It also used to destroy the standing crops of paddy. Villagers went outside for earning food. The situation was too worst, he reminds. He then decided to do something for food security. The idea of water conservation then emerged. He mapped out the area of drainage line and started to mobilize and motivate villagers for the construction of earthen check dam. Initiation of Collective Efforts In 1955, with the help of villagers, he initiated the construction of check dam and completed till 1970 without any government support, 13 As per metrological data of the state ûû ûû 144 he describes. This check dam is able to conserve water of more than 700-800 acre of land. The check dam is still in good condition and requires no renovation works. In the subsequent year, villagers showed the benefit of the dam and ensured paddy cultivation with optimum yield. The people, who have given land for dam, for them co-operative was made for fisheries and linked up to fisheries dept. Now, this co- operative earns around 8-9 lakh per year from fish, According to Simon Oraon. From then, he was started to call ‘Raja’. Then, nobody knew that the great work has been seeded and Simon will get Padma Shree one day. The sustainable approach was initiated to enhance productivity, ensure income for agricultural water management (World Bank, 2005)

Pic. II shows earthen check dam constructed by the villagers, where fish farming is also done by the co-operative and undulated agricultural land , which earns 300% cropping intensity.

Pic. II shows earthen check dam constructed by the villagers, where fish farming is also done by the co-operative and undulated agricultural land , which earns 300% cropping intensity. Over the period of time, another two earthen check dams were constructed, 57 well were made and five ponds were excavated. His scientific approach of watershed treatment from upstream to downstream14 changed the picture drastically. Silently, the picture of khakshi toli turned from hunger to food bowl. At present, Bero vegetable market is one of the biggest in Jharkhand. The farmers of Bero produce more than 15,000 tonnes vegetables per day and supplies to the corner of Jharkhand states as well as neighbor district

14KOUNDOURI mentioned from Winpenny (1991) and FAO (1987) ûû ûû 145 of West Bengal, odhisa and Chhattisgarh (also reported by different leading newspaper of the state). The present jolly and goody-goody situation over there was not an easy task. According to Simon Raja, it was very difficult to organize people and take private land as common land for the construction ofcheckdams. Now, villagers have given 100 acres of land for common use, he added. He has developed watershed in more than 5000 acres of land and converted 2000 acres of barren land into irrigated land. According to him, more than 50 acres of land is irrigated every day. The cropping intensity of the area is more than 300%. Farmers are growing paddy two times in a year, villagers say. He always emphasizes on the promotion of farming and says larna hai to zameen se laro aur kheti karo aur barbaad hona hai to aadmi se laro (Fight with the land for agriculture, fight with the human will destroy themselves). According to the villagers, they were against the work of Simon, but later on, they appreciated the work after gaining benefits. Now, they are growing vegetables around the year. Saving Forest: Engaging with Community Baba is another popular name of Simon Oraon and he got the name after conservation of forest in more than 600 acres of land. The journey of forest development starts since long back around 1970s, when he saw the forest department was cutting the matured tree from the jungle nearby his village, according to Simon Baba. He says, he rebelled for not cutting the tree from the Jungle. The cases filed against him in the court taking this issue and went to jail for two times. He details that his only concern was, if forest comes in our area, responsibility must be given on us to look after the forest.Jungle is for ours. Jungle humara hai, he uses to repeat while conversation. He had never been in jail for a long time due to mass support of the villagers. He is one of the hidden activist (for the masses outside that area), who fought for the forest rights. As we know, during the same period, activism for forest conservation was in pace in the length and breadth of the country, like Chipko

15Forest conservation movement in India that began in 1973 16.Partnership between state forest departments and local communities for protection and management of forest in india ûû ûû 146 Movement15 etc. The seen and unseen current for forest conservation among the local dwellers within the country gave birth to the policy of Joint Forest Management16 in 1988 and finally, it was enacted as Forest Right Act in 2006 in government of India. According to villagers, due to heavy precipitation then, soil erosion was so high. It started with real erosion and over the period of time, it became gullies and then converted into big naalas and this resulted into high soil erosion, agricultural field were converting into big naalas, area of forest was getting short due to erosion and uprooting of trees. The situation was so worst. Then, Simon thought of bunding inside the forest for the treatment of gullies and big naalas due to soil erosion with the voluntary support of the villagers nearby. Bunds were made of more than 10 fit heights. He says, initially bunding were destroyed due to heavy runoff. Again, it was made and planted mango trees over there for strengthening the earthen bund. If one visits the site, one will find mango trees planted by Simon baba on the bund in series. Now, it has become big trees and provides fruits for more than three months. The bund was made so strong then, one cannot assume it artificial now, it looks natural. The gullies and naalas have become cultivable land, somewhere two crops of paddy are grown and somewhere three crops are grown (one paddy and two vegetable crops).

Picture IV depicts Bundingand developed land below with standing crops and picture V depicts 3km path through the jungle made by Simon Baba.

In between, Simon Raja prepared 8-10 feet road of 3km through the jungle for easy accessibility and to connect one to another corner of the area. The jungle committee was formed to look after the conservation of jungle. The norm was set that if anyone needs timber, ûû ûû 147 he would inform to the committee and as per decision of the committee, one would get the timber. A nominal charge of rupees 5 was fixed against per timber. Now, the charge is exceeded to rupees 50 per timber. Creating Sustainable Livelihoods: Slowly, issues of Jal, Jungle and Zammen (water, forest and land) were getting solved with the help of villagers headed by Simon Raja. Villagers had started to grow paddy and likewise, achieved food security. They also sold some grains mainly paddy for money during festivals and social ceremony. But, the issue of seasonal migration was still prevalent in the villages. It was difficult to grow second and third crop for the farmers due to long distance of agriculture field from the reservoir. But, Baba is excellent strategic planner. He mapped out the area and called for gram sabha and started the work of digging well. They dug 17 well in different locations of the area by themselves. After few years, Baba got 20 wells sanctioned from the government for the area and subsequently the construction of well reached to 57 in number. Five (5) ponds were also constructed on private land and still the work of the construction of water reservoir (well and pond) is going on as Baba repeats aan hai to jan hai jal hai to dhan hai (food is life and water is wealth). The construction of deep bore well is fully restricted in this area to avoid access pumping out of ground water. If one tries, machines operators are warned not to do. The idea of construction of canal came to the mind of Simon Baba for enhancing irrigated area to grow three and more crops, so that migration could be checked fully. Since 1996-97, they started the work of canal construction through the forest and below the bund (made for checking soil erosion) and diverted it into different directions, so that each field gets access of water or must reach nearer to the channel/canal. The canal is diverted in such a way to connect with the well-constructed in different location, so that access water of check dam can be collected there. His architecture harvests every drops of rain water of more than 5000 acre of land. He has connected dam, pond, well and canal together. The constructed reservoirs are also the life line for the forest. ûû ûû 148 Till 2010, the construction of canal work completed, which is further concreted by the government of Jharkhand in 2014. The total length of canal is around 15,500 feetas per Simon Baba. Now, the villagers are enjoying at least 300% cropping intensity and migration is fully checked. Villagers say we do not have leisure time; we are busy with our land cultivating crops even we go for irrigation at night. Likewise, the dream of Simon Baba ‘larna hai to zammeen se laro aur bussines karo, barbaad hona hai to aadmi se laro’ is getting true. Since last two decades, I have never seen villagers fighting or quarreling in the village, Baba advocates. All the credit goes to Simon Baba who organizes villagers, mobilizes them, motivates them and encourages them to work for themselves. This excellent work of Baba made me remember Swami Vivekananda quotes: “All the wealth of the world cannot help one little Indian village if the people are not taught to help themselves”. As per villagers, if it is less precipitation also, we grow paddy because we have system, but the farmers from other areas fails to grow paddy.

Picture vi Picture vii Picture VI depicts the canal made through the jungle and connected to fields as well as well and Picture VII depicts the disposing water through pipe using lift irrigation system from the well.

‘Baba’ and ‘Raja’ in True Sense: He put an example of mind and body to explain the importance of humanity by saying if a person get sick he will go to a doctor and will get cure, but, if a person is disturb for any reason, he must sit with people and discuss, every solution s/he will get. Discussion has all the solution. He applauds that every society must sit together at ûû ûû 149 an interval of every week. Doing so spreads love and brotherhood. He believes in love. Love is the solution of any problem. He says the person who used to oppose me, build trouble for me during dam and canal construction, is now irrigating more than 5 acres of land and making more than lakhs of rupees, but I never shout over him. In this respect, Rabindranath correctly said: Love is an endless mystery, because there is no reasonable cause that could explain it. In word of Gandhi: where there is love there is life. Simon Baba himself believes in the wealth of mind rather than physical wealth. He says I do not have physical assets however, people comes and meet me, praise my work; I am illiterate, however, I am called for lecture; I am not a great man however, people do research on me and write on me. He further adds, I never wanted anything for myself, I feel happy if the farmers get happy. The programme of Yogna Banao Abhiyan17 would be new for the government of Jharkhand, but Baba has demonstrated it many years back. A leading Hindi newspaper of Jharkhand writes his advocacy with headline of Gaon ki yogna Gaon Mein bane (Village planning at village level), newspaper cutting with Simon Baba witnesses. He boldly asks, have you seen the industry of grain anywhere in the world, which witnesses around 200 countries? Then he replied, there is a factory, every farmer is the factory of food. Government is very busy to look after the progress of other industry, but hardly care for the development of farmers. The factory, which government looks after will never feed the masses because it produces non-consumable goods that could be exchanged in the form of money only and people will not survive by eating goods and note of currency, but they need food. However, farmers are being cheated. He says, I am not happy to get awards until the farmers face will smile. I want all the farmers to smile. Conclusion: Participatory approach to the conservation and promotion of natural resources gives better outcomes. Management of natural resources needs analytic approach and dynamic strategies to follow

17 This is programme of Jharkhand government where planning id made up at ward level by villagers of panchayat only. ûû ûû 150 for sustainable use. Collection, conservation and utilization of rainwater shapes the future of the farmers. Natural resources and poor have a symbiotic relationship, which defines their existence one into other. Natural resource management and poverty reduction are complex issues and there are many interdependencies, which ranges from conservation to governance for poverty reduction (world resources institute, 2005). Simon comes up with the ready solution combining with conservation of natural resources (soil, water, forest) while executing effective governance to reduce zero hunger through generating sustainable agricultural livelihoods, decades earlier.

References:

1. G.L. Bagadi and R.S. Kuruthe, People’s participation in watershed management programmes : evaluation study of Vidharbha region of Maharashtra in India, International Soil and Water Conservation Research, volume 2, issue3, September 2014, pages 57-66 2. Gray. E and Srinidhi.A, Watershed Development in India: Economic valuation and Adoption consideration, WOTR and World Resource Institute (working Paper) 3. How Jharkhand’s waterman is ensuring all year water supply in 51 villages and bringing back the forest, The better India 4. https://jharkhand.pscnotes.com/jharkhand-general-studies/ jharkhand-history-jharkhand-general-studies/the-traditional- administrative-system-of-jharkhand/ 5. Koundouri.P, Watershed Economics: Proposed Methodology for Watershed management, Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment, University College London 6. Issues in Poverty Reduction and Natural Resource Management (USAID 2006) 7. Making Sustainable Commitments, an strategy for the World Bank (2001) ûû ûû 151 8. Hindustan times (26 Jan, 2016) 9. Shaping the future of water for agriculture, a source book for investment in agriculture water management (World Bank, 2005) 10. The wealth of the poor: Managing Ecosystem to fight poverty (World Resources Institute, 2005) 11. Watershed Guidelines of Jharkhand State, India

ûû ûû 152