Report on Impact of the Tribal Sub-Plan Implementation In
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Report on Impact of the Tribal Sub-Plan Implementation in Improving the Socio-Economic Condition of the Tribal People with Special Focus on Reduction of Poverty Level covering the States of Assam and Tamil Nadu Submitted to The Planning Commission New Delhi Institute of Social Sciences 8 Nelson Mandela Road New Delhi - 110 070 December 2003 1 Impact of the Tribal Sub-Plan Implementation in Improving the Socio-Economic Condition of the Tribal People with Special Focus on Reduction of Poverty Level covering the States of Assam and Tamil Nadu Submitted to The Planning Commission New Delhi Project Director Dr. P.S.K. Menon ISS Research Team Prof. Bakshi D. Sinha Ms. Archana Ghosh Ms. E.K. Santha Ms. Usha Gopinath Institute of Social Sciences 8 Nelson Mandela Road New Delhi – 110 070 Tel: 26121902, 26895370 Fax: 91-11-26137027 e-mail: [email protected] www.issin.org 2 The sub-Plan must attempt, in broad terms, answers to the main issues facing the tribal communities in these areas. It is at this level that a basic policy frame will have to be evolved which could be at variance from the general approach in the sectoral programmes. In many cases it may be necessary to look at the problem unfettered by the existing formal, procedures or legal frame. The final course may be defined only after fully examining the impact of all the factors on the tribal life. The State must bring up these issues, where necessary, to the Union Government level so that they can be considered at the highest level before anything is allowed to stand in the way of fast development of these people. …….Planning Commission 3 CONTENTS FOREWORD i PREFACE iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY viii CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1 CHAPTER 2 6 Profile of the Scheduled Tribes and the Tribal Areas CHAPTER 3 15 Planning for Tribal Development CHAPTER 4 33 The Survey CHAPTER 5 84 Conclusions and Recommendations CASE STUDY 90 EPILOGUE 99 REFERENCES 103 ANNEXURES 104 SCHEDULES 124 4 FOREWORD It is universally accepted that despite considerable overt attention, the tribal areas and the tribal people in our country lag woefully behind others in development and the tribals continue to be I among the weakest and the most exploited section of the society. Before and after Independence, particularly in the context of special provisions in the Constitution for the protection and promotion of the interests of the Scheduled Tribes, various plans and programmes were designed to promote their development. One wonders whether tribal development sector was not a laboratory to experiment with different formulae as panacea for their ills. From the strategy of Backward Classes Sector till the beginning of fifth plan relying on flow of benefits from general sectors of development with area specific approach like Special Multipurpose Tribal (SMPT) and Tribal Development (TD) Blocks has now reached the tribal sub plan approach. Since the Fifth Five Year Plan the emphasis has been on predetermined quantification of funds in identified areas of tribal concentration called ITDP and assured budgetary and accounting mechanism to avoid diversion and lapse of funds. The subject matter of this study report is in relation to assessment of tribal sub plan approach with focus on reduction of poverty levels covering the States Assam and Tamil Nadu. Our efforts in analyzing the secondary data and the results of the field survey do not present a very happy scenario. In fact, in size and intensity there has not been any appreciable reduction in poverty levels. One wonders whether it is not a fact that even after some twenty million years of life upon this planet, a substantial part of the humanity is still as Hobbes once described it as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”. Look at the condition of some people in parts of Africa, Latin America and Asia in particular the marginalized groups like Scheduled Tribes in our own country. They just subsist, impoverished due to severe erosion of livelihood resources base – land, water, forest - with delayed and inadequate government assistance. It is in this context that decentralized Panchayati Raj system assumes importance whether it be Scheduled or non-Scheduled Areas. Participatory decentralized democracy hold promise, it can work and yield results but interference from vested interests must stop. With separate administrative arrangements at the Centre and in the States for pursuing tribal development with special dispensation under PESA 1996, it is to be hoped that the pace of development in tribal areas, would increase manifold bringing substantial benefits. The Institute would like to place on record its appreciation to the project team headed by Dr. PSK Menon. We are grateful to the Planning Commission for giving us an opportunity to study in depth the plan strategy towards a deserving group. We trust that this report would be useful in strengthening tribal development programmes to ensure realization of envisaged objectives. GEORGE MATHEW DECEMBER 2003 DIRECTOR 5 PREFACE ribal development has been based on a two dimensional approach, (a) promotion of developmental Tprogrammes through planned efforts and (b) protection of the interests of the Scheduled Tribes through constitutional, legal and administrative support. Positive discrimination has been a deliberate strategy to enable the neglected groups to develop. Notwithstanding fifty years of continuous attention to tribal problems, exploitation of tribals forms a leit motif in the tribal canvas of today. In this connection the observations of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in their third report (1994-96) is relevant. It was stated that “When our national leaders and Constitution makers were occupied with the thoughts of making the new born India a better place to live in, of securing economic and social justice for the various people subjected to centuries of exploitation, of removing poverty, illiteracy, squalor, hunger and disease, they were very clear that all this is impossible without ensuring special treatment for the deprived. However, it is clear that all the gains of development have not reached the intended class and have been usurped by the better off in many cases. Each and every act of development that the Commission has reviewed for judging the condition of SCs/STs shows that their position today in rural India and urban slums has not improved substantially even after fifty years”. “ ……The very will to give priority to the upliftment of SCs/STs in the National Agenda is missing. The approach and methodology adopted by these public bodies does not match the urgency with which these issues need to be tackled:…….” The exploitation has to end; it has to be the first and the foremost concern of all those responsible for tribal development. The tribal sub-plan strategy held hopes for integrated development of tribal areas. However, three decades of its implementation has not brought about any perceptible change in the life of the majority of tribal people. We have traversed long distance without any significant gains. The tribes themselves had no access to planning and implementation for their development. The bureaucracy, with some direction from its political masters, decided what was good for the tribes. Also, the concern and anxiety of the knowledgeable well intentioned NGOs and activists were not given due consideration. Left wing extremism was allowed to prevail in some tribal areas. The statistical and cultural data base for planning has been and continues to be weak. Even where available, recourse/resort is not taken to such resources while planning. Projects and proposals and schemes formulation were weak. 6 All these were to change for good with the strategy of Tribal Sub-Plan concept from the beginning of the Fifth Five Year Plan. Unfortunately, this has not happened. Tribal sub-plan mechanism involving area specific development and special schemes for numerically small and economically and socially more marginalized vulnerable groups, has not made much headway. In particular, the state perception for planning was deficient both in micro and macro planning. Further, it is alleged that the implementation of TSP has been mostly with untrained, inefficient, insensitive and often untrustworthy hands. In general, the implementation of the policy of affirmative action has often been mindless and therefore sterile. Immediately after the tribal sub plan strategy was initiated, the Planning Commission sent to the States and Union Ministry/Departments comprehensive guidelines on the preparation of TSP. But these were not followed fully and the exercise that was undertaken was more of a nature of financial allocation without relevance to the field conditions. This ultimately resulted in an unsatisfactory implementation of plans and programmes for the tribal people. The study in Assam and Tamil Nadu supports these views. One cannot afford to be pessimistic though past experience offers no other choice. To change things we have to change the implementation mechanism lock, stock and barrel. Conceptually, TSP approach is sound and can be relied upon. PESA 1996 offers a route to prosperity, but again faithful implementation is a sine qua non. Let us hope that the tribals will have better days ahead under government patronage but through self rule within the ambit of Panchayati Raj. This study sponsored by the Planning Commission has enabled us to examine in depth the problems in implementing TSP particularly in reducing poverty levels of Scheduled Tribes and for which we are grateful to them. PSK MENON DECEMBER 2003 PROJECT DIRECTOR 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT he Institute of Social Sciences expresses its deep sense of gratitude to all those individuals and T institutions for extending their help and cooperation in completing this study satisfactorily. It would be difficult and also unfair to single out persons and institutions for special mention but it would be less than fair not to mention the advice and guidance provided by the officers of the Planning Commission, particularly the Adviser and officers of the Backward Classes Division and those from the Socio-Economic Research Unit.