IJCRM 2024 3 3 34 article manoj gregory

Int. Jr. of Contemp. Res. in Multi., 2024

Tribal people are considered as the original inhabitants or Adivasis. In Kerala, they constitute nearly 1.5 percent of the total population of the state. There are 37 Scheduled tribal communities living in the state with greater concentration in Wayanad, Idukki, Palakkad, Kasaragod and Kannur districts. The livelihood status of the Kerala Tribes in general, are much higher than those of other Indian states. Yet, quite many of them suffer from several socio-economic and health issues in Kerala too. Even though both, the state and central governments have formulated several development programs and policies for the welfare of the tribal communities since Independence, there is still a vast gap between the tribal and the general population, though the extent of this gap is relatively low in Kerala as against the situation in the rest of India in varying degrees. Kerala has been in the forefront in taking progressive initiatives in several domains including the uplift of the tribal people. Aralam Tribal Rehabilitation Program is one of the largest such programmes in India to emerge as a model programme for the landless tribal people. The present paper is one of the outcomes of an ethnographic study, carried out as part of the Doctoral research carried out in Aralam Tribal Rehabilitation area, located in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, with the aim to examine the major issues and challenges in the process of development efforts towards the tribal communities in the context of the Aralam Tribal Rehabilitation Programme.

Bharat Mem Rastra Nirman Evam Janajathiya Mahilyem, 2024

Abstract Tribal empowerment means the upliftment of the tribal community in order to include them in the socio-political and economic conditions of the mainstream society. This paper examines the tribal empowerment in Kerala both strategically and socially. The Kerala was one of the developing states in India. In the history of Kerala, many social reformers have raised their voice for Dalits, tribal and Adivasis. They are Mahatma Ayyankali Pandit Karuppan, Raman nimbi and C. K Janu. However, the modern state has a duty to uplift the tribal community and protect its rights. The Government of Kerala has made several policy changes for the empowerment of tribes. It focused on education, land rights, housing and several projects related to tribal empowerment. Perhaps, in the history of Kerala, Dalits and Adivasis are still fighting for opportunity equality and rights. The forest conservation laws, adversely affected means of livelihood of tribes. The protests like Chengara and Muthanga shows the real situation of tribes in which the state denied the land rights of tribes. One of the Malayalam movies Pada tells the story of four men who took a collector hostage in Palakkad district in 1996. In recent times, Malayalam films that deal with Dalit and tribal issues such as Puzhu, KL-10, and Unda have been released. Leela Santhosh, one of the Adivasi women of the Paniya community, was directing a film named karinthandan. Another area was education, and the government were established several residential schools and campuses for adivasi communities. During the lockdown, the government had arranged TV and mobile facilities for them. The empowerment of adivasi women through kudumbashree mission and the murder case involving adivasi youth Madhu reflect the representation of the moral policing of the people of Kerala. The paper has been prepared as a qualitative content analysis of relevant government records, newspapers, articles, and tele/ personal interviews of officials to draw conclusions.

Studies of Tribes and Tribals

Kerala is a homeland of a number of tribal communities. Thirty-six communities are listed in the Scheduled Tribes list of the State. Of them five tribal communities viz., Koraga, Kattunayakan, Cholanaickan, Kurumbar and Kadar have been categorized as Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) by the Government of India in 1976, based on the criteria of pre-agricultural level of technology, less than five per cent literacy, marginal or stagnant rate of growth etc. Socio-culturally, techno-economically, eco-demographically, educationally etc., these communities vary from one another and lay at different stages of development. The welfare programmes so far implemented haven't focused on the felt needs of the communities, hence could not yield the desired results. Thus, for the overall development of these communities, the study recommends tribe-specific action with the active participation of the community members.

Journal of State and Society, 2023

Development of Scheduled Tribes has always been a matter of concern, extensive discourse and actions for a long period in India. Starting from the colonial period, initiatives made by various bodies, governments as well as others had invariably brought changes in the life of the tribal people in India, and Kerala also has a similar historical trajectory. Though conditions are improving, there is a persisting degenerative condition lived by the people and also there is a marked disparity in the extent of improvements. Grounding on two governmental key reports, one at the national level (Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India-2014) and one at the state level (Scheduled Tribes Development Department, Govt. of Kerala-2013), a contextual and thematic analysis of the sociocultural, economic and infrastructural aspects is made based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a group of settlements in Idukki district, Kerala. The study reveals that there exists a scenario where the development reaches the ground differentially and reception by the beneficiaries also exhibits a continuum of aspirations, expectations, and realities. It also illustrates that for an effective realization of development initiatives certain cultural specificities and social dynamics at the basic level need to be emphasized.

Report, 2014

The tribal communities face disregard for their values and culture, breach of protective legislations, serious material and social deprivation, and aggressive resource alienation. Hence, the solution to these issues should enable the tribals to protect their own interests. Protecting the land and forest rights of tribal communities is equivalent to protecting their livelihoods, life and liberty. This remains one of the critical necessities of a welfare State. Therefore, laws protecting tribal land from alienation must be upheld at all costs; The right to natural resources in tribal lands has to be protected. They should only be accessed with the consent of the Gram Sabhas of the villages (both directly affected and in the zone of influence); While tribal lands hold much of the natural and mineral wealth of the nation, these resources cannot be alienated against their will. Moreover, communities who part with their lands have the right to share in the wealth and income so generated from its resources. Hence, a reasonable share of the wealth generated by the resources in their homelands must accrue to them by law, and the right to preservation of their language, culture and traditions, and to protect themselves against the loss of identity, must be recognized, protected, documented and allowed to thrive as a dynamic living culture.

Ph. D Thesis, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala, India , 2020

The concepts of development have been changing over time when ideological updating occurs all over the world. Over time, it has converted from conventional to micro-level approaches to find out solutions to individual poverty and deprivation (Alder, 2016). According to the Human Development Report of UPND in 2019, in India, there were strong horizontal and vertical disparities between the progressive and disadvantaged groups in the rate of human development, due to the gap in the convergence of basic capabilities and divergence in enhanced capabilities. In the case of aboriginals in the country, it is a fact that they have traditional capabilities for living in their own culture and tradition. But, the current scenario indicates that those capabilities are not sufficient for competing with modern technology and the attainment of a better standard of living. It meant that the ratio of human development of the oppressed communities linked with its members' capabilities and capital formation. The lowest rate of the Human Development Index of the Scheduled Tribes in the country has revealed their socio-economic backwardness, despite the governments providing constitutional protection, positive discrimination, and welfare measures. The policy frameworks of tribal development programmes in India mainly concentrated on the theoretical framework of the Basic Need Approach rather than the capability formation of the tribal population. So, the schemes based on the Basic Need Approach have been giving more priority to the establishment of the minimum requirements of tribes such as a house, drinking water facilities, sanitation, transportation facilities, etc. than the capability formation of tribal members. But, it was not essential for improving the standard of living of the tribal population. Moreover, the uniqueness of each tribal community has not been considered by the policymakers in the formulation of tribal development programmes. They predominantly focused on the mainstream development perspective rather than the tribal perspective. Also, there were strong socio-economic and cultural disparities between indigenous communities in Kerala, especially between the advanced and deprived groups. It reveals the government interventions have not been successfully reached out among the members in the deprived or moderate tribal groups. Hence, it is pertinent to enquire how far the tribal development programmes can properly address the specific needs of each tribal community in the state. The capability approach of Amartya Sen emphasized that external factors such as social arrangements of the society, nature of government policies, access to infrastructure facilities and public utility services, freedom to speak, involvement in social and political activities, etc. can influence the capabilities of individuals (Goodpal, 2013). In the case of tribal communities in Kerala, external forces like the migration of non-tribes to tribal lands, land alienation, transformation of the local economy, insufficient infrastructure facilities, social disintegration, educational backwardness, geographical isolation, etc. adversely affected the enhancement of the capabilities of tribes in the state. Thus, in the context of continuing the deprivation and vulnerabilities among aboriginals, this study tried to examine the impact of the Tribal Sub Plan on the capability formation of various tribal communities in Kerala. It mainly focused on the effects of initiatives under the TSP in provisioning the basic human needs of tribal population in the aspect of domicile land, housing, drinking water facilities, availability of electricity, and access to PDS; the role of the TSP and other public investments in the social empowerment of tribal communities in terms of the education, health, employment and livelihood opportunities, and the services getting from the government, which are enhancing the human capabilities of selected tribal population; the challenges and issues which generating hurdles in the execution of TSP programmes, especially in the policy formulation and governing process of tribal development in the state.

Social Vision

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) are a sub-classification from the broader class called scheduled tribes. Among the 750 aboriginal tribes 10%, i.e. 75 are identified as PVTGs who are primitives among the primitives, backward among the backward, most neglected, and disadvantaged groups. High concentrations of PVTGs are found in Odisha (13) followed by 12 in Andhra Pradesh and 09 in Bihar including Jharkhand. Although the criteria-based identification process is criticized by some scholars as inadequate it helps the Government to launch specific programmes like the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Modified Area Development Agency (MADA), Micro projects, and Dispersed Tribal Development Programme (DTDP) for their welfare. Like the tribals, they face numerous challenges. The need of the time is to relocate them and to launch tribe and area-wise on-the-spot programs. They need at the same time to preserve their separate identity and cultures. The present paper is an attempt to study the method of identification of the PVTGs across the country, their ongoing conditions, and their vulnerability. The author has taken into consideration some of the selected case studies to emphasize tribal discontent across the country. A major part of the information for this present paper is collected from secondary sources.

International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (IJHSSI), 2021

Attappady, the first tribal development block in the Indian state of Kerala provides a stark dissimilarity to the general development experience of the state. Even after fifty years of formation, Attappady is suffering from environmental issues, land degradation, malnutrition, lack of social and human capital etc. which culminated in a crisis with massive infant deaths in the region in 2013. Developmental interventions play a vital role in improving the condition of tribal communities and as such a plethora of interventions were made in Attappady after the crisis. The article based upon both primary and secondary data examines the impact of tribal development programmes implemented in Attappady after the crisis. Even though there have been some positive changes in the situation of tribes in terms of educational, health and livelihood attainments, the issues still remain in spite of the huge amount of money flowing to the region in terms of different development schemes. Lack of awareness, inadequate infrastructure facilities, dearth of quality education, unavailability of sustainable employment opportunities etc. still remain as major problems in the hamlets. In order to uplift their situation a holistic approach is needed synergizing the actions through a bottom-up approach.

Odisha' in India is known as one of the largest tribal-dominated states. Of late, the Economic Survey 2010-11 at the state assembly has claimed that Odisha has achieved 9.57% against the national average of 7.79%; at the same time, the state has witnessed a wide range of regional and social disparities in development, failing to address economic circumstances of the underprivileged and marginalised groups of KBK and Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. Although the state and central government has introduced an immense number of tribal development programmes and schemes, but in reality they have failed to reach the targeted population in many ways. The question remains whether there are flaws in the scheme or a lack of proper implementation of tribal development policies or a lack of awareness. The reasons may be numerous; however, less effective actions have been undertaken at the grass-root level to curb the crisis. The Mankirdia who are particularly vulnerable tribal groups of Mayurbhanj are nomadic tribal groups. The government in recent times has tried to settle the tribal groups by providing various tribal developmental schemes and programmes. This case-study has tried to critically analyse the impact of development programmes on Mankirdias on their transit phase from nomadic to settled living in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha.

Indian Journal of Public Health, 2021

The term "tribes" refers to a group of people who live in isolated and unpolluted environments, that is, forests and mountains that are far from the highly developed modern civilization. [1] They have a well-defined life with definite rules, morals, customs, traditions, language, and ways of worship. [2,3] According to anthropology, "tribe" is a system of the social association consisting of a common culture, name, language, simple economy, political system, religion, beliefs, and ancient law. [4] The tribal people of India have been referred to as Adivasi, forest tribes, hill tribes, backward tribes, primitive tribes, and indigenous people (animists) for many centuries. In certain regions, the indigenous people are also referred to as first people, First Nations, aboriginal or native people, or autochthonous people, as they are the primitive or earliest known inhabitants of that region, as compared to the groups that have more recently settled, occupied, or colonized the region. [5,6] TriBAL PoPuLATionS of indiA India has the largest tribal population in the world and is the second-largest country in terms of tribal population after Africa. [7] According to the 2011 census in India, the tribal "Adivasi" is the collective term for tribes, an indigenous population, and ethnic minorities of India. In general, tribal populations live in harmony with nature and resources within their habitat and largely reside in segregates in an unpolluted and natural environment away from modern civilization. As per the 2011 census, India contains 705 scheduled tribes (STs) and subtribes and 75 primitive tribal clusters. The ST population of Tamil Nadu, India, was found to be 794,697 and broadly spread in 38 districts constituting 36 tribes, among which 6 tribes were grouped as "particularly vulnerable tribal groups" (PVTGs), namely (1) Todas, (2) Kotas, (3) Kurumbas, (4) Irulas, (5) Paniyas, and (6) Kattunayakas, as the number of population in these tribal communities is either declining or remaining static. The state government is offering lots of benefit schemes for the STs, but they have not reached the tribal groups. Health problems of tribal communities have been profoundly influenced by different factors such as social, cultural, educational, economic, and political practices. The tribal peoples are exceedingly disease prone as they do not have access to basic health-care facilities. Therefore, concerned policymakers should focus on the changing health needs of tribal communities. In this regard, the current review article has been focused on the complete details (language, occupation, worship or deity, subdivisions or other names, etc.) of these six PVTGs and also to concentrate on the kind of problems they face while living in the societies. Therefore, the government and nongovernmental organizations need to find a way to improve their livelihoods and health status.