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Tribal Communities in India

The Concept of Tribes

Indian Tribe Definition

W.H.R. Rivers
• A tribe as 'a social group of simple kind, the members of which speak a common dialect,
have a single government, and act together for such common purposes as warfare’.
In Oxford Dictionary of Sociology
• ‘Tribe’ is defined as a social group bound together by kin and duly associated with a
particular territory; members of the tribe share the social cohesion and associated with the
family together with the sense of political autonomy of the nation.
Dictionary says the word 'tribe' is derived from the Latin term 'tribus' which was applied to the
three divisions of the early people of Rome
A Generic Definition
• A body of Indians of the same or a similar race, united in a community under one
leadership or government, and inhabiting a particular though sometimes ill‐defined
territory.

Key Features Of Tribes In India

• India is the abode of a sizeable proportion of indigenous people, who still live away
untouched by the shadows of modern society.
• To identify and distinguish these communities, the Chanda Committee in the year 1960 had
laid down 5 standards to include any community/caste in the tribal group.

Features as recognized by Ministry of Tribal Affairs

1. Primitive traits
2. Distinctive culture
3. Geographical Isolation
4. Shyness from general Population
5. Backwardness

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Tribes as Adivasis
• The tribes in India are also called as “adivasis”.
• The term is a modern Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by tribal political activists to give
an indigenous identity to tribal people by claiming indigenous origin.
• Please note that the Government does not officially recognise tribes as indigenous people.

Definitional Problems and Geographical Spread

Sociologists, anthropologists, social workers still not on same wavelength about the definition of
the tribes
Arthur Wilke
"For years ambiguity has stalked India's official portrait of tribal people “.

Analysis of Thakorlal Bharabhai Naik’s traditional definitions of Tribals

Thakorlal Bharabhai Naik’s Analysis of Problems with traditional definitions of
Tribals
In Indian Context, T.B Naik has given the following features of tribes:
• A tribe should have least functional interdependence within the community.
• Economically backwarded (i.e. primitive and traditional means of exploiting natural
resources, tribal economy should be at an underdeveloped stage and have multifarious
economic pursuits).
• A comparative geographical isolation of its people.
• Having a common dialect.
• Politically unorganized and community panchayat should be influential.
• Have their own customary laws.

Problems with traditional definitions of Tribals

1. Living in forest- Dublas of Surat and host of others do not live in forests. They live in fertile
plains
2. Primitive religion- There is a continuance from tribal gods, to Hinduised tribes some
converted to Christianity, Islam
3. Geographic isolation- Hundreds of tribes who are not living an isolated life-- (Bhil Santhal,
Irula)
4. Primitive economic system- Many peasant groups who are living by equally primitive
economic system.

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5. Economic backwardness - Many of the tribes are self-sufficient and more economically
forward than many castes. For e.g. Khasi, Gond, Bhil are more economically specialised
than their non tribal neighbours.
6. Common language or dialects - Common in Assam and other Central Indian tribes but not
for many Western and Southern Indian tribes.
7. Politically organised- May not always be politically organised or even have a tribal
Panchayat. Some tribals may or may not have single chief or a few elders. Schedule 5,6,
TAC, PESA is changing political orgainsation of tribal areas.
8. Joint ownership of property - May or may not be true. For e.g. among Hos it is not
exclusive FRA

Definitional problems due to

1. Dynamics of tribes- no more traditional stereotype.
2. Tremendous increase in population and migration.
3. Welfare policies have led to breaking the stereotypes.
D.N. Majumdar:
Except for the tribes of Eastern India, everywhere else ethnic strains have crisscrossed in the sub-
continent

Definition as a Continuum
He suggests that the definition of tribe should be seen in a continuum: the tribe at one end and
caste.
On the other end
1. Srikanth- 1) tribals, 2)semi tribals, 3) Acultural tribes, 4) Assimilated tribes.
2. Ghurye- Hinduised tribes → Partially Hinduised tribes → Hill section people.
3. DN Mujumdar- Primitive tribes → Tribe with degree of association → Hinduised tribe
4. Elwin- Most primitive → Individualistic → Detribalised → Tribal aristocrats.
5. Even Beteille says "there is no satisfactory way to define a tribe. It can only be explained
through the continuum”

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Keyword to remember definitional issues of Tribes – RIPPLED

Tribes, Constitution and Laws

Tribes in Constitution of India
• According to the constitution of India, tribal communities have been given recognition as
scheduled tribe in Schedule 5.
• Article 366 (25) defined scheduled tribes as “such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or
groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be
Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution”
• The inclusion of a community as a Scheduled Tribe is an ongoing process.
• There is reservation of seats for the Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha.
• 47 seats are reserved in Lok Sabha For Scheduled Tribes.
• The R.P.Act, 1950 gives the State Wise break up.
• The number of seats is decided on the basis of proportion of Scheduled Tribes in the State
concerned to that of the total population.

Constitutional Safeguards
1. Article 15(4) → Special provisions are made for educational advancement of the Scheduled
Tribes. These provisions are like reservation of seats and relaxation in marks in admission
to educational institutions, scholarships, etc.
2. Article 46 → State to promote with special care to education and economic interests of SC
and ST and protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.
3. Articles 330 and 332 → Seats are reserved for SC and ST in Lok Sabha & State Vidhan
Sabhas.

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4. Under Article 339(1) → The President may at any time appoint a Commission to report on
the administration of the Scheduled Area and the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and
Tribes in the State.
5. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was established by amending
Article 338 and inserting a new Article 338A in the Constitution through the Constitution
(89th Amendment) Act, 2003

Demography of Tribes
Population of Tribes
• They comprise a substantial minority population of India, making up 8.6% of India's
population or 104.2 million people in India, according to the 2011 census.
• In Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, we have the maximum population of
scheduled tribe.
• The STs in India make the largest proportion of the entire population in Lakshadweep and
Mizoram, closely followed by the states of Meghalaya and Nagaland.
• Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Pondicherry have no STs.

Distribution Of Tribes
• The Scheduled Tribes are notified in 30 States/UTs and the number of individual ethnic
groups, etc. notified as Scheduled Tribes is 705.
• 89.97% of them live in rural areas and 10.03% in urban areas.
• The decadal population growth of the tribal’s from Census 2001 to 2011 has been 23.66%
against the 17.69% of the entire population.
• The sex ratio for the overall population is 940 females per 1000 males and that of Scheduled
Tribes 990 females per thousand males.

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Geographical Spread
The tribal population can be demarcated in the following three geographical zones:
1. North-North-Eastern Zone: It includes the tribal areas of Ladakh (Jammu & Kashmir),
Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Sikkim and the North East comprising seven states
(Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura).
2. Central or Middle Zone: It includes West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Southern Uttar Pradesh,
Southern Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra.
3. Southern Zone: It includes Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and the
Andaman – Nicobar.

Some major tribal groups

1. More than 4 million Gonds live in MP, Maharashtra, AP
2. More than 4 million Bhils live in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP.
3. More than 3 million Santhals in Orrisa, Jharkhand, WB.
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Variation in socio-economic development
1. Mostly patrilinear- but some matrilinear (Garo)
2. Embraced different religions
1. Naga, Mizo, Santhals, Munda- Christianity
2. Bhutia, Lepcha- Buddhism.
3. Bhils, Bhimis- Hinduism
3. Occupations
4. Food gatherers, forestry, shifting cultivation, agriculture, labourers.

Literacy Rate

Colonial Policies and Tribes

Colonial Policies – 4 Aspects

Ideas behind British Policies towards Tribals

1. The Dominant Policy Of British → To safeguard their isolation in officially declared
excluded or partially excluded areas.

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2. In Practice → however, the policy of isolation was seriously compromised by the dominant
concern of the colonial State for maximising revenue extraction, because regions of tribal
concentration were typically the richest in terms of endowments of forest and mineral
wealth.
3. The policy of isolation translated itself into a general policy of non-interference with tribal
customs and traditions, except where these became barriers to the extractive objectives of
the colonial State.
4. Entirely alien and fundamentally destructive concepts of State ownership of forests and
private property of land, were laid for the exploitation of tribal wealth which continues
until the present day.
5. At the same time, the colonial administrators encouraged Christian missionaries, whose
main ideology was of ‘assimilation’, albeit into Christianity, rather than the caste Hindu
mainstream.
6. Although, missionaries contributed very significantly by providing educational and
health services in difficult and remote tribal regions.

Administrative Policies: 3 phases

1st phase (1782-1827)
1. Came with contact of tribal first in Bengal
2. Revolt of Paharias of Rajmahal hills against Hindu Zamindars
3. "Cleveland", the administrator recognised this problem and decided to specially
administer the area (Rajmahal hills). Civil and criminal jurisidiction provided to local
elders of the hills. However, this experiment did not succeed due to corruption and mal-
administration.

2nd Phase (1855-1919)

1. Pattern on administration experimented with paharias continued till 1855.
2. Till then Santhal revolution: leading to creation of Santhal district.
3. Then 1858- Queens proclamation: Giving right to every community to right to its own
culture.
4. 1861 act- Tribal areas brought under special administration- officers given special civil and
penal powers.
5. 1870 act- Powers given to GG in council issues laws and regulations for "scheduled tracts"
(areas inhabited by tribes).
6. 1919 act- Brought the concept of "backward tract" (where tribals lived with other
communities). In case of BTs- only modification of all India laws was sought, whereas for
STs exclusive administration and local arrangements were thought necessary.

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3rd phase (1919-1947)
1. Britishers feared Tribals joining freedom struggle so they designed the policy of isolation.
2. GOI act 1935- tribal areas divided into 2:
1. Partially excluded- Governor sought advise of village administrators.
2. Wholly excluded areas- Governor acted in his discretion.

Forest Policies
1. Lord Dalhousie declared "Teak" a state property.
2. Restrictions were also put on collections of MFP (Minor forests produce).
3. 1855 - Formal forest policy declared.
4. 1865 - Restrained some local practices and customs.

Act of 1878
1. The entire forest areas in the country were classified in to:
• Reserve forest
• Protected forest
• Village forest
2. Allowed forest dwellers to enjoy the rights to some extent but restricted from owning.
Applicable only to the forest under control of the government and no provisions were
made to cover private forests.

5 different successive acts

• Act was followed by five different successive acts from 1901 Indian forest act to 1927
Indian forest Act, there was gradually taking the control of over the forest to regulating
people‟s control over the forest lands and produce.
• It radically changed the forests from common property into state property.
• It was also the beginning of the alienation of village communities from forest.

After Independence
Some rethinking on the issue of the forest policy:
1. In 1952 a new national forest policy - Forest policy should be based on the paramount
national needs.
2. Use of forest shouldn't be permitted at the cost of national interests.

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3. The concept of national interest was interpreted in a very narrow sense.
4. The destruction of forest for the developmental projects was justified in the name of
national interest and community was discouraged from using the forest.
5. The forest officials of India thought mainly of increasing the revenue from forests, treating
advasis as the enemies of the forests.
6. Criticized - The mere extension of government authority over forest.
7. The traditional rights of tribes were no longer recognized as rights.

1988 Act
• Objectives –
o Maintenance of environmental stability
o Conservation of the national heritage
o Increase in tree cover
o Meeting needs of the tribes
o Encouraging efficient use of forest produce
o Afforestation programmes.
• While this policy has more people – oriented statements, it still has the concept of exclusive
state ownership of forest and mention industrial needs as national needs.

The Forest Act of 2006

1. It attempts not only to correct a historic injustice committed by the colonial and post–
colonial rulers but also vest in forest communities as primary role in sustaining forest
ecosystems by restoring their rights as well as their environmental duties.
2. The greatest value of the Forest Act of 2006 is that it effectively recognizes the rights of
forest dwellers who previously were considered encroaches on state land.

How Government used to see Forest

1. The forest is the pivot around which the tribal life revolves, but for the state, the forest is
simply a source of raw materials for industry and revenue for itself.
2. In some states the Forest Department is a major source of revenue for the government.
3. It is no wonder that successive plans, policies, and legislation have resulted in restricting
the rights and usage of forests by millions of tribal people for whom forests are their only
refuge and source of sustenance.

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Summarising the Colonial Policies and Afterwards

Colonial Policies And Tribes
• Lord Dalhousie : Teak, state property (No MFP)
• 1878 Act : 3 classified - Reserve, Protected, Village
• 5 acts : State’s control increased

After Independence → 3 types of forests

1952 -> National interest (Development, Tribals excluded, enemies of forest)
1988 -> Environmental stability (afforestation, environmental nations) (meeting needs of Tribes)
2006 -> Forest dwellers rights (MFP, IPR on traditional knowledge, 4 hectare/family, some duties
to protect)

Forest Act
• User right
• Ownerships
• Control right (buy/sell land)

Issues Of Integration And Autonomy

Constituent Assembly Debate
The Constituent Assembly debate on tribal autonomy saw the clash of two schools of thought:
1. The Assimilationists
2. The Liberals

The Assimilationists
The assimilationists argued that tribes in the schedule areas should be absorbed into the larger
society.
They argued for an inclusive Indian nation that basically reflects a vision of the liberal state, for
which the axis of reference is the republican notion of freedom:
• No social distinctions
• No hierarchies
But there will be a sum of individuals whose membership in the nation will be determined by the
freedom he/she enjoys.
The assimilationists considered terms like scheduled areas, reserved areas, or excluded areas a
colonial baggage and argued for a uniform administration in independent India.
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The Liberals
• They thought that tribals should be given autonomy, along with the self-governing rights.
• The underlying assumption behind this view is that tribes should be integrated but they
should be allowed to preserve their own autonomy.
• Integration along with autonomy would also mean the respect for the pluralities of tribes.

In the initial years after Independence

• After Independence, the senior political leadership in India particularly Prime Minister
Nehru, sought to define the contours of a progressive and sensitive tribal policy that
steered clear of the excesses of both ‘isolationism’ and the implied civilisational arrogance
of ‘assimilation’.
• Nehru maintained that tribal people possess a variety of cultures and are in many ways
certainly not backward.
• In seeking to bring to these communities the benefits of health education and
communication, he said that "one must always remember, however, that we do not mean to
interfere with their way of life but want to help them to live it. The tribal people should be helped to
grow according to their genius and tradition”.

Why such a Stance

• This unusual sensitivity derived partly from the influence that anthropologists like
Verrier Elwin who stressed that in designing development programmes for tribals, their
special cultural strengths must be respected and nurtured.
• BN Majumdar: Policy of ‘Limited Assimilation’
• A lot of practices like environmental protection, respect of women, elders, marrying late
can be learnt.

Nehru’s landmark Tribal Panchsheel

• The search for an appropriate middle path of integration, falling between the two
extremes of isolation and assimilation, was concretised in Nehru’s landmark Panchsheel.
• This is called the Policy of Integration.

Tribal Panchsheel
1. Avoid imposing anything on them. Try to encourage in every way their own traditional
arts and culture.
2. Tribal rights in land and forest should be respected.

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3. Try to train and built up a team of their own people to do the work of administration and
development. Some technical personnel from outside will, no doubt, be needed, especially
in the beginning. But avoid introducing too many outsiders into tribal territory.
4. Do not over-administer these areas or overwhelm them with a multiplicity of schemes,
rather work through, and not in rivalry to their own social and cultural institutions.
5. Judge results, not by statistics or the amount of money spent, but by the quality of human
character that is evolved.

Memorising Tribal Panchsheel

Remember CLTOR
C: Culture (encourage them to promote)
L: Land Rights (Respect)
T: Team (their own)
O: Over–administer (don’t)
R: Results (not by money but by human character evolved)

Impact of Policies On Tribals

Impact On Tribals
1. Indian forest laws enacted in the 19th and 20th centuries treated forest dwellers and other
traditional forest users and especially their farming practices such as shifting cultivation as
a threat to forest ecology.
2. The British forest policies were mainly aimed at supplying the raw material for the
British based industries and commercial exploitation of forest was encouraged at the cost
of tribals in the name of national interest.
3. The state saw that the well–being of forest and forest dwellers as two different and
mutually exclusive options. This is based on a premise that the forests can be well
protected only if the local forest using communities are excluded, and that the needs of the
forest dependent communities can be met only if society is ready to suffer the loss of forest.
4. Despite the oppositions from tribal people, the forest areas are allocated to corporations to
invest in mining and other projects.
5. Now community is experiencing a new form of encroachment on their customary rights
by developmental interventions such as large dams, mining and conservation.
6. Social- Impact - Culture, Habit, Occupation
a. Culture affected due to missionaries.
b. Habits such as Pan chewing, liquor consumption increased due to proliferation of
money lenders in the areas.
c. Traditional occupations were affected.
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7. Political - Rights, Migration, Poverty, segregation
a. Statehood - Jharkhand, Chattisgarh
b. Educated middle class
c. Many tribal movements have emerged
1. For control of many vital resources
2. For matters of ethnic-cultural identity
d. Poverty increased
e. Forest rights alienation
f. Led to migration to cities
g. Policy of segregation meant, no infrastructure was built in these areas

Case of NEFA
• The Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Commission, headed by U.N. Dhebar (1960)
later endorsed and elaborated this policy of integration.
• Despite such progressive policy, with the singular exception of the North-East Frontier
Agency (NEFA) (Arunachal), the policy of integration was not implemented with any
notable success in tribal India.
• For the opening up of the hitherto isolated, and strategically sensitive, tribal highlands of
NEFA, a committed and trained group of exceptional officers were grouped into what
was designated as the Indian Frontier Administrative Service.
• They closely interacted on a day-to-day basis with Nehru and Elwin.
• Elwin advised them, ‘Integration can only take place on the basis of equality: moral and
political equality’.
• It is significant that NEFA, now designated Arunachal Pradesh, remains the only state in
the Northeast, which is not convulsed with militancy.
• Incidentally this is the only state in India where certain tribes have attained a hundred per
cent level of literacy.
Examples
1. Meena and Bhils are existing side by side with majority
2. Khond and Oraon are absorbing themselves with the dominant group
3. Nagas and Mizos are attempting to seek political independence based on equality

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Problems of Tribals In India

Problems of Tribes
1. Displacement
2. Rights over forest
3. Naxalism
4. Poor development Indicators
5. Stigma over tribal identity
6. Lack of voice & represent.
7. Tribal Elites cornering benefits
8. Environmental degradation affecting livelihoods & lives
Six Main Problems Faced by the Indian Tribes
• Loss of Control over Natural Resources
• Lack of Education
• Displacement and Rehabilitation
• Problems of Health and Nutrition
• Gender Issues
• Erosion of Identity

Other Important Problems Of Tribals In India

• Land Alienation
• Forests & Tribals and Displacement
• Indebtedness, Poverty and Unemployment
• Health, Nutrition and lack of Health care services, Infrastructure and Medical staff
• Lack of Educational services, Infrastructure, Human Resources
• Identity, Cultural Problems and diffusion
• Concept of Private Property
• In-Migration of other communities
• Language Problem because of unwritten form.
• Problem of separatism

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Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)

Tribal groups are at different stages of social, economic and educational development.
While some tribal communities have adopted a mainstream way of life, at the other end of the
spectrum, there are certain Scheduled Tribes, 75 in number known as Particularly Vulnerable
Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
These are characterised by:
• Pre-agriculture level of technology
• Stagnant or declining population
• Extremely low literacy
• Subsistence level of economy

Important Schemes for Tribals

Various Legal Provisions + Government Schemes For Tribals
• Tribal Sub plan
• Ministry
• Trifed
• NSTFDC
• PESA
• Article 14-16
• Article 46/330 – 332
• NCST
• PVTGs

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Recommendations of Virginius Xaxa Committee
• Gram Sabha to be empowered (even for Linear acquisitions)
• Acquired but unused lands to be returned
• Tribal co–ops for mining
• No to big dams
• Naxalist killings to be probed by Judicial Enquiry

Government Schemes For Tribals

• Mechanism of Marketing MFP through MSP
• Development of value chain
• Tribes India
• Van bandhu Kalyan Yojana
• Review of FRA under PRAGATI
• District Mineral foundation
• Natural Scheduled Tribe Financial & Dev. Corpn. : Interest subvention

Ministry of Tribal Affairs

MoTA
• Policies
• Planning
• Coordn.
• Various central spon.
• Schemes

Tribal Sub Plan

• Skill Dev.
• Horti + Seri + Apiculture
• Dairy + Fish connectivity improvement
• Education
• Sports
• Culture
• Spl. Central assistance

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Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
Spl. Assistance under TSP to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
(which show Isolation, Shyness, Primitive traits, etc.)

Education
• Tribal Research Institutes
• Vocational Training (Kasturba Garden Balika Hostels)
• Scholarships
• Hostels

Jan Bandhu Kalyan Yojana

1. Outcome based approach to create enabling env.
2. Use of available resources to augment development.
3. Converging all existing schemes
4. State Govt to formulate long term perspective plan on 14 thematic areas
(Themes -> sustainable employment, health, education, flowing, sanitation, security)

Persistent Challenges In Tribal Development

1. Colonial exploitation (historical wrongs)
2. Displacement due to dams, miner, wildlife sanctuaries
3. Physical remoteness (lack of services)
4. Language barriers
5. Weakenings of institutions like tribal research institutes
6. Inefficient usage of funds under TSP
7. Security issues like Naxalism
8. Tribal Elites cornering benefits
9. Environmental degradation affecting lives & livelihoods
10. Lack of voice & representation in contemporary political circles
11. Sex Ratio: 990 but Child sex ration is declining
12. Literacy low and Dropout rate is high

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