Anthropology Optional (Paper 2 Section B) (Problems of the Tribal Communities) by Sourabh Mishra Sir

Model Answer

Question #1. Discuss the problem of tribal displacement in India. Evaluate steps taken by GOI in countering the consequences of tribal displacement.

Approach:

•   Introduce why tribal displacement is happening
•   Discuss causes for tribal displacement and its extent
•   Also discuss consequences of the tribal displacement
•   Evaluate the steps taken by the government
•   Way forward
•   Conclusion

Hints:

In India almost 70% of mineral resources are invariably located in the tribal inhabited regions. The forest resources and other political aims of the British government opened up tribal areas for exploitation.

Later on, India’s developmental policies had their own effect on tribal displacement & rehabilitation. The consequent industrialisation & urbanisation resulted in social, economic, political and cultural problems. Majority of displacement of tribals is from the central Indian region.

Causes:

• Industrialisation: developmental projects of five year plans, mining & quarrying etc.
• Irrigation projects for example Subarnarekha dam in Jharkhand, Keol Karo dam near Ranchi, Narmada dam, Polavaram dam etc.
• Urbanisation & land acquisition for urban growth
• Energy projects like Hydroelectric Power Projects, Nuclear power projects like Kudankulum, Thermal power plants etc.
• Displacement due to reservation of forest for Wildlife sanctuary, Biosphere reserves and National Parks. Example: Nagarhole Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka.
• Mining and quarrying: Vedanta and POSCO in Odisha.
• Livelihood loss caused by environmental degradation & pollution.
• Land acquisition for military establishments

Extent of tribal displacement

Tribal community roughly comprises 8.6% of total population but over 50% of those displaced belong to tribal people. According to L. K. Mahapatra, out of total displaced population, 40% is tribal, 20% is SC and rest 20% constitutes OBCs. 29” report of the Commissioner of SC & ST and Tribal Workshop of 8” FYP supports this data.

Consequences:

•   Land alienation
•   Industrial nomadism
•   Destruction of NMS complex
•   Food insecurity
•   Homelessness
•   Problems of culture contact

Steps taken by government: 

Legislations

• • The Assam land Revenue Regulation Act, 1964.
  • In Bihar the Scheduled Area Regulation, 1969 which provides protection to the Scheduled Tribes against the alienation of their land and against exploitation by money lenders.
  • The Gujarat State Government by a notification issued in April 1961, under Sec.73-A of the Bombay Land Revenue Code 1879 prohibited the transfer of occupancies held by the tribal cultivators in Scheduled Areas.
•  Under the Kerala Arable Forest Land Assignment Rules 1970.
  • Kerala Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 1969 by C. Achutha Menon government which put an end to the feudal system and ensured the rights of the tenants on land, came into force on 1 January 1970. However, cash crop plantations had been exempted from its purview.
• PESA (Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act 1996)
  • It safeguards and preserves the traditions and customs of the people, and their cultural identity, community resources, customary mode of dispute resolution.
  • PESA empowers Gram Sabha/Panchayat at appropriate level with right to mandatory consultation in land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation of displaced persons.
• LARR act (Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013):
  • The amount of compensation much higher (four times higher in rural areas and two times in urban areas) than the Old Act
  • The element of consent for Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement are included in this Act.
  • Time bound and transparent process
• FRA (The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006):
  • The Act recognizes and vest the forest rights and occupation in Forest land in Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) who have been residing in such forests for generations.
  • The Gram Sabha is the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of Individual Forest Rights (IFR) or Community Forest Rights (CFR) or both that may be given to FDST and OTFD.

Policies:

National rehabilitation & Resettlement Policy, 2007

•   Policy covers all cases of involuntary displacement
•   Social impact assessment introduced for displacement of 400/200 or more families in plain/tribal, hilly, scheduled areas
•   Tribal Development Plan in case of displacement of 200+ ST families
•   Consultations with Grama Sabha or public hearings made compulsory
•   Principle of rehabilitation before displacement
•   If possible, land for land as compensation
•   Skill development support and preference in project jobs (one person per nuclear family)
•   Rehabilitation grant in lieu of land/job
•   Option for shares in companies implementing projects to affected families

Novel steps:

Joint forest management

•   Under JFM, village communities are entrusted with the protection and management of nearby forests.
•   The communities are required to organize forest protection committees, village forest committees, village forest conservation and development societies, etc.
•   Each of these bodies has an executive committee that manages its day-to-day affairs.

In return of their services to the forests, the communities get the benefit of using minor non-timber forest produce.

As a result, the forest can be conserved in a sustainable manner.

•   For example:

Controlled grazing of cattle by the Gaddi and Gujjar tribes in the Himalayan states prevents the widespread growth of wild grass, thus contributing towards conservation of biodiversity.

Way Forward:

•   D. Sharma, former IAS & chairperson of the National SC & STs Commission suggests that there is a need to prepare the tribals to benefit from industries by training and inculcating entrepreneurship in them to grab the opportunities provided by industrialisation & urbanisation.
•   He also suggests that the displaced people should be given houses, employment and health facilities, education facilities and not only cash payments.
•   As far as possible, minor irrigation projects are to be taken up as an alternative to major and medium irrigation projects. 
•   The project cost should include rehabilitation cost also; otherwise it should not be approved by the government. The time gap between preparation and execution of a project is to be used for training the tribals on particular skills to be employed in the same industry.
•   All projects should be put to public debate & their possible impact on tribals. Gram Sabha should be given rights to decide about land acquisition.

Conclusion:

The displacement of tribals is inevitable as the resources required for national development & upliftment are mainly located in tribal areas. There is a need for integration of tribal interest and national interest which can be fulfilled only by adequate compensation and proper rehabilitation of the displaced tribals. The process of rearrangement of human settlement i.e. (displacement and rehabilitation) should be as just, humane and voluntary as possible. There is a need for a people centric rehabilitation approach.

Question #2. Write short notes on Problem of bonded Labour among Indian tribes.

Approach:

• Introduce the term bonded labour with historical perspective
• Discuss the causes behind it
• Give examples of bonded labour system
• Quote constitutional safeguards
• Measures needed

Hints:

It is a practice in which employers give high-interest loans to workers who work at low wages to pay off the debt.

The Supreme Court of India has interpreted bonded labour as the payment of wages that are below the prevailing market wages and legal minimum wages.

Bonded labour was historically associated with rural economies where peasants from economically disadvantaged communities were bound to work for the landlords.

Bonded labour is found to exist in both rural and urban pockets in unorganized industries such as brick kilns, stone quarries, coal mining, agricultural labour, domestic servitude, circus, and sexual slavery.

Causes:

• When adversity and hardships hit the poor in the form of natural disasters, or failed crops, they are compelled to migrate elsewhere for the sake of their survival and their families’ survival.
• Hungry and impoverished in every possible way, they often fall prey to the opportunistic and greed-driven feudal landlords, and quarry owners, always on the lookout for a pool of cheap labour.
• They are promised two meals and shelter, and perhaps a token sub-human wage, in return for hard labour.
• The entire family falls into the trap, for it seemingly resolves the two immediate requirements – food and shelter.
• Agriculture debt among tribals from moneylenders
• Land alienation in the name of development projects forced tribals out of their lands and lend them into bonded labour

Example of Bonded labour among Indian tribes:

Goti system among Juangs of Odisha:

• Tribal indebtedness is a huge problem, often leading to situations of bonded labour.
• Among the Juang PVTGs in Odisha, many families are forced to labour in repayment of their debt in a system locally called goti system
• This is despite the prevalence of the central law as well as the Orissa Debt Bondage (Abolition and Regulation) Act, 1948.

Hali system- Sahariya:

• Tribal groups such as the Sahariya in Baran, Rajasthan continue to work as bonded labour for rich landlords for generations.
• Many of them are agricultural labourers working under the hali system which is one of the forms of bonded labour banned under the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act 1976.
• Many Sahariyas were tricked into accepting loans with exorbitant interest rates and subsequently have had to work for big landowners without wages

Bondage labor is known by different names in different states:

• Jana manjhi/ ijhari in the Poonch region of Jammu and Kashmir,
• Vet/Begar among the tribes of Dhorkoli, Katkari, Worli and Bhil of Thane and Nasik districts of Maharashtra
• Begar among the Paniyans of Wayanad and Taluk and Gudalur Taluk of Nilgiri of Tamil Nadu
• In Bihar, where the system is known as kanua and sevakias in Palamau, kamiauti in Santhal Parganas, harwahi in Bhagalpur, kandh in Deoghar, bhaoti in Godda and krishari in Dumka.
• In Karnataka, the system is known as jeetha, which is a corrupt form of Jeevitha, meaning lifetime.
• Debt bondage in Rajasthan is known as the sagri system, one of the most hideous manifestations of usury with its attendant elements of oppression and exploitation.
• In Uttar Pradesh, the system was known by different names, such as begar, bandhwa mazdoor, bandhak, bajgee, sevak, harwah, etc., and was prevalent in agriculture, stone quarries, brick kilns, matchbox and fireworks factories, bidi, brassware, glass bangle and carpet manufacturing industries.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS AND LEGAL SAFEGUARDS:

• Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees the right to life and liberty.
• The Indian Supreme Court has interpreted the right of liberty to include, among other things, the right of free movement, the right to eat, sleep and work when one pleases, the right to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment, the right to integrity and dignity of the person, the right to the benefits of protective labour legislation, and the right to speedy justice.
• Article 23 of the Constitution prohibits the practice of debt bondage and other forms of slavery both modern and ancient.
• Trafficking in human beings and begar and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with the law.
• Article 24 prohibits the employment of children in factories, mines, and other hazardous occupations. Together, Articles 23 and 24 are placed under the heading “Right against Exploitation,” one of India’s constitutionally proclaimed fundamental rights.
• Article 39 requires the state to “direct its policy toward securing:

The health and strength of workers... that the children of a tender age are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength.

That children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.”

Despite constitutional provisions and legislations like the Bonded labour prohibition act, this practice exists in India.

Measures Needed to End Bonded Labour:

• Organising national campaigns to provide information to the public on how to report and identify victims of bonded labour.
• Popularising the National Child Hotline which is partly supported by the Ministry of Women & Child Development, and a national helpline for trafficking victims exists, run by Operation Red Alert.
• Efficient rehabilitation of rescued victims to prevent them from being forced into bonded labour again.
• Productive and income generating schemes must be formulated in advance otherwise they will again fall back upon the system of bonded labour after their release.
• India is obliged to end modern slavery by 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goal (Target 8.7) of ending forced labour, human trafficking and child labour