A Vision Document

for the
JANJATIS of INDIA

Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram

in collaboration with
Rambhau Mhalagi Prabodhini, Mumbai
2015
A Vision Document for the Janjatis of India
© Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, 2015

For Private Circulation Only

Contents of this document may be freely quoted or reproduced giving due credit
to the publisher, Akhil Bharatiya Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, Jashpur Nagar.

Published by Akhil Bharatiya Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram, Jashpur Nagar.

Printed at D K Fine Art Press, Ashok Nagar, New Delhi.
Tel. 07763-223253, 223620. Email: kalyan.ashram@rediffmail.com
Fax: 07763-220885 Web: www.kalyanashram.org

AKHIL BHARATIYA VANAVASI KALYAN ASHRAM

Jashpur Nagar-496331 (Chhattisgarh)

Founder President: R. K. Deshpande Registration No: 79 dated 09/10/1956.

President: Jagdeo Ram Oraon Gen Sec: Chandra Kant Deo Org Sec: Somayajulu

Dated: 20 Nov 2015

Foreword from the President

Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (ABVKA) celebrated the completion of sixty years of its establishment,
Shasti Purti Varsha in 2012-13; it was followed by the celebration of the birth centenary of our Founder
President late Sri R. K. Deshpande, fondly referred to as Vanyogi Balasaheb. A number of events were held
during this period across the country concluding with the All India Workers’ Conclave at Ujjain in 2014.
In this period of celebration and introspection for the ABVKA, it was decided to prepare a Vision Document
for the Janjatis of India with the objective of reviewing all aspects the condition of the Janjatis and making
recommendations and suggestions for their all-round development and welfare. For this purpose, along
with many other events, several consultations and discussions on the Vision Document were held during
these two years. One of the largest such consultations was the ‘National Seminar on the Vision Document
for the Janjatis’ held in association of Rambhau Mhalagi Prabodhini at Keshav Shrusti near Mumbai.
The seminar was attended by a large number of prominent leaders of the Janjatis, important workers,
major scholars and many leaders of the Government, including the Honourable Union Minister for Tribal
Affairs, Sri Jual Oram; the Honourable Governor of Maharashtra, Sri Ch. Vidyasagar Rao; late Sri Dilip
Singh Bhuria; Sri Arjun Munda, former Chief Minister of Jharkhand; and, Sri Dattatreya Hosabale.
ABVKA is basically a social organisation undertaking service activities in areas of health, education and
culture, etc. But keeping an eye on policy issues and intervening on behalf of the Janjatis on crucial issues
concerning them is an important part of our work. The exercise undertaken to prepare a Vision Document
for the Janjatis is part of this advocacy and intervention work of the Kalyan Ashram.
The Janjatis are an integral and valuable part of the Indian society. Their population of 10.48 crore, according
to the count of 2011, is spread almost everywhere in the country, though they are specially concentrated in
the hills and forests lying in a wide central belt running from the northeast to the west. Being endowed with
a distinct physical environment, they have evolved distinct communal, cultural, linguistic, technological and
economic ways and traits of their own. On the other hand, being an inseparable part of the general Indian
milieu, they also share much similarity with the ways of the larger society around them. These distinctions
and similarities are both important; both need to be recognised and celebrated. The challenge before the
nation is to ensure that the Janjatis of India retain their distinctions and similarities and yet are able to
participate and share in the great national resurgence that India is going through. The ABVKA is dedicated
to the vision of Janjatis becoming an equal, proud and integral part of India while retaining their distinct
identity and ways. The Vision Document that we have drawn is also dedicated to the same objective.
This Vision Document, which is result of hard work of very large number of persons who have contributed
in diverse ways, is in your hands. I convey my thanks to all of them. They deserve congratulations for having
accomplished this important task. Our efforts will be justified if this Vision Documents makes all those
concerned with the welfare of the Janjatis, including the leaders of the Union and State Governments and
high administrators, conscious of their duty towards the Janjatis of India and makes all of us rededicate
ourselves to achieving the goal of making the Janjatis a distinct, yet proud, prosperous and integral part of
Indian society and polity.

Jay Bharat!

Jagdeo Ram Uraon

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 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

PREFACE

The Vision Document for the Janjatis of India is in your hands. This is result of year-long hard work
by hundreds of scholars, social anthropologists, civil society organisations associated with the Vanvasi
Kalyan Ashram (VKA), former Chairpersons and members of high constitutional bodies and of High Level
Committees (HLCs) constituted for the welfare of the Janjatis, serving and retired civil servants, social and
political leaders of Janjatis, including Honourbale Ministers of Union of India and of many States, and last
but not the least, the dedicated workers of VKA.
For preparing this document, we have consulted a large number of Reports of different Constitutional
Commissions, HLCs and other governmental, non-governmental agencies engaged in development
and welfare of the Janjatis in the country. Many of these Reports are awaiting response by the Union
Government since decades! In addition, we approached and obtained feedback from a number of jurists
and senior lawyers having knowledge and insight of policy and governance issues and the process of their
implementation.
We intend to take copies of this document to the high offices of the Honourable President and Prime
Minister of Bharat; the Honourable Union Ministers for Home Affairs, Tribal Affairs, Finance, Rural
Development and Panchayati Raj; and the MoEFCC; Honourable Chairpersons and members of the
National Commission of Scheduled Tribes, National Commission for Human Rights, the National
Commission for Women and other constitutional bodies. We shall also approach the NITI Ayog and all
the Janjati MPs of both the houses. We shall also take this document to the MoP&T and all the Training
Institutions engaged in the training of the premier All India Services.
In the States, we shall take this document to the Honourable Governors and Chief Ministers, especially
of the States covered under Schedule Five and Six of the Constitution; to the Ministers entrusted with
development and welfare of the Janjatis, Environment and Forests, RD & PRIs; to all Tribal Research
Institutions; National Tribal and other premier Universities; and to the Janjati MLAs.
All the premier print and electronic media houses and agencies shall also be approached to encourage
them to play a proactive role in the policy and governance issues concerning Janjatis and in monitoring
welfare and development of Janjatis.
And most importantly, with this document in our hands, we shall meet the Janjati communities—their
social, cultural and political leaders, their youth, all the Voluntary Organisations, NGOs and civil society
bodies who are playing important role in educating, awakening and organising the Janjatis for protecting
their rights and their all round development.
We were just instrumental in preparing this document; the real credit for this goes to all those mentioned
at the beginning of this Preface. This endeavour would be deemed successful only if all those persons and
agencies who are concerned with the Janjatis and their welfare and development respond to the issues
raised in this Vision Document promptly and in a positive manner.

Vishnu Kant
Joint General Secretary, ABVKA
and Co-Coordinator, Vision Document

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 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

CONTENTS

Foreword from the President, ABVKA............................................................................................................. iii

Preface................................................................................................................................................................ iv
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................... vi
Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................................. x

Section A: Governance and Administration

Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution: Janjatis and the Scheduled Areas......................................... 1
Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution: Janjati Areas of the Northeast.............................................. 4
The PESA Act........................................................................................................................................... 10
Environment and Forest Governance..................................................................................................... 14
Forest Rights Act...................................................................................................................................... 18
Article 275 (1): Financing the Commitments.......................................................................................... 22
Part XVI of the Constitution of India: Reservations............................................................................... 26
Governance in Non-Scheduled Areas...................................................................................................... 29
Land Alienation and Land Acquisition.................................................................................................... 30
Tribal Research Institutes........................................................................................................................ 34
National Tribal Policy............................................................................................................................... 36
Reports of Different Commissions and Committees and the Need for Third SAST Commission........ 37

Section B: Social and Economic Sector

Agriculture in Janjati Areas...................................................................................................................... 39
Seeds for Janjati Agriculture.................................................................................................................... 41
Water Resources and the Janjatis............................................................................................................ 42
Education and the Janjatis....................................................................................................................... 46
Health Nutrition and Sanitation in Janjati Areas.................................................................................... 49
Non-Timber Forest Produce.................................................................................................................... 51
Wildlife Conservation and the Janjatis.................................................................................................... 53
Mining and the Janjatis............................................................................................................................ 55
Skill Development for the Janjatis........................................................................................................... 59
Bonded Labour and Human Trafficking................................................................................................ 61
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs): Issues and Imperatives.............................................. 63

Appendices
Base Paper for the Mumbai Seminar....................................................................................................... 65
Address by the Honourable Governor of Maharashtra at the Mumbai Seminar................................... 70
Recommendations of the National Seminar held at Bhopal................................................................... 72
Executive Summary of the Seminar on the Janjatis of NE Bharat at Guwahati.................................... 74
List of Participants in the Mumbai Seminar............................................................................................ 75

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 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

INTRODUCTION

Background
The communities living in and near the forests and hills comprise a special and valued part of the Indian
society. They have a distinctive place in the Indian civilisational lore: the Ramayana and the Mahabharata,
the epic Itihasas of India, could hardly be complete without the crucial role played by the various hill and
forest-dwelling communities on several occasions. Leaders and representatives of these communities are
among the major advisors and associates of the heroes of these epics. Key periods of the life of Sri Rama
and Sri Sita, as also of the Pandavas of the Mahabharata, are in fact spent among the forest-dwelling
communities; without their help and support nothing could have moved.
These communities continued to play a key role in the polity of different parts of India throughout the
historical period. They were the unquestioned rulers of their own areas; and, the great kings of the region
around them often sought legitimisation of their kingship from the representatives of these communities.
During the period of Islamic rule over India, some of the more intense and persistent resistance came
from or with the cooperation of the hill and forest-dwelling communities. During the British period,
they kept up the resistance in many parts of the country and fought several valiant freedom struggles
against them.
These communities were thus never far away from the mainstream of Indian polity; they always
remained active and equal partners in the history and polity of India. However, in the modern times,
beginning with the period of British rule over India, these communities, like many other relatively
vulnerable social groups within Indian society, have been left behind in most of the parameters of social
and economic progress. The hill and forest dwelling communities were specially vulnerable in the new
circumstances, because of the relative remoteness of their habitations and limited fertility of their soils
on the one hand and the great richness of the forest and mineral resources in their areas on the other,
making them particularly attractive for modern commercial exploitation. In this period, the hill and
forest dwelling communities lost their natural space in the polity; lost control over their land, water, forest
and mineral resources; were uprooted from their habitats; and were in general impoverished and emaciated.
It is therefore good that while drafting the Constitution of free India, the constituent assembly took note
of their particularly vulnerability in the modern circumstances, and created a distinct place for them
in the Constitution as the ‘Scheduled Tribes’ requiring special administrative and political privileges
and arrangements for their uplift; some of the regions inhabited largely by the hill and forest-dwelling
communities were also designated as ‘Scheduled Areas’.
Following the constitutional mandate and the political compulsions of a democratic polity, several legal and
administrative structures have been created for the welfare and protection of the Scheduled Tribes during
the last six decades, with the object of giving them some level of political and administrative autonomy and
restoring to them some control over the natural resources in their areas. It needs to be appreciated that
the Scheduled Tribes have remained a matter of special concern in the polity of Independent India. Many
of their representatives have got the opportunity to play important roles in the national and State politics;
some of them have occupied key positions in the administration at the national and lower levels. They have
also been represented in various other fields of national life including sports; many of them have excelled
and obtained distinction in their chosen fields.
But in spite of all these positive developments, the Scheduled Tribe communities remain economically backward
and their literacy and health levels remain far below the average. The process of being uprooted from their
homes and lands to make way for the development projects has not only continued but has become even faster
in the six decades of independent functioning of India. And, notwithstanding the various constitutional and
legal protections, they continue to lose control over their land, water, forest and mineral resources.
Taking note of the situation, the ABVKA, on the occasion of the completion of sixty years of its establishment
(Shasti Purti Varsha 2012-13) and the birth centenary of its founder President Vanayogi Balasaheb
Deshpandeji (2013-14) decided to prepare a Vision Document for the Janjatis (Scheduled Tribes) of
India, with the objective of comprehensively reviewing the situation in its diverse aspects and suggesting
measures to ensure the Scheduled Tribes of India emerge as equal, healthy and prosperous parts of the
resurgent Indian nation, proudly contributing to the task of nation-building through their distinct ways
within their distinct environments.

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 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram

The Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram is the premier organization working for the welfare of the tribal
people of India, better referred to as the Janjatis. The Ashram was established in 1952, with the blessings of
Shri Vallabh Bhai Patel, the then Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India and Shri Ravi Shankar
Shukla, the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, and drawing inspiration from Shri Thakkar Bappa, the
legendary social worker, who was the first to recognize the urgent need for work among the underprivileged
communities of India. Even at that early stage, there was a realization among important leaders of India that
to put into practice the lofty vision for the Scheduled Tribes that the Constitution of India incorporated there
was a need for a social organization working among and with the Scheduled Tribes. Shri Ramakant Keshav
Deshpande, better known as Balasaheb Deshpande, began the work of the Ashram in December 1952 at
Jashpur, now in Chhattisgarh. Today, the work of the Ashram extends to all parts of India and it is the largest
social organization in the world working for the welfare of the tribal communities.

Preparatory Consultations
For the preparation of this Vision Document, the Ashram undertook a programme of extensive and wide-
ranging consultations involving nearly all prominent individuals, institutions and organisation concerned
about the welfare of the Janjatis. Many of these individuals and organisations were represented in the series
of seminars and formal consultations that were held in preparation for the Vision Document. These included:
1. ‘National Seminar on Tribal Society and Mass Communication Media: Image and Reality’ held at Bhopal
in association with Van Sahitya Academy, Jabalpur and Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of
Journalism and Communication, Bhopal (18-20 June, 2012);
2. Chintan Baithak of Prominent Persons of the Janjatis’, held at Nashik (21-23 November, 2014);
3. National Seminar for Preparation of the Vision Document for Janjatis, held at Mumbai (6-8 Feb, 2015);
4. All India Chintan Baithak of ABVKA, held at Chitrakoot (09-12 April, 2015); and,
5. Vision Document Seminar for the Janjatis of Northeast Bharat, held at Guwahati (07-09 August, 2015).
These Seminars and Baithaks had very wide attendance. The National Seminar at Mumbai went into every
issue concerned with the Janjatis in detail; most of the specific issue-based notes in this document were
discussed and finalised in this Seminar. The Seminar was very widely attended; a list of participants has
been included as an appendix to this document.

Vision Document: Governance and Administration

The Vision Document presented here is divided into two sections. The first section deals with issues concerning
Governance and Administration. In this section, we present a detailed review of the constitutional and legal
framework created for Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Areas. The issues discussed in this section include:
the Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Constitution of India that specify special constitutional arrangements
for the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Areas; Article 275 (1) of the Constitution that makes the financial
provisions for meeting the nation’s commitment to the Scheduled Tribes; Part XVI of the Constitution that
facilitates reservations at different levels for the Scheduled Tribes; the PESA and the FRA, two legislations
that have created a new supportive and protective legal framework for the Janjatis; and, issues concerning
land acquisition and land alienation, which are central to the protection of the Janjatis and protection of their
natural and cultural habitat. The section also includes discussion on the various Commissions and Committees
that have gone into the status of the Janjatis during the last six decades; on the need for strengthening the
Tribal Research Institutions to act as repositories of knowledge on all aspects of the history, culture and life
of Janjatis; and, on the need for the adoption of a comprehensive national policy for the Janjatis.
The specific detailed recommendations and suggestions for improving these constitutional, legal,
administrative and institutional arrangements and making them more effective are given at the appropriate
places. The most important of these recommendations are:
1. Governor’s Janjati Cell:
The constitutional protections given to the Scheduled Tribes, especially those in the Fifth Schedule, which
covers a large majority of the Janjatis, crucially involve the Governors of different States as the protectors
of the Janjati interests. To ensure that the Governors are able to perform this constitutional mandate it
is important that there must be a separate Janjati Cell as part of the Governor’s establishment in every
State falling under the Fifth Schedule. With such a cell in place, it would be possible for the Governors to

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 Introduction

systematically apply their mind on the variety of issues concerning the Janjatis that fall within their domain.
This shall also make the constitutionally mandated institution of the annual report on the condition of
Janjatis that the Governors in the Fifth Schedule States have to submit to the Parliament more effective
and less ritualistic. Here it may be mentioned that in matters concerning the Janjatis the Governor is
expected to act on his own discretion and not merely follow the advice of his Council of Ministers. This is
the constitutional position and has been interpreted in this manner by the Courts. However, to underline
the onus placed on the Fifth Schedule States by the Constitution to exercise their discretion in matters
pertaining to the protection and welfare of Janjatis, the central Government may consider clearly stating
it in the Schedule itself. But the Governors can hardly be expected to reasonably exercise this discretion
without an effective Janjati Cell within their establishment.

2. Committed Administrative Cadre for the Janjatis:

To man the Governors’ Janjati Cells and to properly implement the constitutional and legal arrangements
designed for the welfare of the Janjatis, it is important to have a committed cadre for the Janjatis; such a
cadre could be evolved within the regular administrative cadres of the Union and State Governments by
picking up officers who are interested in and are sensitive towards the Janjatis and training them in the
history and culture of the Janjatis and the specific issues that concern them. Such a trained, committed
and sensitive administrative cadre would go a long way in fulfilling the constitutional vision concerning
the Janjatis.
3. Full Implementation of PESA, FRA and Land Acquisition Laws:
The Parliament in its wisdom has legislated these laws that create a strong supportive legal framework
that is crucial for the welfare of the Janjatis and protection of their cultural and natural environment. It
is important that these laws are implemented by all States in the spirit in which these have been passed by
the Parliament with a sense of concern and goodwill towards the Janjatis. So far the Janjatis have borne the
brunt of displacement related to development projects. In future, we must ensure that the displacement of
Janjatis from their traditional lands is minimised and no displacement occurs without adequate consultation
with the affected communities and without provision of full resettlement and rehabilitation facilities.
4. Inclusion of uncovered Scheduled Area and Tribes in the Fifth Schedule:
Though a majority of the Scheduled Tribes come under these Schedules, many Janjatis live in areas that
are not covered by these constitutional protections. Inclusion of new areas in the Fifth Schedule based on
clearly defined criteria needs to be undertaken expeditiously. Many proposals from various States in this
regard have been pending since long.

5. Constitution of third Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes (SAST) Commission:

The Constitution requires the Union Government to set up a SAST Commission every ten years
to review the status and condition of Janjatis and make recommendations for the fulfilment of the
constitutionally defined vision for them. So far only two SAST Commissions have been constituted and
even their recommendations have not been taken seriously. It is time now for the Union Government to
constitute the Third SAST Commission; in addition to its normal duties, the Commission should be
tasked to look into the unfulfilled recommendations of the earlier two Commissions and suggest ways of
implementing those immediately. The Third SAST Commission would also become the instrument for
laying down the roadmap for the fulfilment of the Vision for the Janjatis envisaged in this document.
6. National Tribal Policy:
A National Tribal Policy has been under the consideration of the Union Government for several years. It
is important that the policy is expeditiously adopted by the Government and placed before the Parliament
so that the fulfilment of the Vision for the Janjatis becomes a national commitment.

Vision Document: Social and Economic Sector

The second part of the Vision Document presented here deals with issues concerning the Social and
Economic sector. In this section we present a detailed review of the situation of the Janjatis and Janjati
areas in matters concerning Agriculture, Water, Education, Health, Minor Forest Produce, Mining,
Skill Development, Wildlife, Human Trafficking, Bonded Labour and on the special problems facing
the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups. All these issues are of crucial importance for the Janjatis.

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 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

Without a concerned, equitable and sensitive approach on these socio-economic issues, all of the elaborate
constitutional, legal and administrative framework that we have constructed for them will prove to be of
little value for the Janjatis.
The condition of the Janjatis and Janjati areas in the various aspects of socio-economic life is described in
some detail in the Vision Document and there we also give detailed suggestions and recommendation for
improving their situation. The most important of these recommendations are:

1. Agriculture:
Economic and cultural life of the Janjatis is based in agriculture. Agriculture is also the key to the welfare
and development of the Janjatis. The objective of all policy for the Janjatis should be to substantially
increase agriculture production and productivity in the Janjati areas. Agricultural growth in the country
has a whole would raise all boats and help the development of all communities in India, but it is of particular
importance for the Janjatis.

2. Education:
Janjati communities continue to remain behind others in literacy; that gap has to be filled quickly. But
the country is now moving towards privatization of the education sector at a rapid pace. In this new
environment, it is important to make proper arrangements to ensure that there is no slackening of
educational opportunities for the Janjatis and other under-privileged groups. Efforts must be made to
greatly increase the number and amount of educational scholarships and hostel facilities for the Janjatis and
in the Janjati areas. The Janjatis must also be given a special place in the new thrust on skill-development;
it would be a rewarding exercise to weave school and higher education in Janjati areas around varied skills,
as envisaged by Gandhiji in his scheme of education.

3. Health:
Janjati communities remain behind others in almost all parameters of health and nutrition. Like in
education, the country is moving rapidly towards privatisation of health delivery. In this new environment,
it is important to ensure that adequate public health and supplementary nutrition facilities are made
available for the Janjatis and other under-privileged groups. This needs to be done at a priority level so
that all communities in that country are brought up to a minimum level of health and nutrition.

4. Mining:
In the new environment of rapid economic development, more and more Janjati areas are likely to be
opened up for mining and mineral exploitation. In this process, it must be assured that the preservation of
the natural environment of the Janjati areas is given due consideration, the displacement and dispossession
of Janjatis is minimised, policy of NO Second Time Displacement of any person and all legal requirements
are followed in good faith and with a sense of responsibility and concern towards the Janjatis.

5. Minor Forest Produce:

Minor Forest Produce is one of the main sources of livelihood for the Janjatis. A special emphasis should be
placed on offering the Janjatis adequate rights on the minor forest produce and on giving them adequate
training and equipment for proper utilisation of these resources.
In general, the Janjatis need to be protected from exploitation and the natural environment, including the
water resources and rich biodiversity, of the Janjati areas needs to be preserved. We need to evolve a new
sensitivity and concern at all levels on these issues. Such concern and sensitivity alone can assure that the
Janjati communities, culture and environment are adequately preserved and the Janjatis become equal,
valuable and proud parts of the mainstream of India while retaining their distinctive identity and ways.
This Vision Document is dedicated to this end.

Dr. J. K. Bajaj
Centre for Policy Studies, Delhi and Chennai
Co-Coordinator, Vision Document

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 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many persons have contributed to the preparation of this document. Large numbers have participated
in the various formal and informal consultations and discussions held to look at various issues concerning
the Janjatis of India. Many prominent leaders of the Janjatis, many Members of the Parliament and of
Legislative Assemblies of the States from the Janjati communities, several serving and retired IAS and IFS
officers, Senior Advocates of the Apex Court, and scholars and thinkers concerned about Janjati issues
took part in these consultations. It is impossible to name all the prominent persons who have contributed
to this task. We convey our deep gratuity to all of them for sparing so much of their time and energy. We
hope that their efforts would contribute in quickly achieving the vision for Janjatis which all of us share and
which we have tried to portray in this document.
We also convey our special thanks and gratitude to Rambhau Mhalagi Prabodhini, Mumbai for hosting and
co-organising the Seminar at Mumbai; to the Department of Tribal Welfare, Maharashtra Government
for providing financial support for the Seminar; specially the Honourable Minister of Tribal Welfare,
Maharashtra, Sri Vishnu Savra, for personally gracing the occasion; to the Honourable Union Minister of
Tribal Affairs, Sri Jual Oram, who found time from his busy schedule to be present at the Mumbai Seminar;
and, most importantly, to the Honourable Governor of Maharashtra, Sri Ch. Vidya Sagar Rao, who not
only agreed to join us for the valedictory function of the Mumbai Seminar, but also greatly encouraged in
our efforts by his stirring and insightful address on the occasion.

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 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

Section A: Governance and Administration

Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution:

Janjatis and the Scheduled Areasi

T he Constitution of India makes special

provisions for the governance of areas inhabited
by the Janjatis. These provisions are specified in
include: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand,
Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan.
the Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Constitution. Three-fourths of the Janjati population of India
The Schedules derived their authority from Article lives in the areas covered by this Schedule.
244 of the Constitution, the first Clause of which
Thus, for a vast majority of the Janjatis of India,
says that the ‘provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall
the Fifth Schedule provides the constitutional
apply to the administration and control of the
protection they require for preserving their
Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in any State
distinctive ways, customs, lands and other natural
other than the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura
resources. In addition, of course, they have
and Mizoram’. The second Clause of Article 244
access to the reservation in the Parliament and
goes on to specify that the provisions of the Sixth
the Legislative Assemblies of the States, and in
Schedule shall apply to the tribal areas in Assam,
the services and posts under the Government,
Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
as provided in Part XVI of the Constitution. We
The origin of these special provisions of discuss the provisions of the Fifth Schedule in
the Constitution is in the British practice of this chapter. Issues concerning this Part of the
designating the areas inhabited by the Janjatis as Constitution shall be taken up elsewhere.
‘excluded area’ and ‘partially excluded areas’ and
keeping these outside the legal and administrative Provisions of the Fifth Schedule
arrangements applicable in the rest of the country.
The Fifth Schedule is drafted in a simple and brief
At the time of the framing of the Constitution, a
manner. Part A of the Schedule simply extends
Sub-Committee of the Advisory Committee on
the executive power of the State to the Scheduled
Fundamental Rights and Minorities was formed
Areas, subject to the provision of this Schedule.
under the Chairmanship of Shri A. V. Thakkar
The next provision requires the Governor of a
to deliberate on the provisions to be made for
State having Scheduled Areas to make a report
Scheduled Areas and Tribes in the region outside
to the President regarding the administration
the Northeast. A separate Sub-Committee headed
of the Scheduled Areas in that State annually, or
by Shri Gopinath Bordoloi looked into the issues
whenever so required by the President.
concerning the Tribal Areas of the Northeast. The
Reports of the Thakkar and Bordoloi Committees Part B of the Schedule has two provisions. The
formed the basis of the Fifth and Sixth Schedules first of these prescribes the establishment of a
of the Constitution, respectively. Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) in each State
having Scheduled Areas to advise the Governor
The Sixth Schedule confers great autonomy on
‘on such matters pertaining to the welfare and
the Tribal Areas; we shall discuss the details of it in
advancement of the Scheduled Tribes in the State
the following chapter. The Fifth Schedule on the
as may be referred to them by the Governor’. On
other hand generally relies upon the sagacity and
the directions of the President, such TACs may
paternalistic instincts of the Governor to ensure ‘the
be established even in States that have Scheduled
welfare and advancement’ of the Janjatis living in the
Tribes but no Scheduled Areas.
Scheduled Areas in his State. Though the provisions
of the Fifth Schedule are much weaker than those of The second provision of Part B authorizes the
the Sixth Schedule, but it extends to a much larger Governor to restrict or modify the application of
area than the latter. Currently, Scheduled Areas and any Act of the Parliament or the State Legislature
Scheduled Tribes in ten States of India come under in the Scheduled Areas, and it further empower the
the protection of the Fifth Schedule. The States Governor to make regulations for the peace and

1
 Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution
good governance of any part of a Scheduled Area
and in particular to prohibit and restrict the transfer
of land and regulate the business of money-lending
in such areas.
Part C of the Schedule authorizes the President to
declare any area as Scheduled Area or remove any
Scheduled Area or part of it from the list. Part D
provides for amendment of the Schedule by the
Parliament.
We have given this summary of the Fifth Schedule
to underline the fact that the only two substantive
provisions that the Schedule are: One, conferring
of special powers on the Governors of the States
having Scheduled Areas to act for the protection and
welfare of the Janjatis; and, two, the establishment
of the Tribal Advisory Councils (TAC) to advise
the Governor in matters concerning the Janjatis.
The role of theses Councils is purely advisory, as is
obvious from their name, and they can advise only
on matters referred to them by the Governor. So it
is only the Governor, whose role is significant and
meaningful in the scheme of the Fifth Schedule.
This structure of the Schedule gives rise to many
areas of concern, most of which have to do with
the failure of the Governors to effectively fulfill the
difficult role assigned to them and the inability of
the TACs to intervene in any meaningful manner.
Below, we list some of the Areas of Concern, many
of which have been pointed out by several Expert
Committees and Commissions.
Areas of Concern
1. As pointed out in Mungekar Committee’s III
Report of 2009ii and in many other reports
concerning the Scheduled Tribes, none of the
Governors of the State, excepting a few, has
exercised the powers enshrined in the Fifth
Schedule in its true spirit.
2. The annual reports of the Governors mandated
in the Schedule are often delayed and the
reports are often bureaucratic in nature.
3. A confidential report sent to the President by
the NCST, published in Down to Earthiii, has
also complained of the failure of Governors in
performing their duties in this regard.
4. The TAC meetings are held merely to
complete the formalities rather than discussing
serious issues concerning the Janjatis and the
Scheduled Area.
5. There is no dedicated secretarial support
available to the TACs for monitoring the
implementation of the decisions taken in their
meetings. The TACs are activated just before a
meeting.
6. There is no specific Janjati Cell in the offices of
2
the Governors to help them fulfil the onerous
constitutional responsibility entrusted upon
him in the Fifth Schedule; the only exception is
that of the Governor of Maharashtra, who has
recently taken some initiative in this regard.
7. There is a serious deficit in administration of
the Scheduled Areas. There are large numbers
of vacancies at all levels of administration across
departments.
8. Even the statutory institutions like the Gram
Sabhas, leaving aside the traditional institutions
of the Janjatis, are ignored in the framing of
plans for the Scheduled Areas.
9. Officers and other staff having no knowledge of
the traditions and culture of Janjatis are posted
in the Scheduled Areas. Both the officers
involved and their superiors treat such postings
as punishment postings.
Way Ahead
In order to effectively implement the Fifth Schedule
of the Constitution, we recommend as below:
A. For the States and their Policy Makers
1. There should be a separate Janjati Cell in
the establishments of all Governors of States
with Scheduled Areas to help the Governor
effectively fulfill the mandate of the Fifth
Schedule. The Governor of Maharashtra has
taken the lead in this. Other States should
replicate it.
2. The Fifth Schedule puts onerous responsibilities
on the Governors in the matter of the
administration of the Scheduled Areas and
welfare of Scheduled Tribes. In the spirit of the
Schedule, this responsibility is to be discharged
by the Governor as a representative of the
Union and in this matter he is not bound by
the advice of his Council of Ministers. However,
this needs to be spelled out clearly in the
Schedule itself. The Second SAST Commission
deliberated on this issue and recommended
as under:iv
The Commission after having examined the
provisions of the Fifth Schedule and on the
basis of the views and opinion taken from a
cross section of the tribal people, tribal leaders,
Members of the Tribes Advisory Councils, social
organisations, tribal development authorities
as well during the Commission’s interaction
with them recommends that there should be a
paragraph inserted at the end of the paragraph
4 and 5 of the Fifth Schedule which should read
as under:
“The Governor in the discharge of his functions
under the Fifth Schedule shall after consulting
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
the Council of Ministers and the Tribes Advisory
Council where there is one, takes such action as
he considers necessary in his discretion.”
The Government of India vide the letter dated
15.06.2010 has clarified that the Governor is not
bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers
while dealing with issues under the Fifth Schedule.
However, amendment of the Schedule as
recommended by the Second SAST Commission
is necessary going by the past experience in
this regard.
This issue was also raised by many Governors in
one way or the other in the recently concluded
Governors’ Conference (2015) held in Delhi.
3. It is a matter of great relief that the issue of
administration and governance of the Scheduled
Areas is being seriously discussed in the Governors’
Conference for the last couple of years.
4. It is a matter of great satisfaction that for the
last 2-3 years, the Honourable President is
giving special attention to the issues concerning
the Scheduled Areas and the Scheduled Tribes
in the Annual Meetings of the Governors’
convened by him.
5. Calling a separate meeting of Fifth Schedule
Area States (may be bi-annually) should be
initiated for drawing special attention to and
arriving at a consensus on issues pertaining
to the Scheduled Areas. Chief Ministers of the
concerned States and their Attorney-Generals
may also be invited in these meetings. Poor and
differently implementation of PESA and the
FRA (specially the CFRs) warrants it apart from
reviewing of the state of affairs with regard to
implementation of Fifth Schedule and TACs.
6. The Governors should be allowed to invite
sugges­tions from the public for preparing their
Annual Report to the President under the Fifth
Schedule. The Governor of Maharashtra has
taken initiative in this matter, which may be
followed by others.
7. Laws and policies enacted by the Parliament and
State Legislatures should not be automatically
applied to the Scheduled Areas in a routine
way. These should be considered in the TACs.
In the light of the recommendation of the
TAC, the Governor should take a considered
decision whether to apply or not apply the
said Act in the Scheduled Areas, or to apply
it with modifications in the whole or parts of
the Scheduled Areas. Such consultation and
i
http://lawmin.nic.in/olwing/coi/coi-english/Const.Pock%202Pg.Rom8Fsss(33).pdf
ii
http://hlc.tribal.nic.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/file/Mungekar%203rrd%20report.pdf
iii
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/governors-in-the-dock-40701
iv
See Page 65 Volume-I of the SAST Commission Report (2002-2004)
3
consideration by the Government is in the
spirit of the Fifth Schedule.
8. Annual Reports of the Governors concerning
the administration of the Scheduled Areas
should specifically mention steps taken by them
with regard to safeguarding interests of the
Janjatis in their States with special reference to
Section 5 of Part B of the Fifth Schedule. The
Reports should also include a note on the status
of and difficulties being faced in implementation
of PESA and the FRA in their States.
9. TACs should be restructured to make them
more democratic forums by accommodating
at least 40 percent representation of the
Chairpersons of District Panchayats or District
Autonomous Councils, as the case may be.
The current structure of the TACs comprising
mainly of the Janjati members of the State
Legislatures is highly unrepresentative.
10.
Recommendations of the Second SAST
Commission on Scheduled Areas on issues
concerning the Fifth Schedule should be
considered and prompt action should be initiated.
11. Inclusion of new areas in the Fifth Schedule
based on clearly defined criteria should be
undertaken expeditiously. Many proposals
from various States in this regard have been
pending since long.
B. For Voluntary Organisations
1. Organisations working among the Janjatis
should regularly and constantly keep in touch
with Governors of their States so as to make
them aware of the facts of governance and
administration in the Janjati areas.
2. Members of TACs, especially the MLAs, should
be aware of the rights and duties associated
with such membership so that they may play an
active role in TACs.
C. For Janjati Communities
Community leaders of the Janjatis should regularly
communicate the status and functioning of the
social institutions and of administration and
governance in their areas to the Governors of their
States. This would help the Governors get direct
feel of the situation prevailing in their States. These
inputs from the community leaders may form part
of Annual Reports of the Governors or may be
referred by them to TACs for consideration.
The Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution:
Janjati Areas of the Northeasti

T he Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India

makes special provisions for the administration
of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and
Mizoram. The Schedule derives its authority from
Article 244(2) of the Constitution, which mandates
that “the provisions of the Sixth Schedule shall
apply to the administration of the tribal areas in the
State of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.”
Article 275(1) of the Constitution further mandates
that funds for the administration of the tribal areas
specified in the Fifth or the Sixth Schedule shall be
paid from the Consolidated Fund of India and thus
provides the resources necessary for operationalizing
the provisions of the Sixth Schedule.
The Sixth Schedule is sometimes referred to as
a ‘Mini Constitution’ in itself. It provides for the
autonomous governance of the tribal areas through
their elected District and Regional Councils. These
Councils are endowed with extensive Legislative,
Executive and Judicial powers under the Schedule
and also have the authority to levy of taxes in
certain cases.
On the subjects falling under the purview of the
District and Regional Councils, the laws made by
the State legislature do not apply to a Tribal Area
unless the relevant District or Regional Council so
directs, and while thus extending a law of the State
legislature to a Tribal Area such Council may direct
that the law shall apply ‘subject to such exceptions
or modifications as it thinks fit’. Even the laws
made by the Parliament do not necessarily extend
to the Tribal Areas. Under the Sixth Schedule, the
President or the Governor has the power to direct
that even a law made by the Parliament shall not
apply to these Areas or shall apply only ‘subject to
such exceptions or modifications as he may specify
in the notification’.
In the British times, the tribal areas of the
Northeastern region of India were kept out of the
purview of the laws and administrative procedures
established in the rest of the country. These areas
were first termed as ‘Backward Tracts’ under
the Government of India Act, 1919 and later as
‘Excluded Areas’ or ‘Partially Excluded Areas’
under the Government of India Act, 1935. During
the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly,
there were demands for making special provisions
for these Areas. Sub-Committee of the Constituent
Assembly headed by the then Premier (Chief
Minister) of Assam, Shri Gopinath Bordoloi,
deliberated on this issue. The Sixth Schedule was
framed on the basis of the report of the Bordoloi
Committee. The report was extensively debated
in the Constituent Assembly from 5th to 7th
September, 1949 and was adopted after various
Amendments. The ‘Tribal Areas’ defined in the
Sixth Schedule thus correspond to the ‘Excluded
Areas’ or ‘Partially Excluded Area’ of the Northeast
as defined in of the Government of India Act of
1935, which even otherwise formed the template
for a majority of the provisions of the Constitution
of India.
Incidentally, a separate Sub-Committee headed
by Shri A. V. Thakkar looked into the question
of such areas in parts of the country outside the
Northeast; the Report of the Thakkar Committee
formed the basis for the Fifth Schedule of the
Constitution, which makes special provision for
the administration of areas of high concentration
of tribal populations outside the northeast. In
the Fifth Schedule, these areas are termed as
‘Scheduled Areas’. As of now, the provisions of
the Fifth Schedule extend to specified ‘Scheduled
Areas’ in 10 States of India. The Fifth and Sixth
Schedule form the backbone of the governance
of areas of Janjati concentration or domination in
India. The relative advantages and disadvantages
of these two sets of provisions and their relative
efficiency in protecting the interests of Janjatis
have been a matter of continuing debate amongst
those concerned with the Janjatis.
Powers of the District Councils
Let us now return to the provision of the Sixth
Schedule. Under the Schedule, the District Councils
(DCs) form the basic legislative, administrative and

4
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
judicial units for the governance of the Tribal Areas
defined in the Schedule. DCs are constituted by
direct elections held on the basis of adult suffrage
in which the political parties participate as in the
election for the State Assemblies and the Parliament.
The party or the group that secures a majority in
the elections forms the Executive Committee of
the District Council. The Executive Committee is
headed by the Chief Executive Member. It needs to
be underlined that the District Councils are created
for the administration of the Tribal Areas and not
only the Tribal people; non-tribal people living
in these areas are equally entitled to vote for and
contest election as members of the DCs.
DCs have the power to make laws on the subjects of
land and forest, agriculture and cultivation, village
administration, public health and sanitation,
appoint-ment of village headman, inheritance,
marriage, divorce and social customs. Laws made
by the legislatures of Assam, Mizoram and Tripura
on above subjects are not applicable to tribal areas
unless so directed by the District Councils. However,
when the State of Meghalaya was constituted in
1972, the Schedule was amended to provide that
in that State the State laws, even on these subjects,
shall apply to the Tribal Areas without consent or
approval of the DCs.
DCs can levy land revenue and taxes on professions,
vehicles, markets, roads etc. These also exercise
powers to make regulations for control of money
lending and trading by non-tribals.
District Council Courts administers justice where
all the parties are from the Janjatis through the
establishment of Village Councils, which have
the power of Courts. These courts are under the
Executive Wing of the District Council and not fully
independent. District Councils act as Courts of Appeal
for cases tried by the Village Councils or Courts.
The Governor of a State occupies a pivotal position
in the administration of Tribal Areas of that State
and exercises extensive powers under the Sixth
Schedule. This role of the Governor is similar to that
of the Governor in respect of the Scheduled Areas
under the Fifth Schedule. The Sixth Schedule also
mandates that the “Governor of each State having
Scheduled Areas therein shall annually, or whenever
so required by the President, make a report to
the President regarding the administration of the
Scheduled Areas in that State and the executive
power of the Union shall extend to the giving of
directions to the State as to the administration of
the said areas.” This clothes the Governor with an
additional layer of responsibility and power with
respect to the administration of Tribal Areas.
In fact, nothing effective and meaningful can be done
by District Councils without the involvement of the
5
Governor. Under Article 163 of the Constitution,
the Governors exercise their powers on aid and
advice of the Council of Ministers of the State. This
has given rise to a feeling that the extensive powers
given to the Governors in the Sixth Schedule
have become a source of interference by the State
Governments in the functioning of the District
Councils. In the spirit of the Sixth Schedule, the
Governors are expected to act in their discretion
to protect the interests of the Tribal Areas in their
States. The Governors of Assam, Mizoram and
Tripura do exercise their individual discretion in
certain specified areas. This tension between the
special role of the Governor in matters concerning
the Janjatis and the constitutional requirement
about the Governor acting in the aid and advice
of his Council of Ministers manifests in the States
covered under the Fifth Schedule also. But this is
an issue that needs to be resolved, possibly through
joint discussions among the Governors of both the
Fifth and Sixth Schedule States. Such discussion
could lead to the establishment of best practices and
procedures that the Governors in all States could
follow in matters concerning Janjatis. The MOTA
should be expected to take a lead in arranging for
such gubernatorial discussions through the good
offices of the President of India.
Situation in Different States coming under
the Sixth Schedule
Assam
In the State of Assam, the Janjatis form 12.45% of
the total population. They are located mainly in a
few pockets of the State. Presently, in Assam, there
are three District Councils constituted under the
Sixth Schedule. Two of the District Councils, namely,
Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and Dima
Hasao Autonomous District Council were originally
created in 1950. A third Council, the Bodoland
Territorial Council (BTC) came to be constituted
in 2003 under a settlement with the Bodo Janjati
people. The Council covers the territory of four
districts, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri,
which have been formed by carving out regions of
Bodo concentration in eight of the earlier districts
of Assam. The Bodolad Territorial Council covers
more than one-third of the area of Assam.
In addition to the District Councils under the Sixth
Schedule, there are six Autonomous Councils
comprising of plains tribes constituted through
State legislation. BTC was also constituted in 1993
under a State Act and was brought under the Sixth
Schedule in 2003.
It is probably a measure of the casual manner in
which the Autonomous Councils are being treated
 Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution
in the State that no Rules have been yet framed
even for the BTC, which has been created after
a long struggle and extensive negotiations. The
BTC area has been witnessing large scale ethnic
clash. The formation of the BTC in 1993 and its
incorporation under the Sixth Schedule in 2003
does not seem to have improved the situation.
Mizoram
In Mizoram, 94.4 percent of the population is from
the Janjatis. Initially the entire State was under
the Sixth Schedule. However, when Mizoram was
granted statehood under the State of Mizoram
Act, 1986, only two out of eight current districts of
the State were brought under the Sixth Schedule.
However, the whole State was given special status
under Article 371-G of the Indian Constitution
to protect Mizo customs, Mizo customary law and
practices and ownership and transfer of land, etc.
The two districts where the Schedule applies
are Lawngtlai and Saiha in the south of the State
bordering Myanmar. These are covered by three
Autonomous Councils inhabited by Chakama, Mara
and Lai Janjatis. Chakmas, who have considerable
presence in Lawngtlai and the neighbouring Lunglei
districts, are mainly Buddhists; the proportion
of Buddhists in Lawgtlai seems to have declined
considerably in the last decade of 2001 to 2011.
Tripura
In Tripura, Janjatis form 31.7 percent of the total
population. The Sixth Schedule came to be applied
to the Janjati areas of the State only in 1984. It covers
about 70% of the geographical area of the State.
Meghalaya
In the population of Meghalaya, the Janjatis have
a share of 86 percent. This the only State that is
administered under the provisions of the Sixth
Schedule in its entirety, excepting a small part of
Shillong town. However, since the State Assembly
itself is supposed to represent the Janjatis, the
powers of the District Councils in the State are
much less than its counterparts in the three other
States of Assam, Mizoram and Tripura.
Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur
Janjatis form 68.8% of the population of Arunachal
Pradesh and 86.5% of Nagaland, yet no part of
these two States have ever been administered
under the Sixth Schedule, even though these two
States were declared as ‘Tribal Area’ under the
Constitution in 1950. , no part of Manipur, where
Janjatis form 40.9% of the population and a much
higher proportion of the hill districts, comes under
6
the Sixth Schedule. Nagaland, like Mizoram, is
given a special status under Article 371-A of the
Constitution, which provides for the protection
of customary practices of the Nagas and certain
other communities within Nagaland. Article 371-A
and Article 371-G, which applies to Mizoram, are
similar to the Sixth Schedule in their intent and
form. However, there is no special constitutional
protection available to the Janjatis of Arunachal
Pradesh and Manipur.
Manipur is the only State of the seven States of
the Northeast to which the provisions of the Sixth
Schedule have never been applied. However,
District Councils were constituted in the Hills
Areas of the State, initially under the Manipur
(Hill Areas) District Council Act, 1971 passed
by the Parliament. The Act was later replaced
by the Manipur Hill Areas Autonomous District
Council Act, 2000; later still, the Act of 2000 was
repealed and the Act of 1971 restored with some
amendments. Notwithstanding the various changes
in the enabling law, the District Councils have
continued to function in the Hill Areas of Manipur.
Recommendations
Personal discretion of Governors may be defined
uniformly
The question of the discretion of the Governor is of
the utmost importance in the proper implementation
of the Sixth Schedule in the States where it
applies. As we have mentioned earlier, this issue
requires serious deliberation to arrive at a nation-
wide consensus on the role the Governors should
perform as constitutional guardians of the Janjatis
in their States. Here, we mention some issues in this
context that require immediate attention.
In certain instances, the Sixth Schedule specifically
grants discretionary powers to the Governors. Para
20 BA of the Sixth Schedule requires the Governor
of Assam to act in his discretion in respect of 18 items
mentioned therein. Similarly, Para 20BB mandates
similarly discretion for the Governors of Mizoram
and Tripura in respect of 13 items specified in
the Para. These two Paras were inserted through
amendments to the Schedule. No such discretion
has been mandated for the Governor of Mizoram.
The Governors must have the power to act in their
discretion at least on the following two issues:
a) Dissolution of District Councils under Para 16
of the Sixth Schedule.
b) Appointment and removal of nominated members
to the District Councils.
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
With respect to dissolution of the DCs, presently,
the Governors of Assam, Mizoram and Tripura act
in their personal discretion; however, the Governor
of Meghalaya is bound by the advice of his Council
of Ministers.
With respect to the second issue mentioned above,
the Governors of Assam, Mizoram and Tripura
act in their discretion on the appointment of
nominated members. The Governor of Assam
enjoys similar discretion in respect of removal
of nominated members; but, the Governors of
Mizoram and Tripura are bound by the advice of
their Council of Ministers. Governor of Meghalaya
is bound by the advice of his Council of Ministers
in the matter of both appointment and removal of
nominated members.
It is also important to note that while Governor of
Assam is mandatorily required to consult the Council
of Ministers and the Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong
District Councils whenever he acts in his discretion
under Para 20BA, but he is not required to similarly
consult the Bodoland Territorial Council.
While acting in their discretion under Para 20BB, the
Governors of Mizoram and Tripura are mandatorily
required to consult their Council of Ministers; but
consultation with District Councils is prescribed
only when the Governor ‘thinks it necessary’.
We recommend that there should be uniformity in the
provisions of Para 20BA and 20BB. Governors of
Assam, Mizoram and Tripura, as well as of Meghalaya,
should be constitutionally empowered to act in their
personal discretion on the two issues mentioned above.
While acting thus in their discretion, the Governors
may be required to consult their Council of Ministers
and the concerned District Councils. But it must be
clearly spelt out that while acting in their discretion
after due consultation, the Governors are not bound
by the advice of the Council of Ministers.
The issue of the dissolution of DCs and the
appointment and removal of nominated members
are the most crucial and require further safeguards
as mentioned below:
Dissolution of District Councils
It has been the experience that wherever the
Executive Committee of a District Council is of a
political party different than the party ruling at the
State level, there is always an attempt to take over
the administration of DCs or create obstruction
in their working. In such cases, the DCs are often
dissolved on some pretext or other.
The parameters for the dissolution of District
Councils in Sixth Schedule are similar to the
7
dissolution of State Government and imposition
of Presidents Rule under Article 356. But, the
Governors frequently exercise power of dissolution
on the basis of political considerations; it is
particularly so in the State of Meghalaya, where the
Governor has no discretion and has to abide by the
advice of the Council of Ministers.
Therefore, besides uniformly providing for the
discretion of the Governors in such matters,
safeguards provided by the Constitution for invok-
ing Article 356 should be in built in Para 16 of the
Sixth Schedule. A show cause notice must be given
to the District Council followed by an opportunity
of oral hearing before the Governor. Dissolution
should be effected only after a reasoned order issued
by the Governor. The District Councils are elected
constitutional bodies and they must not be dissolved
in a cursory manner.
It may also be provided that a District Council shall
be reconstituted within six months of its dissolution.
Nomination of Members
Under Para 2 of the Sixth Schedule, each DC
comprises of 30 members, of whom not more than
4 are nominated by the Governor. Now under
the 123rd Amendment Bill, 2015, the numbers of
elected and nominated members of the DCs are
being changed depending on the population in the
area under a District Councils.
As of now, no guidelines have been laid down for
the selection of nominated members. It is also not
clear whether a nominated member can be elected
as the Chief Executive Member or an Executive
Member and whether he can initiate or participate
in a no confidence motion against the Chief
Executive Member.
There is a Gauhati High Court judgement in the case
of Miehlo Manasia vs State of Mizoram, (AIR 2007
Gauhati 98) holding that the nominated members
have no right to vote in the election of the Chief
Executive Member and they cannot be candidates for
the said post. However, in the matter of removal of
the Chief Executive Member, they do participate in a
no confidence motion. In such cases, they invariably
act at the instance of the State Government.
To avoid such situations, it should be clarified in the
Sixth Schedule that the nominated members shall have
no right to vote in the election of the Chief Executive
Member, nor can they be candidates for the said post
and nor would they participate in any no confidence
motion against Chief Executive Member. However,
the Chief Executive Member, if he so desires, may
appoint a nominated member as Executive Member.
 Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution
Further, a proviso may be added to Para 2(1)
requiring that the nominated members shall be
from the groups or communities not represented
in the District Council.
Reservation for Women
Some of the Janjatis in the Tribal Areas are
matriarchal and in all the States falling under the
Sixth Schedule, the literacy rates of women are high.
Yet the number of women in the District Councils
is very low. In most of the District Councils, there
are only 3 to 4 women members; they form about
10% of the total strength of the Council.
In the proposed Constitution (123rd Amendment)
Bill, 2015, there is a provision for reservation of
one-third of the seats for women in the Village
Councils and Municipal Councils, similar to the
provision in the 73rd and 74th Constitutional
Amendment Acts. However, there is no provision
for reservation of seats for women in the DCs.
We recommend that one-third of the seats in the
District Councils be reserved for women and a
provision for this should be made in the proposed
123rd Amendment Bill, 2015.
Funding
Funding is a crucial issue for the District Councils.
Para 7 speaks of the constitution of District Fund
for each District Council. Though District Councils
can raise funds under Para 8 and 9 of the Sixth
Schedule, the revenue raised under these provisions
is not sufficient to meet the requirements. They
have to largely depend on the funds from the State
and the Central Governments.
The funds released by the Central Government are
also routed through the State Government. Thus,
the District Councils have to primarily depend
upon the State Government for their funding
needs.
Under the Constitution (123rd Amendment)
Bill, 2015 there is a provision to insert a clause in
Article 280 of the Constitution to the effect that the
Finance Commission shall make recommendation
with respect to measures needed to augment the
consolidated funds of the State to supplement
the resources of the District Councils including
village and municipal councils of the Tribal Areas.
However, such funds are also to be routed through
the State Government.
Therefore we recommend that:
i. The Central funds should be made available
directly to the District Councils.
8
ii. There is a need to constitute State Finance
Commissions on the pattern of the Finance
Commission that decides upon the distribution
of funds between the Centre and the States. The
State Finance Commission may be empowered
to periodically review the financial position of
the State and the various District Councils and
lay down appropriate principles of resource
distribution between State and the DCs.
iii. In view of the widespread allegations of misuse
and diversion of funds by the DCs, strong
checks and balances may be built into funding
mechanism. The funds of the District Councils
may be suitably audited as per the guidelines of
CAG and the Councils may be required to present
proper audited utilization certificates before the
next instalment of funds is released.
iv. It may be appropriate for the District Councils
to jointly get a comprehensive report on their
finances prepared by concerned experts and
submit it to the Parliamentary Committee
which is considering the 123rd Constitutional
Amendment Bill, 2015.
Anti Defection Law
Anti-defection law under the 10th Schedule is
not applicable to the District Councils. Khasi
Hills Autono-mous District Council enacted an
anti-defection law in 2003. But it was struck
down by the Gauhati High Court in the case of
Hispreacheringson Shylla versus KHADC, [78(SH)
of 2008] on the ground that the Sixth Schedule
does not permit enactment of any such law by the
District Council. Therefore, similar laws passed
or attempted to be passed by the Jaintia Hills
Council and the Garo Hills Council also became
infructuous.
Under the 123rd Constitutional Amendment Bill,
2015, there is a provision for enabling framing of
rules for disqualification of members of DCs on the
ground of defection. We endorse this provision.
Administration of justice
A. As per provisions of para 4 and 5 and Rules
framed there under, it is the District Council
who appoints the judges subject to approval by
the Governor.
B. Administration of justice for the Janjati people
as well, should be by independent courts
under the overall control and supervision
of the respective High Courts. These courts
will decide cases on customary law, wherever
applicable.
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
C. A Collegiums system for selection of judges
may be introduced or in alternative, ADCs may
prepare primary panel to assist the HCs; once a
person is appointed as a judge ADC Courts, he
will be controlled by the HC in all respects.
Extending Autonomy below the District or
Regional Level
The Sixth Schedule provides for only a single
tier of governance at the level of the District or
the Regional Council. It is important to extend
the principle to the lower levels and constitute
autonomous Councils at the Sub-District and
Village and Town levels. This would lead to the
formal recognition of the traditional institutions
functioning at different levels and make them
participants in the task of nation building.
Tribal Cell
Governors have a crucial role in the implementation
of the provisions of the Sixth Schedule. Therefore,
we recommend that a separate Tribal Cell should
be established in the establishment of all Governors
in the States coming under the Sixth or the Fifth
Schedule.
Miscellaneous Recommendations
1. There is a feeling of alienation among the non-
Janjati people settled in the Tribal Areas since
generations. We recommend that one-tenth of
the seats in the DCs may be reserved for them.
If necessary, the total number of seats in the
DCs may be increased to accommodate this
reservation. It may also be provided that the
non-Janjati members would not be eligible for
the posts of the CEM or even EM. They can thus
i
Based on discussions at the Mumbai Seminar, the Northeast Visdoc Seminar and feedback from Shri Vijay Hansaria, Sr Advocated SC.
9
obtain some space in local development without
affecting the interests of the Janjatis.
2. The smaller Janjatis in an Area often remain
neglected in the DCs. Provisions should be made
for the nomination of representatives of such
groups.
3. Documentation and codification of Customary
Laws is another issue for which many communities
in the northeast have been struggling. The Union
Home Ministry in association of the MoTA and
the MoDoNER should take up this issue and get
the task accomplished in a time-bound manner.
4. The system of Inner Line Permits needs to be
reviewed. The system should be so amended that it
does not stand in the way of national integration.
In conclusion, we must admit that the Sixth Schedule
provides a valuable mechanism of autonomous
functioning by different communities within the
framework of the Constitution. The autonomy
enjoyed by some of the Janjatis of the Northeast
has helped them in preserving their distinctive
ways and customs, in maintaining the internal
coherence and discipline of their communities, and
in preserving their lands and environments. In
this respect, they have fared much better than the
Janjatis coming under the Fifth Schedule, which
does not provide for such autonomy.
It would be appropriate to deliberate on whether
such provisions of autonomous functioning can
be extended in some manner to the Janjatis in the
Fifth Schedule areas also. Over time, we should
consider such autonomy to all villages and towns,
which has been the dream of many great leaders
of India, including Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.
Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas)
Act, 1996
T he Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas)
Act 1996, generally known as PESA, is an Act of
the Parliament, not a Constitutional provision, like
the Fifth and Sixth Schedules. But for the Janjatis
of India, this Act is as crucial as those constitutional
provisions. As we have seen, the Sixth Schedule
gives, to the limited Janjati areas covered under
it, the right to autonomously govern themselves
according to their own customs and tradition. The
PESA Act offers the possibility of similar level of self-
governance and autonomy to the Janjatis covered by
the Fifth Schedule Areas. For these areas, therefore,
the Act has the status of a fundamental law; in a way,
it is this Act that operationalises the Fifth Schedule
of the Constitution.
The Fifth Schedule applies to ten States of India,
namely, Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana),
Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand,
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan.
As we have seen, these States accommodate 76 million
of the total of 104 million of Janjati persons counted
in the Census of 2011. PESA thus covers 73 percent of
the population of the Janjatis. The Sixth Schedule, on
the other hand, covers only a few Tribal Areas in the
Northeast; the total population of the Janjatis in the
whole of Northeast is only 12.4 million. The PESA Act
thus empowers a much larger number of Janjatis; for
the Janjatis, in general, this Act has a greater relevance
than the Sixth Schedule.
Janjatis are economically and politically vulnerable,
though culturally they form an greatly vibrant
part of the Indian society. The vast majority of the
Janjati populations living in the Fifth Schedule
States, as also those living in scattered populations
outside the protection of this Schedule, are
particularly vulnerable. The landmark PESA Act
of 1996 recognizes this. Its passage was an act of
great political commitment. The Act attempted to
shift the balance of power, at least at the level of
local governance, towards the Janjati communities
by providing a mechanism for self-governance.
By recognizing that tribal communities are
‘competent’ to govern themselves, it has, in effect,
given recognition and legitimacy to their way of
life, value systems and worldview.
10
Background to PESA
The Seventy-Third Amendment
In 1992, the Parliament passed the historic seventy-
third amendment to the Constitution of India to
create a third layer of representative governance in
addition to the earlier two layers of the Union and
the States. The Gram Sabhas and the Panchayats at
the village level formed this third layer. They were
constitutionally empowered to deal with subjects
that were specified in a separate list in the newly
inserted Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution;
this list supplemented the Union List, the State
List and the Concurrent List of subjects which
were originally specified in the Seventh Schedule.
In addition to the Eleventh Schedule, the seventy-
third amendment also inserted a separate Part,
Part IX: The Panchayats, in the Constitution to
define the structure and powers of Gram Sabhas
and Village Panchayats, etc.
Given the special status and requirements of the
Janjatis, this revolutionary amendment could not
have been mechanically extended to the Scheduled
and Tribal Areas of the Fifth and Sixth Schedule,
respectively. Article 243M of Part IX, therefore,
excluded these Areas and some other parts like
Nagaland and Darjeeling district of West Bengal,
from its application.
The PESA Act of 1996
Three years later, in December 1996, the Parliament
passed the PESA Act to extend the provisions of
Chapter IX to the Scheduled Areas of the Fifth
Schedule with modifications and exceptions to suit
the special status and requirements of the Janjatis.
It is these exceptions and modifications specified
in Section 4 of the PESA Act that make this Act a
charter of the distinctive rights and privileges of
the Janjatis. Below we list, in some detail, many of
the significant provisions of this Act.
Preservation of Customs and Traditions
The PESA Act lays great emphasis on the preser­
vation of the customary, religious and traditional
practices of a community, including customary
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
modes of dispute resolution and traditional ways of
managing the community resources.
Section 4a and 4d of the Act require that any State
legislation on Panchayats ‘shall be in consonance
with the customary law, social and religious
practices and traditional management practices of
community resources’; and, that ‘every Gram Sabha
shall be competent to safeguard and preserve the
traditions and customs of the people, their cultural
identity, community resources and customary
mode of dispute resolution’.
Gram Sabha is placed above the Panchayat
Gram Sabha in the Act is defined to include all
persons on the electoral rolls in the village (Section
4c). This is a much more representative body
than the Panchayat, which comprises a handful
of elected individuals. The Act makes the smaller
body of the Panchayat responsible and answerable
to the Gram Sabha, which comprises the totality of
the village community.
The Act requires that ‘plans, programmes and
projects for social and economic development’
of the village shall be approved by the Gram
Sabha before these are taken up by the Panchayat
for implementation (Section 4e(i)). And after
implementation, it further requires every Panchayat
‘to obtain from the Gram Sabha a certification of
utilisation of funds by that Panchayat for the plans,
programmes and projects’ that have been previously
approved by the Gram Sabha (Section 4f).
The Act also makes the Gram Sabha and not
the Panchayat ‘responsible for the identification
or selection of persons as beneficiaries under
the poverty alleviation and other programmes’
(Section 4e(ii)).
Proper representation for the Janjatis
To ensure proper representation of the Janjatis,
the Act mandates that ‘the reservation of seats in
the Scheduled Areas at every Panchayat shall be in
proportion to the population of the communities
in that Panchayat for whom reservation is sought
to be given under Part IX of the Constitution’,
with the proviso that ‘the reservation for the
Scheduled Tribes shall not be less than one-half of
the total number of seats’, and ‘further that all seats
of Chairpersons of Panchayats at all levels shall be
reserved for the Scheduled Tribes’ (Section 4g).
Communities have a say in
land acquisition and resettlement
To guard against arbitrary alienation of lands in the
Scheduled Areas, the Act requires that ‘the Gram
Sabha or the Panchayats at the appropriate level
shall be consulted before making the acquisition
of land in the Scheduled Areas for development
projects and before re-settling or rehabilitating
11
persons affected by such projects in the Scheduled
Areas…’ (Section 4i).
Communities have control over water,
minerals and minor forest produce
The Act gives the local communities a say in the
manage-ment of natural resources, by requiring
that ‘planning and management of minor water
bodies in the Scheduled Areas shall be entrusted
to Panchayats at the appropriate level’; that ‘the
recommendations of the Gram Sabha or the
Panchayats at the appropriate level shall be made
mandatory prior to grant of prospecting license or
mining lease for minor minerals in the Scheduled
Areas’; and that ‘the prior recommendation of the
Gram Sabha or the Panchayats at the appropriate
level shall be made mandatory for grant of concession
for the exploitation of minor minerals by auction’
(Section 4j to 4l). In a further provision, the Act
endows the Gram Sabha and Panchayats with the
ownership of minor forest produce (Section 4m(ii)).
Panchayats and Gram Sabhas as
institutions of self-government
The Act endeavours to make the Gram Sabhas and
Panchayats as fully competent and empowered
institutions of self-governance. Section 4m of
the Act reads that: “while endowing Panchayats
in the Scheduled Areas with such powers and
authority as may be necessary to enable them to
function as institutions of self-government, a State
Legislature shall ensure that the Panchayats at
the appropriate level and the Gram Sabha are
endowed specifically with:
i. the power to enforce prohibition or to regulate
or restrict the sale and consumption of any
intoxicant;
ii. the ownership of minor forest produce;
iii. the power to prevent alienation of land in
the Scheduled Areas and to take appropriate
action to restore any unlawfully alienated land;
iv. the power to manage village markets by
whatever name called;
v. the power to exercise control over money
lending to the Scheduled Tribes;
vi. the power to exercise control over institutions
and functionaries in all social sectors;
vii. the power to control over local plans and resources
for such plans including tribal sub-plans;”
Autonomy at the district level
The Act envisages that the Panchayats at the district
level shall acquire autonomy in the manner of the
District Councils of the Sixth Schedule. The final
clause of the Act specifically requires that ‘the State
Legislature shall endeavour to follow the pattern
 PESA Act
of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution while
designing the administrative arrangements in the
Panchayats at district levels in the Scheduled Areas’
(Section 4o).
PESA Act is revolutionary
As is clear from the detailed recounting of the
provisions of the PESA Act above, it is clearly a
revolutionary Act. According to late Shri Dileep Singh
Bhuria, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee
that worked on it, this Act could ‘mark the beginning
of a new era in the history of tribal people…’
The Act was meant to empower the Janjati
communities, whose deepening marginalisation was
evidenced in the series of reports the government
commissioned from time to time. Having lived
since generations in a close and inter-dependent
relationship with nature in their resource-rich
areas, they were paying an inordinately high and
often devastating price for India’s chosen model
of development. Violation of their rights in land
and forest, often leading to displacement or
dispossession, exploitative economic relations with
the world at large, and the erosion of their cultural
practices were the harsh, yet common realities in
the life of the Janjati communities.
With the political class acknowledging the urgent
need to protect the rights and resources of the
Janjati communities, the Parliament passed the
Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act or
PESA in 1996. The Act not only formally recognized,
for the first time, the right to self-governance of the
Janjati communities, but also created a legal and
administrative framework for the practice of such
self-governance and autonomy.
But the implementation of PESA has been
tardy
Unfortunately, the Act has not been implemented in
the spirit in which it was enacted by the Parliament.
Today, it is generally acknowledged that the law
is yet to deliver on its promise of securing the
participation of the people in local self-governance,
as the key factor of a meaningful democracy.
After two decades of its enactment, the Act is still
not implemented in its letter and spirit mainly due
to lack of will on the part of the concerned States.
Perceived power struggle and conflict of interest
between the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) on
the one hand and the elected members of State
Assemblies and the Parliament on the other hand is
another reason for the failure of the States to fully
implement PESA. In many instances, the States
have tried to go around the mandate of PESA
while enacting their own Panchayat laws, and many
of them have not notified the rules after passing
the law.
12
Issues of Concern
The Gram Sabhas are unable to effectively exercise
the wide powers conferred on them under the
PESA Act because of the following reasons:
1. Unwillingness of the established authorities
to give up the powers being enjoyed by them
since Independence and before. In several
States, the authorities have tried to bypass
the requirements of PESA by drafting rules,
especially while rules concerning Joint Forest
Management and Village Forests in a perverse
manner.ii
2. Lack of political will at the level of the States in
implementing PESA Act. Though, the Act has
been adopted in all the ten States covered under
the Fifth Schedule, as it was mandatory for
them to do so within one year of its notification,
but only five states, namely Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra
and Rajasthan have notified Rules under the
PESA Act.
3. Lack of structural support to the Gram Sabha
at the ground level and at the Command Room
represented by the Governor’s Cell.
4. Urban Areas within the Scheduled Areas have
been kept out of purview of PESA.
5. There are multiple agencies at the Centre and
the States to superintend the implementation
of the Act and there is a lack of coordination
among them.
6. There is a lack of education and awareness
among the Janjati communities about their
rights and role under the Act.
Recommendations
For States and policy makers:
1. Coordinated joint effort between the Ministry of
Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Panchayati Raj
at the Centre to ensure proper implementation
of the Act and establishment of a joint system of
monitoring by the two ministries.
2. The States where Rules under the PESA
Act have not been notified yet must do so
immediately. Rules framed by Maharashtra
seem to be the best; these may be taken as the
model by the other States.
3. Village Helmets, not the revenue villages,
should be treated as units under this Act for the
purpose of forming Gram Sabhas (GSs). In the
Rules framed by Rajasthan, revenue villages
have been notified as units, thus forming only
a single Gram Sabha for several hamlets. This
is against the provisions of the PESA Act and
must be rectified. Maharashtra has taken lead
in this too by notifying as GO that all Helmets
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
in the SA of the state shall have separate Gram
Sabhas in 2015.
4. Functionaries of the Gram Sabha should be
clearly defined in the Rules framed under the
PESA Act.
5. The State Panchayat laws framed under the
PESA Act should incorporate all the 29 subjects
mentioned in the Act. The State legislations
must be amended, if necessary, to ensure this.
The State Acts and the Rules must be so framed
as to ensure that the 29 subjects are devolved
to the Gram Sabhas in a functional, and not
merely formal, manner.
6. A Gram Sabha funds should be created in all
the Gram Sabhas. This is necessary for them to
effectively deal with the subjects entrusted to
them.
7. An effort should be made to evolve consensus
among all the 10 States under the Fifth Schedule
where PESA applies to remove the discrepancies
of the Act in its application observed in their
respective States. MoTA should take initiative
for evolving this consensus.
8. Separate Janjati Cells must be formed in the
establishment of the Governors in the ten States
covered in the Fifth Schedule to effectively
deal with the issues pertaining to the PESA,
FRA and the TACs. The Governor of
Maharashtra has already taken initiative in this
direction.
9. All relevant Departments and Ministries,
including the Ministry of Environment and
Forests, to be brought in line with PESA from
top to bottom.
10. Gram Sabhas should be equipped with the
logistic support and establishment required to
perform their functions effectively.
11. PESA, FRA and different welfare schemes
being operated for the Janjatis should be
incorporated in the curriculum of formal and
informal education for greater awareness and
participation of the Janjati communities.
12.
Parliament should adopt the required
legislation to deal with the urban areas and
municipalities within the Schedule Areas of the
Fifth Schedule as envisaged by Article 243-ZC
(1) and (3) of the Constitution. In this matter,
the observations of the Jharkhand High Court
i
Based on discussions at the Mumbai Seminar.
ii
For such attempts by forest departments of different States, see: http://fra.org.in/document/Maharashtra%20Village%20Forest%20Rule,%202014.pdf;
http://newsroom24x7.com/2015/06/17/what-will-be-the-state-of-the-forests-in-madhya-pradesh-after-a-few-years/; and http://www.downtoearth.org.in/
coverage/madhya-pradesh-s-call-to-bamboo-investors-reignites-debate-over-forest-access-50506
iii
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QFjAAahUKEwim2J2o9evGAhVBtJQ
KHerZB5I&url= http%3A%2F%2Findiankanoon.org%2Fdoc%2F1033041%2F&ei=qRGuVebfOcHo0gTqs5-QCQ&usg=AFQjCNFVqNjqiJy22-
s6aaaMcIQz8zv2Ww
iv
http://www.panchayat.gov.in/documents/10198/0/Final%20draft%20amendment%20Bill%20as%20approved%20by%20MPR(1).pdf
13
made on 29 February, 2008 in Uday Shankar
Ojha And Ors. vs Jharkhand State Election
Commission are of relevance;iii
13. The proposed Draft Panchayats (Extension
to Scheduled Areas) Amendment Bill,
2013iv should be reconsidered by the Union
Government; and
14. All the state Tribal Research Institutions
(TRIs) should be mandated to do fundamental
research work required for effective
implementation of PESA and other policies and
legislations concerning Janjatis in their States.
The TRIs need to be strengthened and made
autonomous to deliver the desired results.
For Janjati Communities
1. All the traditional and modern institutions of
the Janjatis including the PRIs should come
forward for discussion on all relevant policies
including PESA and FRA among themselves
for better understanding and implementation
in a participatory manner.
2. Community elders, including women, and
specially their social and elected leaders,
should show a greater heart and give up
their immediate personal gains in order to
protect greater and long-term interests of the
community.
For Social Activists and Organisations
1. Educate, awaken and Organise the Janjati
communities for better understanding of the
issues and for playing effective role in the Gram
Sabhas in a great participatory manner.
2. Develop effective local leadership of the Janjati
communities.
We have a vision that the spirit of the PESA Act
would be imbibed by all concerned and the
Janjati communities would soon begin to govern
themselves according to their own customs and
traditions, their own dispute resolution mechanisms
and their own systems of resource management.
They would have control over their land, water
and forest, and they would enforce the discipline
in matters of prohibition, money-lending, social
development and similar other matters within
their areas. All this has been envisaged in the PESA
Act, we hope that this would become the reality of
the Janjati areas soon.
Environmental and Forest Governancei
Introduction
T he governance framework on environment
and forests has had an immense impact on the
life, culture and identity of Janjatis of India. The
colonial laws relating to forest consistently viewed
the forest-dwelling Janjatis as ‘rank encroachers’
on forest land whose rightful place was either in
urban India or in organised farms; this attitude has
continued unchanged after Independence. The
plethora of laws, rules and regulations continue to
reflect this approach. The existence of Janjatis in
forest and their dependence on it is seen as a sign
of ‘backwardness’ and the need is felt to ‘develop’
them and connect them to the ‘mainstream’.
An outcome of this approach has been the central­
isa­
tion and concentration of decision-making
powers with government and its various agencies
on the premise that the developmental needs and
aspirations of the Janjatis can be best understood
and fulfilled only by the government. The
paternalistic approach of protecting the Janjatis by
granting “privileges and concessions” has had the
intended outcome: the tribal voice does not matter
in the decisions concerning the environment and
forest on which the very identity, livelihood and
culture of the Janjatis is based. This approach
has ironically and tragically led to a governance
framework that has contributed significantly to
the destruction of forest and deterioration of
environment. Any policy formulation for the
Janjatis and vision for their future must keep into
account this reality.
Development of Governance Framework
The initial few decades following independence
was not different from the colonial era so far the
relation of the Janjatis to the forest was concerned.
The National Commission on Agriculture, 1976
specifically viewed the forest-dwellers as an
impediment in the ‘development’ of the forest.
The ‘production forestry era’ of the 1970’s and
14
1980’s viewed local needs and requirement as
something that adversely affected the output from
the forest. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
while being landmark legislation for the protection
of wildlife and its habitat, viewed forest-dwellers
with suspicion and focussed on ‘resettling’ them
outside forest. The various laws related to mines,
land, power and electricity similarly focussed on
the ‘larger common good’ as opposed to the social
and cultural needs and aspiration of the Janjatis.
The now defunct Planning Commissionii has
documented how 50 years of planned development
in India have entailed large scale forced evictions of
vulnerable populations, without the countervailing
presence of policies to assist them to rebuild their
lives. Most of the negative aspects of displacement,
such as lack of information, failure to prepare in
advance a comprehensive plan for rehabilitation,
the undervaluation of compensation and its
payment in cash, failure to restore lost assets or
livelihoods, traumatic and delayed relocation,
problems at relocation sites, multiple displacement,
and neglect of the special vulnerabilities of the
most disadvantaged groups are the direct result of
the policies pursued by the State.
Since the 1980s, there has been some recognition
of the fact that there is a need to relook at the
relation of the Janjatis with the forest as ‘symbiotic’
rather than ‘parasitic’. This changed approach
was reflected in the National Forest Policy, 1988iii,
and later in the Panchayati Raj (Extension to
Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 [PESA]. The 73rd
and 74th Amendments devolved the decision
making power to local institutions on a range of
subjects. This devolution was expected to lead to
a fundamental change in the manner in which
the decision makers view forest-dwelling Janjatis.
Unfortunately, neither the policy nor the law have
been followed in letter and spirit. Policy-makers
continue to regard the needs and requirements
of the Janjatis as a ‘minor’ issue (as in the case of
minor forest produce) and rather than devolving
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
real control to the local communities, concepts such
as ‘Joint Forest Management’ have been evolved to
give a semblance of their participation in decision-
making.
This is the situation with respect to the Janjatis
across the country except the North Eastern States.
The situation is the North East has been different
in view of the special Constitutional and Statutory
status of these States. In parts of these States,
the right of the local communities over forest is
constitutionally recognized and the manage­ment is
formally vested in the Janjati councils by the name
of Autonomous District Councils in Meghalaya and
Mizoram, Territorial Councils in Bodoland and
Autonomous Councils in Karbi Anglong. But the
actual management and conservation of natural
resources has been far from ideal. The unregulated
mining of coal and limestone in Meghalaya is a sad
example of what can go wrong in an approach that
confers unbridled powers to the local communities
including the Janjatis. The experience of the of the
North Eastern States with respect to management
of natural resources has many important lessons
which should guide policy formulation for the
Janjatis in the future.
The enactment of the Scheduled Tribes and Other
Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006 is the first comprehensive attempt
to undo the historical injustice perpetuated on the
forest-dwelling Janjati communities in the name
of forest conservation and development. The
Forest Rights Act, as it has come to be known,
fundamentally alters the way in which the relation
of the forest-dwelling Janjatis with the forest is
viewed. The Act aims at treating the forest-dwellers
not as ‘encroachers’ but as ‘right holders’ with
the ‘authority’ and ‘responsibility’ to protect and
conserve forest, wildlife and biodiversity. However,
the actual working of the Act has been far from
satisfactory. Despite the statutory backing, most
States have been reluctant to confer Forest Rights
on the forest-dwellers.
There are thus lessons to be learnt so far as
the implementation of the Forest Rights Act is
concerned. One of the important lessons is the
general reluctance in conferring ‘community
forest rights’ (CFR) in areas of forests beyond the
traditional village boundaries. The conferment of
forest rights on ineligible occupants is also a serious
concern which adversely impacts the genuine
claimants. Another significant lesson is that despite
the ownership of minor forest produce or Non
Timber Forest Produce (NTFP), being conferred
on the forest rights-holders, the State Governments
are reluctant to confer actual ownership rights.
15
Janjatis and Environmental Governance
The mandate of the Rio Declaration of 1992 and
specifically Principle 10 of the Declaration requires
that environmental decisions are handled by the
participation of all concerned and that citizens
have the right to access information, the right to
participate and the right to question the decisions
of the Governments. India has no doubt taken
some concrete steps in implementing Principle
10 of the declaration. The enactment of the
Environment Impact Assessment Notification
in 1994 and the revised notification in 2006;
the Forest Rights Act, 2006; the National Green
Tribunal Act, 2010 are important statutory steps
in this direction. The amendment of the Wildlife
(Protection) Act, 1972 in 2006 also ensured
compliance with the provisions of the Forest Rights
Act. It specifically provides that the consent of the
Gram Sabha and of the individuals concerned
must be obtained before any resettlement from
Tiger Reserves takes place. Finally, the Right to
Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement
Act, 2013 has led to the operationalization of the
concept of Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC)
within the Indian legal framework. In addition,
the Ministry of Environment and Forest has
issued detailed Circulars and Office Memoranda
requiring that the provisions of the Forest Rights
Act, including the procedure for the recognition of
rights, be completed before any forestland can be
diverted for non-forest purposes.
Judicial pronouncements in the last few years have
also contributed in strengthening the provisions
of the Forest Rights Act. The Supreme Courts’
decision in the Vedanta Mining caseiv was hailed as
a landmark in recognizing the decision-making
power of the Gram Sabhas.
Despite these legislative actions, policy decisions
and judicial pronouncement, it is still widely
acknowledged that the Janjatis in India have
virtually no voice with respect to the decisions
concerning their immediate environment. The
mines, dams and infrastructure projects continue
to displace the Janjati communities and the
affected people have little say in the final decisions.
Rather than providing additional safeguards, some
recent policy decisions have in fact curtailed the
rights of the communities, for example, the recent
exemption given to linear projects from obtaining
consent from the Gram Sabha under the Forest
Rights Act. Environmental and Forest Governance
today has become synonymous with the grant of
arbitrary ‘approvals and clearances’. Performance
is being judged not in terms of the improvement of
 Environmental and Forest Governance
forest and environmental quality but in the number
of approvals or clearances granted. Despite the
elaborate legal framework, the Janjatis have little
say in the use and conservation of natural resources.
They continue to be the victims of both the use of
natural resources (deforestation, mining, etc.) as
well as conservation of natural resources (having
to face displacement and restriction on rights
due to creation of protected areas). Any strategy
to empower the Janjatis must look holistically at a
model which empowers them enhances their status
both economically and politically and at the same
time ensures their cultural identity.
Our Vision
The forest-dwelling communities should have the
power, authority and responsibility to participate
and influence decisions concerning their forest and
environment which form the very basis of their
livelihood, culture and identity.
Strategies to fulfil the Vision
Any strategy to fulfil the above vision needs the
following:
(i) Reform in the law and Policy so as to facilitate
effective role of the Janjati communities in
decisions concerning environment and forest.
(ii) Greater synergy between the various laws which
govern Scheduled Areas so far as the use of
natural resources in tribal areas are concerned.
(iii) Effective power to the local institutions in areas
of Janjati presence outside the areas notified as
Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
(iv)
Participation in decision-making should
include the right to withhold consent.
(v) Ensuring effective access to justice.
(vi) Sensitisation of the bureaucracy to the culture
and concerns of the Janjatis.
Description of the Strategy
Reform in the law and Policy so as to
facilitate effective role of the Janjati
communities in decisions concerning
environment and forest:
Reform in the field of forest and environmental
law has become synonymous with dilution and the
reduction of the democratic spaces for affected
communitiesv. There is a need to specifically clarify
that the main objective of reform is to strengthen
16
the conservation regime and empower the
communities; these two are the essential pillars of
sustainable development.
Greater synergy between the various laws
which govern Scheduled Areas so far as the
use of natural resources in tribal areas are
concerned.
Natural resources including forests are governed
by multiple laws which at times are in cross
purpose with one another. As stated above, the
colonial laws and the laws made in the 1980’s
and 1990’s after Independence focussed on
the centralization of powers, while conferring
some ‘privileges and concession’. Later laws
have tended to recognize the rights of the local
communities in the forest and in the management
and governance of natural resources. The Forest
Rights Act, 2006 has fundamentally changed the
manner of looking at the relationship between
the forest and forest-dwelling communities. The
concepts of ‘Forest Rights’, ‘Community Forest
Resources’ and the specific duty of the Gram
Sabhas to protect biodiversity and forest have
led to not only the recognition of the right of
the local communities over forest but also the
duty to protect their natural as well as cultural
heritage.
However, forest governance continues to be based
on the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and the
India Forest Act, 1927, as well as the corresponding
state laws, which were based on an entirely
different approach. There is an urgent need to
bring the older laws in conformity with the newer
approach; these laws must be made compliant
with the provisions of the Forest Rights Act as well
as those of the Fifth Schedule and the Panchayat
Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, 1996 (PESA).
One of the most important areas to act upon is to
confer on the one hand the ownership rights of
forest produce on the forest-dwelling communities
and also ensure that the first beneficiary from
developmental projects in the Janjati areas are the
Janjatis themselves.
Effective power to the local institutions in
areas of Janjati presence outside the areas
notified as Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the
Constitution
The legal recognition of Janjati institutions
including Gram Sabhas as custodian of the natural
resources are limited only to areas covered under
the Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
But, there are large areas inhabited by the Janjatis
which are not included in either of the Schedules.
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

There is a need to ensure that the Janjati
populations irrespective of whether they are in the
Scheduled or non-Scheduled areas are empowered
as the custodians of the natural resources with the
authority and duty to protect and conserve forests
and other natural resourcesvi.
Participation in decision-making should
include the right to withhold consent
The Forest Rights Act, 2006 envisages the parti-
cipation of the local communities in decisions
concerning the natural resources. It also requires
the prior consent of the local communities while
setting apart forestland for wildlife conservation.
There is a need to ensure that this requirement
extends to all activities that affect the ecosystem on
which the Janjatis depend.
Access to Justice
Issues concerning the role of Janjatis in the use and
conservation of natural resources are complex.
The existing legal system is unable to give these the
required attention. There is a need for specialized
Courts or Tribunals to effectively adjudicate
on issues concerning the Janjatis and natural
resources. The National Green Tribunal could be
an effective forum for the implementation of the
Forest Rights Act, 2006 and PESA Act, 1996 and
related legislations. This would require suitable
changes in the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.
Sensitisation of the bureaucracy to the
culture and concerns of the Janjatis
One of the significant reasons for lack of
effectiveness of the policy and statutory measures
with respect to the tribal is the general reluctance
of the bureaucracy to take pro-active measure for
the welfare of the Janjatis. Government officers,
especially those belonging to the elite services,
generally look upon tribal Welfare departments
as ‘punishment’-posting. Officers of the all India
services such as IAS, IPS and IFS are reluctant to
take up assignments in tribal areas. Because of the
short tenure that these officers have in the tribal
areas, there is lack of continuity in policy and
decision-making.
Given the fact that most of the forest settlement is
crucially dependent on the District level bureaucracy,
there is a critical need to ensure a fixed tenure for
officers specially those belonging to the Revenue
and Forest Departments in the Janjati areas.
There is limited orientation and training of officers
on issues concerning the Janjatis. Officers of the
Indian Forest Service and State Forest Services
necessarily have to interact intensely with Janjatis
and forest dwellers, but neither the qualifications
for these services nor the training has any emphasis
on the Janjati issues. There is thus an urgent need
to broad-base the recruitment and training of forest
officers of different services and to sensitize them
about the culture and concerns of the Janjatis.

i
Based on inputs by Sri Ritwick Dutta, Environmental Lawyer and Managing Trustee, Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment and Secretary, National
Green Tribunal Bar Association, and on discussions at Mumbai Seminar.
ii
http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/articles/ncsxna/art_dam.pdf
iii
National Forest Policy, Para 4.3.4.3 reads, “The life of tribals and other poor living within and near forests revolves around forests. The rights and
concessions enjoyed by them should be fully protected. Their domestic requirements of fuel-wood, fodder, minor forest produce and timber should be the
first charge on forest produce. These and substitute materials should be made available through conveniently located depots at reasonable prices.”
iv
Orissa Mining Corporation versus Union of India.
v
The High Level Committee to Review Environmental Laws headed by T.S R Subramanium appointed in 2014 is an example of this approach. The Report
recommends great dilution of the powers of the Gram Sabhas.
vi
Section 5 of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 specifically confers powers on the Gram Sabhas and the Holders to manage and conserve forest and biodiversity.

17
The Forest Rights Act
M ost of the Janjatis are forest-dwelling
communities. Their livelihood has been
dependent on the forest; and traditionally, they
enjoyed rights in and free access to the forest
resources for their needs. In the British period,
however, the State came to claim exclusive
sovereign rights on the forests, as on all other
natural resources, including hills, lands and waters.
Forests then became a source of revenue for the
Governments. Laws were framed in a way that the
forest-dwelling communities became encroachers
in their own habitats; their livelihoods came under
extreme stress. The situation continued more or less
unchanged for several decades after Independence.
The British first enacted Indian Forest Act in 1865;
it was replaced by the Indian Forest Act of 1878;
and, several decades later, it was replaced by the
Indian Forest Act 1927. Following Independence,
in 1951, some minor changes were made in this
British-era law, but the intent and purpose of the
law, and the colonial relationship that it defined
between the State and the forest and the forest-
dwelling communities remained unaltered.
Forest Conservation Act (FCA) of 1980
It was only in 1980 that there was some change in
this position. Forest Conservation Act (FCA) of 1980,
for the first time added the objective of conservation
to the earlier sole objective of maximisation of
revenues, and thus brought some sense of balance
in the policy of the State towards Forests. A few
years before the FCA, the Wildlife Protection Act of
1972 had also added a dimension of protection to
the single-minded quest of revenue-generation in
the management of Forest resources.
These two enactments, in a way, changed the
relationship of the State with the Forests. Forests
became more than mere sources of revenue for
the State. With the emerging environmental
consciousness across the world, the Indian State,
through these laws, gave recognition to the forest
and wildlife as essential environmental resources,
18
which had much greater significance than as
sources of immediate revenue-generation.
But, while the perception of the State regarding
forest changed, there was little change in its
perception of the forest-dwelling communities.
Increased sensitivity towards environment, on
the other hand, led to an increase in the mistrust
towards them. The forest-dwelling Janjatis were
blamed for denuding the forests and for poaching
of the wild animals. But, the fact is that the large-
scale cutting of forests and culling of wildlife has
happened under State patronage in pursuance
of the policy of maximization of State policy. The
Janjatis can, at the worst, be blamed for constituting
the under-paid labour for this activity undertaken
by well-connected and resourceful contractors and
others licensed by the State.
The implementation of the FCA of 1980s put
the traditional means of livelihood of the forest-
dwelling communities under greater strain. The
situation became so grim that there was visible
unrest among the Janjatis across the country. The
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEFCC),
under directions of the then Commissioner for
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which
was the Constitutional predecessor of the National
Commission for SCs and STs, issued as many as 6
circulars to address the concerns of the Janjatis.
These circulars were issued after long deliberations
with the concerned ministries. But the directions
given in those circulars were never followed and
the unrest among Janjatis kept aggravating.
The situation for the Janjatis became even more
difficult after the Supreme Court of India, in the
Godavarman Case of 1995, directed that all land
with tree-cover must be treated as forestland and
managed by the Forest Department.
Forest Rights Act 2006
Finally, it became politically and administratively
imperative to do something to ameliorate the
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
situation. This is what led to the enactment of the
Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest
Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006,
popularly known as the Forest Rights Act or FRA.
With this Act, the forest-dwelling communities, for
the first time since the coming of the British into
India, got legally enforceable rights in the forests
in which they lived. Earlier, the PESA Act of 1996
had taken the first step in that direction by vesting
the ownership of the minor forest produce in the
relevant Gram Sabhas.
The FRA is a historic piece of legislation. For the
forest-dwelling Janjati communities, the Act, in fact,
translates into practice, the guarantee of dignified
treatment that the Constitution gives them
through its many special provisions regarding the
Scheduled Tribes. The Preamble to the Act, itself
calls it, “An Act to undo the ‘historical injustice’
committed against the forest dwelling Scheduled
Tribes and other traditional forest-dwellers who
have been residing in the forests for centuries, but
whose rights could not be recorded.”
Rights recognised under FRA
The rights of the forest-dwelling communities are
defined in Section 3(1) of the Act, which reads as
below:
3. Forest rights of Forest dwelling Scheduled
Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers:
(1) For the purposes of this Act, the following
rights, which secure individual or community
tenure or both, shall be the forest rights of forest
dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional
forest dwellers on all forest lands, namely:
(a) right to hold and live in the forest land under the
individual or common occupation for habitation
or for self-cultivation for livelihood by a member
or members of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribe
or other traditional forest dwellers;
(b) community rights such as nistar, by whatever
name called, including those used in erstwhile
Princely States, Zamindari or such intermediary
regimes;
(c) right of ownership, access to collect, use, and
dispose of minor forest produce which has been
traditionally collected within or outside village
boundaries; FRA provides the following rights
to the forest-dwelling communities;
(d) other community rights of uses or entitlements
such as fish and other products of water bodies,
grazing (both settled or transhumant) and
traditional seasonal resource access of nomadic
or pastoralist communities;
19
(e) rights including community tenures of habitat
and habitation for primitive tribal groups and
pre-agricultural communities;
(f) rights in or over disputed lands under any nomen-
clature in any State where claims are disputed;
(g) rights for conversion of Pattas or leases or
grants issued by any local authority or any State
Government on forest lands to titles;
(h) rights of settlement and conversion of all forest
villages, old habitation, unsurveyed villages
and other villages in forests, whether recorded,
notified or not into revenue villages;
(i) right to protect, regenerate or conserve or
manage any community forest resource which
they have been traditionally protecting and
conserving for sustainable use;
(j) rights which are recognised under any State
law or laws of any Autonomous District Council
or Autonomous Regional Council or which
are accepted as rights of tribals under any
traditional or customary law of the concerned
tribes of any State;
(k) right of access to biodiversity and community
right to intellectual property and traditional
knowledge related to biodiversity and cultural
diversity;
(l) any other traditional right customarily enjoyed
by the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes or other
traditional forest dwellers, as the case may be,
which are not mentioned in clauses (a) to (k)
but excluding the traditional right of hunting
or trapping or extracting a part of the body of
any species of wild animal;
(m)
right to in situ rehabilitation including
alternative land in cases where the Scheduled
Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers have
been illegally evicted or displaced from forest
land of any description without receiving their
legal entitlement to rehabilitation prior to the
13th day of December, 2005.
In addition to the above specific individual and
community rights, the FRA gives the Gram Sabha
a decisive say in determining the rights and in
matters of diversion of forest land for specified
developmental purposes.
The implementation of FRA is tardy
Though the Act is very generous in granting the
forest dwelling communities their due rights, yet
there has been tardiness in the implementation
at every stage and at every level. The Act was
gazetted on January 2, 2007; but it was notified to
 The Forest Rights Act
‘come into force’ only with effect from December
31, 2007. Thus a whole year was allowed to pass
between the enactment of FRA and it’s coming into
force. In the meantime, the MoEF notified and
established 36 Tiger Reserves across the country
without giving any consideration to the rights of
the forest dwelling communities.
Even after 8 years of being in operation, the work
of recognition and recording of rights under
the Act is hardly complete. A lot of work is done
so long as awarding individual Pattas across the
country; critics, however, claim that half of the
individual claims have been rejected. With regard
to the recognition of community right, not even 10
percent of the work has been done yet. The Tribal
Affairs Ministry (MoTA), which has been designated
as the nodal agency under the Act does not have the
expertise in dealing with forest issues.
Issues of Concern
1. Lack of awareness among the forest dwelling
communities about their rights under the
Act, especially about the provisions regarding
community forest rights.
2. Lack of knowledge of the Act among the
district-level officers (DLOs) and the ground
level officials, who have been entrusted with its
implementation. The situation is worsened by
frequent transfers of the staff and by the lack of
any process of sensitization.
3. The forest officers from the top to bottom seem
to be not only uninterested, but also negatively
disposed, towards implementation of the Act.
4. The negative role played by the Forest
Departments through Joint Forest Management
Committees (JFMCs) which are being sponsored
by the forest officers.
5. The negative role being played by the State
Forest Trading Corporations, which seem to
have little relevance after the enactment of
PESA and FERA.
6. Attempts being made by several States to dilute,
deny and undo the provisions of the FRA
through the so-called Village Forest Rules and
by taking over the powers of the Gram Sabhasi.
7. After the Vedanta Verdict of the Supreme
Courtii, several States have been settling the
community forest rights through doubtful
means. Chhattisgarh issued a circular on July
27 this year asking the District Collectors to
wrap up the process of recognising community
forest rights by August 15 by calling special
meetings of the Gram Sabhas. Jharkhand set
20
a deadline of October. The Ministry of Tribal
Affairs intervened, asking the two States not to
settle the land rights claims in a hurryiii. In April
2015, the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi,
called for implementation of Forest Rights Act
by the States in mission mode following which
the Ministry of Tribal Affairs asked all States to
implement the Act as soon as possible. Taking
this as a pretext, several States are attempting
to implement FRA in a hasty manner. This is
defeating very purpose of the Act and is matter
of great concern.
8. Conflicts between the provisions of the Indian
Forest Act 1927 and the FRA2006 make the
implementation of the latter difficult.
9. To avoid recognising the rights granted under
the Act, the forest officers are attempting to get
evacuated forest lands under the possession of
forest dwelling communities since generations.
This is resulting in a spate of suicides by them.
Recommendations
For States and Policy Makers
1. Establish a process of continuous sensitization
of district level officers and ground personnel
involved in the implementation of FRA.
2. Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the designated nodal
agency for the implementation of FRA at the
Centre and the Tribal Affairs Departments in
the States should avail the services of outside
experts and take forest officials on deputation
for the purposes of FRA.
3. Tribal Research Institutes in the States, under
supervision of MoTA/Tribal Departments,
should be involved in the work of training,
awareness and sensitization of field-level
officers and in evaluation of the progress in the
implementation of FRA.
4. The role of SFTCs and JFMCs should be
redefined in light of the FRA.
5. A mass campaign to generate awareness about
forest rights may be launched among the
Janjatis.
6. Indian Forest Act 1927 must be replaced with a
suitable new legislation in conformity with the
Forest Rights Act, Forest Conservation Act and
the Wildlife Protection Act.
7. National Green Tribunal should be assigned
appellate work under the FRA and/or a new
authority similar to District Consumer Courts at
lower level should be established for this purpose.
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

8. The issue of converting Forest Villages to
Revenue Village should be vigorously pursued.
9. Recording of all land in a comprehensive
Record of Rights needs to be pursued in a time-
bound manner.iv
For forest dwelling communities and
concerned organisations
10. They should pay special attention to community
forest rights granted under the FRA.
11. They should provide training to the Forest
Rights Committees and the Gram Sabhas in the
provisions and procedures of FRA.
12. They should resist attempts at denying and
diluting FRA by all democratic means at their
disposal.
13. They should create awareness among media
persons about the provisions of FRA and its
importance for the forest dwelling Janjatis and
other communities.
14.
They should train the forest dwelling
communities in the processes of recording and
maintenance of land records by the Revenue and
Forest Departments and in preservation their
title deeds.
The FRA 206 is a valuable addition to the
special constitutional and legal provisions that
have been made in Independent India for the
welfare of the Janjatis. The antipathy of officers
at various levels and lack of awareness among
the forest dwelling communities about their
rights under the Act is, however, making the Act
much less effective than what the Parliament
intended in passing this law. Above we have
made several recommendations to improve the
situation. But there is a much larger problem
facing the forest dwelling communities. In the
years since the passing of the law, ‘development’
has become to loom much larger in the national
polity and an opinion is building up that we
need to do everything necessary to facilitate
‘development projects’. In this atmosphere,
laws like the FRA and the PESA and the laws
relating to environmental protection have come
to be seen as unnecessary obstacles in the path of
progress. And, there are attempts to devise
bureaucratic ways of bypassing and going around
these laws. This atmosphere of distrust of FRA
and similar other laws is perhaps a matter of the
highest concern for the forest dwelling and other
Janjatis.

i
http://fra.org.in/document/Maharashtra%20Village%20Forest%20Rule,%202014.pdf;
http://newsroom24x7.com/2015/06/17/what-will-be-the-state-of-the-forests-in-madhya-pradesh-after-a-few-years/; and,
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverage/madhya-pradesh-s-call-to-bamboo-investors-reignites-debate-over-forest-access-50506
ii Orissa Mining Corporation Versus Union of India
iii Read BJP led Centre tells Jharkhand & Chhattisgarh governments to not rush on tribal land rights –The Economic Times, 13 Aug 2015.
iv http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/farmers-death-triggers- protest/article7349050.ece and
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/vIRcN0PdeQN5YqApdbNdlI/Forest-departments-violating-Forest-Rights-Act-say-tribals.html

21
Article 275 (1): Financing the Commitmentsi
F or the Janjatis, Article 275 (1) of the Constitution
is as crucial as Article 244. The Fifth and the
Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which define
the special status of the Scheduled Areas and Tribal
Areas, derive their authority from Article 244;
Article 275 (1) provides for the finances necessary
to fulfill the mandate of these Schedules.
Article 275 authorizes the Parliament to provide
grants in aid of the revenue of the needy States
at its discretion; but the proviso to Clause 1 of the
Article makes it mandatory that the sums necessary
to enable the States to meet their commitments for
the Scheduled Tribes, the Scheduled Areas of the
Fifth Schedule and the Tribal Areas of the Sixth
Schedule be paid out from the Consolidated Fund
of India. Thus provision of dedicated funds from
the central pool for the welfare and development
of the Janjatis and for raising the level of
administration and governance in the Janjati areas
becomes a constitutional mandate. The relevant
part of the Article reads as under:
Such sums as Parliament may by law provide shall be
charged on the Consolidated Fund of India in each
year as grants in aid of the revenues of such States as
Parliament may determine to be in need of assistance, and
different sums may be fixed for different States.
Provided that there shall be paid out of the Consolidated
Fund of India as grants in aid of the revenues of a State such
capital and recurring sums as may be necessary to enable that
State to meet the costs of such schemes of development as may
be undertaken by the State with the approval of the Scheduled
Tribes in that State or raising the level of administration of
the Scheduled Areas therein to that of the administration of
the rest of the areas of that State.
The next proviso extends the same requirement
for Scheduled Tribes and Tribal Areas in Assam.
A further proviso extends the requirement for
autonomous states containing Tribal Areas that
may be constituted under Article 244A.
The spirit of the Article, as also of the Fifth and Sixth
Schedules of the Constitution, is twofold. One, to
ensure that funds are available for the creation of
22
innovative administrative structures in the Janjati
areas in accordance with the special needs, customs
and traditions of the Janjati areas. Two, to ensure
that the States would not be constrained by paucity
of funds in undertaking the necessary welfare and
development measures to expeditiously bring the
Janjati areas at par with other parts of the country.
The Constitutional Provision becomes a
Scheme of the Central Government
Unfortunately, this extraordinary constitutional
provision has been reduced to more or less a
centrally funded scheme from which the States may
draw funds for projects approved by the Ministry
of Tribal Affairs, which is now the nodal agency
for implementing Article 275(1). The following
summary of the guidelines issued by the Ministry
for the States to claim funds under the Article
amply demonstrates this:
i. Grant under Article 275(1) is in addition to
normal central assistance to the State Plan.
ii. Adoption of the project approach and prior
approval of the Ministry is necessary.
iii. The projects under the first proviso to Article
275(1) are part of the overall Tribal State Plans
(TSP) and the Annual State Plans.
iv. Micro-plans for each Integrated Tribal
Development Agency (ITDA) or Modified Area
Development Approach (MADA) area are to be
prepared through multi-disciplinary teams.
v. Thrust areas are to be identified so that
resources are better targeted rather than
spreading too thin.
vi. Provision for utilization of 2% of the funds for
project management has been made.
vii. Provision of expenditure upto 10% of the funds
for maintenance and infrastructure with prior
approval of the Ministry has also been made.
viii. Proportionate, at least 30% coverage of women
is necessary.
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
ix. TSP Component of the Annual State Plan is
to be put in a separate budget head under the
administrative control of their respective Tribal
Development Departments.
x. Earmarking of 10% of funds out of the total
allocation under the first proviso to Article
275(1) for innovative projects has been
provided which will be sanctioned amongst
only those States who provide TSP in the State
Plan in proportion to the ST population of the
State in a single budget-head and then have
spent at least 75% in previous three years on an
average.
This summary, which has been taken from the
website of the Ministry, nowhere gives an idea that
it is dealing with a revolutionary Provision of the
Constitution of India. The terms ‘Article 275(1)
of the Constitution’ or ‘proviso to Article 275(1)’
are used as if the Ministry were referring to some
resolution or scheme of its own. In fact, Article 275
(1) grants are taken by the officers of the Ministry
as well as the States as a Central Sector Scheme,
where 100 percent of the requirement is provided
by the Centre.
Paltry Funds are spent under Article 275 (1)
It is a measure of the casual manner in which the
consti­tutional provision of Article 275(1) is being
taken that paltry sums are being sought and
allocated in the national budgets under this Article
and the actual disbursement is always much lower
than the allocation. As shown in the Table below,
the Ministry allocated only 416 crore rupees under
this head and was able to disburse less than 340
crores. The allocation increased somewhat during
the subsequent years. But, for three consecutive
years from 2012-13 to 2014-15, the same amount
of 1,317 crore was allocated in the budget for this
purpose and the Ministry was unable to spend even
this. For 2015-16, the allocation has been increased
marginally to 1,367 crore rupees.
Allocation and Expense under Article 275(1)
(Rupees Crores)
Year Allocation Allocation Actual
(Budget (Revised
Estimate) Estimate)
2008-09 416.00 392.00 339.78
2009-10 1000.00 399.10 399.10
2010-11 1046.00 1030.00 999.88
2011-12 1197.00 1111.28 1084.83
2012-13 1317.00 820.00 819.99
2013-14 1317.00 1097.14 1097.14
2014-15 1317.00 1134.68 --
2015-16 1367.00 -- --
23
It needs to be remarked that this paltry sum is
distributed among 27 States that have Janjati
population, largely in proportion to their share
of the Janjati population. These 27 States include:
Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha,
Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
To get an estimate of what this allocation
amounts to, let us mention that the total Janjati
population in the country according to the
Census of 2011 is 104 crores. The allocation of
Rs.1,367 crores thus amounts to just about 12 or
13 rupees per person. This is the amount being
allocated to fulfill the constitutional mandate of
Article 275 (1) to bring the Janjatis of India and
the areas inhabited by them at par with the other
parts in matters of development, welfare and
administration.
Of course, the central government provide funds
for the development and welfare of Janjatis and
in support of Tribal Sub-Plans (TSPs) of the States
under other schemes also. But the grand total of
the demands of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in the
budget of 2015-16 amounts to just 4,819 crores; the
actual expenditure in 2013-14 was 3,838 crores.
The fact that the expenditure of the central
government on the tribal affairs is thrice what
is asked for and provided under Article 275 (1)
further underlines the insignificance to which the
provision has been reduced.
Article 275 (1) is the key to the fulfiment of
the constitutional vision
The commitment that the nation has made to the
Janjatis through the constitutional provisions of
the Fifth Schedule, the Sixth Schedule and the
Article 275(1) must be taken seriously. In the
scheme of things envisaged in the Constitution,
the Governors are the primary instrumentalities
through whom this commitment is to be fulfilled.
Therefore, we recommend that the Governors
of the States must make an assessment of the
requirement of funds for ensuring the welfare
and development of Janjatis and bringing the
administration of the Janjati areas at par with
other parts of their States within a reasonable
time-frame of say 10 years. According to the
provisions of Article 275(1), the Centre is
bound to provide the funds required for this
purpose. The provision is mandatory, not
discretionary. It is just that the Governors of the
 Financing the Commitments
relevant States have not so far made the necessary
assessment and planning and conveyed the
appropriate Demands for Grants to the Central
Government.
In our vision for the Janjatis, we can only hope that
what the Constitution has envisioned for them and
for the fulfilment of which it has made as explicit a
financial provision as Article 275(1), shall be soon
realized; and that substantial and adequate funds
would be allocated in the central budgets over the
next few years to make the Constitutional vision
a reality.
To perform this duty adequately, the Governors
would not only need to create dedicated Cells for
Janjati affairs in their establishment, but also call
upon the traditional leaders and organisations
of the Janjatis, other organisations working
with the Janjatis and experts in tribal affairs to
help them quickly evolve the necessary plans
and requirements. With the joint effort of all
concerned and the Constitutional mandate
enjoined upon the Centre and the States, the
Janjatis would soon stand shoulder-to-shoulder
with all other communities of the country,
confident of themselves, of their ways, customs
and practices, yet enjoying equality of status,
standing and standard with others.
Article 275(1) is not merely a strategem for getting
some supplementary funds for the central schemes
for the Janjatis, it is the key to the realization of the
Constitutional vision for them.
Transitionary Measures
It would probably take some time for the Centre
and States to begin taking Article 275(1) seriously
and use its mandate the way it is intended in
the Constitution. Meanwhile, there are several
measures that need to be taken to improve the
current utilization of this Article.
Enhancing allocation of funds under Article
275(1)
We have seen that the funds allocated in the
central budget under Article 275(1) have
stagnated at a paltry level for several years. In its
Revised Memorandum to the Fourteenth Finance
Commission (FFC), the Ministry of Tribal Affairs
has drawn the attention of the Commission to
this situation and requested the Commission
to enhance the allocation to at least Rs.2,500
crore to meet the requirements of different
States. This minimal demand should be granted
immediately.
24
In case, its request is met, the Ministry proposes to
fund the following activities:
1) Strengthening of institutions like integrated
tribal development areas (ITDAs) and Tribal
Research Institutes (TRIs).
2) Creation of new ITDAs.
3) Creation of Micro Project Agencies in rural and
urban areas.
4) Increasing capital and recurring grants for
Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS).
5) Giving performance grants on the basis of
parameters to be developed by the Ministry.
The Ministry should also include strengthening of
infra-structure under PESA in this list.
Improving Utilization of Funds
Despite the paltry allocations, these are not fully
and properly utilized by the States. One of the
major reasons for this is the late release of funds
by the States to the ITDAs/MADAs, etc. The States
should be advised to release funds in a timely
manner and empower the ITDAs/MADAs should
be sufficiently empowered to formulate and
implement schemes for tribal development and
they should be answerable for any lapses.
Gram Sabhas should be involved in the formulation
of the schemes and selection of beneficiaries,
so that Grants-in-Aid under Article 275(1) reach
the needy.
As a consequence of the tardy utilization of funds
by the relevant departments or agencies, there is
a tendency among the States to post extraneous
expenses under this head. This tendency must be
strongly curbed, even if it leads to lapsing of funds
under this head.
Enhanced support to Eklavya Model
Vidyalaya Residential Schools
Since 1997-98, funds under Article 275(1) are
being utilized for the establishment and running
of Eklavya Model Vidyalaya Residential Schools
(EMRS) in the Janjati areas. The stagnation of
budget allocations under this Article has adversely
affected this initiative; many smaller States have
not been able to set up any EMRS. Immediate
enhancement in Article 275(1) funds is required for
this purpose.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India, should
advise all the states to have registered societies
mandatorily in the Tribal Welfare Department
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
for managing the EMRS without giving option or
flexibility to states like feasible management and
suitable management.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs should also
enforce guidelines to ensure that the Eklavya
Schools come up to and surpass the standards
of the Navodaya Schools. For this purpose, the
budgetary provisions made for EMRS, for both
infrastructure and recurring expenses, should be
equal to, if not higher than, those of the Navodaya
Schools. The management of the Schools should
be through Janjati EMRS Societies on the patter of
Navodaya Vidyalaya Samitis. The Societies should
be advised to adopt the highest standards in the
selection of teachers and staff and to regularly
prepare perspective plans for the infrastructural
development of the School and for academic
parameters to be met.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs should help in
improving the EMR Schools by involving reputed
educational institutions to mentor and monitor
these Schools. The Ministry should treat this as its
flagship programme, endow special attention on
these and ensure that sufficient funds are made
available for them.
i
This document is based on papers received/read and discussions in the Mumbai Seminar and contribution from the NIRD&PR, Hyderabad.
25
Revision of Guidelines of Schemes under
Article 275(1)
As we have seen the Ministry treats Article 275(1)
as a Central scheme and issues guidelines for the
States to claim funds under this Scheme. We have
argued in the beginning that this approach is not
proper. Article 275(1) is a Constitutional provision
that authorizes the States to make demands on the
Consolidated Fund of India for the development
and welfare of the Janjatis and improvement of
administration in the Janjati areas. Until the States
begin to treat Article 275(1) in this manner, it would
be appropriate for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs
to review its guidelines in consultation with the
traditional organisation of the Janjatis, the offices
of the Governors of the concerned States, the
organisations working with and among the Janjatis
and experts concerned with the Janjati affairs.
The ultimate effort, however, should be to treat
Article 275(1) in its original constitutional spirit and
encourage the States to formulate a time-bound
programme for meeting the constitutional mandate
of bringing the development and welfare of Janjatis
and the administration of Janjati areas at par with
the rest of the country as we have described in detail
in the earlier part of this note.
Part XVI of the Constitution:
Reservations for the Janjatis
S o far we have discussed the special provisions
made for the Janjatis in Part X and Part IX of the
Constitution of India. Part X comprises Article 244 and
the associated Fifth and Sixth Schedules. Part IX deals
with the Panchayats and forms the basis of the associated
Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996,
popularly known as the PESA Act. Besides these, there
is the Part XI of the Constitution, which makes Special
Provisions for Certain Classes; these provisions relate
mainly to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes, though it also includes certain provisions for the
Anglo-Indians and certain provision for the ‘Backward
Classes’ have been added to at a later stage.
For the Janjatis, Part XVI of the Constitution makes
three categories of provisions: One, it provides for
reservation of seats for the Janjatis in the Parliament
and State Legislative Assemblies more of less in
proportion to their share in the population of the
country or different States (Articles 331 and 332).
Two, it provides for special consideration of the claims
of the Scheduled Tribes (and the Scheduled Castes)
in the posts and services of the Union and the States
(Article 335). Three, it provides for the constitution
of a National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes
(Article 338A) with vast powers to investigate and
report on matters concerning the Janjatis. Part XVI
also provides for the appointment by the President of
‘a Commission to report on the administration of the
Scheduled Areas and the welfare of the Scheduled
Tribes in the States’ (Article 339).
Reservation in the Parliament and the
State Legislatures
The reservation in the Lok Sabha and the State
Legislatures prescribed in Articles 331 and 332 of
the Constitution has been rigidly followed since
Independence. As required by these Articles, the
number of seats for the Janjatis has been increased
in every new delimitation of the constituencies, in
proportion to the population of the Janjatis in the
immediately preceding decennial Census.
Janjati Constituencies in the Lok Sabha
Currently, as per the latest delimitation order of 2008,
26
47 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha are reserved for
the Janjatis. These reserved seats form 8.56 percent
of the total seats in the House; this is very near the
proportion of 8.6 percent that the Janjatis have in
the population of the country in 2011 and somewhat
higher than their proportion of 8.2 percent in 2001.
In the previous delimitation undertaken in 1976,
the number Janjati seats in the Lok Sabha were
fixed at 41. Incidentally, 34 of the 47 seats reserved
in the Lok Sabha for the Janjatis are in the ten States
covered under the Fifth Schedule.
Janjati Constituencies in the Assemblies
According to the delimitation order of 2008, there are
a total of 4,120 seats in the legislative assemblies of the
States and the Union Territories. Out of these, 554 seats,
forming 13.4 percent of the total, are reserved for the
Janjatis. This is considerably higher than their share in
the total population of the country, mainly because the
Janjatis are concentrated in some of the larger States,
where they form a considerable proportion of the
population. In the previous delimitation undertaken in
1976, the number of Janjati seats in the State legislatures
was 532 in a total of 4,109.
No reserved seats for Janjatis in J&K
It is noteworthy that there is none of the Lok Sabha or
Legislative Assembly seats in the State of Jammu and
Kashmir are reserved for the Janjatis, even though
they have a considerable share of 11.9 percent in the
population of the State according to the Census of 2011.
This is because of the peculiar constitutional status of
that State; the authority of the Delimitation Commission
does not extend to Jammu and Kashmir. But, this does
amount to a great injustice to the Janjatis there. Some
solution needs to be found to undo this anomaly.
Articles 331 and 332 guarantee the Janjatis
a place in the polity
Reservation of seats for the Janjatis in the Lok Sabha
and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States is an
important Constitutional guarantee that ensures
a proportionate place for the representatives of
the Janjatis in the polity of the nation. Of all the
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
provisions made in the Constitution for the Janjatis,
this is perhaps the most important. It is because of
the guaranteed place that the Janjatis have in the
basic institutions of democracy that they are able to
exert pressure for the implementation of the other
provisions of the Constitution. It is because of this
that they are able to induce the Parliament and the
State Assemblies to make laws to operationalize the
Constitutional provisions; the passage of laws like the
PESA and the FRA would have been unlikely in the
absence of the legislative clout that the Constitution
has guaranteed to them. It is indeed true that several
social organisations established and run largely by
non-Janjati communities, as also concerned experts
and individuals from those communities, have also
played a role in the framing of such laws and in the
devising of other measures designed to ensure that
the Janjatis are able to retain their distinct identity
and a dignified place within the Indian nation. They
have also endeavoured to consistently raise public
awareness about issues that concern the Janjatis. Yet
all this might have been of little avail in the absence
of the considerable space that the Constitution has
given them in the high councils of the nation.
Reservation in the posts and services
Article 335 requires that the ‘claims of the members
of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes
shall be taken into consideration, consistently with
the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in
the making of appointments to services and posts in
connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State’.
A proviso to this Article, inserted in 2000, further
allows the Union or the States to prescribe lower
standards of evaluation for the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes in matters of promotion.
In pursuance of this provision, the Union and the
States have provided for reservation in favour of the
Janjatis in their respective posts and services, more
or less in proportion to their share in the population
of the country or in different States. In principle,
thus, the Janjatis are assured their due share in
the government posts and services. However, there
remain several areas of concern as listed below:
Areas of Concern in the States
1. Though most States with a significant presence
of Janjatis endeavour to accommodate persons
from the Janjatis in their administrative services
at different levels in proportion to their share
in the population, yet their representation in
the higher administrative cadres of all States
remains rather low.
2. The share of Janjatis in the administrative and
secretarial services at middle and lower levels
in many of the States has indeed reached near
their proportion in the population; but their
representation in the education and health
27
services remains very low in all States. Their
presence is especially low in the teaching faculty
in the higher education cadres.
3. In some of the States with significant proportion
of Janjatis in their population, the presence of
Janjatis in the government services and posts
in all departments and at all levels remains
extremely low. In this respect, Odisha seems to
be fairing the worst.
4. Even in the States where the Janjatis have a
reasonable presence in the services and posts,
particularly in the administrative cadres, no
special effort seems to be made to ensure that
officers from the Janjatis are posted in the
areas and districts with higher concentration of
Janjatis, so that the Janjatis have the satisfaction
of being administered by their own officers, or
at least by officers who are familiar with their
language, customs, culture and preferences.
5. Similarly, the States have no system to familiarise
the officers posted in the Janjati areas with the
language, customs, culture and preferences of
the people they are supposed to serve. This is
essential for meeting intent of the Constitution
in making provisions for self-governance and
autonomy of the Scheduled ad Tribal Areas.
Areas of Concern at the level of the Union
1. As in most of the States, the Janjatis of India
as a whole find a place proportionate to their
population in the posts and services of the Union.
Unlike in the States, the Janjatis indeed have
their due share even in the elite administrative
services like the IAS and IPS, etc. But this just
share is achieved only at the gross average level;
Janjatis from many areas and States of India
remain grossly under-represented in the posts
and services of the Union. An overwhelming
majority of the Janjati officers in the service of the
Union are recruited from the Northeast, which
accommodates only 12.4 million out of the total
104 million Janjati population of India.
2. No effort is made to ensure that the Janjati
officers of the Union are preferentially posted
in the States and Districts with a higher
concentration of Janjatis. Therefore, the higher
administrative and police cadre in most of the
Janjati-dominated parts of India has very little
representation from the Janjatis.
3. No system has been evolved to familiarise officers
posted in the Janjati areas with the languages,
culture, customs and preferences of the Janjatis
they are supposed to serve.
4. While some effort is made to reserve places for
Janjatis in the administrative and police cadres,
there seems to be no similar effort made in the
educational, medical, engineering and other
 Reservations for the Janjatis
technical cadres. Thus, the faculty in the central
universities and researchers in the national
institutions in the Janjati areas continues to be
drawn largely from the non-Janjati communities.
Recommendations
In view of the situation described above, we
recommend as below:
1. A special effort needs to be made in States like
Odisha to appoint candidates from the Janjatis
in the posts and services at different levels
to meet the requirement of Article 335 of the
Constitution.
2. All States with a significant Janjati population must
make efforts to increase their representation in
the medical, education and technical cadres. This
would also require special efforts to facilitate the
entry of Janjatis in the scientific and technological
institutions of higher learning. A larger emphasis
on the inculcation of agricultural, mechanical
and engineering skills at all levels of education in
the new education policy would create a larger
space for the Janjatis, who are naturally good at
material skills.
3. All States with a significant Janjati population and
the Union of India should make a special effort
to ensure that the postings and cadre-allocation
of officers is done in a manner that officers
from the Janjatis get to administer regions and
districts of high Janjati concentration.
4. All States with a significant Janjati population and
the Union should evolve a system of familiarising
the officers allocated to or posted in the Janjati
areas with the languages, customs, culture and
preferences of the people they are sent to serve.
They should also be trained in and sensitised
towards the peculiar problems and resources of
the Janjati areas.
5. Most importantly, the Union should ensure
proper geographical distribution of candidates
while filling the positions reserved for the
Janjatis in its elite services. Filling nearly all
Janjati positions from a limited pool of Janjatis
from a geographical niche of the country hardly
meets the requirement of Article 335. Vigorous
efforts should also be made by the Union and
the States to facilitate Janjati candidates from the
under-represented States to enter and succeed
in the competition for the elite services.
6. In case achieving proper geographical
distribution of the reserved posts in the elite
services leads to a significant lowering of the
representation of the Northeast, the Union may
consider a separate reservation for that region,
separate from the constitutionally mandated
reservation for the Janjatis.
28
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
NCST and Commission for Scheduled Areas
and Scheduled Tribes SAST
These two provisions of Part XVI have been
adequately met. Article 338 originally provided
for only a single National Commission for the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. A separate
National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes
was created by inserting Article 338A through a
constitutional amendment in 2003. Constitutionally,
the Commission is sufficiently empowered to
investigate all matters concerning the Janjatis and
report on their condition to the President. The
Commission is even clothed with the powers of a
civil court to enforce production of persons and
evidentiary material to facilitate its investigations.
Putting on floor of the House of the Annual Report
(ARs) of the NCST and its ATR is legging behind;
it takes six long years for this work. The AR and
its ATR for the year 2012-13 was put in the Sansad
only this year and all the subsequent ARs of the
NCST are still pending in the process. This period
of Six years must be reduced to Three years.
The first Commission to report on the administration
of Scheduled Areas and welfare of the Scheduled
Tribes (SAST) as required by Article 339 was
appointed in 1960 under the chairmanship of U.
N. Dhebar. Its report remained the most authentic
document on the condition of Scheduled Areas
and the Scheduled Tribes for several years. The
second Commission on the Scheduled Areas and
Scheduled Tribes was appointed in 2002 under the
chairmanship of late Shri Dileep Singh Bhuria. Its
voluminous report presents a comprehensive picture
of the condition of the Scheduled Area and Tribes.
The situation has changed drastically since 2002
because of enhanced economic and developmental
activity all around and its impact in the Scheduled
Areas and other areas of Janjati domination. These
areas are rich in natural resources, and efforts to
exploit these resources for developmental activity
puts the Janjati communities under particular
stress. Therefore, we believe that it is now time
to appoint a third commission to look into the
state of the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled
Tribes. The Commission should be particularly
mandated to investigate and report on the impact
of developmental activities on the Janjatis and their
environments and to suggest ways and protocols to
minimise the adverse impact of these activities and
to compensate the Janjatis for the deprivations they
suffer because of these.
We recommend that the Third Scheduled Areas and
Scheduled Tribes Commission may be appointed
expeditiously.
Governance in Non-Scheduled Areas
T he Constitution of India makes special
provisions for the governance of Janjatis and
Janjati areas in Schedule V and Schedule VI;
protections and privileges granted under these
Schedules are further strengthened in Article 275
(1) and Part XI of the Constitutions, and in laws like
the PESA and FRA, etc. We have discussed these
Constitutional provisions and legal arrangements in
the earlier sections of this document.
These protections and privileges are, however, not
available to Janjatis throughout the country; Janjatis
in States covered under Schedule V and Schedule
VI alone are entitled to these. The two Schedules
indeed cover a large majority of the Janjatis. As
we have seen, Schedule V applied in nine States;
these include Andhra Pradesh (and Telangana),
Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Himachal
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha
and Rajasthan. Schedule VI applies to certain areas
of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
Of the total population of 10.48 crore Scheduled
Tribes counted in 2011 in the country, 7.63
crore, comprising 72.8 percent of the total, is in
this belt. Another 86 lakh Janjatis are in the four
States of Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram
covered under the Sixth Schedule; these comprise
about 8.2 percent of the total population of the
Janjatis in India. This leaves about one-fifth of the
Janjati population of India outside the protective
provisions of the Constitution and the laws framed
to implement these protections.
Of this about 2 crore of the Janjati population,
about 36 lakh, or about 3.4 percent of the total are
in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur;
this population, though outside the protection of
Schedule V and Schedule VI, yet enjoys certain
privileges and protections by virtue of the provisions
of the Acts constituting these States and also because
the Janjati people form a considerable majority in
these States and thus have a prominent place in
the polity. In fact, there are special constitutional
provisions for Nagaland (Article 371A) and Manipur
(Article 371C) and Mizoram (Article 371G), etc.
Another 14.9 lakh of the Janjati population,
comprising about 1.5 percent of the total, is in J&K.
West Bengal has a considerable Janjati population
29
of 53 lakh, comprising about 5 percent of the
total population of Janjatis in India. Uttarakhand,
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar accommodate 27.6 lakh
population of Janatis, forming about 2.6 percent
of the total. The southern contiguous States of
Karnataka, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have
a considerable Janjati population of 56.8 lakhs,
forming about 5.5 percent of the total. In addition,
there are small, but particularly vulnerable Janjati
population in Andaman & Nicbar, and also in Dadra
& Nagar Haveli and in Daman & Diu.
These considerable and widespread Janjati
populations, many of which are in special need of
protection and care, remain outside the protection
of Schedule V and Schedule VI that are included in
the Constitution of India specially for the Janjatis.
They are thus left exposed to exploitation, land
alienation and loss of traditional control over
and access to forest. Though their numbers are
considerable in some of these States, particularly in
West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu
and also in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,
they are facing socio-political marginalisation in
these non-Scheduled Areas.
The intervention of the Government of India has
resulted in the constitution of Tribal Advisory
Councils (TACs) in two of the Non-Schedule Area
States, namely, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. In
Uttarakhand, constitution of the TAC was announced
in August 2012, but it has not been implemented
yet. Some of the non-Scheduled Area States, from
time to time, have been demanding designation
of certain areas in their jurisdiction as Scheduled
Areas, but the response of the Government of India
has been tardy. It is alleged that the process of
scheduling was started in the 1950s and resumed
in the 1970s, but has remained incomplete largely
due to lack of political will. This exercise has to be
finished expeditiously in the interest of the STs
living in the non-Scheduled Areas.
We recommend that all villages and blocks where the
Janjatis form 40 percent or more of the population
should be identified and declared as Scheduled Areas,
so that the benefits of the Constitutional provisions,
the PESA Act and other similar Acts become available
equally to all Janjatis of India.
Land Alienation and Land Acquisitioni
L and is the most valuable resource available to
the Janjatis. The livelihood of a large majority
of the tribal people depends largely on land. But
to a large extent the preservation of the distinctive
culture, customs and preferences of the Janjatis
critically depends on the preservation of land and
the way of life associated with it. Recognising this,
the Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution,
make specific provisions to guard against the
alienation of tribal lands. Section 5 of the Schedule
authorises the Governor to make regulations that
may ‘prohibit or restrict the transfer of land by or
among members of the Scheduled Tribes’ and to
‘regulate the allotment of land’ to them. Similarly,
the Sixth Schedule gives the Autonomous District
Councils the authority to make their own laws
relating to land, forest and other natural resources
and in particular vests them with extensive powers
in the matter of ‘the allotment, occupation or use,
or the setting apart, of land’, etc. Similarly, the PESA
Act gives the Gram Sabhas ‘the power to prevent
alienation of land in the Scheduled Areas and to
take appropriate action to restore any unlawfully
alienated land of a Scheduled Tribes’. The Act also
provides for mandatory consent of the Gram Sabha
before any transfer of land in the Scheduled Areas.
Legal provisions prohibit alienation of
tribal land
In pursuance of these fundamental Constitutional
provisions, nearly all the states having a significant
population of the Janjatis have enacted laws to
protect their lands. Land belonging to tribal
people, especially in the Scheduled Areas, cannot be
sold or transferred to non-tribals. Restrictions are
placed on the transfer of tribal land even to tribal
people. Efforts have been made in these Sates to
clearly define the simple cultivating tenural rights
and clearly spelling out individual and community
rights in the record of rights. Rights on minor
forest produce and wood for household use are
also recorded. There are provisions of assigning
‘service land’ to persons who hold certain positions
in the community and perform definite duties.
30
But large-scale alienation keeps taking
place
Notwithstanding the legal provisions, however,
illegal alienation of tribal land has been taking
place in all States with the connivance of officials
and political functionaries at different levels. Laws
are intentionally misinterpreted and records are
manipulated in order to accord permissions for
transfer of tribal lands. In many instances, the
State Laws are amended to include provisions that
facilitate alienation of tribal lands.
State laws do have provision for restoration of
illegal alienation of tribal lands. But such cases
take years to settle and the tribal people, who are
relatively less resourceful and less knowledgeable
about the intricacies of the legal procedures, are
generally at a disadvantage in such proceedings.
State sponsored alienation
In addition to alienation of land in favour of
individuals through dodgy legal means, there is
also a great deal of alienation of land sponsored by
the State. It is a common practice among revenue
officials of the States to record community lands
in tribal areas as Government lands. Since laws in
most States recognize and protect only individually
owned registered lands, such community lands fall
outside the Constitutional and legal framework and
are routinely alienated to mining and industrial
interests.
This State-sponsored alienation of tribal lands is
also against the letter and spirit of the law. In the
celebrated Samatha judgment of 1997, the Supreme
Court of India has held that the Constitutional
protection against alienation of tribal lands
extends not only to individually held lands but also
to the Government lands in Scheduled Areas. This
judgment came in response to a challenge to the
Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Area Land Transfer
Regulation of 1959. In that context, the Court
also held that private mining industries are non-
tribal persons and therefore leasing of tribal lands
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
in the Scheduled Areas to private industries for
mining falls foul of the laws prohibiting transfer of
tribal lands to non-tribal persons. The judgment
also suggested that the tribal people should be
organised to exploit mineral deposits in their areas
on their own.
However, even after this judgement, both
individual and State-sponsored alienation of tribal
lands has continued unabated.
Forced Acquisition of Land
In terms of the extent of land and numbers of
people affected, the forced acquisition of land by
the State has posed a much larger threat to the
Janjatis than the alienation of land through legally
suspect means. The Constitutional provisions
and the laws of the concerned States prohibit
alienation of tribal lands to non-tribal persons.
But, the Constitution does not protect the tribal
lands from forced acquisition of land by the State
for so-called ‘public purposes’. The Fifth Schedule
does not extend any autonomy to the Scheduled
Areas and thus those areas, like any other part of
India, remain open to forced acquisition by the
State. But even the Sixth Schedule, which makes
the Tribal Areas largely autonomous, and gives the
District Councils the power to make laws in matters
relating, among other things, to ‘the allotment,
occupation or use, or the setting apart, of land’,
makes that power subject to the Eminent Domain
of the State by immediately inserting a proviso
that reads: “Provided that nothing in such laws
shall prevent the compulsory acquisition of any
land, whether occupied or unoccupied, for public
purposes by the Government…”
This power of the State to acquire any land for
public purposes has been extensively exercised,
through the British era Land Acquisition Act of
1894, since Independence. And, the impact of such
acquisition has been the most severe on the Janjati
people and Janjati areas. There are no official
numbers available for the total amount of land
acquired by the State and the number of people
displaced as a consequence of such acquisition.
But, taking a overall view of various studies on this
subject, the High Level Committee (HLC) on Socio-
Economic, Health and Educational Status of Tribal
Communities of India, in its report submitted
in May 2014, estimates that total of 10.6 million
hectares of land has been acquired in 13 major
States since Independence (and up to around
2000). Of this, 3.8 million hectares is common land
or land diverted from forests; acquisition of such
land affects mainly the Janjatis. Based on the same
sources, the Committee also estimates that a total
31
of 20.4 million people have been displaced in these
13 States as a consequence of the acquisition; of
these 20.4 million displaced persons, 6.3 million,
forming 30.7 percent of the total are from the
Janjatis. The proportion of Janjatis in the total
population of these States, when this compilation
was done, was only 8.2 percent. (See, Table 8.1 and
8.4 of the HLC Report).
The Committee believes that these estimates of the
extent of land acquired and the number of persons
displaced are rather conservative. The Committee
refers to a report of the Planning Commission
where the number of displaced and affected
persons in India is estimated at around 60 million;
and it quotes an Expert Group to suggest that of
the total number of displaced persons in India as
may as 47 percent may be from the Janjatis. (See,
p.258 of the HLC Report).
Thus, it is clear that there has been large-scale forced
acquisition of land in India since Independence,
and the impact of such acquisition of land has fallen
disproportionately on the Janjatis. Unless such
forced acquisition is minimized and the affected
persons are resettled and rehabilitated in an
adequate manner, India would be fail in fulfilling
the Constitutional promise of preserving the
culture and identity of the Janjatis and ensuring a
dignified life to them.
Right To Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation And Resettlement Act, 2013
In this context, the Right to Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation
and Resettlement Act of 2013, popularly known as
the LARR Act, which replaces the colonial Land
Acquisition Act of 1894, offers a ray of hope to
the Janjatis, as it does to the other agriculturist
communities, including the Scheduled Castes, who
have been losing their land for the sake of industrial
development of India. The law for the first time
offers a generous monetary compensation for the
acquired lands and a comprehensive package for
the rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected
people, who comprise not only the owners of the
acquired lands but also all others whose livelihood
depends upon it. The Act also gives the affected
communities a say in the matter of acquisition
through its clauses that mandate consent of a
certain proportion of the affected people and a
comprehensive assessment, with the involvement
of the local communities, of the social impact of the
acquisition. The Act tries to ensure in various ways
that in any situation only the minimum necessary
 Land Alienation and Land Acquisition
land would be acquired and, to the extent possible,
better and richer lands would be kept out of the
ambit of acquisition to ensure food-security.
All these clauses of the LARR Act are of great
importance for the Janjatis, who have so far borne
the brunt of forced land acquisition by the State.
Therefore, it is to be welcomed that the recent
effort to amend the LARR Act to dilute the clauses
relating to consent, SIA and food security have
been abandoned and the Act has been allowed
to stand on its own. The implementation of this
Act in good faith and in the spirit in which it has
been enacted shall go a long way in minimising the
impact of further acquisitions, particularly in the
Janjati areas.
Recommendations
In the Context of Land Alienation
1. Tribal land records should be updated and
digitized. The Centre may facilitate this effort
by the States by initiating a special mission on
it.
2. Rights of tribals on water and forest should also
be similarly recorded in a digital format.
3. Wilful dispossession of tribal land should be
made a punishable offence.
4. All restoration cases of alienation of STs land
should be disposed of expeditiously preferably
by setting up special Revenue Courts. States
should express their political will to stand by the
Janjatis while dealing with such cases. Madhya
Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have set an example
in this context by implementing Section 170 (b)
of their respective Land Revenue Acts. Other
States can take their effort as the model.
5. All cases under “Forest Rights Act” should be
decided expeditiously.
6. Administrative reforms should be undertaken to
make revenue administration more responsive
and sympathetic to the cause of the Janjati. A
sense of responsibility and concern towards
the Janjatis among the administrators is the
key to the successful implementation of the
Constitutional and legal provisions that have
been created for the welfare of the Janjatis.
In the Context of Land Acquisition
1. The Right To Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation And Resettlement Act of 2013
32
is the most important piece of legislation that
has been enacted in the context of forced land
acquisition of land by the State. This Act should
be implemented in its letter and spirit, the
temptation to dilute the provisions of the Act
should be resisted at all levels, and special care
should be exercised to comply with all the legal
provisions regarding the Janjati lands while
implementing/acquiring land under the LARR
Act in the Janjati areas.
2. While the LARR Act 2013 can ameliorate the
condition of those Janjati people who are
displaced from their lands and homestead in
the future, separate effort shall have to be made
to provide justice to the large number of tribal
people who have been displaced in the past.
3. White Paper on past acquisition and
displacement: In view of the absence of
authentic and reliable information on the
extent of tribal lands acquired and the
number of tribal people displaced so far,
the Central Government, in cooperation
with the State Governments, should issue a
comprehensive White Paper giving the official
figure of the total land acquired in different
States, the number of people displaced
because of this acquisition and the current
status of the rehabilitation and resettlement
of such displaced persons. Such data should
be collected separately for the Scheduled
and Tribal Areas and also for the Scheduled
Castes, Scheduled Tribes and others. This is
important to devise ways of ameliorating the
condition of the displaced people, and also to
calm the sentiments created by the alarmist
situation presented by several social scientists,
NGOs and even some of the government
committees set up in the past.
4. A commission to review the old cases of tribal
displacement: Following the issue of the White
Paper mentioned above, it would be proper to
constitute a Commission to review the older
cases of tribal displacement and recommend
measures to ameliorate their condition.
5. A national record of acquisition and
displacement: After the data on the past
acquisition and displacement has been
obtained, it would be proper to create
a central registry of all acquisitions and
displacements taking place anywhere in the
country. This would help the Centre monitor
the situation continuously and ensure that
all displaced persons, particularly from the
Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, are
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
fully resettled and rehabilitated. This would
be a crucial safeguard against the mood in the
interior areas turning sour and thus creating
fertile grounds for left-extremist activities,
which we have been witnessing at a large scale
in the tribal areas of the country.
6. A National Land Utilization Commission/
Register and Policy: To make the process of
acquisition rational, systematic and transparent,
it would be appropriate to create a Land
Utilisation Register for the whole country.
With the widespread availability of satellite
mapping and GIS techniques, preparing a
comprehensive land-use map and plan for the
whole country has now become feasible. The
Department of Land Resources of the Ministry
of Rural Development has already issued a draft
i
This paper is based on inputs by Shri J. L. Tubid, IAS, team VKA and extensive discussion at the Mumbai seminar.
33
document towards such a policy in June 2013.
This can form the basis for further thinking
and discussion in this direction.
7. Cultural Impact Assessment: It is important
to recognise the importance of access to their
traditional lands in the preservation of their
culture and identity of the Janjatis. Therefore,
before acquiring land in a Janjati area, an
assessment of the likely impact of such acquisition
on the cultural and historical heritage of the
area should also be undertaken along with the
assessment of social and environmental impact.
Some assessment of this nature must be getting
done as part of the latter two. But for the Janjati
areas, cultural and historical impact assessment
needs to be undertaken independently of the
social and environmental impact.
Tribal Research Institutes
A t present, there are 18 Tribal Research
Institutes (TRIs) functioning in the country,
one each in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa,
Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, West
Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and in the Union Territory
of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The TRI at
Hyderabad was for the undivided State of Andhra
Pradesh; this has now gone to Telangana and
Andhra Pradesh has been sanctioned funds for
a new TRI at Vishakhapatnam, which has begun
functioning from the TRI campus at Hyderabad.
The TRIs are expected to undertake research
on cultural, anthropological, socio-economic and
other issues concerning the Janjatis. The outcome
of the research and documentation undertaken by
the TRIs feeds into the policy and programmes of
the Centre in the States concerning the Janjatis.
For this purpose, they are often required to carry
out specific studies, research and documentation
on critical issues. TRIs are also expected to
conduct seminars and training workshops, etc.,
to help enhance the capacities of the Janjatis and
the officials working with or for the Janjatis. These
institutions are associated with documentation
of customary laws, setting up of museums for
exhibiting Janjati artefacts, etc.
In view of these important functions assigned to
the TRIs, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been
providing financial support to the TRIs in the
States on 50:50 sharing basis between the States
and the Centre; the TRI in the Andaman and
Nicobar Island is provided 100 percent financial
support by the Centre. In addition, the Ministry
of Tribal Affairs provides 100 percent grants for
specific research projects undertaken by the TRIs.
However, most of the TRIs are facing financial and
manpower constraints. In view of the current fiscal
responsibility laws, recruitments to existing posts has
been frozen in several areas in most of the States, and
TRIs have been neglected in the process. Funding
34
from the Centre also has been slowing down and
seems sporadic. According to the data provided
to the Parliamentary Standing Committee by the
Ministry of Tribal Affairs, no funds were released
for the last three years of 2011-12, 2012-13 and
2013-14 to the six TRIs in the States of Himachal
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, West
Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. During the last year of
2013-14, only six TRIs, those in Assam, Gujarat,
Karnataka, Manipur, Odisha and A&N Islands,
obtained any funds from the Centre. Total funds
released by the Ministry for the TRIs increased
from 366 lakhs in 2011-12 to 416 lakhs in 2012-13
and declined to 274 lakhs in 2013-14.i
When asked by the Standing Committee about the
failure to disburse grants to TRIs in several States
and the reduction in total financing for TRIs, the
Ministry laid the blame on the States for sending
incomplete proposals.
The Standing Committee also enquired whether
the TRIs were fully equipped with staff and
infrastructure and if not, the steps taken to make
the TRIs fully equipped. The Ministry in their
written reply admitted that the problem of shortage
of staff in TRIs has been reported to the Ministry;
but, since the TRIs have been set up by the States
and the Union Territories, the permanent staff of
these TRIs are the responsibility of the concerned
Governments.
The TRIs are an important component of
the governance structure of the policies and
programmes for the Janjatis. These institutions
seem to be is obviously a need to be strengthened
and their infrastructure and financing needs to be
improved. In view of the above, we recommend
the following:
Enhancing the Functions of TRIsii:
The TRIs must be encouraged to develop as
vibrant, largely autonomous institutions entrusted
with the following functions:
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
1. To develop as repositories of knowledge and
information on Janjatis;
2. To support evidence-based policy, planning
and legislation concerning Janjatis;
3. To provide basic post-recruitment training to
Tribal Welfare Service officials;
4. To build capacities of Janjatis, functionaries
engaged in Janjati welfare programs and of
Self Help Groups and elected representatives
in matters concerning Janjatis and the special
constitutional provisions, laws and regulations
regarding them.
5. To disseminate information and create
awareness on Janjati issues, entitlements,
schemes and programmes.
Enhancing the Capacities of TRIs
To perform the above functions, the TRIs shall
need to:
1. Build capacity to coordinate and network with
i
16_Social_Justice_And_Empowerment_13.MoTA Grants 15-16
ii
Based on discussions at the Mumbai Seminar and feedback from Prof RRPrasad of NIRD Hyderabad and Prof KKMishra of the Central University,
Hyderabad.
35
related research institutes and organizations as
well as academic bodies;
2. Create basic minimum infrastructure with a
research wing, conference hall, library, training
hostel and museum, etc., as part of the TRI
structure.
3. Assist in recruitment of a core group of
professionals comprising experts from various
disciplines including Anthropology, Tribal
Studies, Development Studies, Culture Studies,
Ethnography and Statistics.
4. Shortage of Funds, which have resulted in
staff reduction in TRIs, must be made up by
the Centre. The MoTA may endeavour to
support emoluments for the manpower at least
for five years. The support for research and
contractual staff on 100 percent grant basis
should continue.
5. The TRIs should be made Quasi Autonomous.
Directors of TRIs should be full time officers.
Strengthened thus, the TRIs may also
supplement functions of and help the Tribal
Cells of the Governors and the TACs.
National Tribal Policy
T he Ministry of Tribal Affairs published a
comprehensive Draft National Policy on Tribal
Development long back in 2006.i Explaining the need
for such a policy after 60 years of Independence,
the document stated:
“Though the Constitution of India contains several
provisions for the protection and development of
Scheduled Tribes, and to ensure a level playing
field for Scheduled Tribes and other vulnerable
groups, and though several other Central and State
Acts, instruments and pronouncements which have
similar objectives are in existence, there is no single
policy which looks at the issue of protection and
development of Scheduled Tribes in an integrated
and holistic manner. In order to address the
issues concerning lower HDI, poor infrastructure,
diminishing control over the natural resource base,
persistent threats of eviction from their habitat,
exclusion from mainstream society and economy in
distribution of wealth and opportunities, and non-
empowerment, and to place STs on a progressive and
constructive path and make them active partners in
nation building, a National Policy for the Scheduled
Tribes is considered necessary. The policy will facilitate
translation of the Constitutional safeguards into reality,
with simultaneous socio-economic development.”
Drafted with such noble intentions, the policy
document indeed laid out a framework for
regulatory protection, socio-economic and political
empowerment, increased livelihood opportunities,
improved governance and administration,
preservation of tribal cultural and traditional rights
and knowledge, and protection of tribal traditional
knowledge in the intellectual property rights regime.
That draft document still remains important and
relevant for providing a basis for Government
policies and programmes concerning the Janjatis.
The draft, however, has not been finalized and
adopted by the Government so far, though two
governments have gone into the drafting process.
In August 2014, eight years after the first draft was
released, the present Minister for Tribal Affairs, Sri
Jual Oram, informed the Lok Sabha that his Ministry
had prepared a draft of “National Tribal Policy” for
i
The complete draft policy document may be accessed at: www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/tribal.pdf
ii
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-08-01/news/52327716_1_national-tribal-policy-rural-development-lwe
36
socio-economic development of tribals, which has not
been finalized yet.ii At the valedictory function of the
Mumbai Seminar, held on February 8, 2015, gave
a commitment that the Policy Document would be
finalized soon.
India has formulated National Policy Documents
on all of the important facets of national life. For
example, we have: National Population Policy 2000,
National Forest Policy 1952 and 1988, National
Health Policy 1983 and 2002 (2015 update is in
the pipeline), National Industrial Policy 1991 and
National Manufacturing Policy 2011, National
Agriculture Policy 2000 and 2011, National Mining
Policy 2008, National Skill Development Policy 2009
(which is being updated for 2015), National Policy
on Information Technology 2012, National Forest
Policy 1952 and 1988 and National Education Policy
1968, 1986 and 1992 (which is being updated for
2015). But there is no National Tribal Policy yet; and,
there is also no National Land Use Policy.
All development indicators for the Janjatis are below
the national average; there is unrest in the Janjati
areas; there is extreme poverty; there is excessive
displacement, the share of Janjatis in the persons
displaced by the development projects is five times
more then their share in the population. These
are only some burning issues facing the Janjatis. A
policy document will lay down how these issues are
to be addressed, what should be the strategy, the
mechanism, sources of finance, etc.
In the past couple of decades very important
legislations concerning the Janjatis like the PESA
1996; the FRA 2006; the Land Acquisition Act, 2013
and MMDR Amendment Act 2015 have been enacted.
But all this has been done without an underlying
comprehensive policy framework. In this period, the
Second SAST Commission under the Chairmanship
of veteran Janjati leader late Sri Dileep Singh Bhuria
was also constituted and it submitted its report in 2004.
This report can form the basis for finalizing the policy.
It is important that the National Tribal Policy
document is finalized and adopted by the Government
at the earliest.
Reports of Different Commissions
and Committees and the Need for
Third SAST Commission
S ince Independence, a number of Commissions
and Committees have been constituted to
oversee or study the condition of the Janjatis and
on the state of implementation of the various
constitutional and legal provisions designed for
their protection. Below we give details of the most
significant of these Commissions and Committees.
National Commission for the Scheduled
Tribes (NCST)
This is a constitutional body, constituted under
Article 338-A of the Constitution of India. Till
2004, there used to be a single Commission for the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. In
2004, the then NDA Government headed by Shri
Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided to create separate
Commissions for the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes.
The Commission is mandated to present to the
President annually, and at such time as it may deem
fit, reports upon the working of the safeguards of
the Janjatis across the country. These reports are
laid on both houses of Parliament along with the
Action Taken Reports (ATR) by the Government.
The reports, in full or in part, are also forwarded
to the Governors of the concerned States for
consideration and necessary action on points
relating to the respective States.
Unfortunately, the reports of the Commission are
dealt in a ritualistic manner in the Parliament and
in the offices of the Governors.
To make the exercise more meaningful, we
recommend that:
1. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha should refer
all such reports to the Parliamentary Standing
Committee for Tribal Affairs for detailed
discussion and reporting;
2. Public response may be sought on the issues
raised in these reports. Representatives of the
Janjatis and other responsible public persons
working for their welfare should be especially
invited to respond.
37
3. Eminent persons of sound social, academic or
professional background, with demonstrated
concern for the Janjatis should be appointed in
the Commission.
4. The Constitution mandates that the Union
and every State Government shall consult
the Commission on all major policy matters
affecting the Janjatis (338-A Clause 9). But the
records and reports on the website of the NCST
suggest that this provision is being ignored by
the Union and most of the States. Therefore, we
recommend that it should be made mandatory
to include in Memorandum of Objectives of all
Bills or Notifications relating to policy matters
affecting the Janjatis to include a statement
that the NCST has been consulted as per the
constitutional requirement.
Second SAST Commission
Article 339 of the Constitution lays down that
the “President may at any time and shall, at the
expiration of ten years from the commencement of
this Constitution, by order appoint a Commission
to report on the administration of the Scheduled
Areas and the welfare of this Scheduled Tribes
in the States…”.However, only two Commissions
have been set up so far in accordance with
this mandate. The first Scheduled Areas and
Scheduled Tribes Commission was appointed in
1960 under the chairmanship of UN Dhebar; the
Second Commission was set up on July 18, 2002
under the chairmanship of late Sri Dileep Singh
Bhuria. The Bhuria Commission presented its
Report on July 16, 2004 to the then President
late Sri K. R. Narayanan. Both have departed
for their heavenly voyage, but still no action
has been taken on the voluminous report of this
Commission.
A recent (March 2015) report suggests that the
Report along with the Action Taken Report was
to be laid in the Parliament during the Budget
Session nearly eleven years after it was submitted
to the Government; but it did not happen
 Reports of Different Commissions and Committees
even in that session. It seems that the UPA
Government had decided to reject the report
of the Bhuria Commission and had announced
the formation of the Third SAST Commission
in July 2012; but there are reports that the
current Government has decided not to
accept that decision. The UPA Government
also appointed a High Level Committee on
Scheduled Tribes towards the fag end of its term.
With the change of regime, that Committee also
became defunct.
Basic data pertaining to Janjatis collected in the
Census of 2011 relating to their demographic
indicators, socio-economic conditions and religion,
etc., has not been released yet.
Such delays and dilatoriness in dealing with the
data collected by various agencies and dealing with
the reports of high Commissions and Committees
makes the whole process meaningless and wasteful
and castes doubts about the establishment’s
intentions regarding the Janjatis.
Therefore we recommend that:
1. All data concerning Janjatis should be made
38
publicly available as soon as possible and
the Reports of the various Commission and
Committees set up to look into the conditions
of the Janjatis should be made public and acted
upon within six months of presentation.
2. The present Union Government should
consider all the pending reports, and especially
the report of the Second SAST Commission,
expeditiously and address the concerns raised
in such reports in a time bound manner.
3. It is now time to constitute the third SAST
Commission. The Commission may be
mandated, in addition to the usual terms of
reference, to review all the reports of the earlier
important Commissions and Committees and
give a comprehensive list of suggestions to the
Government for expeditious implementation. It
should be assured that this proposed Commission
completes its excise within stipulated time and
presents its report and recommendations latest
by end of 2017. The Third SAST Commission
could become the instrument for achieving the
Vision for STs outlined in this Document.
 Section B: Economic and Social Issues
Agriculture in Janjati Areasi
Background
A griculture is the main economic activity
of the Indian people in general; but, the
dependence of Janjatis on agriculture is much
higher than the average. According to NSS 66th
Round (2009-10), quoted in the Tribal Profile
(May 2014) prepared by the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs, out of every 1,000 Janjati households
in the rural areas, 370 are self-employed in
agriculture and another 334 live by performing
labour in agriculture. Thus 70 percent of the
Janjati households in rural areas are dependent
on agriculture; the corresponding proportion for
all rural households is 57.5 percent.
According to the work-participation data of Census
2011, the dependence of Janjatis on agriculture is
even higher. Of every 100 working persons among
the Janjatis in rural areas, 37 are cultivators and 47
are agricultural labourers; thus fully 84 percent of
the working population of Janjatis in rural areas is
employed in agriculture. And, an overwhelming
majority of Janjatis are rural; only 10 percent of their
population lives in towns and 19 percent of the urban
Janjati workers are also employed in agriculture.
Perhaps as a consequence of the particular
dependence of Janjatis on land, landlessness
among Janjatis is significantly lower than the
average. According to SECC 2011, 50 percent
of the rural Janjati households are landless; the
proportion for all rural households is 56 percent,
and it is as high as 70 percent among Schedule
Caste households in rural areas.
The average size of land-holding for the Janjati
households is also somewhat higher than
the average; according to the quinquennial
Agricultural Census of 2010-11, the average size
of operational holding for the Janjatis is 1.53
hectares compared to the average of 1.16 hectares
for all social groups.
Access to irrigation for Janjatis is, however, poorer
than the average. According to SECC 2011, 25.6
percent of all rural households own irrigated
land; the proportion of Janjati households owning
irrigated land is 18.1 percent.
39
A large proportion of the Janjatis live in areas that
have a relatively difficult terrain. Much of the land
in Janjati areas is either hilly or undulating. This
makes irrigation difficult. To compensate for this,
in many of the Janjati areas several ingenious ways
of irrigation have been evolved. These irrigation
practices have not been sufficiently studied and
receive little technological or financial support.
While cultivating the lands in their difficult areas,
the Janjatis have also evolved several agronomic
practices which are particularly suited to the
terrain and climate. These have also not been
sufficiently studied and have received little support
from the modern technological, administrative
and financial systems.
Vision
From the above background information, it is
clear that agriculture is the key to the welfare and
development of the Janjatis. The objective of all
policy for the Janjatis should be to substantially
increase the agriculture production and
productivity in the Janjati areas.
This requires mainly increased availability of
irrigation. Given the difficulty of the terrain in
most of the Janjati areas, improvement in irrigation
would be possible only by paying attention to each
micro-region, taking the prevalent conditions and
practices there seriously, and evolving improved
practices on that basis. A concerted effort along
these lines can potentially provide irrigation to all
Janjati lands for at least one crop in a year. And the
availability of universal irrigation in Janjati areas can
transform the landscape and lives of Janjatis within
the next couple of decade. Such transformation has
taken place in some areas where special attention
has been paid to irrigation and agriculture. We look
forward to similar transformation happening in all
Janjati areas of India.
Steps towards Improvement of Agriculture
Keeping in view the larger vision articulated above,
action may be initiated in the following directions:
 Agriculture in Janjati Areas
1. Agro-ecological sub-region wise development.
2. Focus on land development, soil conservation
and sustainable land productivity.
3. Development of water source in the vicinity of
Janjati area on community, group or individual
level.
4. Promote use of micro irrigation systems like
drip and sprinklers.
5. Self-reliance for basic inputs like seeds, manures,
fertilizers and pesticides.
6. Revival of traditional irrigation systems with
appropriate infusion of new techniques.
7. To promote farming system approach
particularly for small and marginal farmers.
8. Formation of higher level organisations like producer
organizations and cooperatives for involvement of
Janjati community in the value chains.
Potential actors and their roles
Below we list the activities that different actors
may perform in fulfilling the agricultural vision
for the Janjatis of India.
The Policymakers and the Government
1. Initiate National Sustainable Agriculture
Mission envisaged in the XII Five Year Plan for
Janjati areas.
2. Prevent soil erosion on hill slopes and improve
hydro­logi­
cal cycles by involving communities,
especially those on hillslopes, in protecting and
regenerating natural biodiversity in a way that
meets livelihood needs of these populations.
3. Provide ecologically and socially sensitive
alternatives to cultivation and animal husbandry
on sloping catchment areas and marginal lands;
replace them by suitable local and traditional
varieties (grass, fruit trees, etc.) that can also
sustain the communities. This should be in
accordance with land capability criteria, agro-
ecological zoning and participatory resource
mapping and planning. Special emphasis should
be given to appropriate pasture management
practices, improving forage production, and
soil health maintenance.
4. Support farmers with infrastructure required
by them, such as godowns for storage of grain,
relevant agricultural research etc.
5. Provide price support for nutritious local
foodgrains and gear the Public Distribution
System towards procuring such produce to
enable local farmers to improve incomes,
i
Based on feedback from Dr Gajanan Dange of YOJAK and discussions at Mumbai Seminar.
40
nutrition levels and to save unnecessary
transport and transaction costs. Manage the
PDS through local self help groups.
6. Introduce suitable incentives for marketing
traditional crops and produce based on bio-
diversity and sustainable agricultural practices.
7. Create awareness of the importance of livestock
diversity and pride in the indigenous varieties
of cattle, sheep, goats and poultry. Document
experiences of local innovators and promote
sharing of information and experiences at
national level.
8. Establish awareness at every level of the intricate
linkage between forest cover and the hydrological
regime, the role of natural forests, grasslands
and aquatic systems in enriching agricultural
productivity, and their impact on human
communities. Reverse the practice of clearing
bunds and hedgerows, which serve as repositories
of wild and semi-wild genetic diversity.
9. Upscale seed development programme in all
Janjati villages.
10. The suitability of producers’ organizations and
similar other community based initiatives in
Janjati areas should be studied.
11. Special focus on Janjati areas under financial
inclusion programmes and micro credit
programmes.
12. Integrate Janjati area specific mini missions
on mechanization, food security, irrigation
development, etc., to achieve optimise utilisation
of funds.
Non-Government Organizations (NGOs)
1. Develop local level resources to take improved
agriculture to each farmer.
2. Include agriculture skill development as a core
component of skill development programmes.
3. NGOs should raise CSR funds to strengthen
soil conservation and develop water sources in
Janjati areas.
4. NGOs should raise CSR funds for community
level institution building in Janjati areas.
Janjati Communities
1. Organize themselves to form new institutions
appropriate in the changed environment.
2. Revive traditional practices and methods to
ensure climate resilient farming system.
Seeds for Janjati Agriculturei
Status
S eed is a key agricultural input. Quality of seeds
accounts for 20-25% of farm productivity. Farm
saved seeds account for almost 80% seed distribution
in India.ii
Selection and cultivation of farm saved seeds over
several generations in the Janjati areas has resulted
in a rich diversity of landraces and cultivars of
important food crops like wheat, rice, sorghum,
small millet, chickpea, pigeon peas, black gram,
green gram, cowpeas, chillies and oilseeds. These
seeds represent an important and valuable resource
that needs to be preserved.
Legal instruments for seeds
Currently, the seed sector in India is governed by
the Seeds Act, 1966; the Seeds Control Order, 1983
issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955;
and the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’
Rights (PPVFR) Act, 2001. The Seeds Act, 1966
regulates the quality of certified seeds; the Seeds
Control Order, 1983 regulates and licenses the sale
of seeds; and the PPVFR Act protects the intellectual
property rights of plant breeders.
Introduction, field trials and cultivation of GM crops
is regulated by ‘Rules for Manufacture, Use, Import,
Export and Storage of Hazardous Microorganisms/
Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells 1989’,
under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
In general, the existing legal instruments safeguard
the interests of Indian farmers including Janjati
farmers. They explicitly provide for the right of
farmers to freely exchange and multiply seeds
except for commercial sale.
Vision
Indian farmers, in particular Janjati farmers, should
be self-reliant for seeds. The genetic resources that
they have created and preserved through years
should be treated as a valuable resource. Appropriate
technological and other investments should be made
in the Janjati areas to help the Janjatis preserve and
build on this resource, and to produce high-quality
seeds for their own requirements.
Strategies to ensure seed self-reliance
Village level seed banks: Village-level seed banks
may be formed to preserve landraces cultivated in the
vicinity. Such banks are in the form of seed registers
and corresponding collection of seeds; the actual
i
Based on inputs by Sri Kapil of Yojak. i i State of Indian Agriculture 2012-13, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture and
Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, p.221.
41
physical collection may be at a central place or with
individual farmers. At the start of each cultivation
season a seed exchange meet is organized, where
farmers may exchange seeds between themselves.
This is also the occasion for cataloguing seeds from
the preceding cultivation season.
Documentation and characterization of local
cultivars: Janjati areas are centers of diversity and
the origin of several important food crops like rice,
chickpea, pigeon pea, urad, mung and cowpea, etc.iii
Several landraces and cultivars cultivated by Janjati
farmers are still not characterized and described.
Characterization of these landraces and cultivars is
important to establish farmer’s rights as provided in
the PPVFR Act.
Seed savers network and participatory seed
multiplication units: Seed savers network and
participatory seed multiplication units at village
cluster level are important to ensure consistent,
economic supply of quality seeds of local high
yielding cultivars.
Ban on GM crops: In order to protect the
valuable genetic resources of the Janjati areas, the
Government should consider imposing a complete
ban on field trials of GM crops in these areas.
Action Points for major stakeholders
Government
1. Create mechanisms through Biodiversity
Authority and Biodiversity Boards to utilize
National Gene Fund and Biodiversity Fund to
encourage community based seed conservation
efforts in the Janjati areas.
2. Consider moratorium on field trials of GM crops.
3. Focused implementation of characterization and
registration of farmers’ varieties as provided in
PPVFR Act 2001
NGOs
4. Ensure effective functioning of Seed Saver’s
networks and seed multiplication units in the
Janjati areas in association with agriculture
universities and KVKs.
Community
5. Formation of village level biodiversity
management committees and preparation of
Village level Biodiversity Registers to document
and formalize seed conservation efforts of the
community.
iii
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/hort_306/text/lec05.pdf
Water Resources and the Janjatis

A fter land, water is the most critical resource

for the Janjatis, as it is for other cultivating
communities and, of course, for mankind as a
whole. Water resources are under stress everywhere
in the country, because of the diversion of the rivers
through large hydraulic structures and depletion
and pollution of various sources of water through
large-scale mining and other industrial activity.
This stress is especially severe in the Janjati areas,
because those areas happen to be rich in minerals
and therefore mining and associated industrial
activities are particularly concentrated there.
Many of the major dams have been built in
the Janjati areas. The Report of the HLC on
Scheduled Tribes submitted in 2014 estimates that
of 21.3 million people displaced between 1951 and
1990 for the various development projects, 16.4
million have been displaced for projects involving
dams; and, of these, 38.5 percent are from the
Janjati communities. Another 2.6 million have
been displaced for mining projects; of these, 52.2
percent are from the Janjatis. (Table 8.2 of the HLC
Report; the number of displaced persons in this
Table does not agree with that in Table 8.1, which
we have quoted earlier in the article on Land).
Access to Sources of Water
Thus water has clearly been a source of conflict
and sorrow for the Janjati areas. Therefore, it is to
be greatly welcomed that the village communities
(Gram Sabhas) in the Janjati areas have been given
a say in the planning and management of at least
the minor water-bodies in their areas under the
PESA Act of 1996 and that the LARR Act of 2013 has
mandated consultation with the local communities
in the assessment of social impact, which specifically
includes impact on ‘sources of drinking water, sources
of water for cattle, community ponds’. These two Acts
bring at least the local sources of water partially in
the control of the local communities. The provisions
of the LARR Act would also perhaps ensure that
the impact of the larger hydraulic projects on the
local communities is fully analysed and documented
and the displaced persons are provided sufficient
Availability of Drinking Water Facilities, Census 2011
Within the Premises Near the Premises Away from the Premises
All ST All ST All ST
Rural 35.01 14.13 42.93 49.48 22.06 36.39
Urban 71.22 55.07 20.74 29.06 8.05 15.88
Total 46.58 19.72 35.84 46.69 17.58 33.59
Source: http://tribal.nic.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/file/ScheduledTribesData/Section6.pdf
access to water in the process of resettlement and
rehabilitation. Implementation of the provisions
of these two Acts in good faith is perhaps the best
way of ensuring that the Janjatis retain access to
their water resources and get adequate access when
displaced from their original habitat.
Besides access to sources of water, it is also
necessary to have proper arrangements for
bringing water to the fields for irrigation and
ensuring availability of drinking-quality water into
the habitations, if not homes. Below, we consider,
these two requirements separately.
A. Drinking Water
The data collected on drinking facilities by Census
2011 indicates that for about 18 percent of the
households in India, there is no source of drinking
water near the premises. For the Scheduled Tribes,
the ratio is much higher; one-third of the Janjati
households have to fetch water from a distance. In
rural area, the proportion of Janjati households that
do not have a source of water near the premises rises
to 36.4 percent. On the other end of the scale, there
are just 14 percent rural Janjati households that
have a source of drinking water within the premises;
the ratio for all rural households is 35 percent.
(See, Table below)
The proportion of households that have access
to water from a treated source in the premises is
even lower. In all about 20 percent of the Janjati
households in the country, in the rural and urban
areas together, have a source of water within the
premises; but the proportion of Janjati households
that get tap-water from a treated source within the
premises is less than 8 percent; this proportion
for all households is about 22 percent. In the
Table below, we give the source-wise availability
of drinking water facilities as recorded in Census
2011. These figures are all-India averages; the
situation differs widely from State to State. For
example, 54 percent of the Janjati households in
the tiny State of Goa have access to tap-water, while
the proportion is only 2 percent in Odisha.

42
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

Drinking Water Facilities by Source of Water, Census 2011

Location and source Scheduled Tribes All
of drinking water
% of Within Near the Away % of Within Near the Away
HH by premises premises HH by premises premises
source source
Percent of households 100 19.7 46.7 33.6 100 46.6 35.8 17.6
by location of drinking water
Tap-water from 14.6 53.7 35.1 11.3 32 68.4 5.1 6.5
treated source
Main Source of Drinking Water

Tap-water from 9.8 28.7 54.7 16.6 11.6 42.9 45.6 11.5
un-treated source
Covered well 1.9 23.5 40.1 36.4 1.6 54.5 26.3 19.2
Uncovered well 19.1 14.3 39.8 45.9 9.4 33 35.5 31.5
Hand-pump 39.2 10.5 55.9 33.6 33.5 35.4 43.2 21.4
Tubewell/Borewell 7.8 22.2 44.6 33.2 8.5 46.5 32.6 21
Spring 3.1 0 29.9 70.1 0.5 0 35.2 64.8
River/ Canal 2 0 29.8 70.2 0.6 0 39.4 60.6
Tank/pond/lake 1.1 0 43.6 56.4 0.8 0 58.7 41.3
Other sources 1.3 0 31.6 68.4 1.5 0 40.1 59.9
Source: http://tribal.nic.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/file/ScheduledTribesData/Section6.pdf

Notwithstanding, the regional differences, it is clear
that treated tap-water at home is a rare luxury; it is
available only to 22 percent of all Indian households,
and merely 8 percent of the Janjati households. A large
proportion of the Indian households, particularly
the Janjati households, depend on hand-pump as
their main source of drinking water; it is the source
of drinking water for 39.2 percent of the Janjati
households. Another 28.8 percent of the Janjati
households depend upon covered and uncovered
wells and occasionally tube-wells. Even these sources
are generally not available on the premises; nearly
half of the Janjati households, 46.7 percent according
2. Keeping the Sources functional: The second major
to the Census of 2011, obtain water from some public
source near their home. Another 33.6 percent of the
Janjati households do not have even this facility; they
have to go long distances to obtain their daily supply
of drinking water.
Issues of Concern and recommendations
Therefore the most urgent issues regarding the
supply of drinking water are the following:
1. Universal Availability of Drinking Water: Lack
of availability of a reliable source of drinking
water near the premises for a large proportion
of Janjati households is an issue of the highest
concern in this context. Making drinking water
available near the premises for all households in
India has to be the first priority of the nation in
general, and for the Janjatis in particular. Since
17.6 percent of all households in the country
and 33.6 percent of the Janjati households still
do not have this facility, the dimension of the
problem is large. To solve the problem, it shall
have to be taken up as a national mission at the
same level as the recently launched Swachha
Bharat Abhiyan. Provision of drinking water
near the household obviously has to have a
higher priority than provision of a toilet within
the premises for all households. It is, in fact,
doubtful whether the latter can be achieved
without first tackling the former.
problem concerning the supply of drinking water
is what is technically called slippage. Water supply
is brought to remote hamlets at great expense and
then it goes out of service for various reasons. This
can happen because of the source of water going
dry or because of lack of maintenance. In village
after village in India, one can see large numbers
of hand-pumps that have become unserviceable
and even taps that have run dry. Ensuring that
the sources of supply are adequately replenished
and there is regular and prompt maintenance
of the system is as important as creating new
arrangements. Now that the local institutions
of self-Government have been empowered to
deal with water sources in their neighbourhood,
these must be authorised, financed and made
responsible for the maintenance of drinking
water systems in their locality. But given the

43
 Water Resources and the Janjatis
urgency of the problem, the situation of all water
supply systems must be monitored in real time
at the District, State and National levels. The
information technology systems being created
under the Digital India mission may be put to use
for this purpose.
3. Maintaining the quality of drinking water: As we
have seen, only a small fraction of the household
in India has access to treated water. But, even in
the absence of full-scale treatment, it should be
possible to evolve a minimal set of parameters
that must be met for all sources of drinking
water and a protocol for monitoring at the local
level. These parameters can also be monitored
along with other aspects of maintenance
through the information-technology based
monitoring system mentioned above.
These measures are needed in all parts of the country;
but these are especially crucial for the Janjati areas,
which happen to be the most deprived in this respect.
B. Water for Irrigation
As we have mentioned earlier, agriculture is the
main occupation of a large part of the Janjati
populations. In general, they live in terrains that
are undulating, hilly or mountainous. The lands in
the Janjati areas can often be slopy and shallow with
sandy or gravely textures. Therefore, it has been
general understood that these lands are best suited
for rainfed agriculture, and the policies have been
often formulated on that presumption. Particularly
in matters of irrigation, the policy often favours the
lower alluvial and flatter parts of the river basins at
the cost of the upper undulating hilly parts. This
probably maximises productivity of water for the
river basin as a whole, but it leaves the already
poorer Janjati areas deprived of the opportunity to
improve total production and productivity.
With the increasing population in every part of the
country, the density of population has increased
considerably in the Janjati areas also. This, along
with rising aspirations, has made it urgently crucial
to raise the levels of production and productivity
in the Janjati areas. And, the single most important
intervention that can help in achieving this is
irrigation. It is not generally realised that many of the
Janjatis are extremely diligent and knowledgeable
cultivators. They often make very efficient use of
whatever water is available to them. In many areas
they have developed highly innovative and energy-
efficient systems of collecting water and carrying
it up to their fields. And, wherever new irrigation
facilities have reached their lands, they have used
these to increase their production and productivity
many-fold. Therefore, it is a good policy to make
all possible efforts to take irrigation to Janjati
44
areas. This would immediately increase the level
of prosperity in those areas, and not only fulfil the
dream of the makers of our Constitution but also
curb the rising menace of left-extremism.
For the purpose of thinking about appropriate
irrigation policies, it would help to divide the
Janjati areas into the following sub-regions based
on the terrain and the rainfall:
A. Plains and hills of Brahmputra-Barak basins in
the Eastern Himalayan area (including a small
part of Iravati basin).
B. Eastern hills and plateau regions falling broadly
in the Ganga, Subarnarekha, Mahanadi,
Brahmani-Baitarani and Godavari basins.
C. Central hills region of the Godavari and
Narmada and Ganga basins
D. Western and central Hills regions of Tapti,
Narmada and Ganga basins
E. Western hills regions of Sabarmati, Mahi and
Ganga basins
F. Smaller tribal pockets falling in the basins of
west flowing rivers south of Tapti including
the adjoining upper reaches of Krishna and
Cauvery basins.
These six regions differ from each other in water
availability, crops grown, proximity to industries,
prevalence of mining, etc. Water use strategies
in each of these regions have to be designed
appropriately. Below, we discuss the possible
strategies in some detail:
Water Strategies in Zone A
The region comprises the North-eastern States of
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur,
Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya. This region
generally receives high to very high rainfall (1,500-
3,000 mm). Because of the proximity to the high
Himalayas, the winter temperatures can be very
low. Water tables are quite high, ground water
often contains iron and some­ times arsenic. The
region is full of streams. There is thick and prolific
growth of vegetation. Forest cover is high, and
forest-lands are mostly communally owned. Assam,
however, faces a dual water problem; there are
regular and prolonged floods and ground water is
often contaminated. Assam has both riparian plains
Janjatis such as Meishing, Coch Rajmabanshi and
Sonwal as well as hills and forest Janjatis such as
Bodo, Karbi, Cachhari, Rabha, etc. Other states in
the region have mostly hills and plains Janjatis.
For the riparian plains Janjatis, coping with the
floods is the priority. The issue here is to enable
some form of cultivation in the highly shrunken
crop calendar because of the prolonged floods and
the severe winters. The solution probably lies in
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
strengthening bamboo cultivation by introducing
flood tolerant varieties, intensifying fisheries and
making their backyards more productive. Reviving
the traditional Dongs here could increase prosperity.
For the hills and plains Janjatis of the Northeast, the
best solution is in the judicious use of groundwater
and small-scale irrigation by diversion of water
from the plethora of streams. These water diversion
schemes and culture-fisheries need to be encouraged
in this area. The village-communities, which are
quite strong in this region, may be empowered and
financed to undertake such activities.
Water Strategies in Zone B
This zone covers the States of Jharkhand, West
Bengal, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The region
houses Munda, Santhal, Oraon, Bhumij, Saber,
Gond, Kol, DungariyaKond, Kolams, Pardhi,
Sahariya, Pahariya and numerous other Janjatis
belonging to two major groups: the Gond and
the Santhal. This region has in general pretty
high rainfall (1200-1500 mm);undulating, hilly
and mountainous terrain; a large number of live
streams; and, recently denuded highlands. Mining
activity here is very intense. It is a warmer and
much less humid than the Zone A. However, both
are basically paddy-growing regions. Zone B used
to see cultivation of several millets, including Ragi,
Kutki, Kodon, etc. Potentially it can be a veritable
vegetable garden for the country.
Water resources in the region are abundant but
under-utilized. Diversion based irrigation, small
capacity lift-irrigation, check dams and small capacity
groundwater based irrigation all are possible here
and have been successfully deployed in several parts.
Water tables are so easily accessible that even solar
power based irrigation linked to low cost drips may be
economical. Integrated soil and water management
projects have shown very good results in Nagari block
of Kanker and in the Baliguda area of Kandhamal
district of Odisha. There have also been successful
experiments with shallow ring-wells.
Water Strategies in Zone C
This region has limited scope for diversion-based
irrigation and groundwater is also difficult to tap
because of the basaltic geology of the region. Dug-
Wells and systematic development of watershed
offers the best scope for water development in this
region. Taking into the account large populations
of this region, these initiatives to improve irrigation
need to be taken urgently.
Water Strategies in Zone D
Starting from Amrawati in the South to about Guna-
The second part of this note is based upon a detailed article by Sri S J Phansalkar, Programme Director, Tata Trusts. In addition, inputs from several scholars
and discussions at the Mumbai seminar have been used for preparing this note.
45
Bundi in the north with Vadodara and Bharuch
as its Western end, this Zone is drought prone
with rainfall varying between 750 and 900 mm. It
experiences acute water shortages in summer. The
Janjatis here live mostly on wage work from the
more prosperous Malwa farmers. Cotton, Pulses
and Soybean are the chief crops here. Jowar in
monsoon and Wheat in winter are also grown.
Trap soils dominate.
Water resource development in these districts has been
difficult. Possible solutions lie in streambed deepening
and, of course, in systematic watershed development.
These measures need to be taken urgently.
Water Strategies in Zone E
Extending from Jhalawar in the north to Narmada
in the South and covering the Western Madhya
Pradesh districts of Badwani, Alirajpur, Dhar and
Jhabua, this region is home to Bhils. The climate
here is dry with rainfall seldom exceeding 900 mm.
It is significantly denuded. Many organisations have
successfully involved the people of the region in
the development of check dams. State intervention
has also improved irrigation and agriculture in
many parts. Because of the paucity of water, the
region has scope for low-cost drip irrigation. The
people here have innovative traditional techniques
of carrying water. Efforts to improve irrigation in
this region are likely to result in great increase in
productivity an prosperity.
Water Strategies in Zone F
Starting from Dangs in the North going down as far
South as Wayanad, this region has very high rainfall
(upwards of 2,000 mm), very slopy soils and basalt
formations below thin soils. Konkana, MahadeoKoli,
Warli, etc., Janjatis of this region have turned only
part time cultivators and earn a large part of their
livelihood as migrant wage labourers. Minor millets
and short duration Paddy are the main crops of
this region. Systematic smallholder horticulture
offers much hope here as has been demonstrated in
Dharampur, Jawahar and other places. Agronomic
innovations including cultivation of Arhar on bunds
and small-scale vegetable cultivation are possible.
Given the extensive denudation, excellent drainage
and high rainfall, the region could become a major
producer of bamboo.
It is clear from the above that there is much that can
be done to improve irrigation and agriculture in
different Janjati areas, which can become producers
of diverse kind of rich crops. A systematic effort
to ensure appropriate irrigation and improved
cultivation in all Janjati areas is urgently required.
Education and the Janjatis
Background
T he Janjatis of India are far behind the general
population in Education, as in other most other
parameters of social development. According to the
Census of 2011 (see, Table below), the literacy rate
for the Janjatis is 59 percent, which is 14 percentage
points below the total population and 7 percentage
points below even the Scheduled Castes. There is,
however, a silver-lining visible in the data. Between
2001 and 2011, the literacy rate of the Janjatis has
improved by 12 percentage points, which is much
larger than the rise of about 8 percentage points
seen in the total population. The improvement in
the literacy rate of females in the Janjatis is even
more impressive; they have seen an increase of more
than 14 percentage points compared to 2001, the
corresponding increase in the total population is also
quite high at 11 percentage points.

Literacy Rates for Different Social Categories, Census 2011

All Social Groups Scheduled Castes (SC) Janjatis (ST)
Year Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
1961 40.40 15.35 28.30 16.96 3.29 10.27 13.83 3.16 8.53
1971 45.96 21.97 34.45 22.36 6.44 14.67 17.63 4.85 11.30
1981 56.38 29.76 43.57 31.12 10.93 21.38 24.52 8.04 16.35
1991 64.13 39.29 52.21 49.91 23.76 37.41 40.65 18.19 29.60
2001 75.26 53.67 64.84 66.64 41.90 54.69 59.17 34.76 47.10
2011 80.89 64.64 72.99 75.17 56.46 66.07 68.53 49.35 58.96
Figures in percentage. Quoted from Tribal People at a Glance, May 2014, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi. Source: Census of India.

The improvement in literacy rate is also reflected in
the figures for enrolment. According to the Bureau
of Planning, Monitoring and Statistics of the Ministry
of Human Resource Development, the Gross
Enrolment Ratio (GER) for the Janjatis in 2010-11
at the Primary level was 137 percent for both boys
and girls; the corresponding ratio for the Scheduled
Castes was 131 percent for boys and 133 percent for
girls and for the total population the figures were 115
and 117 percent, respectively. At the middle or upper
primary level the enrolment figures were somewhat
lower but still quite high at 91 percent for boys and
87 percent for girls among the Janjatis; 94 and 91
percent, respectively, for the Scheduled Castes; and,
88 and 83 percent for the total population.
The drop-out rates for the Janjatis, however, still
remain higher than the average. As seen in Table
below, the drop-out rates for Janjatis boys for Class
I-V are 37.2 percent compared to 28.7 percent for
the total population; for Class I-VIII, these rates
are 54.7 and 40.3 percent; and for Class I-X, 70.6
and 50.4 percent, respectively, for the Janjatis and
the total population. Interestingly, for girls at the
primary level (Class I-V), the drop-out rates are
lower than the boys, both for the Janjatis and for
the total population. The rate is 33.9 percent for the
Janjatis and 25.1 percent for all categories together.
At higher levels, the drop-out rates for girls are some-
what higher than the boys, but not significantly so.
It is obvious from the figures that in the recent
past a concerted effort has been made to improve
enrolment and literacy, especially among the
Janjatis. Schooling of girls also seems to be
receiving special attention. If the trends continue,
the literacy gap between the Janjatis and others
may be abridged soon and the nation may begin
moving towards universal literacy.

Drop-out Rates for Janjatis and the Total Population, 2010-11

Boys Girls
All Janjati All Janjati
Class I-V 28.7 37.2 25.1 33.9
Figures in percentage. Quoted from Tribal People
Class I-VIII 40.3 54.7 41.0 55.4 at a Glance, May 2014, Ministry of Tribal Affairs,
Government of India, New Delhi. Source: Statistics
Class I-X 50.4 70.6 47.9 71.3 of School Education, MHRD, 2010-11.

46
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
This is the time to begin thinking about improving
the quality and the content of education in general,
and in particular about integrating education with
the environment, culture and history of the tribal
communities and with their economic requirements.
The following suggestions and observations are
made with this in mind and with the assumption
that the concerted efforts to improve schooling and
literacy currently underway shall continue with the
same vigour, commitment and energy.
Main components of Vision for Janjati
Education
1. Within the next 10 years, all educational
parameters for Janjati communities will be
equal to the national averages. All government
programs must be focused in this direction.
2. Education at the primary stages will be given
the highest priority to achieve 100 percent
literacy. To prepare students for the primary
stage, Anganwadi workers may be given
supplementary training. Monthly gatherings
and awareness camps of mothers of young
children may be organized at village or cluster
levels. This will create a strong integrated
foundation of health, education and sanskaras
for integrated child development.
3. According to available statistics, a primary
school was available within 1 kilometer for 88.5
percent of the Janjati households in 2007-08
(NSS 64th round). It is to be hoped that soon all
Janjati hamlets would have access to a primary
school in the immediate vicinity.
4. Efforts should be made to incorporate local
features of traditional house building in the
school buildings, and these should be preferably
built by local artisans using local materials.
This will create confidence and self-esteem in
children and community.
5. Primary education should be through local
dialects, supplemented by the standard regional
language. Word glossaries, dictionaries and
similar multilingual learning material may be
made available at every primary school. Efforts
should be made to ensure that some of the
teachers in the primary schools are from the
local community to handle language matters.
6. Education, especially in the Janjati areas, should
have a strong component of learning while doing.
The syllabi and pedagogy should incorporate
local know-how, methods and techniques.
Upper Primary Stage
1. At this stage, the curriculum should incorporate
a graded proportion of local and national
47
issues so that children learn fundamental facts
and principles accepted globally along with the
local knowledge. At this level more focus will be
on information collection and processing skills,
problem solving skills and communication
skills. As all tribal communities have their own
folk arts and they have a tradition of master
craftsmen; curriculum at this stage will give
sufficient weightage to arts and crafts. Projects
about local natural resources, traditional
practices, local geography, social traditions and
life, traditional and appropriate technology
should be part of the syllabus and evaluation.
2. Pre-vocational courses may be introduced at
this level. Janjati children are proficient in skills
related to their natural habitat, agriculture,
food-gathering, fishing, house-building, etc.
These may be incorporated in the curricula for
upper primary and secondary stages.
3. A separate skill development program in
mission mode may be designed and executed for
the schools in Janjati areas as mandated in the
recently notified National Skill Development
(NSD) Policy 2015. Self-sufficiency and
absorption in the newly created employment
opportunities in their areas should be the goal
for this skill development mission.
4. Supplementary reading material in history of
Janjati heroes, Janjati freedom fighters, and
the struggles waged by the Janjati communities
may be prepared and should be used in both
Janjati and non-Janjati areas as supplementary
reading material.
5. Curriculum of social sciences at the secondary
level may contain information about important
acts, laws, schemes and programs related
to STs. This will make them aware of their
constitutional rights regarding democratic
processes, community resources, etc.
6. Ashram schools in Janjati areas have proved
to be a successful experiment. This should
be continued and efforts should be made to
upgrade these schools in the manner of Eklavya
and Kasturaba Vidyalays. Efforts should also
be made to ensure that hostels and schools
are not separated from each other. Residential
schools should be established in every block
where more than 20 percent of the population
belongs to the Janjatis. These schools should
preferably admit 25 percent students from the
non-Janjati communities.
7. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has reached many
remote tribal areas through Kasturaba Gandhi
Balika Vidyalayas. A proper forward link to
 Education and the Janjatis
these schools should be created so that education
of tribal girls is continued beyond the school.
8. Model residential sports schools may be
established at divisional levels.
9. Janjati students should be admitted
preferentially in Sainik Schools in the districts
having Janjati majority population.
10. Scientific and technical education should
be encouraged. The Janjati students should
be encouraged to take up science subjects.
If necessary, arrangements should be made
for supplementary and remedial tuition for
students from the Janjatis. Until such facilities
are created permanently, mobile labs may be
introduced for this purpose.
Secondary Stage
1. Secondary stage of education lays foundation
of future careers in life. Exposures to different
streams of knowledge and their relations
to local traditional know-how and practices
need to be established at this level. Therefore,
syllabi at secondary level should include local
traditional knowledge, skills and practice
related to language-dialects, history and
sciences (such as zoology, botany, chemistry,
environmental sciences etc.). Each secondary
school should have a museum of local artifacts
and materials and a workshop to preserve
traditional craftsmanship along with modern
science and computer laboratories.
2. At this stage, the students may be encouraged
to develop skill in a specialized trade relevant to
their local economy, particularly in non-timber
forest produce or in mining. This is envisaged
in the National Skill Development (NSD) Policy,
2015 also.
3. Along with general scholarships for ST
students, special merit scholarships may be
instituted for top 5% students to encourage
them to undertake higher studies.
4. There is need to establish a students’ exchange
program between Janjati and non-Janjati
students at secondary level. This will help in
bridging the distance between the Janjatis
and other in the society. Meritorious students
from tribal students may be given opportunity
to work as summer interns in institutions of
higher learning and research.
Higher Education Stage
1. Efforts should be made to have a polytechnic
and an engineering college at the block level,
in addition to the arts, commerce and science
colleges.
48
2. Every university in a Scheduled Area should
have a separate full-fledged department of
Janjati Studies. Central tribal universities may
be established in the states falling in the Janjati
belt stretching from Rajasthan to Odisha and
the Northeast. There should also be a Janjati
University at the national level for higher level
teaching and research in all disciplines from a
Janjati perspective.
3. Special institutions should be opened to
promote and facilitate Janjati students to enter
all-India competitive examinations such as JEE,
PMT, UPSC, etc. Some States, like Maharashtra,
have already successfully experimented with
such institutions. Similarly, separate cells may
be created for career guidance after the Senior
Secondary Level.
4. Special programs need to be designed in
collaboration with universities in other
countries to facilitate exchange of tribal students
to promote understanding of issues at global
level. Special fellowships and scholarships may
be created for this purpose.
5. A Teacher Training Institute should be opened
in every district with a significant population of
Janjatis. The curricula of these institutes should
include information about the history, culture
and life-style of the Janjatis of the region.
6. Janjatis have natural habits of community
living, working together, etc. Institutes to
promote these qualities and turning talented
Janjati youths into able community leaders
should be opened on the lines of Institute of
Rural Management, Anand.
7. Special NCC training units may be set-up in
the schools and colleges in the Janjati areas that
are particularly affected by militancy. Efforts
should also be made to encourage and facilitate
the entry of Janjati students into the armed and
police forces.
8. Cooperation and participation of local
communities and voluntary agencies shall be
required to give effect to the many proposals
made above to deepen and widen the
curriculum at different levels. Such cooperation
and participation should be actively sought and
welcomed at all levels of education.
9. There is a great difference in the scholarship
amounts for higher education for students of
OBCs, SCs and STs. A system needs to be put
in place to ensure that the scholarship amounts
remain uniform and any enhancement or
changes are carried out uniformly across all
categories.
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
Health Nutrition and Sanitation
in Janjati Areasi
Introduction
A combination of factors, such as geographic
isolation, low economic status, inadequacy of
food, different societal attitudes and beliefs and
inadequacy of health-providers, has led to a situation
where a large proportion of the tribal population is
unable to access quality healthcare. There is large
disparity among tribal communities and others in
most parameters of health. According to estimates
based on the Census of 2001, infant mortality rate
(IMR) for Scheduled Tribes in India was 88 per
1000 live births compared to the national average
(including scheduled tribes population) of 68 per
1000. Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) among the
scheduled tribes was 129 compared to 96 for the
total population. National Family Health Survey
(NFHS) estimates also indicate that between NFHS
1992-93 and 1998-99, IMR for the Scheduled
Tribes population declined from 91 to 84, while it
declined from 79 to 68 for the total population; in
percentage terms, the improvement in IMR for the
Scheduled Tribes was only half of that registered
in the total population. There is similarly high
disparity in almost all parameters of health.
Scheduled Tribes of India carry a larger burden of
disease than the general population. This is related
to lack of sanitation facilities, lack of clean drinking
water facilities and lack of access to medical
facilities. In all these, the Scheduled Tribes clearly
lag behind the general population. In addition,
the incidence of addiction to alcohol and tobacco is
considerably higher among the Scheduled Tribes,
and they also suffer from certain diseases like
sickle cell anaemia which are particularly common
among them. Being forest-dwellers, they are also
more prone to diseases like malaria, filariasis and
animal bites.
But the most significant cause of ill-health among
the Scheduled Tribes is the lack of sufficient food
and nutrition. Most studies and surveys indicate
49
the prevalence of large-scale malnutrition among
both children and adults. According to the reports
of the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau
(NNMB), the prevalence of underweight, stunting
and wasting among children of 1-5 years in the
Scheduled Tribes populations is considerably higher
than their rural counterparts. The proportion of
population consuming less than 70 percent of the
protein and energy requirements is also higher
among the Scheduled Tribes as compared to the
rural populations in general. Nearly two-thirds of
the children and one-third of the adult men and
women among the Scheduled Tribes are unable to
have access to diets adequate in protein and energy.
Thus any approach to improving health of the
Scheduled Tribes would have to be multipronged.
It would require:
1. Improved levels of nutrition among Scheduled Tribes
populations, and particularly among children.
The programmes to provide supplemental
nutrition for children through mid-day meal
schemes are known to have considerably
improved the situation of malnutrition among
children. But given the widespread prevalence
of malnutrition and consequent diseases
among the Scheduled Tribes population in
general, we should begin devising programmes
that address the nutrition needs of all needy
persons, at least in the areas that are inhabited
mainly by Scheduled Tribes.
2. Improved sanitation facilities and improved access to
safe drinking water.
The Government of India has now launched a
mission, Swachchha Bharat Abhiyan, to address
the problems of cleanliness and sanitation
throughout India. The mission should target
the areas inhabited by the Scheduled Tribes on
a priority basis. Provision of safe drinking water
is a part of the sanitary measures; therefore this
 Health Nutrition and Sanitation in Janjati Areas
should be made part of the mission along with
the provision of toilets and other sanitation
facilities.
3. Improved availability of health facilities and health
professionals.
This is the most difficult part. Areas inhabited
by the Scheduled Tribes are generally difficult
of access and are often forested. Ordinarily,
trained health care professionals do not want
to work in these areas. Therefore, even when
adequate physical infrastructure is provided,
the available health facilities remain unmanned.
To ameliorate the problem, the Government
should think in terms of creating a separate
cadre of health care professionals for
Scheduled Areas. Special medical colleges and
other institutions may be opened for this cadre.
Those seeking admissions to such institutions
would do so in the knowledge that their work
and career would be confined to fulfilling the
needs of the Scheduled Tribes.
Until such a cadre is created, the Governments
should ensure that at least a para-medic health
care professional like a Dai is available in every
habitation. The services of the regular medical
professionals can be provided through mobile
medical units. These should be at a large enough
scale so that every habitation is visited by a well-
equipped mobile unit at least once a week.
Until such a cadre is created, the Governments
should also ensure that an ambulance is made
available in every block so that the needy
patients can be transferred to an appropriate
facility in a timely manner.
4. Intense research into diseases that specially affect the
Scheduled Tribes populations.
Our major health institutions have shifted
their attention largely to life-style diseases.
i
Based on inputs by Dr. Devendra Sonawane, Pune; drdeven.sonawane@gmail.com and team VKA.
50
It is important that we begin once again to
intensively research diseases that are endemic
in India, and especially in the remote forest
areas of India which are inhabited mostly by
the Scheduled Tribes.
The new stream of medical institutions for
Scheduled Areas mentioned above shall be
especially appropriate and mentally equipped
to do research in such diseases. Therefore, the
medical colleges and institutions envisaged for
this new stream should be fully equipped to
undertake high end research and development
activities. This shall also make this stream of
medical education and research attractive to
even those in the mainstream institutions.
5. Special Efforts at awareness against addiction.
Given the larger prevalence of alcohol and
tobacco addiction among the Scheduled
Tribes, special awareness drives against such
addictions need to be undertaken in the areas
inhabited by them. Besides the health-care
professionals and others, community and
religious leaders may also be involved to build
a powerful movement against addiction in
these areas. Healthcare facilities in these areas
must be equipped and professional working
there trained to undertake de-addiction
activities.
The healthcare measures listed above are relevant
for improving the health of all of the deprived
people of India, but these are especially relevant
for the Scheduled Tribes populations. Once such
measures are adopted and tested in the areas
inhabited by the Scheduled Tribes, these can be
expanded to all parts of India, especially to all
rural areas of India. The special cadre of health
professionals for Scheduled Tribes could then be
expanded to a larger Rural Healthcare Cadre and
Rural Healthcare System for India.
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
Non-Timber Forest Produce
Background
C ollection of non-timber forest produce (NTFP)
is a major source of livelihood for the Janjati
communities. Earlier, more than half of the income
of the Janjatis was contributed by NTFP; even
today, this remains true for several remote Janjatis.
But even amongst other Janjatis, 20 to 30% of
their income comes from this source. During the
harsh summer months, NTFP provides the Janjatis
with the cash income critical for survival. A Janjati
family typically earns about 8 to 10 thousand per
month on the average during the otherwise lean
summer season.
NTFP is collected, not grown. Such collection
involves painstaking hard work; marketing of
these involves further difficulties associated
with the remoteness of markets and various
restrictions imposed by the forest departments.
NTFP production varies greatly across years and
therefore incomes for the collecting communities
remain uncertain.
The production of NTFP has been declining for
the past 2 or 3 decades because of reduction in the
forest cover and degradation of available resources.
Destructive practices like burning of forest litter
and felling of trees, etc., for easy collection of the
produce have also contributed to the degradation
of quality and reduction in regeneration.
The prices of NTFP have been rising much more
slowly compared to the rise in prices of other
commodities. Therefore, the collection of NTFP
collection is becoming non-lucrative for the Janjatis.
Several bamboo-based programmes and schemes
have been launched by the various Governments;
but these are yet to reach the intended beneficiaries.
These programmes seem to have limited
community participation even in plantation and
regeneration activities.
Forest Rights Act (FRA) gives exclusive rights of
collection of NTFP to forest-dwelling communities.
51
Unfortunately, the provisions of other Acts
like the MMDR Act, the Coal Mining Act are
not in conformity with the FRA; these end up
placing undue constraints on the forest-dwelling
communities in the unfettered exercise of their
rights.
Vision
The forest-dwelling communities shall have
unfettered right to collect non-timber forest
produce. The forests shall be managed in a way
so as to maximize the production of NTFP and
facilitate easy gathering of the produce by the
forest-dwelling communities. Arrangements shall
be made to help easy transportation and marketing
of the collected produce. The markets shall be so
managed as to ensure that forest-dwellers get a
just price for the collected produce. With all this
facilitation by the Governments, the forest-dwelling
communities shall be ensured of an assured and
reliable source of income.
Strategies
For realizing the above vision, the following
strategies may be adopted by different actors and
stakeholders:
1. Promotion of profitable commodities like lac.
2. Formation of community groups and
organizations of the forest-dwellers to better
utilize the emerging opportunities and for
establishing linkages with institutions for
certification and export.
3. Promotion of local level value addition and
provision of necessary infrastructure support
for the same.
4. Developing mechanisms for skill and
capacity building among the forest-dwelling
communities.
 Non-Timber Forest Produce
Strategies at the level of
Policy-makers and Governments
1. Establish NTFP Board at central level as
proposed in 12th Five Year Plan document.
2. Undertake evaluation of NTFP-related
programmes at both the policy and
implementation levels.
3. Evolve technical support and extension
regarding NTFP based livelihood as one of the
key roles of forest department.
4. Set up Van Vigyan Kendras in districts with high
forest cover for natural resource technology
extension.
5. Direct flow of funds to Panchayati Raj
institutions set up under PESA Act from new
compensatory afforestation fund, NREGA and
other similar funds, Janjati sub-plan support
for regeneration, management and processing
of NTFP.
6. Initiate All India Coordinated project through
DST by involving different institutes NGOs to
work on appropriate value addition technology
for NTFP processing
7. Set up a special cell in the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs and that of Skill Development to initiate,
develop and coordinate skill development
programmes for Janjati areas based on NTFP
and other natural resources.
8. Set up a National NTFP mission with identified
role for different stakeholders for processing
and marketing of NTFP products.
9. Bring MMDR Act, Coal Mining Act and Land
acquisition Act in line with Forest Rights and
52
PESA Acts and remove contradictions in FRA
and PESA Acts.
10. Undertake detailed study of bamboo mission
activities, investments, outputs in changed
environment after FRA implementation and
undertake corrective measures
Strategies at the level of NGOs
1. Undertake value chain, ecology and phenology
studies of NTFP species.
2. Impart training on Village-level Biodiversity
Registers.
3. Create awareness in the forest-dwelling
communities about NTFP related opportunities.
4. Set up units for NTFP value chain related
training as part of skill development initiatives.
5. Generate CSR support for NTFP related
interventions.
Community and community based
organizations
1. Revive traditional management practices and
revise them for the current situation.
2. Assert and ensure forest and NTFP rights of
the forest-dwelling communities.
3. Try to learn about and create new kinds of
community organizations to make use of the
emerging opportunities.
4. Prepare biodiversity registers.
5. Undertake regeneration, conservation of NTFP
and other resources through community effort
and contribution.
Wildlife Conservation and the Janjatis
W ildlife conservation in India is governed by
the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It largely
follows the ‘fence and fine’ approach; the Act defines
a separate administrative entity called the ‘Protected
Area’ (PA). As on 2009, there are 658 PAs in the
country; they are further classified as National Parks
(99), Sanctuaries (513), Community Reserves(3) and
Conservation Reserves(43). These PAs together cover
4.83% of the geographic area of India.
Offences under Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972
include hunting of wildlife hunting or intention to do
so; destruction of wildlife habitat including removal
of biophysical resources; and, alteration of the
boundaries of PAs etc. These offences are applicable,
to an extent, even outside the PAs. However, the
severity of penalty depends on the protection status
accorded to the concerned species; different species
are kept in different schedules of the Act.
The country has also adopted ecosystem approach of
conservation using the concept of ‘Umbrella Species’.
This approach is followed mainly in the Tiger
Reserves. Altogether 48 Tiger Reserves have been
notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 as
amended in 2006. The tiger reserves have an inviolate
Core Area surrounded by a multiple-use buffer area,
which may include forest as well as non-forest lands.
Creation of the inviolate Core Area usually requires
relocation and rehabilitation of human populations
from the critical Tiger Habitat; these populations are
almost invariably tribal.
The current approach to wildlife conservation places
several restrictions on the use and extraction of
resources in the PAs by the adjoining communities. In
many cases, the legal provisions allow bonafide uses by
the community, but there is no workable mechanism
to regulate such provisions. This often results in
conflicts among the PA managers and the Janjatis. As a
consequence of such restrictions local population often
perceive conservation as anti-people and strong voices
are raised against the creation or expansion of PAs.
Wildlife conservation also falls in the ambit of the
Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest
Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006
also known as FRA. The Act requires identification
and notification of Critical Wildlife Habitats.
Serious conflicts have occurred in the process of
the demarcation of such Habitats. FRA envisages a
53
consultative and scientific process; but in most cases
the spirit of the Act has not been followed. The lack
of transparency and informed consultation with the
local communities sometimes leads to retaliatory
killing of wild animals by the affected communities
In the perception of the public and the officials, the
tribal communities are in general seen as averse to
the protection of wildlife. It is felt that the local tribal
communities often give shelter to the poachers from
outside, and provide them with information on the
presence and distribution of wild animals to facilitate
poaching. This may be true in some instances. But
many tribal communities, especially in the Northeast,
are setting aside their land exclusively for wildlife
conservation and are helping in the restoration of
elephant corridors. In Nagaland, various tribes have
created forest and wildlife reserves in over a hundred
villages. In Manipur, about 600 ha of forest has been
preserved in the catchment area of the Loktak Lake
by the Ronmei tribe. Many endangered birds inhabit
this area preserved by local tribal effort.
On the other hand, some Janjatis, especially in the
Northeast, have traditions of community hunting on
certain occasions. Some Janjatis customarily use parts
of wild animals in their dress. In Arunachal Pradesh,
the Nishis use hornbill beak in their headgear as a
marker of social status. Such traditions and customs
do have an impact on the conservation of wildlife.
There are instances when the field officers of the forest
and wildlife departments harass the tribal people, and
register false offences against innocent people. This
puts a big hurdle in building mutual trust among the
Janjati communities and wildlife managers.
We must remember that the forest-dwelling Janjatis
are the repository of valuable knowledge about local
biodiversity. Their knowledge of the flora and fauna
and their skills of collection and use of the local forest
resources cannot be easily replicated. Biodiversity
(Conservation) Act, 2002 gives the local people some
power in the management of biodiversity resources;
this goes beyond the provisions of the Wildlife
(Protection) Act, 1972.
Vision and Strategies to meet the Vision
Our vision should be to ensure ecological
sustainability and promote co-existence of the
 Wildlife Conservation and the Janjatis
Janjatis and the wildlife without compromising on
the welfare of either.
The most important task is to maintain the ecosystem
so that it could sustain both the human and animal
populations. The relation between the Janjatis and
forest managers needs to be changed radically so
that Janjatis may regain a sense of responsibility
towards the wildlife and its habitat. Wildlife issues
cannot be addressed on an entirely local basis; there
is an urgent need to make land­scape level plans
for the co-existence of the Janjatis, the wildlife and
other stakeholders and interest groups.
It may also be mentioned here that the relation
between the Janjatis and wildlife stands entirely on
the ground of traditional values and the sense of
concern for life which pervades everywhere in India;
there is no direct benefit that the Janjatis draw from
the wildlife. Therefore, wildlife managers must have
due respect and concern for the Janjatis and avoid
giving them a feeling of being persecuted for the
sake of wild animals. Richness of wildlife in any area
should become a matter of pride and not fear and
concern for the local communities.
Specific Measures
1. Land-use should not be changed drastically at
landscape level. Developmental activities must
be seen from the perspective of the welfare of
the Janjatis and wildlife together.
2. Strengthening community institutions, which
must be consulted on the plans for sustained
utilization of forests and other natural habitats.
3. Develop a mechanism for fast delivery of relief
and compensation in cases of damage to life and
property by wild animals.
4. Protected Areas should be declared only after
evolving a consensus. The process should be
participatory, transparent and fully documented.
Community institutions must be involved in this
process.
5. Schemes of promotion of forest based alternate
livelihood options for the Janjatis should also take
into consideration the requirements of wildlife.
Such schemes should help in rejuvenating the
wildlife.
6. Community-based wildlife tourism should be
promoted where possible. This will improve incomes
and create a sense of concern for the wildlife.
7. Practices, customs, beliefs and traditions of
specific tribes related to wildlife should be
documented, published and popularized.
8. Building trust among the Janjatis and the Forest
Department; the latter must see the local people
as partners in the management of forest and
wildlife.
54
9. The Janjatis must be made aware of the
dwindling population of wildlife so that
they may realize the unsustainability of their
traditional hunting practices.
10. Janjati institutions and communities must be kept
informed about the various laws and legislations
on wildlife, biodiversity and conservation in the
country.
Recommendations for Potential Actors
Government Officers and Policy Makers
1. Develop a mechanism for fast processing of
relief and compensation for loss of property
and life due to human-wildlife conflict.
2. Taking seriously the role of the local population
and their institutions in decision making.
3. Implement FRA in letter and spirit and
emphasize the importance of protection of
wildlife in the forests owned by the forest-
dwelling Janjatis.
4. Explore possibilities of community-based
wildlife tourism, set up basic tourism facilities,
train tribes in running hospitality facilities.
5. Document and showcase linkages between
Janjati cultures and wildlife.
NGOs and Social Organization
1. Strengthening of local institutions; net­work­ing
with like-minded institution for conservation,
resource management and landscape level
planning.
2. Facilitating planning at village level institutions.
3. Raising awareness about the importance of
wildlife in the maintenance of ecosystems.
4. Acting as a bridge between the Government
and the people.
5. Dissemination of knowledge about legal
provisions pertaining to wildlife, biodiversity
and conservation.
Communities and Community Institutions
1. Regenerate habitats and restore wildlife
corridors and movement-routes to facilitate
wildlife dispersal.
2. Keep vigil on wildlife poachers from outside
their areas.
3. Set aside some area in their vicinity for
sheltering wildlife.
4. Active involvement in decision-making
processes related to declaration of PAs, land-
use change and similar other issues.
Mining and the Janjatisi
Introduction
I ndia is endowed with huge resources of many metallic
and non-metallic minerals. Since independence,
there has been a rapid growth in mineral production
both in terms of quantity and value. Currently, India
mines 87 minerals; these include 4 fuels, 10 metallic,
47 non-metallic, 3 atomic and 23 minor minerals
(including building and other materials).
The need to regulate mining was realised early in
India. The Mines and Minerals (Development and
Regulation Act) 1957, in its preamble states that,
“Industrialisation has brought in its wake an ever
increasing demand for mineral resources. These
resources are non-replenishable and mostly scarce.
Proper control over regulation and development
of mines and minerals is therefore, a matter
of national concern.” Regulation has however
remained poor. Today over 80,000 mines operate
illegally as against nearly 10,000 legitimate leases.
Only a third of the legal mines actually report to
the Indian Bureau of Mines, the regulator and
only a tenth of them is inspected.
A Quick Overview
Mining of major minerals was a forte of the Public
Sector Undertakings until the nineties when the
country embarked on the economic policy of
privatization and globalization. Since then mining
has been rapidly devouring lands and livelihoods
of communities. In the case of coal, the private
sector was a key player until it was nationalized in
the seventies; the sector has been opened up again
in the last decade and as of today nearly twenty per
cent of the known coal reserves of the country have
gone into private hands.
Most mineral resources are found in Forests and
Scheduled Areas; therefore, the tribal communities
are the most affected by mining activities. The
detrimental impact of mining on the environment
and livelihood of communities is far in excess of its
contribution to the economy. Some key facts in this
context are:
1. Share of produce from mining has never
exceeded 5% of the GDP. In comparison, small
55
and medium enterprises contribute 29% of the
GDP and employs much larger numbers than
the large enterprises.
2. Most of the mining activities and especially
the mining blocks being allotted to private
companies in the recent past are in the Schedule
Five Areas. These have protection under
the Constitution and the Samata Judgment
of 1996. But, the State Governments have
circumvented these protections by entering
into joint ventures with the private companies.
Tribal communities are thus the most affected
by mining and its recent growth.
3. Mining and processing of minerals is a highly
resource intensive activity, consuming large
amounts of energy and water. The activity thus
has large impact on the environment of the
local communities.
4. Workers in the mining sector suffer from great
occupational hazards. Underground coal mines
result in 1 death for 2.5 mT of coal mined.
Even at micro levels of processing and disposal
there is 1 death per 5 mT of Coal input and 1.3
disabling injuries per mT. Around 25 percent
of coal mine workers suffer from Coal Workers
Pneumoconiosis.
5. The costs of reclamation and safe-closure
of mines are estimated at least 4 to 6% of
the coal production costs. Unsafe closure
and abandonment of mines without proper
reclamation deprives the local, mainly tribal,
communities in great distress. Areas impacted
by coal fires are known to be affecting a large
number of settlements.
6. Excessive use of water by mining and related
industry deprives the local communities of their
water sources.
The impacts of mining are widespread and diverse,
and have created socio-economic and cultural
distress over different geographies and ecosystems
– from the Western Ghats to stone quarries of
Rajasthan where silicosis has become a blight
on a huge population, and from coal mines in
Meghalaya leading to acid mine drainage to beach
 Mining and the Janjatis
sands in Kerala causing cancer from radiation.
Constitutionally protected Scheduled Areas, where
most of the scheduled tribe communities live and
where a large proportion of the mineral wealth of
the country rests, have suffered the brunt of this
onslaught.
The current trend is to promote more mining; a
complex set of factors external as well as internal
are driving investments in this sector, especially
since India opened up to FDI in mining in 1991.
Various actors have invested into the sector,
including national and international companies,
banks, equity funds, etc. Because of this rapid
expansion of mining activity, ecosystems are
getting disturbed beyond their resilience and local
communities are being deprived of their living
spaces and livelihoods.
Evolution of Current Policy and Law
There have been efforts to evolve a mines and
minerals policy for India since independence. The
first Industrial Policy Resolution adopted in 1948
codified the national policy in respect of mines and
minerals. Mining sector also received due attention
in the second ‘Industrial Policy Statement’ issued
in 1956. As a follow-up measure to Industrial
Policy Resolution of 1956, the Mines and Minerals
Regulation and Development Act 1948 (MMRD)
was repealed and MMRD Act 1957 was enacted.
Mineral Concession Rules 1960 and the Mineral
Conservation and Development Rules 1958
(MCDR) were issued under this Act.
The new Industrial Policy in 1991 was oriented
towards market liberalisation. The National
Mineral Policy 1993 was designed to align the
mineral sector to the restructuring measures
adopted in the trade and fiscal sectors. This policy
made a radical departure from the earlier policies
by throwing open the mineral sector to private
companies and by allowing equity participation
in mining by foreign companies via joint ventures
with the Indian Companies. MMRD Act 1957
was further amended in 1999 and to reflect the
changed emphasis on “development” rather than
“regulation” the title of the Act was changed to
Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation
(MMDR) Act from the earlier Regulation and
Development (MMRD) Act.
During the Mid-term Appraisal of the 10th Plan,
it was observed that the 1993 policy had not been
able to achieve the aim of encouraging the flow of
private investment and introduction of high end
technology in exploration and mining. This led
to the National Mineral Policy (NMP), 2008. This
confers further concessions to investors in the
mining sector, while also expressing the need for
environmental and social safeguards.
56
This was followed by the Mines and Minerals
Development and Regulation Bill, 2011. That
Bill tried to comprehen­ sively deal with all issues
concerning mining and especially with the protection
of interests of the local communities. Unfortunately,
that Bill never passed through the Parliament.
Now the Mines and Minerals (Development and
Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015 has received
the assent of the President; the Act replaces the
Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation)
Amendment Ordinance, 2015. This new law
introduces the concept of auctioning of mining
blocks as mandated by the Supreme Court for the
Coal blocks. The Act also creates district minerals
foundations (DMF) for ameliorating the impacts of
mining on the local communities. It also has several
provisions that make it easier for the investors to
enter the mining sector. In particular, the Act leaves
the area limits on mining leases to the discretion
of the Government and considerably increases the
periods for which the leases may be granted.
Change in Laws Affecting Workers
The provisions regarding working conditions and
workers are covered by the Mines Act 1951 which
is also being reviewed. Surveys conducted in few
selected mines recently by Directorate General
of Mines Safety show that a significant number
of persons employed in the mines are suffering
from occupational diseases including Silicosis,
Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis, Noise Induced
Hearing Loss, etc. Because of the acute shortage
of Occupational Health Inspectors, a complete
picture of the occupational health status in mines
is not available. Persons employed in mines are
exposed to number of hazards at workplace which
adversely affect their health.
This calls for fresh initiatives with the use of
modern technologies and tools. However, all none
of these technical measures have the desired effect
until the Mines Act is made more stringent and the
operators are held accountable for the health of
mining workers.
The Way Ahead
The future should usher in an era of mineral
development with regional development as the
focus rather than exploitation of minerals merely
for export and profit. Un-mined minerals remain
with us as assets for the future. Recognizing that
mining activity has a deleterious impact on the
local communities and environments, our efforts
should be to minimize mining and undertake it as
part of a well-formulated long term plan of national
development. Some of the issues to be kept in mind
in this context are:
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
1. Rationalizing and regularization of the on-
going mining activities:
All illegal mining must be put to an end. Irrational
exploitation of differing grades of ores for short
term gains must be restrained. Illegal mining of
minor minerals, particularly of river-beds across
the country, has been destroying the river systems
and needs urgent attention.
2. Increasing investments on exploration
of mineral resource and augmenting the
reserves both on-land and within our
exclusive economic zone in the oceans;
Exploration investment in the country is abysmally
low and does not even constitute two per cent of
the global exploration investments and needs to
be raised significantly. There is little effort going
into developing new exploration methods. While
our EEZ extends to 200 km from the coast, current
investments are restricted only to near-shore
search for oil and gas.
3. Enhancing the efficiency of the mining
activities and generating more resources from
“brown-field” expansion rather than opening
up new “green-field” areas:
Small pocket deposits in forested regions are being
opened up creating patchiness and larger impact on
the forest corridors while efficiency improvements
and expansion of existing deposits are being
neglected. This has to be given a high priority.
4. Enabling and emphasizing on local value
addition and restricting export of minerals;
Though Governments talks about value addition,
important minerals are being exported with little
benefit to the nation or the local communities. In
the case of minerals, value addition before export
of any kind should become the norm rather than
as an exception.
5. Developing a widespread understanding of
the strategic value of different minerals and
ensuring conservation of requisite quantities
of such minerals;
Strategic value of various minerals must be
recognized and efforts must be made to conserve
minerals essential for the country’s future. Minerals
such as bauxite, titanium and several heavy metals
which will be crucial for future development need
to be assessed for our long term needs.
6. Ensuring strict compliance of all the
environmental, social and labour laws
governing mining activities:
The laws should be made convergent with proper
57
oversight authorities. The blight of occupational
diseases such as asbestosis and silicosis must be
eliminated.
7. Enabling evolution of economic
opportunities not dependent on mining.
Long term environmental consequences and
availability of strategic minerals for the future
should form the key consideration in the
development of minerals. In order to minimize
dependence on effort must be made to identify
economic opportunities not dependent on mining.
Pragmatic Steps in the Tribal Context
The creation of District Mineral Foundations
(DMF) under the 2015 amendment of MMDR Act
has opened new opportunities for the involvement
and development of local, especially tribal,
communities affected by the mining activities. The
funds available with the foundation may be used
for the following purposes:
1. Imparting Skills to Janjatis in Mining
Areas
Continuous de-skilling of the tribals is seen from
the fact that majority of them become migrant
labourers. Their past skills and knowledge have
very little significance in the new contexts and
mechanisms. Therefore a focussed attempt at
developing skills at various levels from policy,
management and operational and implementation
levels are required. This will necessitate detailed
research on the mining areas, the perspective plans
of the industries in the area, the level of current
skills and demands. Mechanisms need to be evolved
to ensure that these opportunities can be accessed
by the local communities.
Skill Development has got a new thrust in the
recent times. Areas and people affected by mining
should be special targets for this new thrust.
2. Dealing with legacy and existing issues
Among the major impediments in mining is the
sense of betrayal and abandonment by the tribals.
Unless this feeling is assuaged, the new initiatives
will be met with suspicion. Therefore in each mining
areas extensive survey of the past displacement
and the status of those communities should
be undertaken and wherever it is immediately
feasible relief and proper rehabilitation must be
provided. Since the DMFs now provide ensure
sustained availability of financial resources, these
problems could be systematically addressed
now. Legacy issues are not restricted to social
aspects but several mines have not been properly
closed and have also not completed activities such
 Mining and the Janjatis
as reclamation and compensatory forestation. These
could provide additional occupations to the tribals.
3. Dealing with Illegal Mining
The State and the Centre must adopt a “zero-
tolerance” policy. It must be mandatory for every
village official to immediately notify any mining
activity in his jurisdiction. Creating even a small
measure of production sharing or ownership for
local communities in the mining activities can lead
to a greater participation of people in controlling
this menace. Therefore, revenues and penalties
collected and vehicles seized in the process of
controlling illegal mining must be brought into
the revenues of the concerned District Mineral
Foundation.
4. Strict Enforcement of Mining and
Environmental Laws
Creating awareness in the tribal communities on the
laws concerning environment and the compliance
conditions, and making them part of the monitoring
process would ensure much greater compliance.
Environmental monitoring units can be established
across the regions with locally trained people for
conducting assessments and maintaining ambient
records. This would make the local communities
participants in the process and also give them a
sense of ownership and involvement.
5. Enabling Local Enterprise in Mining
A concerted effort needs to be made to enable local
enterprise in mining through the cooperatives and
other mechanisms. The objective should always
be to make the local people participants in the
activities being undertaken in their areas.
6. Ocean Mining
A concerted effort needs to be made to enhance
mining and exploration in deep seas.
Legal Issues in the Tribal Context
There are a couple of legal issues concerning the
protection of the interests of the tribal communities
that need immediate attention.
Making Land Acquisition Laws compliant
with PESA and FRA
The Land Acquisition Act of 2013 is compliant with
PESA and FRA. But much of the land acquisition for
mining is done under other specific laws dealing with
coal or other minerals. The Land Acquisition Act of
2013 ensures that compensation and resettlement and
rehabilitation provisions of this Act prevail over these
other Acts. But otherwise the acquisitions under these
Acts remain outside the scope of PESA and FRA.
i
Based on inputs by Sri R. Sreedhar of Environics Trust; environics@gmail.com and the team VKA.
58
It is imperative to amend these Acts to make them
PESA and FRA compliant. In the long run, the
multiplicity of Acts under which land acquisitions are
undertaken should be done away with and all land
acquisitions should be brought under a single Act.
Rationalizing payments into DMFs
The 2015 amendment of MMDR Act makes the
salutary provision of creating District Mineral
Foundations and making the mining operators
pay certain sums into these Foundations. For the
mining leases given before 2015, such payments
are equal to the royalty paid to State Governments.
But for leases after the implementation of the
amendments, the payments are fixed at a much
lower level of up to one-third of the royalty amount.
The rational for this distinction between pre- and
post-2015 leases is that the latter lessees are paying
large auction amounts for their leases. However,
the auction amounts accrue to the States while local
communities lose a considerable part of their share
in the royalties. This anomaly needs to be corrected
to ensure that the DMFs keep getting a reasonable
share of the mining revenues and profits.
Ensuring involvement of local communities in
DMFs
The amended law creates DMFs but does not
define their composition and functions. For the
DMFs to serve the purpose for which these have
been created, it is important that affected persons,
local communities and their elected representatives
are effectively involved in the composition and
functioning of the DMFs.
There should be a provision to ensure that the
funds of the DMFs are preferentially used for the
affected persons and communities. For example,
it may be legally mandated that 30 percent of the
funds with the DMFs would be used for the welfare
of the affected and displaced families; 60 percent
for the development of local area; and of the rest
5 percent could be utilized towards administrative
expenses and 5 percent may be kept as reserve.
Unless some such legal provisions are made
defining the composition and functioning of the
DMFs and utilization of the revenues accruing to
them, these foundations would become another
source of funds for the district administration and
fail to serve the intended purpose.
The ultimate objective of all these efforts is to make
the local communities, a large majority of whom
happen to be from the Janjatis of India, participants in
and beneficiaries of the mining activities in their area
and not merely victims of it. Making Janjatis equal
participants and sharers in the process of development
has to be the core objective of our Vision for them.
Skill Development for the Janjatis
T he Janjatis of India have been traditionally
highly skilled communities. They have special
skills in the handling of materials; in metallurgy and
metal working, in weaving and textile processing,
and in carpentry and wood-working, the different
Janjatis display their distinctive ways, designs and
technologies. They have extraordinary knowledge
of the medicinal herbs in the forest; the Charaka
Samhita recommends that for knowing about herbs
and their properties one should go to the forest-
dwell­­ing communities. They are also skilled in the
recog­nition and collection of other useful forest
produce. They are naturally skilled in hunting and
fishing. Most importantly, the Janjatis are skilled
in carrying out rich agriculture in difficult terrain.
For this purpose they have evolved special skills in
seed selection and preservation, in preparation and
sowing of the fields, in cleaning and weeding and
in watering of the fields from limited and remote
water sources.
Unfortunately, these special skills of theirs have not
been recognised in the modern formal systems, and
have begun to languish because of the constraints
on resources and access imposed by the markets
and the administrative structures. Recognition and
development of these special skills cannot only
lead to economic and cultural enrichment of the
Janjati communities, but these can also help us
improve new innovative technologies, designs and
production systems in several fields.
Vision
We envision that the special and varied skills of the
Janjati communities are recognised; systematic and
institution­
alised efforts are made to ensure that
these skills continue to be taught from generation
to generation and impediments in the effective
practice of these skills are removed; efforts are
made to enrich those skills with requisite modern
technologies and materials and also to enrich
modern technologies and systems through the
infusion and incorporation of the special knowledge
and skills of the Janjatis; the space for the practice
of these skills is enlarged through exploration of
59
national and international markets for the varied
and very special products that the different Janjatis
of India have been creating.
Specific Initiatives and Strategies
For achieving that vision, the following are
some of the strategies that may be adopted:
1. Schools in the Janjati areas should be equipped
with basic smithy and carpentry workshops.
The local craftsmen may be engaged to run
these workshops and teach the materials
handling skills to the students. Every student
may be expected to spend at least one extra
hour for the skill development classes.
Students of such schools should also spend a
few weeks in every session in a Janjati village
trying to work with and learn from them. At the
middle, secondary and senior secondary level
such living in the community may be made part
of their project work.
2. Engineering Colleges and higher engineering
institutions in the Janjati areas should
be mandated to study and document the
engineering skills of the communities within
a defined geographical area around them.
They should also be expected to expose the
communities within their area of responsibility
to modern materials, tools and technologies to
help them upgrade their skills. Conversely, they
should be expected to try to improve modern
materials, tools and technologies on the basis of
what they learn from the Janjati communities.
Such interaction and extension activities should
form part of the regular curricular activities of
the institutions in the Janjati areas and should
be made part of the mandatory workshop
experience. In addition, all graduating
students may be expected to do a one-semester
project on documentation, up-gradation and
incorporation of local skills.
This should also form part of the research
activity of the faculty of these institutions.
 Skill Development for the Janjatis
3. Similarly, the medical colleges, especially the
Ayurvedic Colleges, in the Janjati areas should
be mandated to collect and document the
herbal and therapeutic knowledge available in
the communities within a defined geographical
area around them. The students should be
expected to spend some time in interacting
with the communities and exploring the herbs
in the locality and the medical knowledge
within the community. Spending 6 months
with a local community, looking after their
health needs and learning from their medicinal
practices, may be made part of the rotational
internship programme that all graduating
medical students have to go through. Faculty
of these institutions should be encouraged to
undertake research on the herbs and remedies
available with the local communities.
4. A large number of science and technology
museums, preferably one in every district and
in every institution of medicine or engineering,
should be opened in the Janjati areas. These
museums should showcase the technologies
and skills prevalent in the Janjati communities
and also some of their best products.
5. The polytechnics in the Janjati areas should
be mandated to impart training in Janjati
skills in different trades and should employ a
certain number of master craftsmen from the
neighbouring communities for this purpose.
Exploring available opportunities
Janjatis can employ their specialised skills in
various areas of economy. Attempts should be made
to create opportunities for them in the following
areas of economy:
1. Non-timber Forest Produce.
2. Herbal Medicine: Collection, value addition,
proces­sing, packaging, marketing and related
activities.
3. Mining, metallurgy and metal working.
4. Agriculture, horticulture and allied areas.
5. Traditional arts and crafts.
6. Repairing and Maintenance: i) Automobiles:
Two wheelers, four wheelers; ii) Mobile
Hand Sets, TVs, other electronic gadgets; iii)
Electrician: Electric fitting and Repairing; iv)
Air-conditioning and Refrigeration.
7. Skilled jobs in the natural-resource based
infra-struc­
ture like, i) Hydel projects; ii)
Thermal power stations; iii) Solar, wind and
other renewable energy plants; iv) Fishing and
related activities; etc.
60
8. Skilled artisanal trades, like, Plumbing,
Carpentry, Fitter, Masonry, Driving, Cooking,
Tailoring and related activities, etc.
The National Skill Development Policy 2015 has
been adopted; the Janjatis have been given a space
in it. The need is to evolve suitable schemes and
training programs to exploit the opportunities
suggested above.
Recommendations
For States and policy makers:
1. The Ministry of Skill Development should
resolve that 8 percent of the total funds of the
Ministry including the Prime Minister’s Kaushal
Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) shall be earmarked for
the skill development of Janjatis and the Janjati
Areas as is the mandatory practice in all the
financial allocations of the different ministries
of the Union Government.
2. Special efforts should be made to enroll eligible
Janjati candidates in the currently operated
schemes for imparting skills and for monitoring
purpose, necessary digital or manual Report
Forms should be evolved/changed accordingly.
3. Suitable schemes and programmes should be
evolved for the Janjatis in the areas mentioned
in the opportunities section above.
4. A National Janjati Skill Development Council
be established to assure focus on the Skill
Development of Janjatis and Janjati Areas,
5. PMKVY is a commendable programme
designed to implement the Skills Development
Mission. Janjatis and Janjati Areas should be
given a special place in this Mission.
6. Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and the
Ministry of Skill Development need to work in
a coordinated manner, the MoTA needs to play
a proactive role in this regard.
For Janjati Communities
7. Motivate the community, specially the youth
and the women, in identifying and learning new
skills in association with the concerned agencies.
8. Preserve, practice and document traditional
skills.
For the Non-Governmental Organisations
9. Help the Janjati communities and the agencies
in the tasks mentioned above.
10. Conduct awareness campaigns and provide
counseling about skill development.
 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA
Bonded Labour and Human Trafficking
I ndia has a strong legal framework to curb bonded
labour and human trafficking. The Bonded
Labour System (Abolition) Act was legislated
as far back as 1976. The Act provides for the
identification, release and rehabilitation of bonded
labourers as well as punishment for employers of
bonded labour. The Inter-state Migrant Workmen
(Regulation of Employment and Conditions of
Service) Act was passed in1979. This law allows
officers of the State from where the trafficked
workers originate to enter the State to which such
workers are taken. The Supreme Court of India
in a judgement of 1990 (Damodar Panda v. State
of Orissa) has provided further teeth to this Act
and has issued a specific direction that ‘every State
and Union Territory in India would be obliged
to permit officers of originating States of migrant
labour for holding appropriate inquiries within
the limits of the Recipient States for enforcement
of the statute and no recipient State shall place any
embargo or hindrance in such process’.
There is a considerable amount of activism on both
these issues and the police forces of various States
have been sensitised to these twin problems. But
the phenomena of Bonded Labour and Human
Trafficking continue to persist; the Scheduled
Tribes (as also the Scheduled Castes) seem to be
particularly vulnerable to these crimes. It is not
easy to get an idea of the extent of the problem. It
is certainly not as prevalent as some of the activists
and international non-Governmental Agencies
make it out to be. A 1996 Report of the Human
Rights Watch, for example, gives an estimate of 60
to 115 million persons under bondage in India.
The Global Slavery Survey Index, published by the
Walk Free Foundation, gives a figure of 14 million
victims of human trafficking in India in its report
of 2014, making India the worst offender in this
matter among 167 countries surveyed by it.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Labour and
Employment in its Annual Report of 2007-08 records
2,86,839 identified bonded labourers, of whom 93
percent have been rehabilitated. Of course, there
must be many more bonded labourers than the
numbers that have been identified and rehabilitated,
61
but given the salience of this issue in the NGO space
and the active interest that the Supreme Court has
taken in this matter, the numbers are not probably
as high as estimated by, say, Human Rights Watch.
What is more significant is that all data seems to
indicate that among the Scheduled Tribes form
a disproportionately large part of the bonded
labourers. According to a study done for the
Planning Commission, and quoted in the HLC
Report of 2014, 43.6 percent of the rehabilitated
bonded labourers belonged to the Scheduled Tribes
(and another 39.4 percent to the Scheduled Castes).
It is widely known that every year large number
of tribal people migrate from Odisha, Jharkhand,
Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh to work as more
or less bonded labourers in the brick-kilns of West
Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Punjab,
Haryana. Similarly, large number of tribal women,
particularly from the central Indian States of
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh are
forced to leave their homes to work as domestic help
in the metropolitan cities. There are also reports to
suggest that tribal women are being brought to be
offered for marriage in States like Haryana, where
the female-male ratio as worsened to an extent that
many men are unable to find brides in their own
communities. There are also reports that persons
from some of the more vulnerable tribes in several
districts of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,
Tamilnadu and Uttar Pradesh, are forced to work
as bonded labour in the fields of landlords within
their own villages and districts.
The above summary of the situation indicates that
Scheduled Tribes are particularly affected by the
continuing prevalence of Bonded Labour and
they are being forced into this situation in diverse
ways, through migration, through trafficking and
through sheer deprivation and indebtedness in
their own habitats. While there is awareness about
the problem at different levels and a robust legal
system has been evolved to deal with it, yet there
is much that needs to be done. Below, we list
some of the suggestions and recommendations to
ameliorate the situation:
 Bonded Labour and Human Trafficking
Recommendations and Suggestions
For Governments
1. The Bonded Labour System Abolition Act
covers a wide-range of offences and is fairly
effective. But it needs to be amended to take
cognisance of the way bonded labour has come
to operate now. It should also provide for
deterrent rigorous imprisonment and high
fines for the offenders.
2. Inter State Migrant Workman Act (ISMWA)
should be implemented more vigorously. It may
be suitably amended for efficient implementation
in a gender sensitive perspective. A separate law
as recommended by the National Commission
for Women, should be enacted to deal with
human trafficking of women.
3. The machinery entrusted with the imple-
mentation of these laws should be strengthened.
Each district should have a Vigilance Committee
as provided in the law; these Committees
should be proactive in curbing bonded labour
and human trafficking.
4. Officers posted at different levels to deal with the
problem of bonded labour and human trafficking
should be properly trained and sensitized.
5. A special provision should be made to ensure
that migrant workers might exercise their
voting rights either at their workplace or at
their place of origin.
6. Labour laws should be strictly enforced. It
should be ensured that migrant workers get
paid leave as per law and women migrants get
paid maternity leave and other benefits.
7. Money for rehabilitation schemes should be
disbursed speedily.
8. Special Courts may be established to
expeditiously deal with cases of bonded labour
and human trafficking. Such cases should
preferably be tried in the native State of victim.
9. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs should set up a
Special Cell to deal with this issue. This Cell
should work in coordination with the Ministry
of Home Affairs which already has a separate
Cell to deal with Human Trafficking. Similar
Cells should be set-up at the State and district
levels by the State Governments.
For Village Institutions
1. Gram Sabhas and the Panchayats should evolve
a system of registration of migrants leaving
62
the village. These records can be periodically
compiled at the District and the State level to
present a comprehensive picture of the situation.
2. All migrants should obtain identity cards from
their Gram Sabhas or Panchayats.
For NGOs and Social Organisations
3. Create awareness about the legal rights of
the migrants, especially of migrant women,
and about the Government schemes to curb
bonded-labour,
4. Media should take a proactive role to make the
women migrants and contract labourers aware
of their rights.
5. Special Police Observation Posts should be
established at exit and entry points such as
railway stations and bus stands, etc., to check
human trafficking.
6. NGOs should help in pre-migration
sensitization and orientation of women and
other migrants.
Improving Livelihoods
The ultimate solution to the problem of human
trafficking and bonded labour lies in improving
livelihoods and conditions within the habitats of
the migrants. For this purpose, we recommend the
following:
1. Ensure sustained availability of work at the
habitat level.
2. Community works, conservation of forest
resources and revival of traditional water
systems should be taken up to increase
productivity at the village level.
3. Efforts should be made to improve productivity
of lands by converting single-crop lands to
multi-crop through appropriate irrigation
facilities. When a cultivator gets two crops in
the place of one, it amounts to doubling of the
land available to him.
4.
Employment opportunities, particularly
opportunities for self-employment, should be
created at the village level to check migration.
5. The Skill Development Mission should be
implemented in Janjati Areas on a priority
basis. Skill Development may also be included
in the school curricula in the Janjati areas.
6. Supplementary income generation programs
by value addition in NTFPs sector should be
introduced and strengthened.
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs):
Issues and Imperativesi
S ome of the Scheduled Tribes are characterised
as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
(PVTGs); they were earlier referred to as Primitive
Tribal Groups. Their particular vulnerability is
determined on the basis of the following criteria:
1) forest-dependent livelihoods; 2) pre-agricultural
level of technology; 3) stagnant or declining
population, 4) extremely low literacy rates; and
5) a subsistence level of economy.
The Government of India started identifying
PVTGs in 1975. Currently, 75 tribal groups living
in 18 States and the Union Territory of Andaman
and Nicobar have been listed as PVTGs. As per
the census of 2001, their total population in the
country is 27,68,322. More than 80% population
of this population is in Maharashtra, Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha,
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.
The PVTGs almost always live in remote interior
location. Their particular vulnerability today arises
from the shrinking of their habitats and erosion of
their traditional occupations caused by the intrusion
of the market and the State in various forms.
Industrial projects, forest and wildlife conservation
efforts and tourism, all have an impact on the limited
resources of the PVTGs. Many of these groups
are becoming increasing vulnerable to hunger,
starvation, malnutrition and ill health. Some of them
have reached on the verge of extinction. Shompens,
Jarawas and Sentinelese of the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, Bondos of Odisha, Cholanaickans
of Kerala, Abujhmarias of Chhattisgarh and Birhors
of Jharkhand are all at this critical stage.
The health status of many of the PVTGs is extremely
worrisome. As per an ICMR report, the PVTGs of
Orissa have a very high level of chronic energy
deficiency (Body-Mass Index of less than 18.5).
Malnourishment among Lanjia Sauras in the State
is as high as 89.4% and it is 88.9% among Kutia
Kondhas. 80% of the PVTG women of Jharkhand
are anaemic. Infant Mortality Rate is as high as
63
135 among the Bondos of Orissa. High incidence
of malaria, diarrhea, cholera, tuberculosis, G6PD
deficiency that leads to haemolytic anaemia
among children and sickle cell anaemia are widely
prevalent among several PVTGs
The Literacy rate is as low as 10% in remote PVTG
villages. General awareness about education is
also low. This is inspite of the fact that fairly good
school infrastructure has been established in most
of the PVTG habitations. But teacher-attendance
and quality of teaching in these villages remains
very poor. Even the provision of mid-day-meals
is irregular in several schools. Several schools in
PVTG villages lacked sanitation facilities. The few
literate youngsters in PVTG villages have had their
schooling in Residential and Ashram schools. But,
most of the educated youth, those who have passed
8th to10th class are jobless.
The PVTG livelihoods are mainly forest-based
sustenance livelihoods. Their livelihoods have
undergone several changes over the years, when
several PVTGs have been forcibly displaced from
their traditional habitat due to construction of
dams and various policies of the forest department.
Left-wing extremism also has impacted their
habitats. There are several instances in Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh where
the PVTGs were denied their customary right to
collect, transport and sell minor forest produce.
Such interventions have separated PVTGs from
their natural habitat, the forest. Interventions like
promotion of timber-based trees at the expense of
other species, illegal poaching, mining, etc., have
also disturbed the natural habitat of PVTGs. The
species on which PVTGs are dependent for their
livelihood have been decreasing at a fast pace. This
has resulted in the loss of livelihood of PVTGs,
pushing them into bonded labour (like the Kathkoris
and Chenchus). Livelihood pattern of several PVTGs
is drifting from forest-based ecological livelihood
to labour-based livelihood.
 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
Critical Issues and Doable Measures
Livelihoods
1. We need to bring about a paradigm shift
from grant-based interventions to sustainable
development for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal
Groups (PVTGs).
2. We must emphasize ‘Right to the natural habitat’
as a necessary condition for development of
(PVTGs).
3. Any livelihood strategy should be PVTG
specific and based on their traditional vocation.
4. Important NTFP for each PVTG should be
identified and the NTFP collectors should
be organized to channelize procurement,
processing and marketing at remunerative
prices. PVTGs should be made sufficiently
aware and capable before linking them to
markets. States and facilitating agencies should
ensure that PESA and FRA are implemented
in a way so as to ensure the PVTGs right to
collect, process, transport and sell NTFP.
5. Traditional knowledge of PVTGs in
conservation of forests and herbal medicine
should be protected and linked with the
National Skill Development Mission.
6. Special interventions like grant of fishing rights
in dams and cultivation rights on draw-down
lands are needed for dam-displaced PVTGs.
i
Based on inputs from Prof. R. R. Prasad, National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad and discussions at the Mumbai seminar.
64
7. Field functionaries and para-professionals
are critical for implementing any poverty
alleviation program for PVTGs. Care should be
taken to ensure that posts do not remain vacant
and all professional posted in the PVTG areas
are trained and sensitised suitably.
Health
8. Efforts should be made to post a para-medic in
every PVTG village and herbal medicine should
be promoted to ensure their basic survival.
9. Taking medical facilities to the doorsteps of the
PVTGs is crucial for preventing deaths due to
easily curable diseases.
10.
Adequate mobile medical and ambulance
services should be provided in every hamlet.
Adequate arrangements should be made for
ensuring easy access of PVTGs to maternity
and childcare services.
Education
11. Educated youth from the PVTG villages may
be recruited and trained as para-teachers to
provide primary schooling within the habitat.
12. Skill development and creation of jobs for
educated PVTG youth is crucial for promoting
education for future generations and
preventing the spread of extremism.
 APPENDICES

Vision Document for the Janjatis of India

BASE PAPER
for the National Seminar held at Mumbai on February 6-8, 2015

Preamble
The Constitution of India recognises the Scheduled Tribes of India as a distinct group requiring special
administrative and political privileges and arrangements. In general, the populations listed among the
Scheduled Tribes comprise groups who have been living in and near forests and hills. Being thus endowed
with a distinct physical environment, they have evolved several distinct communal, cultural, linguistic,
technological and economic ways and traits of their own. On the other hand, being an inseparable part
of the general Indian milieu, they also share much similarity with the ways of the larger society around
them. These distinctions and similarities are both important; both need to be recognised and celebrated.
The challenge before the nation is to ensure that the Scheduled Tribes of India are able to retain their
distinctions and similarities and yet are able to participate and share in the great national resurgence that
India is going through.
We must have a Vision that sees the Scheduled Tribes of India emerging as equal, healthy and prosperous
parts of the resurgent Indian nation, proudly contributing to the task of nation-building through their
distinct ways within their distinct environments. The Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram has been working among
and with the Scheduled Tribes of India with this vision. We are formulating the Vision Document 2020 to
formalise this vision and to list the policies and action programmes in different sectors that shall have to be
pursued in order to make this vision a reality within the near future.
While the Scheduled Tribes of India form a single large administrative and social category, there is a
great diversity between different tribes. Geographically, they are distributed throughout the country. But
they are especially concentrated in a belt running through the middle of India from the east to the west
covering the states of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Of the total population of 10.48 crore Scheduled Tribes counted in
2011 in the country, about 78 percent is in this belt. There are significant differences between the tribes
inhabiting the eastern and central part of this belt and those in the western part. In addition, about 12
per cent of the tribal population is in the north-eastern region, where the language, culture and condition
of the tribes varies greatly from State to State, and even from one district to the other. Another about 5
per cent of the tribal population is in the southern States, mainly in Karnataka. Of the rest, about 2.5
percent is in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and another about 2 percent in J&K and Himachal Pradesh. This
geographical diversity itself gives an indication of the diversity of the populations counted under the
category of Scheduled Tribes and the diversity of the problems and issues they might be facing.
Any vision document for the Scheduled Tribes has to take into account this great diversity and has to
necessarily go into the specifics of different tribes, and their specific environments and problems. This
consultation is for evolving a general broad approach towards such a detailed document and for identifying
some of the more pressing issues that concern Scheduled Tribes in all parts of India. This has become
necessary in the fast changing national and global scenario, which is likely to open many opportunities for
all, but which is also posing new challenges, especially for the Scheduled Tribe communities.

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 Base Paper

We are limiting this consultation to issues pertaining to four specific sectors; these include:
1. Issues concerning preservation and appropriate utilisation of Natural Resources; 2. Social Issues including
Education and Health; 3. Economic Issues; and, 4. Issues concerning Governance and Administration.
The specific ideas and concerns to be discussed under each of these heads are listed below. The issues listed
here leave out some of the very basic questions, like those concerning culture, faith, religious-conversion,
etc. We propose to hold a separate consultation on these fundamental issues.
This first base paper attempts to suggest a broad approach towards the four sets of issues listed above.
The paper does not propose to offer any final directions or solutions; these must emerge from our
consultations. This paper is only to help direct the process of discussion and consultation and make it
somewhat systematic.

Issues Concerning Preservation and Utilisation of Natural Resources

Preservation and sustainable utilisation of natural resources concerns the whole population of the earth. But
the issue is of special significance for the Scheduled Tribes. They live in areas that are especially rich in all
kinds of natural resources, including forests, minerals and water. These are also the areas that get specially
targeted for exploration and exploitation for the sake of modern industrial development. Preservation and
careful sustainable utilisation of natural resources therefore becomes synonymous with the preservation and
sustenance of the culture, life-styles and economy of Scheduled Tribe populations. Scheduled Tribes have
traditionally lived off the forests, hills and rivers. If these natural resources come under stress, then their lives
and lifestyles are also stressed; if the natural resources are preserved and utilised in a sustainable manner
than the lives and lifestyles of Scheduled Tribes are also preserved and sustained.
The basic issue that we have to discuss in this context is of finding an appropriate national balance between
the interest of Scheduled Tribes in preservation and sustainability of natural resources and the competing
demands of maximising the exploitation of natural resources at minimal costs for the sake of modern
development. All nations have to arrive at a considered and appropriate balance between these two poles.
An appropriate vision for the Scheduled Tribes can be evolved only in the perspective of such a balance.
Within this overall context, we need to discuss the specific issues arising in the following four fields
separately:

A. Forest, Environment and Biodiversity

Livelihood of many tribal communities depends on the forest. Their rights in the forest have been recognised
in various laws. In our discussion, we need to look into the protections provided for the Scheduled Tribe
communities under various forest laws and the consequences of the recent efforts and plans to revisit and
amend some of these laws.
But, besides the specifics of the laws and regulations, there is a need to inculcate a sense of partnership with
the forest dwellers among the implementing agencies. In our vision for the Scheduled Tribes, we should
envisage a situation where the government agencies engaged with the protection and exploitation of forests
begin to look upon the forest-dwelling communities not as adversaries or encroachers, but as partners and
sharers in the task. The vision document should explore the appropriate legal and institutional structures
required for achieving such partnership. The task of preserving environment and biodiversity needs to
be approached in a similar manner. It should be remembered that our classical texts recommended such
partnership of the kings and savants with the forest-dwellers. The Charaka Samhita in fact advises the
practitioners of Ayurveda to learn about the qualities and properties of different herbs and other plants
from the forest-dwelling communities. If only we could inculcate a similar attitude among our officers and
scientists, many of the problems that the Scheduled Tribes face would be solved and forest, environment
and biodiversity would be much better understood and preserved by all concerned.
While discussing the issue of forests, we have to particularly pay attention to the important role that forest
produce in general, and minor forest produce in particular, plays in the livelihood of Scheduled Tribe
communities.

B. Land
A majority of the Scheduled Tribe communities are agriculturalists; even in the case of forest-dwelling
communities, access to land is an important determinant of their livelihood. Development projects that

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 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

require compulsory acquisition of land often result in disruption of the lives of tribal communities. Various
statutory and legal provisions exist to regulate such acquisition of land so as to minimise its impact on the
tribal communities. Many of these protective provisions have been earned with hard effort on the part of
the Scheduled Tribes and their representatives.
But to implement these constitutional arrangement and laws in letter and spirit, it is again important
that those entrusted with the task look upon the tribal communities as partners in the task of nation
building. The best of laws would become ineffective to protect the interests of the Scheduled Tribes, if
the concerned agencies and personnel keep looking upon them as impediments in the path of progress.
In any case, the constitutional and legal guarantees against alienation of land shall have to be vigorously
protected and attempts to dilute these shall have to be vigilantly resisted. However, in our vision we
must foresee a situation where such vigilance would not be required, where the governments and the
private corporations would realise the crucial importance of land in the lives of the tribal and other
communities, and would approach any acquisition of land with extreme caution, care and concern.

C. Mines and Mineral

Much of the mineral wealth of India happens to be in areas inhabited by the tribal communities. Mining
activity necessarily leads to disruption of livelihoods and environments. Unfortunately, a large part of the
mining activity in India is illegal, and hence beyond the reach of any safeguards.
To protect the interests of Scheduled Tribe communities, it is important that all illegal mining is stopped,
mining of minerals is minimised, and all mining is carried out in such a manner that its impact on livelihoods
and environments is minimised.
Issues like sharing of profits from mining activity with the affected communities, recovery of land after
mining activity is completed and its return to the original communities, etc., also need to be discussed
and appropriate legal and institutional structures need to be evolved. Implementation of the Samata
case judgement in this context may go a long way in protecting the interests of the Scheduled Tribe
communities.

D. Water Resources
Forest dwelling communities have rights in their water resources, like rivers, lakes, ponds and other water
bodies, just as they have such rights in the forests. Therefore, in the management and exploitation of water
resources, the local communities must be taken as partners. Such participation is essential for sustainable
and equitable utilisation of water.
In the case of major irrigation and hydro-electric projects, it is imperative to seek cooperation and
participation by the local communities. In these large engineering projects also, it would help to look upon
the local communities as partners in progress and treat them accordingly.

Issues Concerning Social Development

The Janjati communities in general show a high level of social development; they have highly developed
community structures and institutions; and, in general, they accord a higher status to women both as
individuals and as participants in the community affairs. But, they lag behind in the modern indicators of
educational, health and employment.
Many of the tribal communities are highly advanced in education also; but the overall literacy among
the Scheduled Tribes of India according to the Census 2011 is 14 percentage points below the national
average. Literacy rate among them is 59 per cent compared to the national average of 73 per cent. They
fair much below the national average on most of the health indicators, including malnutrition, anaemia,
infant mortality, maternal mortality, etc. The availability of health infrastructure in the tribal areas is
also much lower than the average. In fact, in many parts of the areas inhabited by the Scheduled Tribes,
availability of both education and health care remains abysmally poor. These areas fair similarly poorly in
the availability of other public amenities like drinking water, electricity, road or rail connectivity, public
transport, public finance, etc.
A concerted effort is urgently needed to raise the level of education and health, and also of various other
public amenities, in the tribal areas to bring them at par with at least the national average. In our Vision for

67
 Base Paper

the Scheduled Tribes, we should envisage that by 2020 none of the Scheduled Tribe areas or communities
shall be behind the national average on any of these parameters.
The new emphasis on skills education and on public sanitation and cleanliness that we see in the public life
of India today should be utilised to qualitatively raise the level of education, health and public amenities
in the tribal areas. This would require a concerted effort between the governments, communities and
social organisations concerned with the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes. Our Vision Document should
include a detailed region and tribe-wise action plan with quantified targets for bringing all tribal areas and
communities to a higher level of social development within the current decade.

Issues Concerning Economic Development

The Scheduled Tribe communities face the same economic and developmental issues that stressed rural
communities are facing everywhere in India. But the survival issues for the Scheduled Tribes have
become more acute because of the dwindling forest resources on which their livelihoods have traditionally
depended. Their livelihoods have been further impacted because of the environmental, water and land
stress caused by mining and hydro-engineering activities, and by the restrictions imposed by the various
wild life sanctuaries and reserved forest that have been set up in their areas.
The Scheduled Tribes communities also face economic stress because of the prevalence of specific chronic
diseases in many of the areas that they inhabit.
The prevalence of social and political conflicts caused by ultra-left activities and aggressive and organised
religious proselytising and conversion in their areas also puts the communities under special economic
stress.
The first level of intervention required to improve the economic status of the Janjati communities is to
effectively intervene in the environmental, social, political and health issues that have a particularly strong
impact upon them.
The Central and State governments have several schemes for economic amelioration of the stresses that the
Scheduled Tribe communities face. It is generally understood that there is a sufficiency of funds available
for such purposes. Better delivery of these schemes through deployment of newer technologies would
help in improving the economic condition of the communities in times of stress. Training the personnel
involved in the delivery of these welfare schemes in the cultural ways and norms of the communities they
work with and inculcating a sense of concern and respect for such communities is also essential. We should
in fact envision a situation where all government intervention happens through officers who are trained
and sensitised in this manner.
Scheduled Tribe communities are often skilled in several kinds of non-forest and non-agricultural
production activities. But such skills are getting blunted because of lack of recognition and marketing
opportunities. The skills that these communities have in handling of materials and fabrication of useful
products need not be limited to the products that they have been traditionally making; by a little retraining,
the traditionally acquired skills can be easily utilised for all kinds of mainstream engineering activities.
India today is going through a new appreciation of the importance of skills-training in the society.
Emphasising such training at all levels of education from the primary school onwards shall not only
make India a much more skilled nation, it shall also lead to restoration of dignity and respect for several
communities who have been the repositories of such skills. This re-skilling of Indian education and Indian
public life in general shall also be a solution to the economic problems that the Scheduled Tribe communities
have been facing because of shrinking economic opportunities in the forest and in agriculture.
In our Vision for the Scheduled Tribes, we should envision a new blooming of the materials, metallurgical,
engineering and design skills in India, with the Scheduled Tribe communities, who have been traditional
practitioners of such skills emerging as the leaders of this resurgence.

Issues concerning Governance and Administration

India has an elaborate framework of statutory and legal arrangements for the administration of areas
where the Scheduled Tribes dominate. These include:
1. The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, which currently covers certain parts of nine states of India,
namely, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat,

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 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan. Nearly 75 per cent of the Scheduled Tribes population of India
lives in the areas covered by this schedule.
2. The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which currently covers certain tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya,
Tripura and Mizoram. Nagaland is covered by a separate provision in Article 371-A of the Constitution.
In addition, there are Articles 371-C and 371-G, which cover certain areas of Manipur and Mizoram,
respectively.
3. The Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996.
These provisions cover about 80 per cent of the Scheduled Tribes population of India; but a significant
part of the population still lives in areas that have no such protective provisions. Efforts need to be made
to extend such constitutional protection to all tribal communities, wherever they happen to live.
In addition to the above provisions, there is also the provision of reservations for the Scheduled Tribes in the
Central and State services. The purpose of these provisions is to recognise the special administrative needs
of the Scheduled Tribe areas and to make formal arrangements for the participation of the communities in
the administration of their areas. In some of the areas, especially those covered under the Sixth Schedule,
the traditional community governments have been given formal recognition and responsibility to run their
particular areas. The provisions especially offer protection against alienation of land in the scheduled areas
and make the participation of the community in various forms mandatory in such decisions.
While the constitutional and legal framework is extensive, its implementation has been patchy. The issue
has been looked into repeatedly by various Committees. All of them have noticed that there is urgent need
to improve the implementation of constitutional and legal protections given to the Scheduled Tribes.
The main reason for the lack of implementation seems to be in the attitude of several governments in looking
at these provisions as so many obstacles and hindrances in the process of development. Consequently, legal
and statutory requirements are either not met or met in a cursory ritualistic manner.
We need a change of attitude where constitutional and legal provisions that mandate community participation
in the administration and decision-making are seen as examples of good governance. We should recognise
that such community participation is possible in Scheduled Areas because these communities have kept
intact their strong traditions of community governance. Instead of deprecating and attempting to bypass
these arrangements, we should look upon these as models to be followed in other parts of the country.
India is passing through a new phase of emphasis on Good Governance. It is now being publicly recognised
at the highest levels of the polity that Good Governance is not possible without the participation of
the localities and communities in the running of the governments and in all decision making. In this
atmosphere, we envision the Scheduled Areas becoming the leaders in participatory good governance.
One of the reasons for the current reluctance and apathy in implementation of the constitutional and legal
provisions is that there are few Scheduled Tribes officers in the higher administrative cadres of the Fifth
Schedule Areas. Provisions exist for reservations for the Scheduled Tribes in the higher administrative
services; but these quotas are often filled by candidates from limited geographical regions and from within
a few relatively advanced tribes. Consequently, there are hardly any Scheduled Tribes officers from the
States that have the largest Scheduled Tribes populations. Contrary to the intent of the Constitution, tribal
communities are being administered largely by officers from outside their communities and regions. We
need to pay serious attention to this situation if the current emphasis on good governance through large-
scale participation is to be realised in the Scheduled Areas.
This first base paper is meant only to underline the major issues of concern and the direction along which
we need to proceed. We hope to have wide-ranging discussions on all issues, and hope that this discussion
and consultation shall help in arriving at detailed and specific positions on various issues in the final Vision
Document for the Scheduled Tribes.

69
 Valedictory Address by the
Honourable Governor of Maharashtra
at the National Seminar to Prepare a
Vision Document for the Janjatis of India
held at Mumbai on February 6-8, 2015

Shri Jual Oram, Honourable Minister of Tribal Affairs, dignitaries on the dais, community based
organizations, and my dear friends. I am glad to attend the concluding session of the National Seminar to
Prepare Vision Document for the Janjatis organized by the Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram.
The subject of discussion today is very significant. Discussion like these, and the outcome of these
discussions, will define what kind of a nation we are destined to be. As the Governor of a State which has
Fifth Schedule Areas, and than a crore of Scheduled Tribes population, I fully share the concerns that
are being raised regarding the tribal brothers and sisters. Scheduled Tribes in India, today, are beset
by many problems, many of which are not of their own making. While tribal communities belonged to
a rich and noble culture, developmental processes and hostile policies have made them impoverished
and vulnerable. Forest laws have made them destitute in their own lands; economic processes have alienated
even their poor quality lands; poor service delivery has ensured that the benefit of schemes only partially
reach them. Social indicators among Scheduled Tribes when compared to the non-STs are much inferior.
We need to take urgent steps to ensure that poverty, migration, malnutrition, and denial of resources and
opportunities is put to an end. I would briefly tell you what role the Governors of Fifth Schedule Areas can
play to ensure that our brothers and sisters of the Scheduled Tribes are made partners in development.
As you know, a few years back the Attorney General of India opined that the powers of the Governor are
independent and discretionary. This settled the doubts about interpretation and galvanized many Raj
Bhavans into action. I take pride in saying that Maharashtra is at the forefront of these changes. We have
established a Tribal Cell in the Governor’s Office which takes up issues of development of tribals with
special focus on the implementation of the rights (under Acts) like FRA and PESA, addressing issues of
land alienation, ensuring access to natural resources and ensuring that the State’s policies are not against
the community traditions of the people.
The PESA Act had been notified in 1996. However, the Rules had not been put in place leading to near
about zero implementation. However, I am glad to tell you that the State has passed detailed PESA Rules.
This has taken place after a long period of almost 18 years. The new definition of a village for Scheduled
Areas now allows scattered hamlets and habitations to have their own villages and Gram Sabhas. Hundreds
of proposals accordingly have been prepared by the districts to accord the status of villages to these hamlets.
Each of these Gram Sabhas now has its own Gram Sabha Kosh where the Gram Sabha can deposit money
from the disposal of natural resources. They have been complete autonomy over these funds.
Rules have also been prescribed for peace, security and dispute resolution, for Resource Planning and
Management, and to ensure consultation with Gram Sabhas on land acquisition. The Gram Sabhas have
been given the power to identify illegal land alienation and to get such land restored. Mandatory consent
of Gram Sabha before excavation of minor minerals is needed. Powers to regulate intoxicants have also
been given.
Detailed rules for ensuring ownership of minor forest produce with the community have also been
made. Gram Sabhas can now identify beneficiaries, approve plans and projects, and do social audit. Most
importantly, the PESA Rules have provisioned that if any of the existing laws are not in keeping with
customs and social and traditional management practices of the community, the Gram Sabhas have the
powers to directly bring it to the attention of the Government, and get it corrected.
I have also used the powers of sub-para 1 of para 5 of the Fifth Schedule extensively. By one such
notification certain service delivery posts have been reserved for the local ST candidates to address the
issues of absenteeism and lack of knowledge of local language. By another notification the definition of

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MFP (minor forest produce) has been brought in line with the Forest Rights Act. The villages in Scheduled
Areas are now owners of all Minor Forest Produce, including Tendu and Bamboo. Many State Acts have
been brought in line with the provisions of the PESA Act. By a notification, I have mandated that 5% of
the annual Tribal Sub-Plan shall be devolved to Scheduled Areas Gram Panchayats. This is, I believe, a big
change from the top down approach of development.
I realize that this is but the beginning. The State requires tougher legislation to deal with land alienation.
There is also a need to address vacancies in such areas, to delegate funds, functions and functionaries to the
Panchayats, and to bring the Tribal Sub-Plan and the structure of the projects in line with the provisions
of PESA. I am also following the issue of transfer of all 29 subjects prescribed in the Eleventh Schedule to
the Panchayati Raj System as per the 73rd Amendment.
I would now like to move on to the role of the community-based organizations like yours can play in
safeguarding the interests of STs. First of all, I will request you to recognize that your approach should
not be paternalistic. You will have to imbibe their culture, learn their language and understand their
aspirations. You have to certainly assist the Janjatis to take ownership of the various rights the Constitution
and progressive legislation have provided.
At the same time, let us be fully aware about the fact that many of these rights are constantly under challenge
by vested interests. There is a wild scramble for growth by these interests often to the detriment of the
lifestyle aspirations of the STs. These vested interests want more and more land, access to exploitation
of minerals, and other natural resources. You have to combine with pan-Indian social movements to
put forth strongly the issues of Jal, Jangal and Jamin and of tribal identity. The historical mistakes that
we as a nation have set out to redress, should not be repeated again. We have to let the Janjatis develop
at their own pace, and in accordance with their wishes. I am told that while Janjatis represent 8% of the
population, their total proportion among those who suffered displacement for development of the nation
is 7 times as much. My dear friends, if the measure of a nation is to be calculated by how it treats the most
vulnerable segments, then we should be deeply troubled by this disproportionate share of misery that we
have asked the Janjatis to bear. It is a time to set the record right.
How do we ensure that justice is done to our ST Brethren? We can do so by ensuring that their right to
live securely amidst their natural resources and in pursuance of their community traditions and customary
practices is not taken away; by keeping their lands and ways of shared living safer; by trusting them enough
to know that they will be able to manage funds and functions and ensure Gram Swaraj effectively; and
above all by ensuring that a child that is born in a Janjati household eats well, lives long, and studies well.
All this requires commitment, intent and resources. Hon’ble Minister of Tribal Affairs is here. I would
request him that for too long the Union and State Governments are allocating funds for Janjatis as per
‘population share’. It is now time to think of allocating funds as per ‘problem share’. If achievement in
social indicators of STs such as health, nutrition and education are less than the general population,
then more resources need to go to the TSP to solve these problems. There is also a need to have in each
State a Tribal Sub-Plan Act to ensure that funds are non-divertible and non-lapsable. There is a need to
open Tribal Universities which will promote tribal education and research, and become centres around
which intellectual and academic movements for the welfare of the STs can be organised. I recently had
the privilege to visit an Eklavya Pathshala in Nashik. Schools, such as these, need to be opened in greater
numbers in tribal areas with central budgetary support. The concerns of the staff of these schools regarding
permanency must also be suitably addressed.
I would also request you to ensure that implementation of FRA and PESA is stronger. Thought also needs
to go into how to make Tribes Advisory Councils more vibrant and focussed bodies.
You are all gathered here to put together a Vision for the STs. I will try to give you a small portion of
that vision. Let this be a decade of constant focus on the development of the STs. Let us ensure by 2020
that every tribal household is electrified, malnutrition and infant mortality is conquered, and the people
get skilled work in their own regions. Let us focus on restoring the lands of the STs which have been
taken away, illegally and through fraud. Let us also make sure that no person of the community has to
sell land out of desperation brought about by poverty, or ill health. Most importantly, let us convince our
governments that policy interventions should have tribal interests at their core.
I congratulate you all for taking this initiative.

Jai Hind!

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Tribal Society and Mass Communication Media:
Image and Reality
Recommendations of the National Seminar held at Bhopal, June 18-20, 2012

Conclusions and Recommendations

In order to understand the larger character of tribal society, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National Journalism
and Communication University organized a symposium in Bhopal from 18 to 20 June 2012. The response
of tribal society to our initiative was beyond our expectations. A total of 150 delegates from 21states
participated in the event, of which 107 were Janjatis. During this three-day program, mostly it was a
dialogue within the tribal societies and it emerged from these discussions that the similarities outweigh the
much publicized diversities.

Conclusions of the Symposium

• Unity and not the unity in diversities is manifesting in different forms in the thoughts of the Indian society.
• All the righteous Indians have their roots in the ancient Indian spiritual consciousness, which is known
world over as Hindu religion - Sanatan Dharma, Khasi, Doni-Polo, Sarna etc., -similarly it is with Shaivites,
Vaishnavas Arya Samajis, Jains, Buddhists or Sikhs.
• In India, life values and culture of all the communities related to the Sanatan Dharma are similar. There may
be different outward form of various practices, rites and rituals, but the fundamental emotions are same.
• Culture (rites and rituals, traditions, festivals and festivities, dances and musical instruments) emanates
from religious beliefs. Culture cannot be seen in isolation to faith-religion.
• Traditions, practices, rites and rituals, places of beliefs, festivals and festivities, customary laws of each
tribal community must be documented in a factual, objective and out of the imperialistic context. For
this, entire academic community and educationists will have to come forward.
• The media also has the responsibility of projecting the real cultural identity of the tribal society, and
ensure that news is not made up of hunger, displacement, poverty alone. The tribal community itself
will also has to remain alert and active in this regard.
• In this country, all Sanatan Dharmis including the tribal societies are worshipper of the Nature. All of
them worship rivers, mountains, Earth, Sun, Moon, sky, flora and fauna. Most of the Sanatan Dharmis
are idol worshippers-most of their gods and goddesses are one and they believe in polytheism. This
is the power of Indian society. Despite believing in different gods and goddesses, there is no conflict
among them. Contrary to this, in view of the monotheism of outer faiths, there appeared non-tolerance
in the Indian society as is seen world over, tension and clashes took place among them and these are
still continuing. Conflicts among the tribes due to the conversion are proofs of this.
• All the Sanatan Dharmis including tribal societies are related to the Vedas, Ramayana, and Mahabharata.
• There is only single fundamental thinking about the origin of the Creation, theory of karma, birth,
death and rebirth.
• Due to differences such as inhabiting the far off forests and mountains, distinctive life style, different
colour and form, dialect and language, attire, the Indian society of today considers the tribal society
different from the rest of the society. This image has been created by the vested interest elements,
which was introduced by the British to fulfill their colonial interests. Even after the independence, the
false and corrupt conclusions of the researches carried out by the so-called anthropologists of that time,
sociologists with ill intentions, are being pushed forward.
• Immediately after the independence, had there been original researches and discussions, then the
society would not had misconception about the tribal society.
• To say that the tribes have no religion is not only insulting to them, but the people who say such things
make a sin.

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 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

• All over the world, the colonial powers destroyed the natives of the area with cruel massacres, at some
places the entire civilization was destroyed. Worship practices, rites and rituals, religious places were
severely attacked physically and ideologically.
• All the people living in India, are native to this land and none of them has come from outside. This is
also the policy and stand of the Government of India.
The rights of the natives announced by the UN in 2007 had already been provided by the Constitution of
India in 1952 itself; not because they are natives-aboriginals, but because they are part and parcel of our
society- as weaker section of the society. But the need is to proper implementation of these with sensitivity.
By extending our moral support to all the natives world over, we must cooperate with them in all respects.
• Such powers tried such tactics in India, they didn’t succeed in their efforts-converting the tribal in India
also started and it is still continuing, we should be careful about it. Entire country must concentrate on
the safety and security of the religions and culture and the identity of the tribal population.
• During recent years, all over the world including India, researches and genetic sciences have negated
the claims of Aryan-Dravidic conflicts and of tribal being of different races and concluded that such
claims were made under well thought of conspiracy.
• The interpretation of the ‘tribal’ word must be made in accordance with the presidential order under
Section 342 of the Constitution and not outside it. While reviewing it judicially, this along with the
discussion on this subject in the Constituent Assembly should also be borne in mind.
• The tribal conflicts with foreigners-the British has not found proper place in the history. To underline
the tribal contexts and their contribution from the Ramayana-Mahabharata periods to the freedom
struggle, history should be rewritten after duly considering the history of tribal societies.

Recommendations
One thing is commonly seen in all the research papers-articles received at the symposium and in almost
all the speeches of the speakers-keynote speakers that there is sensitivity among tribal about their identity,
pain for inability to protect their identity and anger against the belief about them being without any
religion and being alien. Confusion in this respect would push the tribes towards alienation, whereas
efforts to identify their roots would strengthen the feeling of tolerance and national unity. Efforts will have
to be made to find answers to the questions raised by late Dr. Kartik Oraon, only then the real tribes will
be able to get the Constitutional benefits.
• Traditions, rites and rituals, practices, places of beliefs, festivals and festivities, customary laws etc;
of each tribe should be documented factually, objectively and out of the imperialistic view. For this,
academic field-Universities, research institutions and scholars will have to come forward.
• India had already provided the fundamental rights of the natives, as announced by the UN in 2007, to
the scheduled tribes of India as far back as 1952. The need is to properly implement these rights.
• We should morally support the movements of the natives all over the world by extending all cooperation
to them.
• Tribal struggles against foreigners-the British have not been allowed their proper place in the history.
In order to underline the context and contribution of the tribes in the Ramayana-Mahabharata period to
the freedom struggle, the history should be re-written after considering the tribal history in its totality.
• Aadim Jati is a specific term, which denotes the more backwards among the tribes and the preliminary
stage of the evolution. Similarly, Adivasi is a synonym of the world Mool Niwasi, which creates a lot of
misunderstandings. As such, names of executive offices may be replaced with such name and the word
Janjati may be used instead of misleading words at the level of government and media.
• The names of new universities proposed in each state and of central and state tribal universities may
be decided on the names of eminent tribal persons and freedom fighters of the state or nation.
• Similarly, the history of eminent Janjati Social leaders and freedom fighters should be included properly
in the syllabus from primary to higher education levels, so that a sense of pride and confidence could
be cultivated among the tribal society.
• In this connection, eminent tribal leaders and freedom fighters at national and state levels should be
given proper place in national/state holidays and calendars.

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 Vision Document for the Janjatis of
the Northeast Bharat
Seminar held at Guwahati on 07-09 August, 2015
Executive Summary

The Constitution of India in the Article 366 (25) defines the Scheduled Tribes as those tribal communities
or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities who are scheduled in accordance with the
Article 342 of the Constitution. The North East India is a region inhabited by around two hundred and
forty communities with more than 185 languages. Notwithstanding the vast differences in the cultural and
political spheres, many commonalities reign in the ambit of socio-economic problems.
The Akhil Bharatia Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram conducted series of meetings, seminars and parallel sessions
from 7th to 9th August 2015 at Shilp Gram, Guwahati, to discuss various developmental and other issues of
the Scheduled Tribes of the North Eastern region of India with people from various fields like administration,
academics, research, entrepreneurship, agriculture, non-governmental organizations, politics, voluntary
groups, art, banking, engineering sector, business, to name a few. The outcome of the various sessions of the
conclave is collated into a Visdoc for the Janjatis (STs) of North East Bharat. The detailed document has been
prepared with the purpose of serving as a reference point in designing a development model for the Janjatis
of the region, not with the purpose of serving as an administrative guideline.
The suggestions put forth in the various sessions of the conclave deals with the problems faced in the
domains of the economic sector, infrastructure, connectivity issues, the social sector, and other relevant
miscellaneous issues.
The suggestions in the economic sector delve into the issues of funding, banking, marketing,
entrepreneurship, control over natural resources, employment, strengthening of institutional framework,
The suggestions regarding infrastructure dwell upon the complex issues of dam construction, power
generation, border area development, up-gradation of tourism infrastructure.
The connectivity issues of North East India have been thoroughly discussed to churn out suggestions on
road connectivity of the North Eastern states, civil aviation, and improvement of railway connectivity.
For the social sector problems the suggestions are varied. The education sector, women empowerment,
health sector, governance, reservation policies, tribal belts and blocks, and forest rights have been
elaborately dealt with.
Apart from the suggestions on economic sector, infrastructure, connectivity issues, the social sector and the
governance, other relevant miscellaneous issues are dealt in the latter part.

Inputs From Sri J. P. Rajkhowa, IAS

The Honb’le Governor of Arunachal Pradesh
(A) While finalising the VISION DOCUMENT for the Scheduled Tribes of the North East, we should take
into consideration the national views of development and comments and recommendations expressed
by the NEC in their vision document.
(B) The Government should explore the reason why the smaller tribes are lagging behind and becoming
victims of discrimination.
(C) The Government should explore the reason behind the conflicts between the smaller and the bigger
tribes and the role played by vested interest groups to foment trouble and sow the seeds of distrust and
disputes.

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 Akhil Bharatiya Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram
National Seminar on Vision Document for Janjatis,
Mumbai, February 6-9, 2015
SN NAME State
1 Shri Ravi Andhra Pradesh
2 Dr A K Tripathi Arunachal Pradesh
3 Dr Joram Begi Arunachal Pradesh
4 Shri Gyati Rana Arunachal Pradesh
5 Shri Rupesh Mathur Arunachal Pradesh
6 Shri Vijay Swami Arunachal Pradesh
7 Shri Sandeep Kavishwar Arunachal Pradesh
8 P. Suryanarayana Assam
9 Shri Ramesh Babu Assam
10 Shri Srikrishna Bhide Assam
11 Dr Anup Sharma Assam
12 Shri Joyram Engleng Assam
13 Shri Jaleswar Bramha Assam
14 Shri Dattatrayji Hosbale Bihar
15 Shri Chandrakant Deo Chattisgarh
16 Shri Sudeep Shrivastavh Chattisgarh
17 Shri Jagdeo Ram Oraon Chattisgarh
18 Shri N S Rawal Delhi
19 Adv Ritvik Datta Delhi
20 Dr J K Bajaj Delhi
21 Shri Shreedharji Delhi
22 Shri Vijay Hansaria Delhi
23 Smt. Sapana Poti Delhi
24 Shri Ashwinbhai Patel DNH
25 Shri Prakash Velip Goa
26 Shri Ramesh Tawadkar Goa
27 Dr Mukund karmalkar Hyderabad
28 Shri R K Anil Hyderabad
29 Pydimarhi Lakshmi Nagluma Hyderabad
30 Shri Arjun Munda Jharkhand
31 Shri Dinesh Oraon Jharkhand
32 Shri J B Tubid Jharkhand
33 Shri Kripa Prasad Singh Jharkhand
34 Shri Laxman Tudu Jharkhand
35 Shri Maharang Oraon Jharkhand
36 Shri Maniram Pal Jharkhand
37 Shri Prakash Kamath Jharkhand
38 Shri Rajkishor Hansada Jharkhand
39 Shri Sudarshan Bhagat Jharkhand
40 Smt. Gangotri Kunjur Jharkhand
41 Shri Bhogen Soren Jharkhand
42 Rajkishor Honsda Jharkhand
43 Shri Induchoodan Kerala
44 Shri K K Satyen Kerala
45 Dr U K Shukla Madhya Pradesh
46 Shri Batham Madhya Pradesh
47 Shri Bhawani Singh Wadhiva Madhya Pradesh
48 Shri Dilip Singh Bhuria, MP Madhya Pradesh
49 Shri Girish Kuber Madhya Pradesh
50 Shri Manoj Srivastava, IAS Madhya Pradesh
51 Shri Ompraksh Aghi Madhya Pradesh
52 Shri Prakash Kale Madhya Pradesh
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 A Vision Document for the JANJATIS of INDIA

53 Shri R N Saxena Madhya Pradesh

54 Dr. Ramdin Tyagi Madhya Pradesh
55 Shri Harihar Sharma Madhya Pradesh
56 Smt Sunanda Patwardhan Maharashtra
57 Dr Anant Phatak Maharashtra
58 Dr P D Sapre Maharashtra
59 Dr Vijay Honkalaskar Maharashtra
60 Shri Chaitram Pawar Maharashtra
61 Shri Girish Sohani Maharashtra
62 Shri Jayanta Abhyankar Maharashtra
63 Shri Kishanlalji Bansal Maharashtra
64 Shri Laxman Topale Maharashtra
65 Shri Milind Thatte Maharashtra
66 Shri Narahar Deo Maharashtra
67 Shri Nilesh Kulkarni Maharashtra
68 Shri Nishikant Joshi Maharashtra
69 Shri Prakash Gedam Maharashtra
70 Shri Pramod Kulkarni Maharashtra
71 Shri Pramod Pethakar Maharashtra
72 Shri Rajendra Dahatonde Maharashtra
73 Shri Sanjiv Phansalkar Maharashtra
74 Shri Shirish Kedare Maharashtra
75 Shri Subodh Kulkarni Maharashtra
76 Shri Sunil Deshpande Maharashtra
77 Shri Utkarsha Ghate Maharashtra
78 Shri V Giriraj, IAS Maharashtra
79 Shri Vikas Godase Maharashtra
80 Shri Vishnu Savara Maharashtra
81 Smti Leena Bansod, IAS Maharashtra
82 Smti Madhavi Joshi Maharashtra
83 Smti Nirupama Deshpande Maharashtra
84 Smti Ranjana Karandikar Maharashtra
85 Smt. Suwarna Rawal Maharashtra
86 Shri Sanjay Kulkarni Maharashtra
87 Shri Mahesh Deshpande Maharashtra
88 Dr Gopal Paliwal Maharashtra
89 Shri Narendra Pendse Maharashtra
90 Shri Sunil Ambekar Maharashtra
91 Shri Ashok Bhansali Maharashtra
92 Shri Somayajulu Maharashtra
93 Prem Shankar Sharma Maharashtra
94 Ravindra Madhav Sathe Maharashtra
95 Dr Gajanan Dange Maharashtra
96 Shri Kapil Sahasrabudhe Maharashtra
97 Shri Jagdamba Mall Nagaland
98 Shri Bhagwan Sahaya Rajasthan
99 Shri H K Damor Rajasthan
100 Shri Ramchandra Kharadi Rajasthan
101 Shri Vishnu Kant Rajasthan
102 Smt. Radhikaji Rajasthan
103 Shri K K Mishra Telangana
104 Shri K Ramchandrayya Telangana
105 Shri Laxminarayana Telangana
106 Shri R R Prasad Telangana
107 Shri Shivram Krishna Telangana
108 Dr Anuj Singhal Uttarakhand
109 Dr Mahesh Sharma Uttarakhand
110 Shri Gajanan Bapat West Bengal
111 Shri Atul Jog West Bengal
112 Shri Rajendra Madala West Bengal

76