Tribal Land Alienation Essay

Every stages of the history there were challenges upon the tribal community. Land, livelihood and human security of the tribes in India have been the most sensitive problem since they came under the dispossession of both personal and community sovereignty over the land and resources. They are on the breadline of their social and economic conditions that is questioning their culture and identity. New industries and intermediaries have insinuated into the tribal area and initiated deforestation and encroachment of forest. This paper is trying to analyze the background of tribal land alienation and the major hurdles they have gone through the past years. The paper also highlights how the laws, policies and Acts are influencing the tribal land
Despite the British used the term to address the hill and forest tribe, there is a lack of common identification about the tribes in India. In general we can understand tribes on the basis of their geographically isolated location, deprivation, use of tribal language, practice of animism and physical features, among other factors (Ghurye, 1963). Each tribe has established its own socio-cultural diversity that is distinguished from this nation (Rout Naresh 2015:72). They represent a society that lacks positive traits of the modern society and thus constitutes a simple, illiterate and backward society (Xaxa Virginius 1999:3590). Article 342 of the constitution recognize over 700 tribal groups in India, they are also called as Adivasis. After India’s independence in 1947, the categorization of tribal communities was formalized through a detailed separate statutory list of the Scheduled Tribes Order of 1950 that came into force following the reorganization of the Indian states (Ghurye, 1963). The essential characteristics, first laid down by the Lokur Committee, for a community to be identified as Scheduled Tribes are; 1) indications of primitive traits; 2)distinctive culture; 3)shyness of contact with the community at large; 4)geographical isolation; and 5)
But it could not fulfill the objectives in a full manner. Most of the external experts are working on their development instead of looking their culture and vision. Now a day’s sustainable livelihood is a buzzword because there is huge gap in policy and its implementation at grass root level. Tribals are the worst sufferers as most of the projects such as dams and industries are located in inaccessible tribal areas. And it creates huge problem in the way of traditional livelihood of the tribes without making proper alternatives. A story of Bomman, a member of the Bettakurumba tribe came from the Gudalur forests of South India says that. "They are paupers, dependent on the government for cheap asbestos roofs which are ovens in summer and iceboxes in winter. They took away our forests which are like our mother and father, to sell it to the timber merchants." He speaks for thousands of adivasi (tribal) people across India, who has lost their livelihoods (Marcel Thekaekara Mari 2016). As Verrier Elwin observes, the tribe should be left alone rather than the government imposing on them development schemes that bear no relevance to or are out of sync with the ground