18 Tribal Situation in India

Dr. Meenal Dhall

epgp books

 

CONTENTS:

 

1.  TRIBES: THE CURRENT SCENARIO IN INDIA 1.1. An Introduction to Tribes

 

1.2.  A Glimpse of the Tribal Demography of India

 

1.3. A Comparison of the Past and Present Status of the Tribes of India

 

2. THE DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS OF TRIBES 2.1. Livelihood and Employment Status

 

2.2. Sex Ratio and Child Sex Ratio

 

2.3. Education

 

2.4. Literacy Rate

 

2.5. Poverty Rate

 

2.6. Health

 

3. THE SUMMARY

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  • To study tribal characteristics and relate them with their current situation in India
  • To study the Tribal Demography of India
  • To understand the various development indicators of the tribes and know the current status of tribes of India in relation to them
  • To get an overview of the reasons responsible for the tribal situation in India and the future prospects

 

1.   TRIBES: THE CURRENT SCENARIO IN INDIA

 

1.1. An Introduction to Tribes

 

Are tribes important? Well, in a country with a total population of 1.28 billon, having a share of 10.43 crores, constituting approximately 8.6% of the total population (Census, 2011), and covering around 15% of the total geographical area of the Indian sub-continent, distributed in various ecological and geo-climatic conditions, the tribes form the strongest people of India, despite the difficulties they face in obtaining recognition in their own country. Constitutionally known as the Scheduled Tribes, as defined by the Article 366(25), these are those communities which are scheduled in accordance with Article 342 of the Constitution, which says that only those communities who have been declared as such by the President through an initial public notification or through subsequent amendments of the Acts of Parliament will be considered Scheduled Tribes.

 

Some of the anthropologically recognized characteristics of these tribes includes: territorial affiliation, segmental solidarity, economic interdependence, no surplus generation, importance of family and kinship relations, use of simple technology, resilience to change, endogamy, no specialization of function, common language/ dialect, recognition of social distance with other tribes and castes, and practice of traditional beliefs, customs and cults.

 

Though so many common characteristics form the basis of tribal identification, there are also significant deviations from the normal trend which contributes to the total tribal diversity of India. These variations are often observed in different pockets of States/ Union Territories of India, where diverse climatic conditions, topography, social intermixing, and resources, gives rise to myriad ethnical features, languages, cultures, subsistence economies, acculturation levels and population size. So, the presence of such a huge variation directs us to believe how rich is the Indian sub-continent which despite of harsh living conditions made the life of these vulnerable groups possible through time. These groups are kept under the category of vulnerable groups mainly because of their limited number, social isolation, unhygienic living conditions, lack of medical facilities, and abeyance from development and education of the modern world. Some groups which faced the intrusion of modernity in the form of industrialization and urbanization faced the misfortunes of land-alienation, identity-crisis, indebtedness, and displacement without proper rehabilitation. This added to the element of mistrust on governmental interventions, even those targeting their welfare, leading to their sluggish growth and development.

 

Owing to the diversity of tribal groups, there is a significant difference in the social, economic and educational levels of these groups. This is primarily articulated with the nature and extent of social interaction with other groups especially the caste and religious groups. Whether it is interaction between the tribes and Hindu Society or Christianity and Islam, the process of acculturation with the mainstream has led to social evolution, where on the one hand the tribal society is getting absorbed into the larger society by practicing the cultural traits of the recognized societies, and on the other hand this amalgamation is leading to identity-crisis within their own community because of non-coincidence with the recognized tribal features. But there are some tribes called Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) (earlier PTGs or Primitive Tribal Groups), which have been identified as 75 in number, characterized by the following features:

 

·      Pre-agricultural level of technology

 

·      A stagnant or declining population

 

·      Negligible literacy

 

·      Subsistence level of economy

 

1.2. A Glimpse of the Tribal Demography of India

 

In reaching the current state of constituting 8.6% of the total population of India, the Scheduled tribes grew at a growth rate of 23.66% during the period 2001-2011. In the 1991 census the tribal population was enumerated as 67,583,800 constituting 8.08% of the total population while in 1971 census it was reported as 6.94%. The exact figure of the Tribes in India is disputed as many individual surveys and departments have obtained a different figure for the same. The Anthropological Survey of India identified 461 tribal communities in India during its ‘People of India Project’, whereas, in the Draft National Tribal Policy (2006) of the Government of India, 698 Scheduled Tribes have been identified in India. Apart from these, according to the Census of India, 2011, the number of Scheduled Tribe groups is 705.

 

The tribal population of India is found distributed in the North and North-East India, Central India, Southern India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A majority of tribes are concentrated in the Eastern, Central and Western belt covering the nine states namely Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. About 12% of the tribal population is found concentrated in the North-Eastern region, 5% in the Southern region and 3% in the Northern region. There are some tribal groups whose similar population groups are found across the other nations: for e.g., some tribes of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram are also found in the neighboring countries such as China (with Bhutan), Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Census 2011 data illustrates that the highest distribution of the ST population is found in Madhya Pradesh. In the rural areas the proportion of ST population is 11.3% and in urban areas it is 2.8%. States like Karnataka and West Bengal which do not have any Scheduled Areas within their State’s boundaries have 4.1% and 5.1% of the country’s ST population.

 

Table 1: Distribution of STs Population in Different States/ UTs (Source: Census 2011)

 

S. No. State % of STs to total ST population
1 Madhya Pradesh 14.69
2 Maharashtra 10.08
3 Orissa 9.20
4 Rajasthan 8.86
5 Gujarat 8.55
6 Jharkhand 8.29
7 Chhattisgarh 7.50
8 Andhra Pradesh 5.68
9 West Bengal 5.08
10 Karnataka 4.07
11 Assam 3.72
12 Meghalaya 2.45
13 Nagaland 1.64
14 J&K 1.43
15 Bihar 1.28
16 Tripura 1.12
17 Uttar Pradesh 1.09
18 Mizoram 0.99
19 Arunachal Pradesh 0.91
20 Manipur 0.87
21 Tamil Nadu 0.76
22 Kerala 0.46
23 Himachal Pradesh 0.38
24 Uttarakhand 0.28
25 Sikkim 0.20
26 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 0.17
27 Goa 0.14

 

Under the Article 342 of the Constitution of India, over 700 Scheduled Tribes have been notified in different States and Union Territories of India. The largest number of ST communities (62) have been identified in Odisha. The most diverse zone of tribes in India is that of the North-East which contains over 200 tribes and sub-tribes differing in their language, culture and political make-up. Lakshadweep, among all UTs and States, stands top in having the highest proportion of ST population (i.e., 94.8%) followed by Mizoram (94.4%), Nagaland (86.5%), Meghalaya (86.1%) and Arunachal Pradesh (68.8%). Contrastingly, this proportion is the lowest in Uttar Pradesh (0.56%), followed by Tamil Nadu (1.1%), Bihar (1.28%), Kerala (1.45%) and Uttarakhand (2.89%).

 

According to the 2001 census, Bhil (12689952) has the largest population followed by the Gond (10859422), the Santhal (5838016) and the Mina (3800002).

 

Figure 1: The Fifteen most populous tribes in India

Figure 2: Percentage of Scheduled Tribe Population

These populations also differ in their size. Some tribal groups like Gonds, Bhils, Santhals, Oraons, Minas, Mundas etc. have a population varying between one million to seven million people, whereas, the others like Andamanese, Birjia, Asur, Birhors etc. have a population of less than 200 individuals.

 

Similarly, based on the four language groups of India: Indo-European, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic and Sino-

 

Tibetan, the Bhils and Halbi tribes speak the languages belonging to the Indo-European family, Gonds, Khond, 8

 

Koya, Oraon and Toda speak languages of the Dravidian family, the Austro-Asiatic languages are spoken by the tribals like Santhals, Munda and Ho, and the languages of Tibeto-Burman family are spoken by the Himalayan and North-East tribes.

 

Different tribes are recognized by different economic levels. For example, the Negritos of the Andaman (Onge, Great Andamanese and Jarawa) are the semi-nomadic tribes which have hunting-gathering type of economy, whereas, the Todas of South India is a pastoral community, the Nicobarese practice horticulture and most of the Assam tribes practice shifting cultivation for living. The other type of economies includes agriculture which is a much modern type of economy and the cottage industries in which some of the tribes like Mahalis practice basket-making, Birhors practice rope-making, Nagas practice weaving, and Agarias and Asurs practice crude smelting of metals.

 

The tribes of India show variability in terms of their language, culture, traditions, beliefs and customs. This variability extends to religious absorptions/ conversions, identity gain and loss through assimilation into the different social hierarchical dimensions.

 

1.3. A Comparison of the Past and Present Status of the Tribes of India

 

Before independence the criteria of the British in identifying tribes were isolationist in nature, in which their concern was to mark-off tribes from caste. But after independence, the methods used were more integrationist and systematic, which conceptualized tribes not as separate autonomous groups, but as a part of our own negligence over years. Our first Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru hence encouraged them to develop along the lines of their own genius and be proud of their cultural and ethnic background. The groups and communities which were listed as tribes during the British Rule were re-classified as Scheduled Tribes after independence, also an effort to reach out to the other socially and economically deprived communities whose names were either absent in the list or were misspelt was laid to bring them at par with the mainstream society. So, in this way two terms: tribe for socio-cultural identification and Scheduled Tribe for politico-administrative implications came into force.

 

In 1993-94, 45.7% of the total population of the country was below the poverty line including 63.7% of the tribal people. In 2004-05, the figures changed to 37.7% and 60% respectively. Comparing the educational level of the country and the groups, in 2001, the literacy rate among the tribes was 47% compared to 69% literacy rate among the general population. In the arena of health, as per the National Family Health Survey, 2005-06, the Infant Mortality Rate was 62.1 per 1000 live births among tribes, and under the age of five mortality rate was 95.7 per 1000 live births. It can be observed from the table below that the decadal growth of the Scheduled Tribes is found to be more in comparison to that of the total population between the period 1991 to 2011. In fact, there is an increase in the tribal population from 8.2% in 2001 to 8.6% in 2011.

Table 2: Decadal Population Growth

 

 

But, with the improvement in the total ST population, there are some serious decrements found in certain vulnerable tribal communities in India. These constitute the States/ UTs like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Daman and Diu and Nagaland, with the highest decline in the proportion in Dadra and Nagar Haveli (~10% decline) between the decadal period 2001 and 2011. On the other hand, a significant increase in the proportion is observed in Sikkim (~13%) and Arunachal Pradesh (~4%).

 

The decadal change in the ST population in the rural and urban areas can be illustrated by the figure below:

 

Figure 3: Decadal Change in the Rural and Urban Population of STs

 

Between 2001 and 2011, a significant change in the urban and rural proportion of the tribal population can be attributed to the increased migration and gradual urbanization of some of the tribal areas.

 

Many Committees, like the Elwin Committee (post-1947) to monitor the functioning of Multi-Purpose Development Blocks, the U.N. Dhebar Commission (1960) to address the important tribal issues like land-alienation, the Lokur Committee (1965) to investigate the matters related to scheduling of groups as STs, the Shilu Ao Committee (1966) addressing the issue of tribal development and welfare, the Bhuria Committee (1991) and the Bhuria Commission (2002-04) working on the constitutional provisions and welfare of tribes, the Bandopadhyay Committee looking at development and governance in the Left-Wing Extremist Areas, and the Mungekar Committee examined the issues of administration and governance etc., focused on two broad areas: development and protection of the tribes.

 

2.   THE DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS OF TRIBES

 

2.1. Livelihood and Employment Status

 

The tribals have always been dependent upon the natural resources available in their surroundings to engage themselves in a means of earning a livelihood. These means have been categorized by Vidyarthi and Rai into seven categories which are indicative of their main activities: Hunting, Hill-cultivation, Plain agriculture, Simple artisans, Pastoral and cattle herding, Folk artists, and agricultural and non-agricultural labor. But due to intensive urbanization and industrialization in their areas, increased depletion of resources and extensive population growth, they are forced to migrate to newer areas in search of other livelihood opportunities. So, according to the People of India report by the Anthropological Survey of India, a decline in the practice of hunting and gathering, pastoralism, shifting cultivation and traditional crafts has been observed. This is accompanied by an increase in the practice of horticulture, terrace cultivation, settled cultivation, animal husbandry, sericulture, and bee-keeping. Though, with increasing support from the government’s side and rapid industrialization, the business in the tribal areas has gone up by 77.46%, trade has improved by 42.14% and industry by 100%. This on one hand has improved the employment opportunities available to the STs, but on the other hand it has let to their displacement from their native lands.

 

Figure 4: Comparison of the modes of livelihood of the Scheduled and Non-Scheduled Tribes

 

The Worker Population Ratios (WPRs) which is defined as the number of persons employed per thousand persons, has been recorded over the years as:

 

Table 3: WPR from 1983 to 2009-10

The important observations from the table includes: the WPR among the Rural ST Males has declined in 2009-10 in comparison to 1993-94 value, but the important change is that the Rural ST males have higher level of WPR in comparison to all the social groups. Similar trend can be observed with the Rural ST Females. In the Urban areas it can be seen that the ST males have lower WPR in comparison to the males of all social groups, though it was reverse in the year 1983. But the Urban ST females have an all-time better WPR in comparison to their counterparts in all social groups.

 

A recent survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor and Employment also indicated that the WPR among the STs was highest (54.7%) and lowest in case of the General Category (44.9%).

 

2.2. Sex Ratio and Child Sex Ratio

 

An improvement in the sex ratio is seen with respect to the Scheduled Tribes when we compare it between the Censuses of 2001 and 2011.

 

Table 4: Sex Ratio Comparison of STs between 2001 and 2011

 

The above ratio is when, the overall sex ratio for the entire population of India stood at 943 Females per 1000 males in 2011. The highest sex ratio with reference to the Scheduled Tribes was found in States including Goa (1046 females), Kerala (1035 females), Arunachal Pradesh (1032 females), Orissa (1029 females), Chhattisgarh (1020 females) etc., whereas it was lowest in Jammu and Kashmir at 924 females for 1000 males. For the tribal population, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal shared almost an equal share of male and female ratio, i.e., 999 females/1000 males.

 

Table 5: Child-Sex Ratio Comparison

 

The Child-Sex ratio statistics are for the age group of 0-6 years, which shows that though the ratio has declined in the decadal period, it is higher for the STs in comparison to the general population.

 

2.3. Education

 

Gross-Enrollment Ratio (GER) for Elementary Class Stage (Class I-VIII) of Education is defined as the percentage of enrollment in elementary stage to the estimated child population in the age group 6 to below 14 years. It can be seen that for both the ST and all categories, in comparison to the period 2010-11, the GER has marginally decreased in the period 2011-12. In some cases the total percentage is more than 100 as the enrollment in these stages includes both underage and overage. Also the gender disparity in GER at elementary stage has declined gradually.

 

Table 6: Gross-Enrollment Ratio (GER) for Elementary Stage (I-VIII)

 

2.4. Literacy Rate

 

Table 5: Comparison of Literacy Rate among the STs and All Social Groups

 

 

The important postulates from the above statistics by the Office of the Registrar of India, we can see that the overall ST literacy rate has always increased comparing every subsequent decadal figure. In the Census 2001 it was 47.1%, and in a decade the literacy rate among the STs increased to 59%. Similarly the literacy rate among the tribal males and females has improved comparing the figures of Census of 2001 and 2011, though the improvement in the rate for females is lower than that of the males. The dropout rates, especially at the secondary and senior secondary level, for the STs are particularly high. We can also observe that between the period 2001 to 2011, the literacy rate among the STs improved by 11.9%, whereas for the general population this change was 8.16%. There is also improvement in the ST gap in literacy rate comparing the male-female ratio, where it reduced from 24.41% in 2001 to 19.1% in 2011.

 

Table 7: Literacy Rate in India for different age categories (2011)

 

2.5. Poverty Rate

 

It is the responsibility of the Planning Commission to estimate poverty ratios through the Sample Survey System on Household Consumer Expenditure conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. According to the estimation of the Planning Commission, the total ST population living below the poverty line in 2011-12 was 45.3% in the rural areas and 24.1% in the urban areas, in comparison to that in 2009-10 which was 47.4% in the rural areas and 30.4% in the urban areas.

 

Table 8: Percentage of ST population below the Poverty Line in the Rural and Urban areas during 2009-10 and 2011-12

 

 

2.6. Health

 

According to the Census of India, 2001, the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for STs was estimated as 88 per 1000 live births against the all India estimate of around 68 per 1000 live births. So, it can be seen that the IMR among the ST population of India was around 30% more than the rest of Indian population. The Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) among the STs was found to be 129, as against the all India estimate of 96.

 

According to the NFHS-3 (2005-06) report, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) among the STs was around 3.1 against the estimate of 2.4 for the rest of the population. Also, it was observed that the youth of ST and SC category are more likely to be stunted, wasted and underweight than the children of other categories.

 

The below table clearly states that comparing the ST and general population, the percentage difference between both of them is very high especially in Andhra Pradesh (25.7%), Gujarat (23.2%) and Manipur (21.5%), whereas, for States like Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Sikkim, the IMR for ST population is lower than the general population.

 

Table 9: Child Health Indicators for different States in India

The major diseases which are found to be prevalent among the STs have been categorized into the following types: malnutrition, maternal and child health problems, communicable diseases, accidents and injuries, high alcohol and tobacco consumption, hereditary diseases, mental health problems, specialty problems, and non-communicable illness.

 

In a special research conducted by the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB), it was found that the intake of various foods were less than the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA).

 

3.   SUMMARY

  • The tribes comprise of approximately 8.6% of the total population of India covering around 15% of the total geographical area of the Indian Sub-Continent. (Census, 2011)
  • Constitutionally the Scheduled Tribes are defined by the Article 366(25), which says that these are those communities which are scheduled in accordance with Article 342 of the Constitution, which states that only those communities who have been declared as such by the President through an initial public notification or through subsequent amendments of the Acts of Parliament will be considered Scheduled Tribes.
  • The Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) are some of the most vulnerable groups among the STs who have declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are socio-economically backward.
  •  The tribal population of India is found distributed in the North and North-East India, Central India, Southern India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. About 12% of the tribal population is found concentrated in the North-Eastern region, 5% in the Southern region and 3% in the Northern region. The Census 2011 data illustrates that the highest distribution of the ST population is found in Madhya Pradesh. In the rural areas the proportion of ST population is 11.3% and in urban areas it is 2.8%.
  • The largest number of ST communities (62) have been identified in Odisha.
  •   The most diverse zone of tribes in India is that of the North-East which contains over 200 tribes and sub-tribes differing in their language, culture and political make-up.
  • Lakshadweep, among all UTs and States, stands top in having the highest proportion of ST population (i.e., 94.8%).
  • Among the tribes, Bhils have the largest population.
  • In 1993-94, 45.7% of the total population of the country was below the poverty line including 63.7% of the tribal people. In 2004-05, the figures changed to 37.7% and 60% respectively.
  • There is an increase in the tribal population from 8.2% in 2001 to 8.6% in 2011.
  • According to the People of India report by the Anthropological Survey of India, a decline in the practice of hunting and gathering, pastoralism, shifting cultivation and traditional crafts has been observed. This is accompanied by an increase in the practice of horticulture, terrace cultivation, settled cultivation, animal husbandry, sericulture, and bee-keeping. Though, with increasing support from the government’s side and rapid industrialization, the business in the tribal areas has gone up by 77.46%, trade has improved by 42.14% and industry by 100%.
  • A recent survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor and Employment also indicated that the WPR among the STs was highest (54.7%) and lowest in case of the General Category (44.9%).
  • The Sex-Ratio among the STs was found to be 990 Females/1000 Males, according to the Census, 2011.
  • It can be seen that for both the ST and all categories, in comparison to the period 2010-11, the GER has marginally decreased in the period 2011-12.
  • According to the Census 2001, the literacy rate was 47.1%, and in a decade the literacy rate among the STs increased to 59%. The dropout rates, especially at the secondary and senior secondary level, for the STs are particularly high.
  • According to the estimation of the Planning Commission, the total ST population living below the poverty line in 2011-12 was 45.3% in the rural areas and 24.1% in the urban areas, in comparison to that in 2009-10 which was 47.4% in the rural areas and 30.4% in the urban areas.
  • According to the Census of India, 2001, the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for STs was estimated as 88 per 1000 live births against the all India estimate of around 68 per 1000 live births.
  • The Under-5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) among the STs was found to be 129, as against the all India estimate of 96.
  • According to the NFHS-3 (2005-06) report, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) among the STs was around 3.1 against the estimate of 2.4 for the rest of the population. Also, it was observed that the youth of ST and SC category are more likely to be stunted, wasted and underweight than the children of other categories.
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References:

  • Annual Report 2014-15. Tribal Welfare and Development. New Delhi, Ministry of Tribal Affairs,2015.http://tribal.nic.in/WriteReadData/CMS/Documents/201504291141421695180Ann ualReport2014-15.pdf (accessed on 1st July, 2015)
  • Tribal Committee Report May-June 2014. Report on the High Level Committee on Socio-Economic, Health and Educational Status of Tribal Communities of India. New Delhi, Ministry ofTribalAffairs,2015.http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Tribal%20Committee%20Report,%20May-June%202014.pdf (accessed on 18th July, 2015)
  • Ref: http://sanhati.com/articles/1094/ (accessed on 18th July, 2015)
  • Ref : http://www.unicef.in/MicroSite/Uploads/Stories/img_Micro_str56.jpg (accessed on 14th July, 2015)