35 Functioning of Government Institutions

Dr Shaily Bhashanjaly

Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Policies For Tribals
3. Tribal Administration In Post Independent India
4. Government Institutions For Tribals
5. Local Self Governing Institutions
6. Summary

Learning Outcomes:

After studying this module, you will be able to understand:

•  the policies and the perspectives towards the tribes in India;
•  the government institutions set up for the administration of the tribal and the elaborate manner in which they function; and
•  Institution of Local self-governance

1. Introduction

The tribal and indigenous peoples of India constitute an important segment of the Indian population. They are duly listed in the Constitution, which also accords them special rights and privileges. Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution, preferred the concept of Scheduled Tribe to “Adivasis” as it enumerates the tribes and hence has a specific meaning.

Scheduled tribe is an administrative term used for the purpose of administering certain specific constitutional privileges, protection and benefits for specific section of people historically considered disadvantaged and backward. Scheduled Tribe comprise about 8.6 % of the population of the country (census 2011). The Indian Constitution protects tribal interests through the Fifth and Sixth Schedules. While the Sixth Schedule, applicable in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, gives tribal people freedom to exercise legislative and executive powers through an autonomous regional council and an autonomous district council, the Fifth Schedule, applicable in all the other identified tribal regions, guarantees tribal autonomy and tribal rights over land through a Tribal Advisory Council in each State.

The greatest challenge that the Government of India has been facing since independence is the proper provision of social justice to the scheduled tribe people, by ameliorating their socio-economic conditions. Also, understanding, promoting and preserving their culture have become important while formulating various developmental programmes for the tribal and there is need for knowledge advocacy, which in return would help formulate evidence based policy and planning.

2. Policies for Tribals

The policy towards tribal is rather complex as it aims to balance improvement of their conditions, on the one hand and a degree of assimilation with preservation of their distinctiveness and measure of autonomy on the other. Generally speaking, policy and administration of the tribal have been approached from three viewpoints — the policy of Isolation, policy of Assimilation and policy of Integration.

As Nehru observed, ‘Tribal people possesses a variety of culture and they are in many ways certainly not backward. There is no point in trying to make them a second role copy of ourselves’. Nehru has proposed five principles known as ‘Panchasheela’ as part of the policy of integration:

• Nothing should be imposed on the tribal people. Traditional culture of each tribe has to be encouraged.
• Tribes right on land must be respected
• Attempts must be made to train aid build up a team of their own people to the work of
• administration and development.
• Over-administering the tribal areas with too many schemes of development must be avoided.
• We should not work in rivalry to their own social old cultural institutions.
• The results of the work must be adjudged by the quality of the human characters that is evolved and not by statistics or the amount of money spent

On the basis of ‘Panchasheela’, the government set up tribal blocks in the various states to promote the Welfare Programmes for tribal.

3. Tribal Administration in the Post Independent India

Measures for the upliftment of tribes began with independence. Prior to this, British Government practically did nothing with their policies of separating the tribals from the rest of the population. The Scheduled District Act of 1874 had kept most of these areas administratively separate, the same situation was allowed to continue under the Government of India Acts of 1919 and 1935.

However, after independence this policy was abandoned and new policy of tribal development and integration was initiated. Tribal development in India is based on twin approach namely protection of their interests through legislative and administrative support and promotion of developmental efforts through plan schemes.

The tribal were allowed to have institutions in accordance with their traditional-customary laws and practices. This was done to preserve their cultural identities, interests and allay their fears of exploitation at the hands of the non-tribal. Therefore, a variety of institutions dominated by the traditional tribal culture with semi-autonomous and self-managing indigenous local institutions at different level exist. Changes, however, have been introduced from time to time. In most cases, these changes have been introduced in response to the administrative needs for the various developmental policies of the state.

Alongside, the Constitution of India has made definite provisions for the welfare and uplift of the tribal people throughout the country. Special programmes for their welfare include support of educational and economic interests and protection from injustice and all forms of exploitation.

To realize these objectives and implement the constitutional provisions, various government institutions were set up and are functioning to fulfil the objectives and continually assess the prevalent situation to address to the changing times and demands.

Administration of Scheduled and Tribal Areas

The scheme of administration of’ Scheduled Areas under the Fifth Schedule visualises a division of responsibility between the State and Union Governments. The State Governments have been given the responsibility of screening the legislations which are unsuitable for extension to the tribal areas. They are also responsible for framing rules for the prevention of exploitation of the scheduled tribes by the money-lenders. They implement schemes for the welfare of those living within its boundary.

The Union Government provides guidelines in regard to the administration of Scheduled Areas. It also provides necessary funds that are required to raise the standard of administration and for the improvement in the quality of life of the tribal communities. The Union Government also has the power to give directions to the State Governments about matters relating to the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes.

The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution among other things provides for the administration of tribal areas through District/Regional Councils in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura in exercise of powers given under the Constitution, the Governors of the Sixth Scheduled Areas may hold consultations with State Governments and Councils to emphasise need for having the democratic and decentralized governance at the village level.

4. Government Institutions for Tribals

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, a branch of Government of India, looks after the affairs of the tribal communities in India. The ministry was set up in 1999 after the bifurcation of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (India) to have a more focused approach on the integrated socioeconomic development of the Scheduled Tribes (STs), the most underprivileged of the Indian Society. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal Ministry for overall policy, planning and coordination of programmes for development of ST’s. To this end, Ministry of Tribal Affairs has undertaken activities that follow from the subjects allocated under the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961. The subjects allocated to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs are as under: – Social security and social insurance to the Scheduled Tribes;

Tribal Welfare – Tribal welfare planning, project formulation, research, evaluation, statistics and training;

Promotion and development of voluntary efforts on tribal welfare; Scheduled Tribes, including scholarship to students belonging to such tribes;

Development of Scheduled Tribes – All matters including legislation relating to the rights of forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes on forest lands.

The programmes and schemes of the Ministry are intended to support and supplement, through financial assistance, the efforts primarily of other Central Ministries, the State Governments and partly of voluntary organizations, and to fill critical gaps in institutions and programmes taking into account

the situation of STs. The primary responsibility for promoting the interests of Scheduled Tribes rests with all the Central Ministries. The Ministry supplements their efforts by way of various developmental interventions in critical sectors through specially tailored schemes. These, comprising schemes for economic, educational and social development and through institution building are administered by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and implemented mainly through the State Government/ Union Territory Administrations.

Tribes’ Advisory Council

The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the setting up a Tribes’ Advisory Council in each of the States having Scheduled Areas. According to this provision, Tribes’ Advisory Councils have been set up so far in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal. The duty of these Councils is to advise the Government on such matters concerning the welfare of Scheduled Tribes and development of Scheduled Areas. Advisory Boards for the Scheduled Tribes have been set up in Assam, Kerala and Mysore to advise the State Governments. Tribes’ Advisory Committees have also been formed in the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Island, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura.

Government Schemes are designed and launched once the specific need assessment of the scheduled tribes and their practises is done. To illustrate, a large number of tribal people practice shifting cultivation and this problem is in acute form in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Manipur and Tripura. A scheme to control shifting cultivation has been started. Besides this, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh have launched schemes to improve irrigation facilities to reclaim waste land and to distribute it among members of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. In addition, facilities for the purchase of livestock, fertilizer, agricultural equipment, better seeds are also provided to them. Cattle breeding and poultry farming are also being encouraged among these people.

The Governments of different States are encouraging the development of cottage industries by providing loans and subsidies through various schemes. Multipurpose co-operative societies which provide credit in cash and kind to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been established in various States such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Orissa etc.

Tribal and Harijan Research Institutes, which undertake intensive studies of tribal arts, culture and customs have been set up in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and West Bengal.

The Tribal Development Blocks were introduced for the developments of tribal areas. These Tribal Development Blocks were expected to have their role in matters of economic developments, education, health and communication. By the end of Third Five Year Plan there were more than 500 such Tribal Development Blocks serving around 40 per cent of the total tribal population, in the country. But no further expansion of the TDBs to other areas of tribal concentration took place after the Third Five Year Plan.

During Fourth Plan, six Tribal Agencies were started and anthers two were added during the Fifth Plan. These Agencies were expected to incorporate elements of economic development, social services and other progressive measures. In actual practice the TDAs could not do anything other than agricultural development and construction of roads. But the experience gained from the TDAs provided valuable means for evolving better policies and programmes for the development of Scheduled Tribes.

The approach and strategy for tribal development was, revised comprehensively on the eve of Fifth Five Year Plan. It was thought as recommended by the Shilo Ao Committee that Tribal Development Blocks as an instrument of tribal development were unsuitable to tackle complex tribal problems. Besides, the situation in tribal areas in terms of resources, target groups, local priorities were different from non-tribal areas. Even within the tribal areas, problems faced by all the tribal people are not uniform in nature.

To tackle the complex and diverse tribal problems effectively, a comprehensive programme of development known as Tribal Sub-Plan was prepared under the Fifth Five Year Plan. Accordingly, all areas with more than 50 percent tribal population were treated as Sub-Plan areas. A development block was taken as the smallest unit of development under this new strategy. This unit is known as the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP).

The major objectives of the tribal development have remained as follows:

•  To take up family oriented programmes in order to raise productivity levels of the beneficiary families in the fields of agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, small scale industries etc.
•  To liberate tribals from the exploitation of land grabbing, money-lending, debt- bondage, forest-labour etc.
•  To improve the quality of life through education and training programmes and
•  To provide infrastructural Facilities in tribal areas.

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

On the 89th Amendment of the Constitution coming into force on 19 February 2004, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has been set up under Article 338A on bifurcation of erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to oversee the implementation of various safeguards provided to Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution. By this amendment, the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was replaced by two separate Commissions namely- (i) the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), and (ii) the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST). The following are the functions of the NCST.

• To investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards;
• To inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Scheduled Tribes;
• To participate and advise in the planning process of socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State;
• To present to the President, annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards;
• To make in such reports, recommendations as to the measures that should be taken by the Union or any State for effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes, and
• To discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and development and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes as the President may, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule specify

Towards Empowering Scheduled Tribes

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has the responsibility of reducing these glaring gaps by supplementing the efforts of the nodal Ministries in the Government and of the State Governments through need-based interventions. It has taken up a series of programmes and schemes to empower the tribals socially, politically and economically. However, in this context, it is pertinent to mention that Governors have a vital role to play. The Governors have been endowed with certain special powers with regard the Fifth Scheduled Areas. The judicious use of the provisions enshrined in the Fifth Schedule of our Constitution will certainly make a very positive impact on the tribals living in these regions.

5. Local Self Governing Institutions

The local self-governing institutions in the present development scenario have attained enormous attention because of catalytic role played by these institutions towards promoting self-governance and local development. Particularly since1990, these institutions have witnessed a paradigm shift in the context of institutionalisation through constitutional reforms, and promoting self-governance as per the customs, traditions and cultural practices of the tribals. Further, several legal provisions have come up to strengthen the roots of local governments in the rural areas of India since 1990. Particularly in the case of the tribal areas, the enactment of the Provisions of Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996(the PESA Act), is considered as a landmark development towards strengthening the grassroots.

The focus of the the Panchayat Extension Scheduled Areas Act, 1996 (PESA) is to recognize the Gram Sabha as a key unit of governance in the Scheduled V areas as this would in turn give the people a control over their own resources. The Gram Sabhas under PESA are meant to be competent to safe-guard and preserve the traditions of their people, community resources and customary mode of dispute resolution. The Gram Sabhas are to approve plans, select beneficiaries and give utilization certificates to the Gram Panchayat. The Gram Panchayats further have – right to mandatory consultation in matters of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation; right to recommend prospecting licenses/mining leases for minor minerals; power to prevent alienation of land and restore alienated land; power to regulate and restrict sale/consumption of liquor; power to manage village markets, control money lending to STs; ownership of minor forest produce; control over institutions and functionaries in all social sectors; control over local plans and resources for such plans including TSP, etc and planning and management of minor water bodies.

The purpose of implementing PESA in the Scheduled V Areas is to promote self-governance in order to address the problem of exploitation. But unfortunately, the implementation of PESA has not been satisfactory despite the guidelines that have been issued in this regard to State Governments by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

Summary

The tribal populations are placed at the lowest rungs of the society in terms of various developmental indicators. The lowest literacy rates, high drop-out rates, widespread poverty, high infant and maternal mortality rates, an alarmingly high incidents of malnutrition, the absence of basic facilities and scarce livelihood means have deprived them the opportunity to a dignified livelihood among the fellow citizens of our country.

The government institutions set up for the administration of these communities function to realize the objectives envisaged in the Constitution for their growth and development. Despite the various efforts that have been made a large gap still remains to be bridged. The alienation of the tribal population has been growing rapidly mainly because they are being dispossessed of all their livelihood resources. The diversion of forests and common property resources for the use of non-forest purposes has resulted in the displacement of scheduled tribes from their homeland.

Consistent efforts are being made to address and bring effective solutions to the problems being faced by these communities with Government intervention and other possible measures.