Indigenous people of India

Indigenous people

Below is an abstract taken from http://forum.indianetzone.com/5/indigenous_people_india.htm it talks about the indigenous people of India:

“The indigenous people still exist in India and they are popularly known as Adivasi. Indian government refers to indigenous peoples as Scheduled Tribes. It is a Sanskrit word meaning original people . Contrary to the official government position, this term reflects the widely recognised fact that the people in question are the earliest known settlers on the Indian subcontinent and North-East India. The indigenous or tribal peoples of India s north-eastern region the seven states Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura do not call themselves, nor are they normally referred to in literature, as Adivasi in spite of the fact that the meaning of the term very much applies to the respective people. Representatives of these peoples prefer to use the English term indigenous peoples . In the 2001 census, 84.33 million persons were classified as members of Scheduled Tribes, corresponding to 8.2% of the total population. The census lists 461 groups recognised as tribes, while estimates of the number of tribes living in India reach up to 635. While the number of members of the largest tribes, such as the Gonds, Santals, Oraon, Bhils or Nagas go into the millions others, such as the Onge or the Great Andamanese, are on the brink of extinction. The majority of the indigenous and tribal peoples live in an almost contiguous belt stretching from Gujarat in the west to the seven states in the north-east, with the highest concentration in the central region, where more than 50% of the tribal people live. The highest ethnic diversity among the indigenous and tribal population is in the north-eastern region, where 220 distinct groups have been identified. They comprise approximately 12% of the total indigenous population of India. Most of India s indigenous peoples have been forest dwellers for centuries. Traditionally, forests met most of their fodder, food, medicinal and other needs. A long process of turning forest areas into a source of revenue and timber, and exploitation of the mineral resources, has led to deforestation, loss of livelihood and displacement of indigenous peoples. The vast majority of the labour force among scheduled tribes is engaged in the agricultural sector the figure for all India is 66.84% . This means that almost nine-tenths of tribal families rely on natural resources for their livelihood. The majority of these are engaged in permanent agriculture but shifting cultivation still forms the mainstay of the domestic economy in many upland areas, particularly in the north-east. A few small groups in Central and South India and on the Andaman Islands live almost entirely from hunting, gathering and fishing.”

According to the above excerpt, Adivasis are the earliest settlers on the Indian sub-continent, and have contributed much to its culture, history, heritage and surroundings. They have become refugees in their own land and victims of prevailing cultural dominion, human rights violations and progression displacement. India has the largest concentration of tribal people in the world except perhaps in Africa.


Issues and Problems faced by the Adivasis community
Adivasis in India are facing numerous continual issues and problems. Among them are: Extreme poverty, illiteracy, Human Rights violation, poor health condition and standard of living, and unemployment concerns -- they are the chief problems that needs to be addressed.

1. Land and livelihoods aspect

• Displacement in the name of development and mainstreaming
• Interference of multi-national and nationwide companies/factories
• Environmental Degradation (Land, Forest & Water)
• Flood and Drought, Unemployment, Landlessness,
• Migration and lost of ownership on natural resources
• Discrimination in development programmes and in any rehabilitation activities

2. Poverty and Social Development aspect

• Extreme poverty- poor schemes, market based investment against customary livelihoods of adivasis, Imperialist globalization, privatization, ineffective poverty alleviation schemes that do not reach the adivasi community, lack of equitable space for people’s participation neither in planning nor in execution or in benefit sharing.
• Illiteracy- Lack of access to education, lack of availability of schools, continual drop-outs, child labour, continual inequity and no quality & technical education to adivasi children, no prospect for better and higher education.
• Health issues, Malnutrition, Malaria, TBs, Anemia, HIV/AIDS, no access to health care centers, hospitals and health centers without doctors/staff in tribal locations and etc.
• Degeneration in status to that of bonded labourers and low salaries.

3. Identity, Atrocities & Human Rights aspect

• Atrocities - caste, community, communalism, conflicts, violence & exploitation
• Identity & tradition- degradation of cultural values, erosion of customary governance
• Corrupt Bureaucracy, corrupt NGOs, corrupt companies, corrupt politicians,
• Media representation of Adivasis is inconsistent and often unsupportive
• Migration in search of job especially to the urban areas
• Non implementation of Forest Rights Act (FRA), Provisions of Panchayat Raj Extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA), Prevention of Atrocities Act (PA) in all adivasi areas
• Inaccurate below-poverty line list depriving many impoverished adivasis families
• Political parties exploitation against adivasi development and their leadership

Poverty & illiteracy data among Adivasis:

• As per the Government Report over 40.1% of the adivasis are displaced.
• Above 55.2% of the adivasis are under the below poverty line in India.
• Around 64% of the adivasis are the poorest of the poor in India.
• Over 63.5% of the adivasi households are not having access to electricity.
• About 53.1% of the adivasi households are not having drinking water source.
• Almost 83% of the adivasi population does not access to toilet facility.
• Over 56% of the adivasi children in India are undernourished.
• About 53% of the adivasi populations are illiterate at the national level.
• Exactly 76% of the scheduled tribes/adivasis are not having permanent houses.
• Nearly 93% of the adivasis do not possess any land for the agricultural activity.