General Studies (Paper - 1) : Model Question & Answers

Question: “Tribals are the worst victims of development and face extreme form of alienation.” – Critically examine the statement in the light of recent High – Level Committee on the status of Tribals.

Answer: Tribes are among the poorest and most marginalised sections of Indian society and lack in basic social indicators like health, education, standard of living and others leading to social exclusion.

Problem faced by tribals due to developmental projects are

(1) Land alienation - As per the report by committee, headed by Professor Virginius Xaxa, about 40 per cent of all people displaced in India due to development activity have been tribals and only 21.16 per cent of these have been resettled.

(2) Loss of livelihood - When outsiders exploit the tribal lands and its resources the natural life cycle of tribal ecology and tribal life is greatly disturbed. Forest resources being the tribals’ only means of subsistence, deterioration of that increases poverty and indebtedness.

Solution

(1) Integration attempts should be made to bring them into mainstream society without destroying their distinctive identity.
(2) Rights of tribal communities to say 'no' to acquisition of their land and to access and manage forests should be recognized.
(3) No tribal land should be alienated without the consent of the tribal gram sabha.
(4) Waste or degraded land must be used for rehabilitation of tribals.
(5) Cooperative mining by tribals themselves should be encouraged. The report is a cry for adopting tribal ideas of development with a focus on community participation rather than an imposed idea of development from outside which further leads to exclusion.