The Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and the Tribal Research Institute (TRI) will jointly conduct a mass survey to find the reasons behind the dwindling population of Birhor tribe, one of the nine Particularly Vulnerable Tribe Groups (PVTGs) in Jharkhand.
RIMS Superintendent, Dr. Vivek Kashyap, who also happens to be the Principal Investigator for the survey, said that the study will focus on a number of factors including health, social norms, marriage rate and genetic study. The survey, he said, will spot the trends that might be leading to a fall in the population of the Birhor tribe.
“We will most probably start the survey in Hazaribag and Ranchi districts within a month. The survey may take at least a couple of months as there are various factors that need to be taken into consideration and the process may consume time,” Kashyap said.
According to 2011 census, the Birhor population in Jharkhand is 10, 726.
The population of the tribe group increased from 7514 in 2001. However, tribal rights activists claim that the population of the tribe group fell considerably in the past eight years or so and one of the major reasons for it was poor health. “PVTGs here are dying every day of hunger, malaria and tuberculosis. It’s funny, how the census paints a happy picture of the PVTGs through numbers and percentage,” said tribal rights activist Dayamani Barla.
Dr. Devesh Kumar, a Co Principal Investigator in the project, said that besides health parameters, the study will focus on marriage rates, natality, social factors and more to come up with comprehensive findings from the grass root level. Sources said that the Government is likely to spend around Rs 20 lakh in conducting the survey. “We are waiting for the funds to be disbursed for the survey. The survey was supposed to begin in the month of March itself but we had to delay it due to various reasons,” said Kumar.
There are several schemes run by the state as well as centre to empower, educate and develop the PVTGs in Jharkhand. However, activists have time and again complained of poor implementation of the schemes resulting in malnutrition, acute poverty and fatal ailments.
The vulnerable tribe groups are scattered in different pockets of Jharkhand, which has a total population of 3.29 crores. Scheduled tribes form 26.2 per cent of the total population here as per the latest 2011 census.
The Birhor tribe dwells in the villages and jungles of Hazaribag, Giridih, Ranchi, Dhanbad and some parts of Lohardaga in Jharkhand.
