The 13 identified Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in Odisha are in need of very special attention of the State Government for their protection and development. They are Chuktia Bhunnjia, Birhor, Bondo, Didayi, Dangaria Kondha, Juanga, Kharia, Kutia Kandha, langiasaura, lodha, Mankidia, Paudi Bhuyan and Saura communities living mostly in the interior parts of the 5th Scheduled areas.
Though small in number, these PVTGs are with distinct culture, language and belief system but have been suffering with low literacy and economic backwardness. They continue to live in isolation and distress condition.
Out of 705 tribal communities in the country, 75 tribes have been identified by the Government of India as PVTGs on the basis of their economic backwardness, literacy and livelihood. Census reports show that their population status is either static or declining. A majority of PVTGs are inhabitants of the central India.
In recent time, the vulnerable condition of PVTGs in Odisha has attracted national attention to the issues of extreme economic backwardness, malnutrition, diseases, hunger death, child labour, displacement and distress migration. It shows poor State investment in building basic social infrastructure of education and health and sanitation in their habitations. There have been no sign of improvement in the standard of living and quality of life of these groups in spite of special projects and micro projects exclusively targeting these communities’ educational and economic development. There are examples of very insignificant success of a few individuals or households from among the communities being projected by the Government and other institutions but the socio-economic and educational status of the communities as a whole has not changed at par with other social groups in the State. Children are dying due to lack of healthcare. They suffer from malnutrition because of loss of traditional dietary practices and fall in availability of local varieties of food items due to a number of reasons, including deforestation. Many of the PVTGs are migrating from their homeland to outside in search of livelihood and mostly they get engaged in odd jobs, manual low paid work and join in slums as scavengers and housemaids in the cities.
In almost all social development indicators, such as women literacy, child mortality rate, infant mortality rate, ST women with Anemia, children with sickle cell anemia, student dropout rate etc, the PVTGs are far below the State and national averages. A majority of them have no land, house, drinking water, sanitary facility and linking road to their hamlets.
Unfortunately, they are being exhibited as museum materials in most vulgar and undignified manner in the State sponsored Adivasi exhibitions and Melas, wall paintings in the cities and decorated as statues in traffic islands. Is it decent to show a human being, men, women and children, in such a fashion before othersIJ How such exhibitions are going to help in building positive image of such communities in publicIJ They are also being used as materials of anthropological studies as lesser human beings by research bodies.
This very attitude of development planners and policy makers has been influencing the tribal development policy of the Government. The same attitude has been reflected in the execution process also where mostly non-tribal actors play a major role in the development of PVTGs of the State.
PVTGs are subject to domination of dominant social forces, religion, language and hegemonic culture and customs imposed on them in the name of development. They struggle to cope with changing conditions which are mostly external and alien to them.
The constitution of independent India has made adequate provisions for the protection and development of ST communities. There are institutional mechanism for the enforcement of provisions to ensure protection and development where tribal representatives have a fair share in the decision making process. Along with protective laws the State expenditure is also targeted as sub plans for tribal development and within the sub plan there are micro plans for PVTGs.
The Tribal Sub Plan has been implemented for last forty years aiming to bridge the gaps between tribal and rest of the social groups. It is to bring larger socioeconomic equality and for building an egalitarian society but certainly not to appease the tribal community or doing any special State charity out of public finance.
The resources for sub plan comes from a host of sources which include special Central assistance to TSP, Articles 275(1), TSP component of the State and Central Governments, institutional finance, CSR fund from corporate bodies, international agencies and the most recent District Mineral Foundation and CAMPA fund. There are also a number of NGOs, religious bodies, private trusts and educational institutions engaged in tribal development for a long time. There are 28 ministries and departments of the Central Government having Tribal Sub Plan component. The grant to the States under Article 275(1) of the Constitution of India is 100 per cent to States on the basis of the ST population of the State to the total tribal population of the country.
The States such as Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have made legislations for planning, implementation and monitoring funds under TSP. There is a specific budget for TSP. The State of Odisha has a Tribal Advisory Council headed by the Chief Minister. The implementation of TSP funds is being monitored by the Chief Secretary. But it is reported that there has been poor implementation of TSP by Odisha. The State has failed to submit the utilisation certificate on time and also instances of return of unutilised grants to the ministry.
The tribal development administration in the State has been most ineffective in reaching to the PVTGs and in targeted execution of dedicated funds as a result of which a tangible development has not taken place in the tribal areas of the State. The tribal development is not the sole responsibility of the State alone; the Center has also equal responsibility in providing adequate timely support for holistic development of the inhabitants and the areas. There is also a need for convergence of work of various departments such as Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Health, Education, Women and Child Development, Forest and Agriculture where integrated efforts are highly required with integrated approach to tribal development.
There is National Council for Tribal Welfare headed by the Prime Minister where the Chief Ministers having of 5th and 6thScheduled areas in their States are members. So it is expected that the Chief Minister of Odisha should take up the matter in such appropriate forum and demand for special package because one fourth of the total population of the State belongs to tribal and almost half of the total geographical area of the State is 5thScheduled area. Without development of these PVTGs and 5th Scheduled area, the inclusive development of the State is not possible.
(*manasbbsr15@gmail.com)