Tribals or ‘Scheduled Tribes’ (STs) constitute 8.6 % of the total population of India. According to some historians, they were probably the makers of the Indus Valley Civilisation, one of the earliest in the world and the worshippers of the ‘Linga cult’ and Lord Pashupatinath. According to others, the last Veda, i.e., Atharva Veda, was written by a tribal. So was the intellectual capacity of the original inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent that the Aryans, who later settled up to the Cauvery delta, learned much more things of daily chores from the tribals.
However, according to the census data of 2011, while the literacy rate of the country is 73%, the tribal literacy rate stands at 59%, which beckons towards a humongous gap of 14%. Analysing the data further State wise and by ethnicity, it shows a highly deplorable number. For example, Andhra Pradesh ranks at the lowest in tribal literacy rate (48.8%). It is disheartening to note that developed States like Tamil Nadu and Kerala show a disturbing pattern, where literacy gap between the gross literacy rate and STs is as high as 25.8% and 18.2%, respectively, indicating the astonishing level of discrimination and unequal distribution of resources. On the other hand, the underperforming States such as Jharkhand (9.3%), Bihar (10.7%) and Chhattisgarh (11.2%) perform better, symbolising an equitable growth of the education system. What is more miserable is that the tribal female literacy rate that stands at 49.4% only with a huge gap of 15.2% when compared with the total population with Telangana and AP being the worst performers.
The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of STs in primary school level stands at 106.7, which is further declines to 74.5 at secondary and only 43.1 at senior secondary level (2015-16) while the GER in higher education is at meagre 14.2. Due to poverty and other related factors, the dropout rate is also meteorically high among the tribals, making it 62.4 at Class-X level.
Tribal health infrastructure at a glance shows further disturbing figures as per Rural Health Statistics, 2017 (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) with a high rural tribal population base. There was a requirement of around 4,960 Primary Health Centers (PHCs) and 1,172 Community Health Centers (CHCs), but the shortage of PHCs and CHCs hyped up to 1,240 and 273, respectively, in tribal areas with Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan providing very low health services to its tribal populations. This highlights the poor investment by the governments in health infrastructure and the governments’ apathy towards social sphere of tribal life. Similarly, there was a colossal shortfall of 2,716 ANM/female health workers and 3,134 nursing staffs at Sub-Centers and PHCs with a vacancy of 1,516 doctors at the PHCs in these tribal pockets, vindicating the point as to why still institutional delivery is lagging behind in tribal areas along with large-scale undernourishment.
In the domain of organised crimes and atrocities (by non-STs), tribals are the easiest targets for their innocence and shying nature. The NCRB report, 2016 (Ministry of Home Affairs) states that there was an increase in atrocities against the tribals on a year-to-year basis: 6,270 in 2015 to 6,556 in 2016 among the States. Madhya Pradesh alone registered 1,823 of such cases in 2016 showing a regressive social mentality against the tribals. Furthermore, the same report highlights a high rate of human trafficking among the tribal population. In 2016 alone, a total of 8,132 such cases were reported in India.
All these dispiriting statistics show how infirm are the socioeconomic and health indicators, but if given due priority these can prove wonders to the tribal population and the economy as a whole. It is, therefore, imperative to strive towards a rights-based approach. Just like the Forests Rights Act, 2006, many more such legislations can be put to test. Gone are the days when tribal welfare as a token of charity was emphasised undermining the very rights of the tribals. A case in point is the Right to Education Act, 2009. It is still unknown as to how far this law has empowered the tribal students and how this has built a better society for them. Has it benefited them with more number of jobs after a decade of implementation? Is it taking care of the tribal culture, language, cognitive strength, curriculum and inherent learning ability of the students? Even after the establishment of Ashram Schools, Eklavya Model Schools and Kasturba Gandhi Valika Vidyalayas, why are there high dropouts?
Do solutions exist? The answer lies in the question itself. According to the Annual Employment-Unemployment Survey, 2015-16 by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, only 46% of ST workers aged about 15 years and above got engaged in any kind of work for 12 months. The tribal population below the poverty line in rural areas in 2011-12 stood at 45.3%, which went as high as 63.5% in Odisha and 61.6% in Maharashtra. With people starving, poor health and malnourishment and constant atrocities against tribal, imagining a better socioeconomic ambience is foolishness.
Notwithstanding myriad Constitutional provisions, the fate of the tribal population is contingent upon the political willpower and not as a matter of rights. Art 244 (1) of the Constitution talks of a Tribal Advisory Council (TAC) in 5th Scheduled Areas, but hardly has it functioned efficiently. In many States, a TAC is not even constituted. This should be put to practice on an urgent basis. The usage of PESA Act, 1996 was found to be in doldrums. Article 350A of Constitution and the National Education Policy, 2020 prioritise imparting education in mother tongue which is yet to be implemented in many tribal regions.
The remedy lies in enhancing their socioeconomic opportunities with better livelihood alternatives. Additionally, the major recommendations of the Xaxa Committee Report, 2014 should be immediately employed for the improvement of educational and health indicators of the tribal communities and the state should recalibrate its approach towards tribals by internalising the essence of tribal development as fact remains that national development without tribal development is a myth.
(Jyotiranjan is an Additional Central Government Standing Counsel, Central Administrative Tribunal, Cuttack Bench and a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law and Media Studies at School of Mass Communication, KIIT University. Prof Prasant Kumar Sahoo is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology, FM Autonomous College, Balasore)
