Government Intervention

The tribals or Aborigines of India do not form a uniform race. They come from various regions of Asia and they belong
to various races. Since their origin and history comes from different places, there is a huge diversity among the
various tribal groups in terms of culture, religious practices, traditions, customs and way of living in general.

Tribal development therefore is a complex issue which has different dimensions

The evolution of tribal development, and the intervention of government in the process, went through phases of
development. The development emanates from the pre Independence period during the British Rule. The pace of
development starts to pick up in the post-independence era.

Three kinds of policies has been adopted towards tribal development:

Firstly, the Policy of Segregation/Isolation which has been practised in India both in the pre and
post-Independence period.
Secondly, the Policy of Assimilation which was a move in the post-independence era for
assimilating the tribals with rest of the populace of the country as they came in contact with the
latter.
Thirdly, the Policy of Integration which encouraged the accommodation of the tribals in the
national and regional framework of the country.

The British rulers adopted the isolation policy with an intent that the isolation would protect the tribals against the
aggression and exploitation, which they found on the increase. The entry of the British into the tribal dominated area
was resisted by revolts and rebellions. The tribal masses were unaware of the intention of the British rulers and of
the implication of the policy of segregation. The rulers of the colonial period realized the difficulties in administration
for wide spread tribal areas, irrespective of the acceptance of policy of isolation or segregation. As isolationists, the
British in position asserted certain contiguous and thickly populated tribal belts as excluded and partially excluded
areas.

The basic idea behind the policy of isolation was to preserve tribals away from the people coming from more
advanced communities. The protection and preservation of tribal life and culture were guaranteed by the Scheduled
District Act of 1874 that provided for special tribal administration. This excluded the tribal areas from the operation
of common laws of the country. This expulsion from the jurisdiction of provincial government was also suggested by
Montague-Chelmsford Report of 1918. According to Government of India Act, 1919 the tribal areas were divided
into “wholly excluded areas and area of modified exclusion‟

After the independence it was decided to put all the tribal communities, in a separate schedule of the constitution of
India. These 25 “excluded and partially excluded areas‟ were drafted in fifth and sixth schedule. The areas resided by
scheduled tribes were termed as scheduled areas.

The constitution of the independent India acknowledged centuries of social, economic and educational deprivations
suffered by Schedule Tribes and incorporated specific provisions to protect them from discrimination as well as to
facilitate their development. Micro level evidence shows that interventions and initiations of women like Mid-day
Meal Programme, creation of Self Help Group, environmental building programmes, developing partnership between
schools and village communities, appointment of local teachers have helped tribals to realize the importance of
education, health and develop positive attitudes towards education and health and in developing education and
health of their children. But still a lot is to be done in this regard, since their health and educational standards are far
less than their other counter parts in the society.

Conclusion
The tribals in India who had been earlier living in isolation with little or no connections with the rest of the country
are being brought in to light with the intervention of the government with an aim towards development. It can be
asserted that Tribal Development in India started with the emergence of British Rule. Its development however was
gradual until the post-independence period.

{These areas are specially defined in Para 6 of the part C of the fifth schedule of the Indian constitution. The states
except Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram are administered under Fifth schedule of the constitution and the
remaining states were under sixth schedule. Articles 244[2] and 275[1] are specially meant for sixth schedule areas
that were later on reformed as “Schedule districts”}

The history of the tribal polices that interest in forestry was noticed as far back as 1806 with the Reservation of teak
forest in Malabar during the British period. . In 1865, the Forest Act of 1865 was ordained where the basic means of
livelihood of the forest dwelling tribes were banned by the British. These policies went against the tribal as well as
non-tribal communities.

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India has been described as a melting pot of races and tribes.

The Scheduled tribes, since ages, have been victims of socioeconomic exploitation and have been relegated to low
income generating occupations, inferior trades, unhealthy environment and unclean unskilled occupations. Although
clear untouchable practices may be declining in many parts of the country, caste rigidities continue to confine many
Schedule Tribe workers in demeaning occupations, which put them at a disadvantage when compared to other
communities. The forces of urbanization, social and protective legislations, positive discrimination and other
measures taken by the Government, have led to gradual improvement in occupational mobility and living standards
over the years, but the living conditions of the majority of Scheduled Tribes continue to show socio-economic
backwardness. Tribals in India form a unique cultural group, staying away from the national mainstream, have a
distinctive place in the socio-economic milieu of our country. They are immersed in poverty, unawareness and live in
geographical isolation. In fact the tribal areas constitutes a very noteworthy part of backward areas of the country
and the areas covered by the tribal sub-plan consists of 15% of the total area of the country and 7.63% of the total
population. As a result, there is a marked disproportion in the Tribals economic standard of living in the areas of their
attention compared to the people in the surrounding areas. This disparity in the standard is well discernible in terms
of pattern and productivity of agriculture and receptivity of modern techniques, size of holdings, and the per capita
income, quantum of unemployment as well as absence of market and marketing facilities and scope for secondary
occupation

Administration of Tribal Areas During British Period. The tribal areas were the last to come under the British power
because of their difficult terrain and inaccessibility. They adopted the approach of lightly administering these areas.
The normal administration of the provinces, in the tribal areas were located, was not extended to them, in many
regions single line administration was established where all authority was vested in one individual who was honored
and there was judicious intervention only when it was considered inevitable.

In fact, the isolation of tribal communities began with the enactment of the government of India act of 1870 under
which a few tracts were specified as “scheduled tracts”, in certain provinces such as Assam,
The concept of tribal development therefore is an emerging domain. In the modern world with the advancement of
technologies reaching India, the objective of the government is, to develop each and every societies of India,
including the Tribals. The government is trying to bring the tribes into the mainstream societies so that no one or no
society is left isolated and that there exists an equitable development. The government till date has made numerous
acts, schemes and special provisions in the process. Questions may arise as to why the tribals need a special
provision. The answer to these kind of questions can be found by simply looking at the history of tribes and their
backwardness
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Tribals have a long and rich cultural past. Their history goes back to the prehistoric period. Unfortunately, because
they lack a written tradition, it is difficult for historians and anthropologists to chronicle their past. It is said that even
the subsequent history of the tribals up to the Aryan invasion is shrouded in obscurity. Some stone implements of
prehistoric man have been discovered. By studying the human fossils anthropologists are not able to conclude
whether India had a prehistoric period.

The Aborigines of India do not form a uniform race. They come from various regions of Asia and they belong to
various races.

Our knowledge about the origin and subsequent history of the numerous tribes is vague. However, their story of
glory and decline can be reconstructed. The invention of script and the commencement of written records are helpful
in this regard. Some scholars believe that the builders of the Indus valley civilization might have been the aboriginal
people. Their extinction is attributed to the disastrous alteration of the course of the Indus River resulting in
destructive flooding of settlements and silting of fields. Another explanation put forward by Stephen Fuchs is that
"the Aryan invaders might have destroyed the centres of Harrappan civilization and killed or dispersed its population.
The discovery of unburied skeletons on the steps of a building in Mohenjodaro seems to support such an assumption"
There is scanty information about the people who were destroyed. It is also not clear from the archaeological
excavations whether they spoke Dravidian languages.