Society and Business

IIM
Mala Narang Reddy
1
Tribes and Changes among tribes

2
Tribal India

Today tribal India comprises of people / communities living in

forest hills and isolated regions

Popular names:
● Adivasi (first settlers)
● Vanyajati (castes of the forest)
● Vanvasi (inhabitants of the forest)
● Pahari (hill-dwellers)
● Adimjati (primitive people)
● Anusuchit Janjati (Scheduled Tribe)
Tribes
● Over 700 scheduled tribes in India
● Some tribes live in forests - hunt and gather; some are
pastoral; some agriculturalists (shifting or settled);
some practice mixed economy; some geographically
isolated; some live closer to village communities
● The tribal population of the country, as per 2011 census,
is 10.43 crore, constituting 8.6% of the total
population.
● 89.97% of them live in rural areas and 10.03% in urban
areas.

4
Tribes
● the Naga, Mizo, Khasi - Northeast India
● the Munda of Chotanagpur (Jharkhand)
● the Gond of Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh
● the Bhil of Rajasthan and Gujarat
● the Toda of Nilgiri hills in Tamil Nadu
● Constitute a distinct society of their own, i.e.
traditionally they did not regard themselves as part of
the larger society in India
● They had a distinctive way of life, an individual dialect
and a socio-religious system peculiarly their own.

5
https://trifed.tribal.gov.in/trifed/repos
itory
Meena

SANTHAL

GADDI 7
Marginalisation of Tribes

● Tribes are traditionally socially excluded in India, facing

discrimination on the basis of their ethnicity
● Because of differences from dominant society tribes considered
primitive, uncivilised and unskilled
● Excluded from benefits of education and employment
● Low level of literacy
● High mortality
● Low employment
● High poverty
● Indebtedness
● Loss of culture
https://www.indiatoday.in/magaz
ine/nation/story/20210208-crisis-
of-identity-1763819-2021-01-30
Disease, Poverty in Indiaś tribal camps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS1sX4NDrmY

Dr. N.C. Saxena on nourishing Indiaś tribal children

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnUMz2ezO3o

Palagummi Sainath, Journalist, on Why Tribal Children

Chronically are Undernourished

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPW2mSnoRQY
Key Legislations

PESA - 1996 (panchayats extension to scheduled areas)

FRA - 2006 (forest rights acts)

Birsa Munda Revolution
● Birsa Munda mobilised the
tribal community in
Chotanagpur region, against
the British, Zamindars,
Missionaries, Money Lenders
● 1890s
● Against the oppression of the
tribal communities
● Protecting the land rights and
culture of the tribals
● Died in 1900 at the age of 25
years
● Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi;
Birsa Munda Tribal University
Tribal revolts, nineteenth century

● Mizos 1810
● Kols, 1795, 1831
● Daflas 1875
● Khasi and Garo 1829
● Kacharis 1839
● Santhals 1853
● Muria Goads 1886
● Nagas 1844, 1879
● Bhuiyas 1868
● Kondhas 1817
 Dongria Khond - Odisha and Andhra Pradesh

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/do-we-re
https://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/dongria ally-need-the-bauxite-from-niyamgiri-42005 14
Tribes Vs Development
● Tribes do not support development, do not want
development
● Remain isolated
● Resist integration with mainstream
● Prefer culture and traditional ways; opposed to
modernisation

● Should they be left alone? Or should we actively try to

engage and develop the tribes?
● Can we include tribals in development?
Impact of Development

● Tribes have been at the receiving end of the injustices

of the development process
● Around 40 per cent of the 60 million people displaced
following development projects in India are tribals
● 90 per cent of our coal and more than 50 per cent of most
minerals and dam sites are mainly in tribal regions
● The most industrialised sub-districts in India are
flanked by the most underdeveloped sub-districts, largely
tribal
 Challenges faced by tribes today
● Conflict with industrialists and
government
● Loss of tribal identity
● Protection of tribal language,
culture and customs
● Demands of political autonomy -
Nagas, Mizos, Bodos, Karbi;
Insurgency
● Naxalism : The affected areas are
predominantly tribal zones as well
as forest and mineral rich areas
Way forward ?

● Land rights
● Culture and language preservation
● Focus on diversifying livelihood opportunities for tribes
● Shift from extractive industries to smaller enterprises
● Focus on NTFPs and sustainable agriculture in
ecologically fragile areas
● Greater focus on rights and participatory governance
● Improve health and education in tribal areas
Further resources on tribes of India

Main Bhi Bharat - Rajya Sabha TV series on Tribes of India

Available on Youtube

19
 Rural Economy -
Agriculture and Farmer Distress
 Farmer Protest 2020-21
https://time.com/5938041/india-farmer-protests-
democracy/

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2021/ju
n/24/farm-laws-protesters-at-delhi-borders-to-mar
k-sevenmonths-of-agitation-on-june-26-2320986.h
tml
2016 Onion farmers Maharashtra 2016 Karnataka farmers protesting
Protests across states

2016 started with huge farmers protests across the country

with Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan , Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh all
witnessing demonstrations and protests.

http://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/newsdetail/index/1/7313/2016-3-months-of
-non-stop-farmer-protests-across-india
Madhya Pradesh
protest - June 2017

Led by farmers’ organisations

Demanding farm loan waiver

Police opened fire on

protesting farmers, killing
five farmers.

Following the killing,

farmers blocked the road and
vandalised properties
Maharashtra Protest
- June 2017

Demands for loan

waiver was accepted

Blocked roads and

prevented delivery
of produce to the
markets
 Punjab Farmers Protest
2020

● Since September 2020

● Thousands of farmers from Punjab and
Haryana have gathered in New Delhi to
protest three new agricultural laws
● Laws aim to deregulate India’s
agricultural industry and open it up
to free-market forces.
● Are reforms needed?
● Farmers are concerned that the new
legislation privileges corporations
and harms the everyday farmer.
Agriculture in India

Agriculture accounts for

almost approx. 14 per cent
of GDP
Agriculture employs an
estimated 50-60 percent of
the labor force
Agriculture in India

As societies develop, and

industrialise, the
contribution of
agriculture sector
declines.

Agri employment has not

gone down in India

Those dependent on
agriculture remain largely
poor
Source: OECD analysis
Source: OECD analysis
Other Challenges ?

What makes farmers vulnerable?

Challenges

● Agriculture is considered highly inefficient, yields do

not match international standards
● High dependence on rainfall, lack of irrigation
facilities
● Small landholdings
● Losses - It is estimated that as much as one-fifth of the
total agricultural produce is lost due to inefficiencies
in harvesting, transport, and storage
● Impact on environment - over-exploitation of groundwater;
overuse of fertilizers and pesticides
Challenges

High losses - unseasonal rain, pest attack, floods (climate

change)

2018 study - The Centre for Study of Developing Societies

(CSDS), based in Delhi, found that given an option majority
of farmers (76 per cent) in the country would prefer to take
up some other work.

Reasons - Poor income, bleak future and stress

 RAINFED AGRICULTURE High dependence on rainfall
despite the fact that India has
www.indiawaterportal.org the largest irrigated land area
in the world

Irrigated area includes canal

irrigation, ground water
irrigation and tank irrigation

www.fao.org
Environmental Concerns

Increasing Groundwater Use

Cash Crops

Rice Cultivation

Increasing vulnerability

- especially in arid regions

www.livemint.com
Challenges
Rise in Farmer

Suicides

agrariancrisis.in
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/debt-mai
n-cause-of-over-12000-farmers-to-suicide-since-2
013/infographicshow/58495994.cms?from=mdr
Video - Devinder Sharma - on Farmer Suicides

Farmer Suicides and the Global food crisis: A Story not told
| Devinder Sharma | TEDxRGNUL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2YDHNsco-Q
Farmer suicides

● The bulk of those suicides occurring amongst cash crop

farmers (cotton, sugarcane, groundnut, vanilla, coffee,
pepper and others)
● The issues of debt, exploding input costs, water-use
patterns, and severe price shocks and price volatility -
play a major role
● All factors majorly driven by state policies.
Article - Lives in Debt

A study in two districts recording high numbers of farmer

suicide—Yavatmal in Maharashtra and Sangrur in Punjab

What factors contribute to farmer suicides?

Lives in Debt

Over 80% of all landholdings are small or marginal

Investment in Indian agriculture has been declining for

several years

Formal credit more accessible to farmers with larger

landholdings

Indebted agricultural households in the country = 52%

Situating farmer suicides in India in this context

Factors

Faulty cropping patterns

Rising input costs

Aspirational consumption

Absence of non-farm sources of income

Shame of borrowing from family

Efforts to Support Agriculture since Independence
Role of technology

Green Revolution

Gene (GM) Revolution

2000 onwards
● Population growth
● Rise in demand for food grains
● Multinational companies play a larger role in agriculture
● Rise of institutional credit
● Government focus on increasing productivity of wheat,
rice and pulses (National Food Security Mission)
Government Efforts to Support Agriculture
● Various Technological inputs
● Land reforms
● Rural banks - agricultural credit
● Procurement and minimum support prices
● Input subsidies
Environmental Sustainability
 Case of Anantapur,
Andhra Pradesh

● Replacement of millets with cash

crop - groundnut
● 1980s borewell revolution
● Number of borewells in Anantapur
are 3 times the carrying capacity -
led to drying up of ponds, rivers
● In the past, even with rainfed
agriculture, people had food
security
https://thewire.in/agriculture/its-raining-sand-h
ow-anantapur-came-to-resemble-a-desert
Corporates and Environmental Sustainability
Plachimada Coca Cola Case

Impact on rural livelihoods

Question of community water rights

Plachimada coca cola case study - Corporate Ethics

Interventions needed?

Integrated approach

Agriculture development, technology, credit, market

linkages, reforming existing institutions, environmental
conservation, agriculture allied activities

Focus on crops appropriate to agroclimatic zones

Discussion

- Importance of use of technology

- Focus on industry - its impact on agriculture
- Rural to urban migration
- Efficiency of Indian farmers
- Why are Indian farmers so vulnerable?
- Enhancing farmerś income
- Livelihood security in rural areas