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Dungdung Pattanaik 2020 Tribal Development Disparities in Odisha An Empirical Analysis
Dungdung Pattanaik 2020 Tribal Development Disparities in Odisha An Empirical Analysis
Dungdung Pattanaik 2020 Tribal Development Disparities in Odisha An Empirical Analysis
RESEARCH
Vol. 40(1): 94–110
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DOI: 10.1177/0262728019894129 Copyright © 2020
journals.sagepub.com/home/sar The Authors
have strong faith in traditional ways of self-governance and largely resist government
intervention in their local affairs, which has not helped in devising development
programmes. Earlier studies (Chaurasia, 1990; Mehta, 1991) depict extremely diverse
patterns. Traditional headmen or chiefs often control the activities of particular groups,
which frequently still conduct their lives through holistic principles, in harmony with
the natural environment, exhibiting cultural patterns congenial to their physical and
social environment, as also observed elsewhere in India (Baiju, 2011). Thus, when a
tribal group carries out hunting ventures or people pray for rainfall, mountain spirits
are invoked, popularly known by the names of the hilly jungle area in which they
are thought to live. The traditional tribal religious and ritual practices of the various
communities include ancestor worship and worship of the earth, sun, moon, hills,
jungle and other natural objects. All communities have many folk tales, folklore and
folk songs which talk about their origin, migration and nature. Both men and women
participate in song and dance performances, accompanied mainly by percussion
instruments. Their religion constitutes a blend of beliefs and rituals of Hinduism,
tribal elements and Christianity.
stable access to safe drinking water, usually from open wells, while 159 households
(39.75 per cent) use water from hand-pumps, which may fail. Merely 13 households
or 3.25 per cent have any toilet facility, while 96.75 per cent use open defecation.
Among basic assets, 29 households (7.25 per cent) had a radio or tape recorder, only
5 (1.25 per cent) had a television, but 134 (33.5 per cent) had a bicycle. Merely 40
respondents owned a wrist watch, but 74 (18.5 per cent) had a bullock cart, signifying
some connection to rural transport, while 118 respondents (29.5 per cent) claimed
to have none of these assets. Items such as a radio, television or refrigerator are found
among less than 10 per cent of households. As most tribals reside in remote forest areas
and remain isolated, they are largely unaffected by development processes (Paltasingh
& Paliwal, 2014: 28; Xaxa, 2014). The research found no evidence at the time of using
mobile phones and solar cells.
Education as the kingpin of social development is a potentially powerful
instrument for advancement, but is also affected by vicious circles of poverty, as
Rupavath (2016: 226) shows for tribal primary education. Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi used to say that education is a liberating force. It also has democratising
effects, cutting across caste and class barriers, smoothening out inequalities imposed
by birth and other circumstances. Illiteracy among tribals is seen as a major reason
for multi-dimensional backwardness. Educational attainments in upper socio-
economic groups of tribal families are likely to be higher than in lower and middle
status group families (Bailey, 1960), while Xaxa (2014: 6) observed that tribes
‘have been unable to safeguard and promote their language, culture and religion’,
especially when schooling ‘has invariably been made in the language of the dominant
regional community’ (Xaxa, 2014: 7). Poverty in tribal societies remains one of the
greatest hindrances to education, because families are unable to provide essential
requirements of education such as school clothes, extra food and appropriate home
study environments for the children. Lack of literacy keeps many tribal households
far away from the knowledge society. Tertiary education among tribals is almost
non-existent, and only about 5 per cent of the sampled population had attended
tertiary education above 12th standard.
Like education, health contributes to the realisation of economic development,
labour productivity growth, responsiveness to innovation and future-orientedness.
Customarily, the health condition of tribals was marked by very high morbidity and
mortality rates, especially regarding infant and maternal mortality. Most tribals find
modern healthcare inaccessible, and there is evidence that healthcare personnel lacks
motivation to work in tribal areas. Regarding health status in our sample, 22.06 per
cent of children up to one year were fully immunised, 30.25 per cent of women and
their children had received full antenatal care. While 40.3 per cent of women had
an institutional delivery, the infant mortality rate in the tribal areas remained high at
342 per 100,000 births and the maternal mortality rate was 310 per 100,000 births.
Given the poverty of the physical environment, ignorance of efficient techniques for
exploiting natural resources and lack of capital for investment, food security remains a
major problem (Singh & Sadangi, 2012). As observed during the field survey, the tribal
economy in this area is still largely a subsistence economy, based mainly on collecting
MFP, hunting and fishing, or a combination of hunting and MFP collection. Even when
there is engagement in some ploughing and conventional farming, tribals supplement
their family needs with hunting and MFP collection. Both male and female heads
of households work in the fields and engage in MFP collection. Most tribals do not
possess specific skills which would enable them to obtain outside employment or raise
earnings from self-employment. Bailey (1960: 184) observed that few tribals could
take up the available reserved positions in government jobs. Xaxa (2014: 5) confirmed
that the more recent picture remains unsatisfactory.
Our study found that many tribals walked long distances every day to gather
MFPs and that firewood gathered from the forest was the only source of fuel for most
families. We observed that the subsistence economy of tribal households continues
to be characterised by simple technology, basic division of labour, cottage units
of production and no capital investment. This pattern of subsistence economy is
imposed by circumstances beyond tribal people’s control and prevents efficient modern
techniques to exploit natural resources. As there is lack of capital for investment, and
financial literacy is undeveloped among tribals, they still depend on moneylenders
for financial help in emergencies. Their subsistence livelihood patterns presuppose
bartering systems and absence of market-linked trade. One possible reason for this could
be that in Odisha certain crafts are in the hands of specialised non-tribal occupational
groups (Bailey, 1960: 100).
Regarding workforce participation, the survey data show most households pursuing
more than one occupational activity. Only 17.21 per cent of households are occupied
exclusively in farming, while 35.87 per cent combined farming and collection of
MFP, 18.56 per cent combined farming and tribal art and craft and 18.04 per cent
survived by farming and casual labour, which included mining work and/or more recent
involvement in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(MGNREGS) activities. Only 4.48 per cent combined farming with a government
job, and 5.84 per cent combined farming with private jobs. The data on agricultural
land holdings show no large-scale landholders among the tribal community with more
than 10 hectares. Out of the total households sampled, 6.6 per cent are landless; 13.3
per cent are marginal landholders with up to one hectare; 26.3 per cent are small-
scale landholders (1–2 hectares); 45 per cent are semi–medium-scale landholders
(2–4 hectares) and 8.8 per cent were found to be medium-scale landholders with
4–10 hectares.
The data on forest livelihood confirm strong dependence on the forest economy
for subsistence living. In all, 16.13 per cent of households collected mainly fuel
and firewood and 12.52 per cent gathered certain types of green grasses and leaves
and wild green-broom. Another 10.14 per cent collected fodder, and a further
12.61 per cent collected leaf litter. Collection of poles by 9 per cent and of timber
by 20.37 per cent of households was recorded, while 19.23 per cent of households
Dungdung and Pattanaik: Tribal Development Disparities in Odisha 101
specialised in collecting herbs. Mean income levels per month were between `100
and 1,000 for 43.8 per cent of households, which is very low, while 19 per cent
earned between `1,000 and 2,000, 15.8 per cent between `2,000 and 3,000, 6
per cent between `3,000–5,000, 7.5 per cent between `5,000–10,000 and only 8
per cent made above `10,000. These data indicate that the mean monthly income
of tribal households is growing, but very slowly.
Food consumption patterns confirmed lack of food security for most tribals. In
all, 125 households (31.3 per cent) reported having less than one meal per day for a
major part of the year, 215 (53.73 per cent) reported one meal per day throughout
the year, 27 (6.8 per cent) had two meals per day with occasional shortage and
only 33 households (8.3 per cent) felt they had enough food throughout the year.
Because they lack job security and primarily depend on MFP as well as labouring
work, which may be irregular and is often insufficient for family subsistence, 343
households (85.8 per cent) were living below the poverty line (BPL) and only 57
households (14.2 per cent) were found above the poverty line (APL). Also, 63 per
cent of the households claimed not to have any savings. Only 146 households
(36.5 per cent) had bank accounts, while almost two-thirds, 254 households, did
not have accounts, and do not seem to save anything, since whatever they earn is
hardly sufficient to secure a subsistence livelihood in terms of food, clothing and
shelter. Most tribals are also socio-linguistically marginalised, as 85 per cent do not
speak Odia, the state language, and converse in local tribal languages. Truly, many
of the respondents were born in poverty, live in acute poverty and die in poverty.
The survey results also revealed that 58 per cent of the members of ST families are
dependent non-earners. Similarly, a government survey found that in the ST category,
there are 1.4 dependents for each earning member (Government of India, 2011).
The collected data also show that 64.75 per cent of the sampled tribal households
identify as converted Christians, while 31.25 per cent practise the Saosar religion.
This is the original tribal religion, based on beliefs of nature, closely related with
animism, though some traces of Sanskritic rites and Hindu influences were noted.
Most people venerate tribal deities and a multitude of spirits and natural objects
like hills, rivers, the forest and trees that play significant roles in their lives. Nature
has evidently a great influence on the tribal lifeworld and religion.
The study observed that while land ownership is not seen as such a big issue
for tribal households, cultivating crops on their land remains difficult for many
families. Although households may possess small or marginal landholdings, due
to acute poverty and low soil fertility, the production of crops is insufficient for
their needs throughout the year. Small size landholdings, lack of finance to invest
in cultivation and incapability to modernise agriculture have since long explained
why agriculture incomes are low (Bailey, 1960). This forces most families to depend
on MFP collection and selling of such produce and confirms that the tribal forest
ecology remains important today to most people (Satpathy, 2017), as also observed
much earlier by Elwin (1963: 51).
To a vast number of the tribal people the forest is their well-loved home, their
livelihood, their very existence. It gives them food-fruits of all kinds, edible leaves,
honey, nourishing roots, wild game and fish. It provides them with material to build
their homes and practice their arts. By exploiting its produce, they can supplement
their meagre incomes. It keeps them warm with its fuel and cool with its grateful shade.
From time immemorial, the tribal people enjoyed the freedom to use the forest and
hunt its animals, and this has given them a conviction, which remains even today in
their hearts that the forest belongs to them.
Singh and Sadangi (2012) also found that tribals pursue several types of livelihood
patterns, based on crops, wages, forest produce, horticulture, migration, service/
business and animal husbandry, depending on what prevails in the area. As noted,
our study highlights that tribal households tend to perform a combination of several
forest-related activities to secure their livelihood and avoid starvation. A survey in the
Koraput-Balangir-Kalahandi (KBK) districts of Odisha found the representation of
ST workers in the skilled category as low as 7 per cent, compared to about 23 per cent
for workers from other castes (Government of India, 2011). Our survey confirmed an
astoundingly low percentage of less than 1 per cent of skilled workers in the surveyed
villages. We did not ask, however, whether tribal individuals with skills may have
migrated to other parts of India.
Munda community was more than twice that of Kumbhar tribals. The association
of possession of land with levels of hunger was already raised. The data clearly
support arguments that the Kumbhar community with a low land possession index
also suffers more hunger compared to the Munda and Oraom communities. The
analysis confirms significant inter- and intra-community income differences between
tribal communities. The mean income index value of the Oraom community is
more than three times higher than that of the Bhuiya community, leading to the
observation that more members of the tribal creamy layer are likely to be found in
the Oraom community than in the other seven communities. Their political and
social empowerment is also much higher compared to other communities, and
notably most of the ministers in various political parties belong to this community.
The significant variations in the overall development index among the eight tribal
communities confirm that although, socio-culturally, these various tribal groups
are deemed to be homogeneous, economically and in terms of various development
parameters, they reflect significant inequalities among the tribals in our study area
of Odisha. The consolidated statistics are produced in Figure 1.
The data in Figure 1 clearly show that the Oraom community stands highest,
while the Kumbhar community has the lowest index. This confirms that the tribal
communities in Odisha are largely stratified in terms of socio-economic status. The
1200 1083.6
1000
800 681.37 640.38
609.31
514.49 505.81 561.79 583.23
600
400
200
0
creamy layers in this study area, which are not visible through this Figure, are certainly,
though not exclusively, made up of many members of the Oraom community.
Figure 2 Socio-economic Development Status of STs with State and National Average
800
700 178
India
600
235
500 40
400 Odisha
51
342.24
310.16
300
74.04 92.8 93.9
200 21.92
22.8 65.8 Study
73.45 15.8 76.7 45.6 87.2 32.59
100 Area
38.8 15.9
85.8
58.17 39.75 22.06
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Concluding Recommendations
Overall, the Composite Tribal Development Index as the aggregate of the measured
indicators of development at the household level shows significant differences across
the various tribal communities in this part of Odisha. It confirms that though tribals
Dungdung and Pattanaik: Tribal Development Disparities in Odisha 107
are socially and culturally homogeneous, developmentally they are heterogeneous. Our
analysis of the field data from the tribal population in Odisha’s Sundargarh district
further indicates that the people belonging to predominantly tribal villages in Northern
Odisha’s Naxalite-prone villages are particularly vulnerable to ideological interventions
that would alienate them from a state that does not deliver on development indicators.
In view of such findings, a critical look at existing strategies for local tribal
development gains crucial relevance. Among the stated government objectives for
tribal development strategies, improvement of the socio-economic conditions of
disadvantaged citizens is prominent. While it is generally recognised and confirmed
by numerous studies that India’s tribal people are spatially, socially, economically
and politically among the most disadvantaged groups, regular assessment of the
development status of tribals is important to take suitable corrective measures and
launch targeted programmes for tribal upliftment. Our study shows that much remains
to be done.
However, having endured backwardness for decades after independence, the tribal
people that were part of this field study tended to be ambivalent towards discourses
of development and displayed negative attitudes towards government policies and
programmes for tribal development. We concur with Baiju (2011: 19) that this
predicament merits further serious study. Our respondents considered not only that
they had been neglected, but also felt exploited by officials, who are mostly non-tribals
and non-locals. This problem, also identified by Satpathy (2017) and Rout (2005:
35), indicates that villages as largely independent social domains mistrust and resist
outside interventions in the name of development that affect leadership patterns.
Rout (2005: 42) concluded in view of pluralist structures that ‘[i]n such a situation
of existence of multiple sets of law, the state law should incorporate the customary
laws and other sources of rights, and accord them legal recognition for sustainable
use and management of natural resources’. Baiju (2011) showed for Kerala how the
astute incorporation of local tribal democratic structures can bring major benefits.
Based on fieldwork in Rajasthan, Saha (2019: 36–7) demonstrated similarly what
may be achieved when marginal locals are properly consulted and are involved as
respected stakeholders. Enabling the induction of views of local tribes (Baiju, 2011:
15) in processes of decentralised planning seems to recommend itself as a form of
responsible governance.
In Odisha, however, insufficient attention has been given to developing such
inclusive relationships or to imparting skills among tribals. It seems that neither the
government nor civil society organisations exist in our study area to take care of tribal
well-being, so people are left to their own devices. Low human resource development
also restricts out-migration, and there are few industrial or service sector activities
in the area that could offer local people upward mobility. Xaxa (2014: 7) therefore
remarked that despite well-meaning constitutional provisions aimed at safeguarding
the welfare and interest of tribal communities, the marginalisation of tribals continues.
Non-existence of pro-active civil society organisations and scant presence of untrained
local self-government institutions indicate that all local key actors of development
need to be activated. While the government is partially visible in such remote areas,
they offer illustrious examples of continuing developmental exclusion at the bottom
of the pyramid (Kolk et al., 2014; Prahalad, 2005). As in other parts of India (Behera
& Basar, 2009), the government slogan of inclusive development (sabka saath, sabka
vikas) remains truly, for such tribals, a hollowed slogan and a political gimmick.
We argue, however, that any universal development programme across the country
for all types of tribal community cannot effectively provide socio-economic justice to
all tribals in their specific local environments. Community-specific and culture-friendly
strategies that encourage local participation would be more appropriate to remedy
tribal marginalisation, as Nigam and Mathur (1990: 367) argued, by observing that
‘[e]ach sub-cultural world is an organic whole’. With globalisation and modernisation,
disparities have been increasing among tribal and non-tribal populations and ‘in
some instances the situation of STs has become worse’ (Paltasingh & Paliwal, 2014:
28). Overall, as socio-economic status was found in our study to vary from one tribal
person to another, in places like Northern Odisha, this may further escalate Naxalite
and extremist problems. Roy (2012) urged regarding Jharkhand that individual tribal
communities as well as districts or pockets of special needs should be identified. Baiju
(2011: 20), in light of evidence from Kerala, advised a participatory approach that is
fine-tuned to local needs and conditions. Awareness of the need to look for difference in
deprivation motivated the research processes for our project in Odisha in the first place.
Increased awareness of the urgent need to carefully identify suitable tribal target groups
for development projects through culture-sensitive interventions is an abundantly clear
outcome of our research and should motivate future development initiatives.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or
publication of this article.
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