Honourable
Chairman Sir, I stand in support of the Demands
for Grants of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. We are making efforts
for the upliftment of the backward people. The other day, an honourable Member
cited an incident in which just because a dog belonging to the family of a
backward person barked at a youth of a high class, all the hutments belonging
to the backward people were burnt down. This shows where we stand today. It
shows the status of the backward people; it shows the status of the tribal
people and the Dalits today in India. As far as my State of West Bengal is
concerned, it has become famous for the starvation deaths in many areas. So,
there has to be a strict monitoring and accountability again to know as to what
is happening to the140 fund
that is going to these places to take care of the tribal people. If these
people were well fed160 and
looked after, I am sure they would not suffer as they do today and they would not
be misled as they are being misled today. We recognize them for their primitive
mindset. Article 366 of the Constitution of India refers to the Scheduled
Tribes as those communities which are scheduled in accordance with Article 342
of the Constitution. The essential characteristics first laid down by the Local
Committee state that these are people with indications of primitive tribes,
distinctive cultures, shyness of contact with the community at large, geographical
isolation and backwardness. So, when we do realize that they have these traits,
it becomes even more important for people like us to stand by them and not
unleash State-sponsored terrorism280
on them. There are areas where the ground-level elections have not taken place
for 20 years. This has given rise to resentment amongst the people. They are
looking for their democratic right to franchise, their democratic right to
fight the320 elections for
self-governance. But this is not done and that is the reason why they are up in
arms. I think, it is pertinent to put here that we should be taking
their status in mind and looking after their democratic rights also. What is
the difference between those people and us? Anthropologically, it is
the same race, fusion of gametes resulting in the fellow type of human
beings. Intellectually, it is the same brain; it is the same human being. The
only difference is the social behaviour which varies across regions. There are
different customs, different cultural heritage, and420 different languages. If we can handle it
carefully, we can have them brought to the mainstream. They are powerful people
and they have risen against the State a number of times. They have risen
against the oppression even during the pre-Independence time. They are used to
walking miles together with load on their heads through jungles; they run down
hillsides480 which we cannot
do. They carry wood; they carry water. Why can we not have them channelized
into things like sports? Why can we not have them channelized into departments
like Defence? Why can we not adopt their culture as ours? Why can we not
prompt their song and dance and give it to the world which is going to be
impressed by them? We can teach the women their weaving. They are doing their
own weaving in different parts560
of the country. Why can we not encourage them, give them more allotment,
and engage these women for self-help? Why can we not like the Dogra culture,
encourage them for sculptures which can be sold? We know that the Incas are
still being preserved. The totem poles are being sold all over the world. So,
our necessity would be to think for some reason, for some organisation, for
some set-up, some autonomous body that can take care of their needs.640 So, when we are trying to allot funds
for their education, what is happening is that the teacher who is going to the
village or the hilly area or the forest area is speaking the regional language.
The child does not know the regional languages. The child does not
understand what the teacher is saying and the teacher does not700 understand what the child is saying. For
this reason, the bridge was supposed to be formed for understanding the
languages. But that has not been effective, since 25 per cent of the
teachers are not performing their duties properly. The forest dwellers are
protected by articles of the Constitution. The hill dwellers are also protected.
Their rights have to be recognized. We are trying to help them through the
schemes launched by the Government. There has been the Janshala
programme of the Government of India, along with five UN agencies, but we
have seen that the drop-out rate is very800
high. Where do these little children go? They either go to fetch water for the
family because the family does not have drinking water facility or they go to
the forest to collect firewood, for their meals to840 be cooked. So, we have to look at their
basic needs very carefully. Even after 65 years of Independence, we have not
been able to organize drinking water or potable water for them. Why can we
not have an autonomous body which takes care of the drinking water
facility for these backward people in our country? Is it not high
time, with the global warming setting in, for the situation to improve? That is
why, their education, their drinking water facility, etc. have to be taken up
very seriously and given importance. Their health facilities are completely
lacking. They do not get food. I wonder how many of us sitting in this
august House here have had the opportunity to960 taste chutney made of red ants. That is
the food that these tribal people are taking in their homes because980 there is no food and water there.
They are suffering from diseases and there is no means by which they can
go to the doctors. So, if we take good care of them, they will also take
good care of us. There are areas in many States of the country where
starvation deaths are common. They cannot organize two square meals a day. The National
Rural Health Mission is trying to do a lot for the people. I do think that
these people need better care and we must organize healthcare facilities
for them, their food, their education and bring them to the mainstream so that
they could lead a good life. Regarding how we can regain the confidence of the
tribal people, although the tribal area is richest in mineral wealth and water
resources, due to highest poverty amongst1120
the tribes, it is leading to frustration, unrest in the tribals as there is
no development. There should be a policy for effective implementation of
developmental programmes. Give them right to property; give them the assurance that
they will not be displaced. Most of the catchment area is in the tribal
area and the command area is in non-tribal area. Give them water for drinking
and irrigation purpose and the tribal people will produce all for their
livelihood except salt from their farm. I have seen that the tribal
people are earning and producing everything on their own field. They
should be given proper facility for irrigation. We should give good
infrastructure facility for road, education and health in scheduled areas. The
developmental grants allocated to the tribal areas should be non-lapsable and
non-divertible to avoid Naxal activities. We should1260 give posting of efficient officers in
scheduled area with incentive; the posting should not be given as a
punishment posting. 1280 There
should be effective implementation of Forest Act in the tribal areas to
build their houses and for agricultural purpose. While giving acres of forest
land to the industrialists, we should think for the tribals also. There are
about 200 forest villages in Gujarat only. The forest villages are to be
converted to revenue villages in a time-bound manner. The above measures will
regain the confidence of the tribe and tribal people will not go for the
so-called, Naxalite activities. So many points have been raised by my
colleagues. The tribal population is about 10 crore which is eight per cent of
the total population of India. My humble request is that the financial
allocation for the Ministry of Tribal1400
Affairs is to be increased.
Sir,
thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. Now the tribal population is
nine per cent of the total population of our country and they are residing in
15 per cent of the1440 total
geographical area of our country. They are the people of hills, forests
and nature. If we see the Economic Index of the nation, these aboriginal
communities of our country are the poorest of the poor and these communities
are exploited in many ways. They are living in such areas which are rich in
flora and fauna, mineral resources and precious stones. In spite of all
these things, they are merely the watchmen of the natural wealth and
they have no share in it. From the time of Independence till today, various
Governments have taken up a large number of schemes and we have
launched many pilot projects for the upliftment of socio-economic conditions of
these tribal people. Our politicians, our legislators, our intelligentsia and
our administrators have taken up so many policies for them, but despite all
these policies, till today they have remained poor. From the beginning of the
First Five Year Plan till today, we have not1600 solved their problems.
