Mr.
Chairman, Sir, I will try to keep my commitment to complete my remarks within
three minutes. I will not reiterate the issues which have already been raised.
Several discussions have taken place on this. On behalf of my Party, I support
this. I will only give a few suggestions here. I want to suggest that a new
Bill should be introduced, giving right of forests to the tribal persons who
live in the forests. This Bill should be introduced and passed for the purpose
of real development of tribal persons. Everywhere we now find that no forest
clearances are given. Let this right be given to the persons who are in the
Scheduled Tribe areas. Let a meaningful life be extended to the tribal people.
Today’s Naxal and Maoist movements are there because of the fact that even
after140 so many decades, no
development has taken place in the areas where tribals live. I give the example
of areas160 of Jharkhand and
West Bengal where coal mining operations are going on and a project of Damodar
Valley Corporation is also there, and at the same time, Scheduled Tribes’
areas are there. Unfortunately, the public sector undertakings are not spending
the funds from the CSR accounts which are kept for that purpose. Today, if the
State Government is serious about curbing the Naxalite and Maoist movements,
extensive development has to take place in the areas where Scheduled Tribe
persons are there. Had there been any benefit extended to the affected persons
in the areas where the mines are allotted to the private persons, these Naxal
and Maoist movements would not have been there. I will tell you the
experience of280 West Bengal.
Today three districts are affected by Naxal and Maoist movements. In these
three districts, for the last 40 years, no development has taken place. So,
development is needed today. We must make an endeavour and sincerely we must320 see that the Central Government
implements the policies in the areas where there are Scheduled Tribes. Though
there have been many Central Government projects, they have not been
implemented in a proper manner and the benefits have not been extended to the
Scheduled Tribe areas. I would say that the right of forest should be extended
to the Scheduled Tribes who live in forest. We must extend a meaningful life
for them, within the ambit of our Constitution.
At the outset, I rise to oppose the
Demands for Grants for Tribal Affairs. The reason is that in India we have420 more than nine crore of tribal
population but the total Budget allocated since Independence is only Rs. Thirty-two
hundred crore. Sixty-two years have passed since independence. From those
sixty-two years Congress Government was ruling at the centre for 49 years with
brief stints of Janata Dal and NDA Government in between. One-fourth of the
population in my State belongs to480
the tribal community. Maximum number of primitive tribes reside here.
Many tribal leaders have sacrificed their lives for the cause of the nation.
Sir, I have been a Member of Legislative Assembly in my State. I am the
son of a freedom fighter and several of my family members have been people’s
elected representatives in the past. Yet we could not be successful in
improving the conditions of the people at the grassroot level. There was no
facility as far as560
communication, health or education is concerned. Due to the faulty Central
policies, my district lacked road or railway connectivity. For decades, no
development took place in my State. Our tribal leaders have sacrificed so much
for the freedom of this nation. What have they got in return? They remain
neglected in politics, in administration, in health, in education and in every
other sphere. The tribal communities are always at the receiving end. The
tribal leaders remain unsung heroes. The640
Central Government has always overlooked the fact that tribal community is a part
and parcel of the society and needs all-round development to be part
of the national mainstream. The tribal people are being uprooted from their own
land in the name of industrialization and exploited in every sphere. We should
give them the due recognition as the custodian of our700 forest and mineral wealth. They must
be properly compensated and rehabilitated before being displaced. Thankfully,
the State Government is very serious as far as rehabilitation policy is concerned.
There is a disturbing trend in the process of migration. While tribals are
moving to cities to work as labourers and becoming slum-dwellers in the
process, the urban elites are reaching tribal areas to set up industrial hubs.
The tribals are working hard in fields, but not getting remunerative prices for
their produce. Most tribal areas lack road connectivity and transport
facilities to mainland market. Hence tribals fall prey to middlemen and800 languish in poverty. In order to improve
their condition, we urgently need a new Central policy with a pro-people,
pro-poor approach. The administration should also be sensitized to cater to the
needs of the tribal brethren.
Sir, wherever industrialization has
taken840 place, a member of
the displaced family must get a job. Secondly, the family which has lost its
traditional livelihood and homestead land must be given legal right as a
share-holder of the concerned company. For this, we require a Central
legislation which this august House must deliberate upon. Sir, I would
like to draw the attention of the Central Government to the Polavaram project
which may submerge many areas in my State. Kindly think about the tribal
families who will lose their land. Sir, I would like to thank the Central
Government that my State has been sanctioned 11 residential schools. Unfortunately,
in these schools there is nothing ideal. The old pattern continues. There are
no permanent teachers; 960 the
quality of education is sub-standard; the food is unhygienic; and the living
condition is deplorable. Residential facilities and hostels must980 be provided for tribal students. We have
enacted the new law without offering hostel facilities to tribal students who
hail from interior places. The drop-out rate will certainly go down if we
provide accommodation at the Gram Panchayat level. I would like to express my
gratitude to the Central Government for opening a Central university in my
district and also to the State Government for providing the logistic support.
It is my humble request that the students of the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled
Castes be given priority in admission to this university.
Hon. Chairman Sir, tribal people of
India are socially, economically and educationally backward. Since the
independence of the country, the land which has been acquired by the Government
for developmental purposes was mostly owned by the tribals. About a third of
the entire land acquired was of the1120
poor tribal communities. Even today, in the name of irrigation, industrial
development or setting up of manufacturing units, the tribal lands are being
occupied. This practice should stop immediately. When the land reforms law was
enacted by the Congress Government, it was declared that the forest dwellers
would be given ownership deeds. But that was not done. Thus, on one hand the
tribal lands are being grabbed and on the other, these poor people are
not getting enough compensation. They are in a miserable condition. In fact, I
would like to urge upon the Government to go through the financial review and
outcome Budget. It has been clearly mentioned that the money which is being
paid to the tribals is a paltry sum and highly inadequate. For 9 to 10 crores
of people, merely three thousand or one thousand five1260 hundred crores of rupees have been spent.
This is ridiculous. If this amount is not enhanced, there will be1280 no development in the backward regions.
I think that we are failing to feel the pulse of these people while allocating
Budget or implementing the schemes because we are non-tribals. So, we just
overlook their interests as a result of which they remain underdeveloped. This
issue must be sincerely looked into. We have seen that the shares of
State Governments are decreasing and those of the NGOs are increasing over
the years. Thus, the question of transparency crops up which needs to be
addressed. The tribal villages are very small; sometimes only 200 or 300 people
live there. They mostly depend on the forests and are usually cut off from the
mainstream. In the absence of roads and other infrastructure, Naxalites1400 are finding it easier to hide there and
carry out anti-social activities. The tribals live on the pond water or
river water. They do not have access to clean drinking water which should be
made available to these areas. 1440
Lastly, I want to say that every community wishes to speak its own language and
study in its own mother tongue. Therefore, the tribal languages must be given
recognition in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution and research and
development work should be undertaken to propagate these primitive
languages. They are linguistic minorities. If other kinds of cultural and
religious minorities can be promoted and protected in this country, why
are these linguistic minorities left out? A nation has to thrive upon a rich
cultural and linguistic heritage. Without language and literature, no nation
can survive. So, I would request the Government to do the needful in this
regard. Though there are various schemes for development of learning
and education, these are not properly executed in these tribal regions.
So much needs to be done and so much work is left. If the Government takes care
of these aspects, then only we will be able to create a prosperous India. 1600 With these few words, I conclude my
speech.
