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| Tribes in India with a special focus on tribes in Jammu and Kashmir | | |
Anandi Chib
A tribe is a social division in a traditional society consisting of families linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect. A tribe possesses certain qualities and characteristics that make it a unique cultural, social, and political entity.
Tribes are also known by the name ‘Adivasis’ in India.
Tribes in India
The Constitution of India has recognized tribal communities in India under ‘Schedule 5’ of the constitution. Hence the tribes recognized by the Constitution are known as ‘ Scheduled Tribes’.
There are around 645 distinct tribes in India.
Article 342 provides for listing of scheduled tribes State/Union Territory wise and not on an all India basis.
In Lok Sabha, there is a reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes. Here also census figures are taken into account. Allocation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha are made based on the proportion of Scheduled Tribes in the State concerned to that of the total population, vide provision contained in Article 330 of the Constitution of India read with Section 3 of the R. P. Act, 1950.
For Scheduled Tribes, 47 seats are reserved in Lok Sabha. The 1st schedule to R. P. Act, 1950 as amended vide Representation of People (Amendment) Act, 2008 gives the State-wise break-up
Bastar district of Chattisgarh consists of the largest number of Scheduled Tribes.
The total population of Scheduled Tribes is 10.43 crore as per the Census 2011 which accounts for 8.6% of the total population of the country. The share of the Scheduled Tribe population in urban areas is a meagre 2.8%.
Article 366 (25) defined scheduled tribes as “such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution”.
Article 342 in The Constitution Of India 1949
Scheduled Tribes
(1) The President may with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be
(2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes specified in a notification issued under clause ( 1 ) any tribe or tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification PART XVII OFFICIAL LANGUAGE CHAPTER I LANGUAGE OF THE UNION.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is responsible for the overall development of the scheduled tribes in India. This Ministry was set up in 1999 after the bifurcation of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with the objective of providing a more focused approach on the integrated socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes (STs), the most underprivileged of the Indian Society, in a coordinated and planned manner.
Before the formation of the Ministry, tribal affairs were handled by different Ministries as follows:
As a Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs named as ‘Tribal Division since independence up to September 1985.
Ministry of Welfare: From September 1985 to May 1998.
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment from May 1998 to September 1999.
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was established by amending Article 338 and inserting a new Article 338A in the Constitution through the Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003. By this amendment, the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was replaced by two separate Commissions namely- (i) the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), and (ii) the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) w.e.f. 19 February 2004.
The Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) strategy
The Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) strategy is a Government of India initiative aimed at the rapid socio-economic development of tribal people. The funds provided under the Tribal Sub Plan of the State have to be at least equal in proportion to the ST population of each State or UTs.
Similarly, Central Ministries/Departments are also required to earmark funds out of their budget for the Tribal Sub-Plan. As per guidelines issued by the Planning Commission, the Tribal Sub Plan funds are to be non-divertible and non-lapsable
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes is vested with the duty to participate and advise in the planning process of socio-economic development of STs, and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State.
Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir have twelve communities as the scheduled tribes .Out of the twelve scheduled tribes, Gujjar is the most populous tribe having a population of 763,806 thus forming 69.1 per cent of the total ST population. Bot is the second major tribe having a population of 97,698 followed by Bakerwals. Bakerwals and Gujjars are prominently known as the shepherds of Jammu and Kashmir.
They halt and take shelter in dhoks and margs which are identified temporary shelters in the meadows and forests. The prospects of health and education remain poor among these tribals. An interesting programme in the form of mobile -schools have been run by the government where the school travels along with the tribals for 6 months in order to ensure proper education to children among the bakerwal and Gujjar tribes.
However, due to mobility and logistical challenges, the programme outreach is minimum and many such schools have become stationary or have disappeared altogether.
The need to innovate and implement new ideas that can provide a boost to the education prospects among tribals is thus the need of the hour. Ideas that can make innovations such as mobile schools a transparent and accountable everyday exercises.
In a fast-changing world where modernity, technology and development have taken roots, tribals are still far behind in the race of development. The need of the hour is to utilise their skills for their sustainable development. Tribes have been producing craft with the help of available forest products for a long time. They have developed their skills over generations and these skills can be used by the government to promote their rich culture and craft in the market which actually needs a boost to get more polished with time. |
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