"Tribal Situation in India" a talk by Prof. Virginius Xaxa at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 29th August 2013
Time : 3:00 pm
Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)
Place : Seminar Room, First Floor, Library Building, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Race Course(Yellow Line)'
Event Description : The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library cordially invites you to a Public Lecture in the ‘Interrogating Social Justice’ series on ‘Tribal Situation in India’ by Prof. Virginius Xaxa, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati.
Abstract : Tribes are enumerated at over 88 million constituting about 8.6 per cent of the total population of the country as per the 2001 census. Though very small in population, they are enormously diverse. They are also distributed over the length and breadth of the country. The distribution is however far from even. About 84 percent inhabit region commonly referred to as central India; 12 per cent live in North-East India, 3 per cent in South and 1 per cent in North India. Not only geographical distribution is uneven but their situation too is very uneven. Of public attention to tribal population at the national level, Northeast has remained at the forefront. This has been followed by central India especially the eastern part. The South India and North India has been subject of attention only occasionally. North-East has been plagued by demands for autonomy of various kinds. It has also been the region of endemic conflict and violence, conflict between state and people as well as between people. The state all through the post-independence decades has presented itself in the North-east in its militaristic form. Notwithstanding the features described such as above, the tribes in the north eastern region have fared remarkably well in the social development. The percentage of people living below poverty line is much lower than the national tribal average. And so has been the case with such indicators as the level of literacy, enrolment and drop outs as well as health indicators such as the infant mortality, child mortality, under-five mortality etc. Of course there are variations within the region across states. In contrast the form in which the State has presented itself in mainland India has been its developmental character. Not only is the region strongly linked with the rest of India in terms of roads, railways and other communication, but also land, labour and credit market. The region has also been witness to infrastructure projects such power, irrigation, dams etc. It has also witness to setting up of industrialization projects and mineral exploitation. However, since last one decade, the state has increasingly assumed the role of militaristic state. Despite strong presence of the developmental state, the region has hardly done well in social development sector. The people living below poverty line is highest in eastern India followed by western India. Similarly, in terms of the level of literacy and other health indicators, the region has fared extremely poor. The lecture makes an effort to understand the paradoxes.
Speaker : Prof. Virginius Xaxa obtained M.A. in Sociology from Pune University and Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He is at present Professor and Deputy Director at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati Campus. He taught Sociology at Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi from 1990 to 2011 and North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong from 1978-1990. He held post-doctoral fellowship under Indo-French Cultural Exchange Programme at Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris (1982) and had been Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellow at SOAS, University of London (1988) and Fulbright Fellow at University of California Santa Cruz, USA (1998). He held Rajiv Gandhi Chair at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong from 2006-2008. He is the author of Economic Dualism and Structure of Class: A Study in Plantation and Peasant settings in North Bengal (1997) and State, Society and Tribes: Issues in Post- Colonial India (2008). He is also co-author of Plantation Labour in India (1996) and co-editor of Social Exclusion and Adverse Inclusion: Adivasis in India (2012). He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Asian Ethnicity, History and Sociology of South Asia, Social Change and Contribution to Indian Sociology.
Related Events : Talks
Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served basis)
Place : Seminar Room, First Floor, Library Building, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML), Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Race Course(Yellow Line)'
Event Description : The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library cordially invites you to a Public Lecture in the ‘Interrogating Social Justice’ series on ‘Tribal Situation in India’ by Prof. Virginius Xaxa, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati.
Abstract : Tribes are enumerated at over 88 million constituting about 8.6 per cent of the total population of the country as per the 2001 census. Though very small in population, they are enormously diverse. They are also distributed over the length and breadth of the country. The distribution is however far from even. About 84 percent inhabit region commonly referred to as central India; 12 per cent live in North-East India, 3 per cent in South and 1 per cent in North India. Not only geographical distribution is uneven but their situation too is very uneven. Of public attention to tribal population at the national level, Northeast has remained at the forefront. This has been followed by central India especially the eastern part. The South India and North India has been subject of attention only occasionally. North-East has been plagued by demands for autonomy of various kinds. It has also been the region of endemic conflict and violence, conflict between state and people as well as between people. The state all through the post-independence decades has presented itself in the North-east in its militaristic form. Notwithstanding the features described such as above, the tribes in the north eastern region have fared remarkably well in the social development. The percentage of people living below poverty line is much lower than the national tribal average. And so has been the case with such indicators as the level of literacy, enrolment and drop outs as well as health indicators such as the infant mortality, child mortality, under-five mortality etc. Of course there are variations within the region across states. In contrast the form in which the State has presented itself in mainland India has been its developmental character. Not only is the region strongly linked with the rest of India in terms of roads, railways and other communication, but also land, labour and credit market. The region has also been witness to infrastructure projects such power, irrigation, dams etc. It has also witness to setting up of industrialization projects and mineral exploitation. However, since last one decade, the state has increasingly assumed the role of militaristic state. Despite strong presence of the developmental state, the region has hardly done well in social development sector. The people living below poverty line is highest in eastern India followed by western India. Similarly, in terms of the level of literacy and other health indicators, the region has fared extremely poor. The lecture makes an effort to understand the paradoxes.
Speaker : Prof. Virginius Xaxa obtained M.A. in Sociology from Pune University and Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He is at present Professor and Deputy Director at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati Campus. He taught Sociology at Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi from 1990 to 2011 and North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong from 1978-1990. He held post-doctoral fellowship under Indo-French Cultural Exchange Programme at Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris (1982) and had been Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellow at SOAS, University of London (1988) and Fulbright Fellow at University of California Santa Cruz, USA (1998). He held Rajiv Gandhi Chair at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong from 2006-2008. He is the author of Economic Dualism and Structure of Class: A Study in Plantation and Peasant settings in North Bengal (1997) and State, Society and Tribes: Issues in Post- Colonial India (2008). He is also co-author of Plantation Labour in India (1996) and co-editor of Social Exclusion and Adverse Inclusion: Adivasis in India (2012). He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Asian Ethnicity, History and Sociology of South Asia, Social Change and Contribution to Indian Sociology.
Related Events : Talks
"Tribal Situation in India" a talk by Prof. Virginius Xaxa at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 29th August 2013
!["Tribal Situation in India" a talk by Prof. Virginius Xaxa at Teen Murti House, Teen Murti Marg > 3pm on 29th August 2013]()
Reviewed by DelhiEvents
on
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Rating:
Tribals of India
ReplyDeleteSocio-cultural : the divide between tribal and non tribal population of this country is widening. The discrimination is intact and mistrust is growing. This is not at all encouraging. The way non tribal people look at our tribal people, their attitude towards tribal social and cultural practices are far from encouraging. Despite efforts at government and non-government level to bridge this gap, it’s not happening. Unless social integration happens, it’s difficult to know each other and have a positive attitude towards each other. For non tribal population, tribal people are still like a puzzle they have not been able to understand. Tribal customs, their culture and their practices are being seen as uncivilized.
Educational : level of education is a society’s barometer of success. But sadly this is not happening in tribal areas. The level of education is still very low among them compared to the national level. The dropout rates in tribal students are very high after school level. Something must be done to correct this.
Economic : Rampant poverty among tribal is another worrisome thing that needs urgent attention. Poverty among India’s tribal population is very high compared to rest of the country despite efforts from the state and central governments. This indicates that there is something seriously wrong about our planning for tribal population. While most of the mineral resources are found in the areas inhabited by tribal, our tribal are the poorest lots.
• Tribal people must be made partner in the exploitation of mineral resources.
• Also, government has to take care of the fact that their habitats should not be ruined in the mindless exploits of mineral resources.
• Any economic planning for tribal must consider their cultural and social values so that mindless pursuit of crass economic greed does not ruin their abode.
• They should be protected from the greed of the market which could prove very detrimental to the existence of tribal people.
Political : political empowerment today is the key to development of any community. A community’s development is directly proportionate to its political clout. Though Jharkhand carved out considering the overwhelming majority of tribal population this state has. The state is run by tribal representatives but tribal welfare has not taken off as it was expected.
Even after more than 60 years of the independence, the political clout of tribal population is far from established. There have been some good tribal leaders but as a political force, they are still to register their arrival. In absence of any effective and strong political clout their political and social exploitations have only increased. Their voices even today remains unheard of and their grievances unaddressed. The kind of offensive is being carried out in tribal areas of Chhattisgharh, Odisha, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh by central and state forces in the name of containing Maoist extremism points out to this very fact. The lopsided development has given rise to the discontent and disenchantment among tribal population.
So, apart from specific planning for tribal population keeping in mind their specific needs and requirements, their socio-cultural values, the effective implementation of these are of utmost importance. Like in rest of India, even in tribal areas, schemes exist only on papers. Effective implementation of any plan is the backbone of any such scheme. But if some plans get implemented in non-tribal India, the same remains unimplemented in the tribal reasons due to lack of any regards for the upliftment of tribal people.
Benedict Damor
Secretary
Adivasi Chetna Shikshan Seva Samiti
District Jhabua Madhyapradesh
09425413600
email. acsssjha@hotmail.com