constituent assembly of india debates (proceedings)- volume vii

3. PARTIALLY EXCLUDED AREAS -
The main feature of the Partially Excluded Areas is that they are not altogether excluded from the
scope of the Provincial Ministries like the excluded areas nor is the expenditure on them outside the
scope of the legislature. In fact the administration of the areas notably of the C. P. and Bombay has not
been appreciably different from the rest of the province and the Provincial Governments were in greater
or less degree opposed to their exclusion. It is in the Agency Tracts of Madras and Orissa and in the
Santal Parganas that a different system prevails. A brief account of the areas of each province follows: -
(a) Madras. - The partially excluded areas consist of the East Godavari Agency, the Polavaram taluq
of West Godavari Agency. The total area is 6,792 square miles and the total population 493,006 of which
about 278,000 are tribal, and 54,000 are classed as backward making a total percentage of 67.6. The
tribes inhabiting these tracts are Koya, Koya Dora, Hill Reddy, Dombo, Kondh and others. The tribes are
pretty backward on the whole and do podu (shifting cultivation) largely. Except manual labour they have
no non-agricultural occupations worth mentioning. There are special agency rules and save for certain
sections the Civil Procedure Code does not apply. Crime is scarce and the aboriginals are simple and
truthful. The mechanism of justice therefore needs to be a simple one.
There are no local self-governing bodies and tribal panchayats do not seem to be fit for work other
than the decision of petty disputes. The toddy palm plays a large part in the life of aboriginals. They have
suffered in the past through exploitation by moneylenders and landlords and incidents like the Rampa
rebellion have occurred in the areas. Licencing of moneylenders, as agreed by the Collector of West
Godavari, is probably a definite need of these parts in addition to the prevention of acquisition of land by
non-aborigines.
Yaws and malaria are very common in these parts.
(b) Bombay. - The partially excluded areas which are to be found in the districts of West Khandesh,
East Khandesh, Nasik, Thana, Broach and Panch Mahals cover an area of 6,697 square miles and contain
a population of 1,125,471 of which 663,628 or 58.9 per cent are tribals. The tribes are largely Bhil, Varli,
Kokna, Thakur and Katkari. In 1935, the Government of Bombay were not in favour of exclusion of any
area except the Mewasi Chiefs Estates and the Akrani Mahal in the West Khandesh District on the ground
that the administration of these areas was all along carried on in the same manner as the other tracts
and that there were local self-governing institutions in the areas. The Akrani Mahal in the Satpura Hills is
an almost purely Bhil area and probably the one with the least contact with the plains.
In 1937, the Government of Bombay appointed Mr. D. Symington to conduct a special enquiry into
the conditions prevailing in the aboriginal areas. Mr. Symington pointed out that the local boards were
largely or even exclusively run by non-Bhil elected members and opined that it was not a mere question
of providing seats for the hill tribes but that these people were not sufficiently educated and advanced
either to use their votes sensibly or to produce from among themselves enough representatives capable
of looking after their interests intelligently on local boards. "They are not only illiterate but also ignorant
of everything outside their daily run. They are contemptuous of education which they regard as a
degrading and senseless waste of time. They have more faith in witch-doctors than in pharmacopoeia.
They live near the border line of starvation. They are inveterate drunkards. It was not surprising that
they take no interest in the local boards elections or local board administration." He also expressed the
opinion that the salvation of the aboriginal lay in pro-tecting him from exploitation by the moneylenders
who were gradually depriving him of his land, and stopping the drink habit. Giving evidence before us, he
reiterated the view that elections would be completely useless so far as these people were concerned.
Among the Thadvi Bhils (Muslims) there is a Sub-Judge. Among the half dozen graduates from the
Bhils there is Mr. Natwadkar, the M. L. A. from West Khandesh and there is a lady from the Panch