constituent assembly of india debates (proceedings)- volume vii

punctuated by disorder and even rebellion until special and adequate protection was given. In the fringe
areas, such as Manbhum, where the non-aboriginals are in a majority, the aboriginal element would
probably have been driven from the land long ago but for the protection given by tenancy laws.
........The fate of the aboriginal where he has been unprotected has usually been to lose his land........"
In the Santhal Parganas, legislation since 1855 has been mainly by means of special regulations framed
by the Governor-General-in-Council. The main function of these regulations was to regulate inter alia the
agrarian law, the constitution of courts and their procedure, money lending and the village police. Except
in the most important cases the jurisdiction of the High Court was excluded and judicial procedure
simplified. In the Kolhanpir of the Singhhum District also, the Civil Procedure Code was replaced by
simplified rules but generally speaking, the laws of the rest of the province operate in Chota Nagpur. For
a detailed account, the Factual Memorandum of the Provincial Government may be referred to (pages
97-98,Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas - I). Since 1937, section 92 (2) of the Government of India
Act has been made use of to frame some special regulations notably for the Santhal Parganas.
The population of Chota Nagpur and the Santhal Pargnas is rather mixed and except in the Ranchi
District, the Singhbhum District and the Santhal Parganas, the tribal population are in a minority. In their
Factual Memorandum, the Bihar Government have pointed out that a comparison between the figures of
1941 and 1931 census shows that there is room for doubting the accuracy of the figures of the 1941
census. Recently an agitation has been started for the formation of a separate Chota Nagpur Province on
the ground that this land is the land of the aboriginal residents who are distinct from the inhabitants of
the plains in many ways. Taken as a whole, the tribals form only 45.6 per cent of the total population of
the Partially Excluded Areas and in Chota Nagpur they constitute 44.2 per cent of the population. Only in
Ranchi (70 per cent), Singhbhum (58.4 per cent) and Santhal Parganas (50.6 per cent) are they in
anything like a majority. The creation of a separate province is a matter outside the scope of our enquiry
and we do not find that this is in fact necessary for the satisfactory administration of the tribals.
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* Now in Orissa
* Reference to pages is to pages in the original report
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(g) United Provinces. - The partially excluded areas are the Pargana inhabited by the Jaunsari
tribes in the north and the portion of the Mirzapur District below the Kaimur Range inhabited by mixed
tribes of Chota Nagpur and Central India. The area is 483 sq. miles in the Dehra Dun District and 1,766
sq. miles in the Mirzapur District. The total population of both areas is about 200,000.
The Jaunsar Bawar Pargana forms the watershed between the Jumna and the Tons. The country is
hilly and offers little land for cultivation. It appears that most of the cultivable land is held by Brahmins
and Rajputs and that the Koltas (Scheduled Caste) are debarred from possession of land according to the
village Wazibul-arz and occupy practically the position of serfs. Though the great majority of the people
are Hindus, polyandry and special systems of divorce are in vogue since ancient times. Although the area
is under the criminal jurisdiction of the High Court a simplified system of criminal, civil and revenue
administration is followed and except in Chakrata Cantonment, regular police are not employed. For civil
law, the Commissioner, Meerut, acts as a High Court. The Excise and Opium Acts have not been
extended to the area and opium cultivation is permitted. There is great illiteracy in the area and the
administration will have to be suited to the lift of the inhabitants. In Khat Haripur Bias at the foot of the
hills however conditions are different and approximate to those in the plains. The Khat Haripur Bias
Tenants Protection Regulation of 1940 has afforded some protection to the tenants. The Provincial
Government are of the view that this Khat should be included in the Dehra Dun Tahsil. Though the area