constituent assembly of india debates (proceedings)- volume vii

partially excluded areas of Orissa, we came across tribals who had not been anywhere beyond a few
miles of their village or seen a motor car or a railway train. By and large however we found that there is
a considerable demand for education and advancement among the tribal peoples and have no doubt that
within a short time they can be brought up to a satisfactory level, if development plans are vigorously
pursued.
8. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS -
To sum up: Both exclusion and partial exclusion have not yielded much tangible result in taking the
aboriginal areas towards removal of that condition or towards economic and educational betterment.
Representation of partially excluded areas in the legislature and in local bodies has been weak and
ineffective and is likely to continue to be so for some time to come. Education shows definite signs of
being sought after more and more but the poor economic condition of the aboriginal and the difficulty of
finding suitable teachers present problems which must be overcome before illiteracy can be properly
tackled. The great need of the aboriginal is protection from expropriation from his agricultural land and
virtual serfdom under the money-lender.
There are certain tracts like Sambalpur and Angul in the Orissa province which need no longer be
treated differently from the regularly administered districts. On the other hand areas like the Madras and
the Orissa Agency tracts still need a simplified type of administration which does not expose them to the
complicated machinery of ordinary law courts. Differences in social customs and practices among the
tribes also need to be kept in mind.
9. REPRESENTATION IN LEGISLATURES -
We have pointed out at the very outset that the tribals who live in non-excluded areas form part of
our problem and cannot be left out of account. In considering representation in the Legislatures we
would urge that the tribes should be treated as a whole as a minority and not separately. In this regard,
we would refer to a certain difference of opinion which exists among the parties interested. In Bombay
the view of the Ministers and others dealing with the problem was unreservedly in favour of providing
representation for the tribes as a whole by reservation of seats in a joint electorate. In Madras also a
similar view found fav our. In the Central Provinces, however, different views were expressed not only in
respect of the method of election but also about reservation, both by officials and by Ministers. Certain
district officials suggested that there should be nomination out of a panel submitted by district officials.
Mr. Grigson favoured a scheme of indirect elections by means of group panchayats. The general feeling
among these officials was that election was not likely in the present circumstances to produce suitable
representatives. Some point was given to this by the reply of Mr. Wadiwa, a Gond pleader, who gave
evidence before us, that he could not stand for election on account of the expense involved. The
Ministers on the contrary seemed to have no objection to elections but were strongly opposed to
reservation of seats in proportion to their population. Mr. Grigson also did not appear to favour
reservation though he was of the view that if reservation was made for the scheduled castes there was
no justification for not protecting the aboriginal similarly: "But once we start with reservation there is the
possibility of it becoming permanent." The Ministers considered that increased representation would be
provided by their scheme of demarcating constituencies without the evil of creating a separatist
mentality. "These tahsil areas will be delimited so that particular communities in particular areas will get
an effective voice. Just as particular wards in a municipality return only a particular class or community
of persons - some wards in Nagpur Municipality return only Muslim members - an Ahir ward or tahsil will
return only an Ahir, a Gond tahsil will return only a Gond and so on. In this way we want to give all the
sections of our people thorough and complete representation without whetting their communal appetite."
As regards the other tribals who are not found in compact areas, it is asserted that they are generally
dispersed in the province and not easily distinguishable from the other people. In Orissa reservation of "a
specific number of seats" in general constituencies is recommended but it is considered necessary that