TRIBALS – 2007 - Indian Social Institute

Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh Police is on high alert to foil the Maoist plan of an economicblockade of Bastar and Sarguja during the forthcoming week. Fearing violence during theblockade, additional security personnel have been deployed in various districts. (Indian Express25/6/07)CPI demands end to tribals' problems (6)Bhubaneswar : The CPI's Koraput committee on Wednesday staged a dharna in front of the StateAssembly and demanded immediate Government intervention to put an end to the problems ofthe poor tribal people. They alleged that even though their home district is full of naturalresources like land, water and forests, political leaders and corrupt officers have exploited itstribal population over the years. The members demanded a CBI inquiry into the group clash thatoccurred at Kerkenda under Borigumma block, in which a poor tribal Trilochan Ganda was killedin April. According to them, Jeypore Sub-Collector had directed 50 beneficiaries to takepossession and get benefit from the cashew fencing that borders Kerkenda village as per theOrissa Scheduled Area Transfer of Immovable Property case No-8/2006. His direction was alsoupheld by the High Court while disposing of the writ petition (civil) No-7022/2006. Although it wasgiven to the beneficiaries by duly constituting the village committee on December 9, 2006,surprisingly it was given to all the villagers on April 8, 2007 in the presence of the Sub-Collector,Borigumma Tehsildar and Circle Inspector of Borigumma, which resulted in a group clash leadingto Trilochan's death. They demanded immediate resettlement and rehabilitation of the tribalpeople in the forest land. Moreover, they demanded that the Dorua community residing inKoraput be declared tribal with immediate effect. (Pioneer 28/6/07)C’garh tribals still beyond growth loop: Report (6)Raipur, June 28 : The Chhattisgarh Human Development report, recently awarded the prestigiousHuman Development Award of the United Nations, has revealed that little has changed for theinhabitants of the state’s tribal districts who continue to be engaged in traditional employment.The report, commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme and published in2005, said there was urgent need to address the economic situation as an overwhelming majorityof the population of tribal dominated districts continued to be engaged in traditional employment.The report revealed that 78 per cent of the rural households were farmers. Of them, only 1.5 percent were familiar with modern agricultural practices like use equipment, chemical fertilisers andHYV seeds. It was suggested that modern methods of cultivation should be introduced whilethere should be public-private partnership to develop irrigation resources in such areas as thebulk of land under cultivation in the districts remained dependent on monsoons. This dependencealso led to forced migration as a part of the population living in these villages relocated every yearin search of work. The report revealed that despite the presence of companies and public sectorundertakings like the National Mining Development Corporation, which carried out mining andquarrying activity in tribals areas, the income generated did not go to the rural population. “Theper capita income of many districts seems to be high, but it may not necessarily reflect thesituation on the ground,” the report said. Giving an example the report said after subtracting theincome from mining and quarrying, the per capita income in Korba district dropped to nearly half,from Rs 33,763 to Rs 17,116, effectively bringing Korba down to fifth position from the firstposition on the per capita income list. The same was the case with Dantewara district where theper capita income drops from Rs 12,060 to Rs 9,133 per annum if income from mining andquarrying was removed. The first ever Human Development Report prepared by the state alsorevealed that the tribal districts of the state also witnessed an alarmingly high number of infantmortalities. While the state infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births was recorded at 73 in 2003,the scenario was grim in the tribal-dominated districts of Bastar (104), Korea (103), Rajnandgaon(112), Kabirdham (96) and Kanker (86). “The high infant mortality rate indicates poor healthservices and facilities which warrant immediate Government intervention in the health sector,” thereport concluded. (Indian Express 29/6/07)VHP looking, tribal facing cow slaughter charges shot by MP cops (6)BHOPAL, JULY 3: A tribal, accused of suppressing information about an incident of cowslaughter, was shot dead by a police constable in Jhabua district on Monday evening. Thirty-year-