Living on the Margins. Minorities in South Asia - EURAC
Living on the Margins. Minorities in South Asia - EURAC
Living on the Margins. Minorities in South Asia - EURAC
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Tribal Land Alienati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> Maharashtra:<br />
Legality, Illegality and Praxis<br />
Pradip Prabhu<br />
The Tribal People of Maharashtra<br />
Maharashtra has <strong>the</strong> sec<strong>on</strong>d largest tribal populati<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> country next <strong>on</strong>ly to that of<br />
Madhya Pradesh. The tribal people, who number 8.58 mili<strong>on</strong>s, c<strong>on</strong>stitute 8.9% of <strong>the</strong><br />
state’s populati<strong>on</strong>. The major tribal communities are <strong>the</strong> Bhils, G<strong>on</strong>ds, Mahadev<br />
Kolis, Warlis, Koknas and Thakars, while <strong>the</strong> Katkaris, Kolam and Madia G<strong>on</strong>ds are<br />
classified as primitive tribes. 19 o <strong>the</strong> 47 ST communities have a m<strong>in</strong>iscule populati<strong>on</strong><br />
of less than 1,000. The geographical distributi<strong>on</strong> of <strong>the</strong> major tribal communities is<br />
presented <strong>in</strong> Table below<br />
Table 1<br />
Name of tribe Total populati<strong>on</strong> % of tribal Geographical locati<strong>on</strong><br />
(<strong>in</strong> lakhs)<br />
populati<strong>on</strong><br />
Bhil 18.18 21.2 Nandurbar, Dhule, Nashik<br />
G<strong>on</strong>d 15.54 18.1 Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Wardha, Nagpur,<br />
Bhandara, G<strong>on</strong>dia, Yavatmal<br />
Mahadev Koli 12.28 14.3 Ahmednagar, Thane, Nashik, Buldhana<br />
Warli 6.27 7.3 Thane, Nashik, Mumbai<br />
Kokna 5.72 6.7 Thane, Nashik<br />
Thakar 4.88 5.7 Raigad, Thane, Nashik<br />
Source: Collated from Census of India 2001<br />
Though present <strong>in</strong> every district, six districts account for 54% of <strong>the</strong> tribal populati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
officially called Scheduled Tribes. 1 The hilly tracts of <strong>the</strong> western Sahayadri range<br />
(Nandurbar, Dhule, Nashik, Thane and Raigad districts); and <strong>the</strong> Satpuda and<br />
Mahadeo hill ranges <strong>in</strong> central G<strong>on</strong>dwana (Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Bhandara,<br />
Nagpur, Amravati and Yavatmal districts) are c<strong>on</strong>sidered <strong>the</strong> traditi<strong>on</strong>al homelands of<br />
<strong>the</strong> tribal people. Nandurabar has <strong>the</strong> highest c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong> of tribal people, while<br />
Thane district has <strong>the</strong> highest populati<strong>on</strong>. The district-wise distributi<strong>on</strong> is given <strong>in</strong><br />
Table 2.<br />
Table 2<br />
District ST populati<strong>on</strong> of total<br />
district (lakhs)<br />
ST as %age of total<br />
district populati<strong>on</strong><br />
1 Nandurbar 8.59 65.53 5<br />
2 Gadchiroli 3.72 38.31 8<br />
3 Dhule 4.44 25.97 3<br />
4 Nashik 11.94 23.92 7<br />
5 Yavatmal 4.73 19.26 4<br />
6 Chandrapur 3.75 18.12 1<br />
7 G<strong>on</strong>dia 1.96 16.36 Nil<br />
8 Thane 11.99 14.75 10<br />
9 Amravati 3.56 13.68 2<br />
10 Wardha 1.54 12.49 Nil<br />
No. of Blocks<br />
scheduled<br />
170