TRIBAL ISSUES
By: Mr. Kamal Kishore Soan IAS
Introduction Racial Affinity Linguistic Affinity Religion Habitation & Settlement pattern Socio-economic life Financial Provisions in the Constitution What is to be done
The tribal population is found in almost all parts of the world. Prior to the introduction of the caste system, people were divided into various tribes. A tribe was a self-contained unit without any hierarchical discrimination.
In post-Independence period, all the tribal communities were grouped together as "Scheduled Tribes " under the constitution. The main criteria adopted for specifying communities as the " Scheduled Tribes" include: -
Tracing the historical background of the term " Scheduled Tribes" as used in the constitution, it may be stated that during the debate in the constituent Assembly,Sri Jaipal Singh had favored the use of the term "Adibasi" instead of " scheduled Tribes" . It was however, not accepted. Dr.B.R. Ambedkar explained the reasons -" The word 'Adibasi' is really a general term which has no specific legal de jure connotation. Where as the word ‘Scheduled Tribes’ has a fixed meaning, because it enumerates the tribes . In the event of the matter being taken to a court of law, there should be a precise definition as to who these Adibasis are." It was therefore, decided to enumerate the Adibasi under the term to be called "Scheduled Tribes". The term Adibasi literally means 'original settlers', 'earliest settlers' or 'autoch thones’. Archaeological evidences are numerous to indicate the existence of paleolithic culture in Singhbhum region and it is doubtful whether we can ascribe it to any of the communities living within the bound of the district at the present day. Attempts have been made to correlate the local Neolithic finds to the ancestors of the Mundari group of tribes; but, here too, the evidence is insufficient. It is known that from time to time various group of people have come and settled in Singhbhum, among whom it is difficult to single out the first comers in the time scale. In Singhbhum the Hos, the Bhumij , etc.,have the tradition of being the first settlers in the district . They claim that they first cleared the jungle and thus established KHUNTKATTI tenure rights. The general idea about the tribal is that they are somewhat a strange set of people living in the midst of the jungles completely isolated from the general Indian population. This picture is not correct, the tribals having long-standing economic and cultural ties with their non-tribal Naghbours.
The following castes or group of the Singhbhum district were notified as 'Scheduled Tribes ' under the Constitution of India,1950:-
Asur,Baiga,Bathudi,Bedia,Binjhia,Birhore,Birjia,Chero,ChikBarik,Gond,Gorait,Ho,Karmali,
Kharia,Kharwar,Khond,Kisan,Kora,Korwa,Lohara,Mahli,Ma,Paharia,Munda,Oraon,Paharia,Santhal,
Sauria,Paharia,Savar,Bhumij
Racial Afinity TOP Next Previous
Racially the tribes of Singhbhum are said to belong to a single stock, known variously as pre-Dravidian or proto -Australoid. Their general physical character is short to medium stature, dark complexion, wavy hair, dolichocephalic or long head and platyrrhine or broad nose.
Linguistic Affinity TOP Next Previous
Linguistically, the majority of the language belongs to Kolarian or Mundari branch of the austric family of languages. The language of the Hos, the Mundas and Bhumij have a high degree of similarity; the Santhali language ,though belonging to the same linguistic. Stock is slightly different According to some anthropologists like colonel Dalton, as well as later writers like S.C.ROY, the Hos, the Mundas and Bhumij originally belonged to a single tribes living in Chotanagpur plateau. Subsequently, they became differentiated in course of migration to different areas. Besides speaking their tribal mother tongue, these people also use Hindi, Bengali or Oriya in some areas.
Earlier, the tribals were classified as animist, but now the aboriginal population of Singhbhum is being gradually adopting the hierarchical system of Hindu castes. The Hos, living comparatively isolated for a long time, have as yet resisted this process, but with the rapid growth of communication and the development of mining centre, they are also moving in the same direction.
The essential features of tribal religion of this area may be summed up as follows :-
Belief in witch is very extensive among the Hos. There are professional witch finders, khonses, sokhas, who divine the name of the witch responsible for a particular case of disease or ill-luck. In 1838, in his famous dispatch Wilkinson mentioned that there must be spread of education to put down witchcraft and the institution of Sokhas who make divination and indicated some as the witch that led to her murder. He waned it to be declared a crime for any person to practice as a Sokha or for any person to employ a Sokha. But sokhaism and witchcraft have not yet been stamped out. There are still dozens of murders every year due to the belief in witchcraft.
Habitation & Settlement pattern TOP Next Previous
Except the kharias of Dhalbhum and the wandering Birhors, who live principally by hunting and collecting wild produce, the majority of the tribal communities, namely, the Hos, the santhals, the Bhumijs and the Mundas live a settled agriculture life hardly distinguishable from that of the Hindu agricultural castes living in the same region.
The village or hatu, is a single block of settlement or it may be divided into a number of hamlets (total or sahis ) situted within the village boundary. The size of the village settlement varies from twenty to even more than two hundred houses.
The pattern of the houses of these people has undergone considerable change. Formerly, the houses were two sloped and thatched with wild grass walls being made of upright sal logs placed side by side. Now, the wild thatched grass has given way to paddy straw or country tiles (Khapra) and the walls are principally built of mud. The houses are kept clean by regular plastering with mud and cowdung solution; the walls are painted with broad bands of yellow, black or white, giving a very colorful appearance. Very often these broad bands are decorated with geometric drawings and occasionally animal figures. The colours are made from locally available materials; the red and yellow are obtained from red and yellow ochre; the white made from soapstone and the black from burnt straw. The houses have a rectangular ground plan with sizes varying from about 18 to 20 feet in length and 12 to 18 feet in width. The height at the top varies from 10 to 12 feet; in the dwelling houses, a partial portion wall divides the kitchen portion and the kitchen, which is also the sacred seat of ancestral spirits variously, termed as ading or bhitarghar.
In economic life they have to be dependent on a number of artisan communities for essential manufactures. Formerly, trade was conducted through barter but today all transaction take place through money, though with regards to local products circulated locally the barter system still prevails to some extent.
There are a number of weekly markets throughout the districts, where various local communities make theire purchase and sales while merchants from outside, mostly marwaris and muslims, have also came in to ply their own trade. These outsiders, known as 'Dikkus' in local parlance, have exploited socio-economically to the tribals.
With regard to agriculture, fragmentation of holding and pressure on land are gradually growing more acute.The population has now became divided into roughly four classes: the wealthy Mankis and Mundas, substantial cultivators, poor cultivators and landless labourers.
Socio-economic life of some tribals TOP Next Previous
The Birhors
The term Birhor literally means peoples of jungles (Bir-jungles, Hos- men) and this in very well with wandering hunters and collector's life, which these people lead.
Ethonologically, the Birhors belong to the same dark-skinned, short statured, long headed, wavy-haired and broad nosed race to which the Mundas, the Santhal, the Bhumis, the Hos and other allied tribes belong. Like other allied tribes the Birhors speak a language classed within the Mudari group in the Autro-Asiatic sub-family of language.
According to their economic habit the Birhors are classified into two groups -the wandering Birhors or Uthlus and the settled or Janghis. The Birhors of Singhbhum mostly belong to the former class. The settlement whether permanent or temporary are known as tandas which consists of usually half a dozen or more huts. The huts of the Uthlus are more improvised leaf sheds (Kumha) in form of low triangular tents with conical spaces. The individual house in a Janghi tanda is of a permanent nature. Tanda is comparatively more commodious with rectangular ground plan and two sloped roofing.
The uthlu Birhors do not practice any form of agriculture and are entirely dependent upon the collection of forest products for their living. Occasionally they also do a little bit of hunting with small basket traps. From the forests they collect edible roots, fruit, honey and barks of Baahinia Soondos for the manufacture of rope baskets. The Birhors are noted for their love of monkey’s flesh and skill in trapping these animals. They procure a staple food rice from the neighboring agriculturists in exchange of forest products. During the rainy season when they are unable to move about, they make wooden cups or bowls. Taking as a whole, dependence on forest products does not allow the Birhors to maintain local self-sufficiency.
In their social organization the following groups play most important roles: -
- The family
- The tanda or settlement group
Clan
The family is invariably of the simple type with father as its head. Tanda has a headman called naya who is also the priest of the groups. He has his assistants known as the Kotwar or Diguar. The members of the tanda group go out together for communal hunting, the most important of which is the monkey hunt or geri sendra.
The tribe is divided into a number of exogamous matrilineal clans, called gotras mostly named after some animal, plants, material objects, like :-
Indwar (fish),Khe (Grass),Gidh (Vulture),Golwa (Vegetable),Lakudchat (Spoon),Kerkett (bird),Toppe( basket),Singhpuria (Animal's horn),Hembrem (Paddy),Here Hembrem (rice),Ghuru Hembrem ( Cattle house ),Choli hembrem ( rice ),Lupur hembrem (rice bran),Savar (Iron rod),Hasda (sanwar tree),Savariya (wild grass ),Bhuiyan (bhuiyan cast),Andi (wildcat),Murum (stag)
A Birhor must abstain from killing, destroying, maiming, hunting, injuring, eating or otherwise using the animal, plant or other object that form his clan totem, or anything, made out of or obtained from it.
Marriage is considered indispensable for every Birhor. The different forms of valid marriage among Birhors are :-
Nam-Napam Bapala ( love Marriage ),Udra-Udri Bapala (elopement marriage),Balo-Bapala (intrusion marriage ), Sipundur Bapala (forcible annoitment of sindur), Singha Bapala (widow re-marriage), Hirum Bapala ( second marriage of man while the first wife is still alive ), Kirig Javai Bapala ( brought son-in-low marriage ), Golhat Bapala (marriage by exchange of mates from two families ), Bing Kaihi Bapala (a marriage without payment of bride price ), Sadar Bapala ( a regular by negotiation between the guardians )
The corpses of children and women dying in a child birth are buried. The magico-religious beliefs and practices are practically identical with those of the Hos. The Birhor’s whole life, economic,domestic and socio-political, is pervaded by his belief in super-naturalism. Typical Mundari deities like Sing Bonga (Sun God), Haprom (Ancestral spirits). Buru Bonga (Ancestral family spirits) rank highest in Birhor religion.Contact with Hindu neighbours has left some impression on the essential structure of their belief in super-naturalism. Some Hindu deities like Debimai, Kalimai and Mahadeb have been included in their pantheon.
The Khariyas :-
In Singhbhum the Khariyas are practically concentrated in Dhalbhum. In Dhalbhum the Khariyas settlements are situated mostly at the foot of the hills or sometimes even on hilltops. They are very shy of strangers and choose to live in isolated jungles. They seem to be slightly shorter in stature than the Mundas and are extremely platyrrhine, their average nasal index being 92. They are still in food gathering stage. They dig roots with the iron-tipped digger or Khonta. Compared to collection of vegetable products, hunting affords them with little regular supply of food. Fishing with simple basket is quite common. With rapid deforestation the Khariyas find it hard to maintain their living on mere collection of wild products. But as they have not yet been able to take settled agriculture or other fruitful occupation they lead a very precarious economic existence. Mortality rate of children is very high. Monogamy is most widely prevalent though polygamy is not tabooed. Laviration is practiced. The binding portion of Khariya’s marriage seems to be concentrated in the function of the bride and bridegroom mutually anointing the forehead with vermilion ( known as sindurdan ). Burial seems to be the approved method of disposing of the dead, though cremation is also resorted to at times.
The Mundas:
The Mundas are one of the ancient tribes and are believed to belong to the Kolarian stock. The Mundas of Singhbhum belong to the large Munda tribe of Ranchi plateau. In physical features, language, social organization, social customs and religious rites ,the Mundas resemble the Hos very closely.
The Mundas are essentially agriculturist people. Initially the ownership of land was on community basis. They cleared the virgin forest for their cultivation and the land became their Khuntkatti. Such lands were rent-free. In due course, various other form of land tenure system known as "Utakar, Chattisa" etc. emerged in which the rent was paid only for the year in which the land was cultivated.
With the passage of time, a number of free land holdings of the Mundas came under the zamindari system. The exploitation by the zamindars gave rise to discontentment among the Mundas.Despite protective land laws, the exploitation by zamindars continued which eventually resulted in Sardari movement. The Birsa movement of the late nineteenth century made the Government to review its land holding policy and enacted the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908. It specifically protected the rights and interests of the tribals. Subsequently, for the restoration of the tribal land, Land Regulation Act of 1969 was enacted. However, due to certain loopholes and operative defects in the Act, the alienation of the tribal land to the non-tribals continues. They also agitated over the loss of their forest resources due to the nationalization of the forest produces.
The mundas believe in Sing Bonga as the supreme deity. Besides, there are ancestral spirits, which are worshipped by each family for the purposes of getting good crops or for avoidance of sickness, calamities, etc. There are several religious functionaries. Deuari is the village priest. It is a hereditary position held generally by the eldest son. Deona is the medicine man who knows the magical techniques of treating sick persons. It is also a hereditary position. Deosi is another religious functionary who is skilled in curing people affected by witchcraft .
All through the year the Mundas observe several festivals and rituals associated with various agricultural activities. Some of the important festivals include Garam Dharam, Maghe, and Sarhul. Halchar Parab festival is observed on the first day of the month of Magh (Jan-Feb) with the ritual of ploughing for paddy. Munda year also begins from that month. During the month of Feb-March, Garam Dharam is worshipped. The whole village community participates in it. Maghe Parab is also observed during the full moon in Magh. It is post-harvesting festival. The festival continues for seven days, but the date of Morang-Maghe (four day) is most important. Bah also known as Sarhul, is celebrated in the month Phagun (Feb-March ). It is connected with the flowering of Sal tree. The dancing is comparatively quieter than in case of Maghe-Parab and no open breach of decorum is perceptible on this occasion. Karma Puja is performed during the month of May-June and is connected with weeding of paddy. They have also practically the same annual cycle of festivals as the Hos with the difference that whereas among the latter the Maghe Parab is more important, in the case of Mundas, it is Ba Parab instead. Tusu Parab is also observed with great fanfare in this area during Makar Sakranti.
The tradition panchayat, a form of self-government has been losing its importance. Ordinarily, each village has a Panchayat headed by a Pahan whose office is hereditary. Owing to the introduction of the statuary Panchayats the authority of the Pahan has been eroded to a great extent
The Santhals: -
The Santhals, like Bhils are believed to belong to the 'Pre-Aryan' period. They are the third largest tribe in India. Reformist Santhals are known as Safa-har, while the Santhals converted to Christianity called Um-hor. The Santhals speak Santhali language which has its own script known as 'Olchiki'. They are generally bilingual. Apart from speaking their Santhali mother tongue they also speak Oriya, Bengali and Hindi.
Santhals were formely engaged in collection of forest produce, hunting, fishing and shifting cultivation on hill slopes for their livelihood. But now they are mainly engaged in settled cultivation. A substantial number of them are landless labourers and seasonal migration plays a dominant role in their socio-economic life.
The polity of the Santhals is patriarchal. In each village there are fiveofficials.Distinct functions are assigned to each of them. The 'headman' is known as 'jogmanjhi'. His main duty is to look after the morals of boys and girls. ‘Pramanik’ and ‘assistant pramanik’ assist him. Nayak is a village priest and Gorait, a messenger. The majhithan is the usual place for communal talks and council meetings. There used to be a Pargana Council, which had jurisdiction over a number of villages. But now, there are hereditary Parganaits for each large district who preside over the Bir or Santhali High Court. Parganaits is the highest council recognized by the Santhals. It decides almost all sorts of disputes and its decisions are strictly followed.
With the introduction of Panchayati raj there has been some erosion in the authority of the traditional Santhali Panchayats. But they exercise considerable influence in socio-economic matters. The present system does not allow active participation of tribals in the management of their own affairs. As a result the agents of vested interests are forsaking the rights and privileges of the Santhals.
The Santhals observe several festivals. Soharae, the harvest festival is their most important festival. It is celebrated with lots of merry-making in the month of Paus (Dec-Jan) after the winter paddy is harvested. Baha is other important festival. Maghasin, Eroksin, Sakrat and Karam are other festivals. Bitlaha (excommunication) is an important form of punishment for promiscuitious relationship or incest.
The Oraons: -
The Oraons are believed to belong to the Dravedian stock. They generally speak Kurukh language. The Oraons mainly depend on agriculture and have believed to have first introduced plough cultivation in the Chotanagpur Plateau.
It has been observed that apart from minor diversification of occupations there has been rapid dispossession of land, forcing increasing number of them to become a labourer. In spite of protective land laws, a number of them have been rendered landless due to regular and irregular processes of land alienation. Money lending law has not been enforced and moneylenders continue to charge exorbitant rates of interest and fully exploit the tribal people.
The Hos: -
Hos, popularly known as Larka Kols, are a large group among the different tribal groups residing in the district.
For conducting communal worship on of the villagers, every Ho village has its priest or deuri. He offers prayer along with offerings of illi or rice beer and fowl. There is a concept of medicine men or deonas to counteract the evil influence of a malignant spirit. It is significant that whereas the deuri is invariably Ho, the deona in many cases does not belong to that tribe.
The Bhuiyas: -
According to local tradition the Bhuiyas are among the oldest inhabitants of Singhbhum. The Bhuiyas, like Bhumijs, are gradually becoming hinduised. At present among the Hinduised section employment of Brahman priest in marriage ceremony and funeral rites is considered essential. The cult of vaishnavism has influenced them to a large extent as among the Bhumijs.
Financial Provisions in the Constitution TOP Next Previous
Provisions related to economic development of Scheduled Tribes are mainly contained in Articles 275(1) and 339(2) of the Constitution. Article 275(1), first provison envisages provisions for grants-in-aid for meeting the cost of such schemes of development as may be undertaken by a state with the approval of Government of India for the purpose of promoting the welfare of its Schedule Tribes. In pursuance of this Article, provision of special assistance has been made to the states having Scheduled Tribe population. As per the provision, the grant is to be made against such specific schemes as are necessary for the welfare of Scheduled Tribe and are undertaken with the prior approval of the Union Government. But this is not done. But for this, implementing agencies/personnel only is not to be blamed.
For instance, in the East Singhbhum MESO Area, Rs. 87,14,000.00 was sanctioned as grant-in aid under Article 275(1) for the year 1997-98. But this was disbursed from the state capital on 25/12/97 and which was physically available only in the month of January. Similarly, under the ITDP (Integrated Tribal Development Project), the fund for the year 1997-98 was disbursed on 11/03/98 and reached to implementing agency in the next financial only. Last but not the least, the most important but not so glamorous office of the Tribal development Commissioner at Ranchi was kind enough to disburse money for the welfare of Scheduled Tribe allocated for the year 1997-98 in the first week of May 98.
Apart from these, the faulty selection of the activities adds another dimension in the poor performance. The selection of the activities and the fixation of the units as well as the cost per units are done by the state government. Some of these activities do not match with the local suitability, psychological receptivity of people and resource availability in the area. Bamboo plantation has never attracted the primitive tribes of this district, while bee keeping and leaf-plate making have made good impact. The primitive tribes do not have land enough to construct tanks for pisciculture, nor do they have the sedentary lifestyle for construction of check dams and utilize the water for agricultural purpose. In case of unit cost, it has been fixed without considering rate of inflation. For digging a well one needs approximately Rs.40,000.00, but the unit cost is Rs.26,700.00.
In case of Schedule Tribes, most of them have crossed the sustenance stage and now looking for economic progress through entrepreneurship. Nowadays, they are evincing more interest in cycle repairing, food processing, kiosk for shops etc.
Considering all such fact, if the district level programme Implementation Committee (PIC) desires to modify anything according to the local needs in the approved plan of the state government, at the most it can change the number of allocated units only in a particular activity within the monetary limit of the programme.
Due to all these constraints, the allocated fund gets stuck and fund for the next year is neither allocated nor sanctioned because the implementing agency fails to submit the utilization certificate since it has not spent the money within the prescribed time- limit.
What is to be done TOP Previous
The primitive tribal groups are still at the sustenance level. Food, shelter and clothing are still their priorities. It has been observed that some primitive tribes are still deprived of shelter despite the fact that the housing scheme has been in the vogue for so many years. Some of the primitive tribal families have not been allotted the houses under the IAY, just because they are residing over the forest land. In those cases, firstly, the Gair- masseur khan’s land has to be located and identified and subsequently the same has to be settled with the landless tribals. Thereafter houses should be built over the settled land. It requires a proper co-ordination among the Block Development officer, the Block Welfare officer and the Revenue Circle officer, as the B.D.O. looks after the IAY, the B.W.O. looks after the Welfare of the primitive tribe, while the C.O. looks into the matters related to location, identification and settlement/ allotment of Government land. So the better co-ordination among the B.D.O. the B.W.O. and the C.O. will ensure that the primitive tribes get the houses.
Earlier the guideline of IAY put more emphasis on the construction of ' pucca ' structure, which the tribals never preferred. For, they use to have mud plastering and painting (soharai and Kowhar) with earth colours on the walls at regular intervals according to the annual cultural cycle based on agricultural activities. Now the guideline has been relaxed and the construction of mud houses has been allowed.
Weekly bazars, popularly Known as haats, have been part and parcel of the tribal world- view. Hat is the place where not only the economic transaction takes place but socio-cultural activities also take place. Each Hat covers a number of adjacent villages. Every tribal of that particular area ensures that one attends that hat. Considering the purchasing power capability of the tribes, the essential good Viz. Food grain, kerosene etc. should be made available in these hats. The administration should also ensure the presence of doctors with sufficient amount of medicines in these hats, where more population could be covered. Again considering the fact that most of the doctors do not stay at their place of posting, this would ensure that people get the medical facility regularly.
Before planning of the programmes and selection of economic activities for the welfare and development of tribal population the government should give proper attention to the requirement of various tribal groups. For, the primitive tribal groups are still at the stage of sustenance and for them welfare programmes should continue. Instead of making the provision for construction of check dams, promotion of pisciculture and food processing etc. the activities like bee-keeping, leaf-plate making, basket and rope making should be promoted. On the other hand; the major tribes are looking for the greener pastures after crossing the threshold of sustenance. Now they prefer to take up the other types of activities, like cycle repairing, land leveling for agriculture purpose, tailoring, radio repairing etc. Now for then, develoment activities should get the precedence rather than welfare activities. And for the selection/ preference of activities, the district level PIC has to be accorded the power to do so in public interest.
The abysmal level of their economic progress does not motivate the poor tribals to send their children to schools. So the concept of residential schools is relevant and useful for this under privileged group. For, all the study expenditure incurred is borne by the government and the student gets an ample opportunity to get an exposure of the bigger world.
Tribal development has been a non-glamorous and low profile activity. It needs the personnel with fair amount of commitment and dedication. While filling the posts like tribal Development commissioner and MESO officers, the above mentioned criteria should be taken in to account and these posts should not remain vacant.