TTG Study

A study on “Impacts of External ‘Developmental Projects’ on the Threatened Tribal Group (TTG) Communities in Maharashtra”

 Introduction -Who Are Tribals?

The Tribal community is an important component of the forest ecosystem. They have a multidimensional relationship with populations of organisms for adaptation within their habitat. Their historic association with the forest through the ages has made the Tribals an important link in the jungle. They are also referred to as Adivasi, which means the original inhabitants of the land.

Defining a Tribe:

Indian Constitutional definition – “Scheduled Tribes means such Tribes or Tribal communities or parts of or groups within such Tribes or Tribal communities as are illustrated in the Scheduled Tribes Order under Article 342.”- There is no definition of the Tribe in the Indian Constitution.

Characteristics of the Tribe:

From the definitions provided by eminent scholars, the following characteristics of Tribe can be noted.

1. A Tribe is a group of families

2. Each tribe has a clan name

3. Members of a tribe speak a common language or dialect

4. Members of a tribe reside in a common territory

5. Members of a tribe observe taboos related to marriage

6. Members of a tribe have a common occupation

7. Members of a tribe have a well developed system of reciprocal exchange

8. A tribe has a common culture

9. Members of a tribe work together during times of war

Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs):

Among the Scheduled Tribes, there are some tribes who are more marginalised than others. They have been classified as Primitive Tribal Groups and are characterised by:

1) A pre-agriculture level of technology

2) A stagnant or declining population

3) A very low level of literacy

4) A subsistence level of economy

5) Geographical isolation

6) Distinctive culture

7) Shyness of contact with the community at large

8) Extreme level of poverty

9) Hunting and food gathering

PTGs are spread over 17 States / UTs and are 75 communities in number. Their total population is 24, 12,664 (as per 1991 census). There are 47 tribes in Maharashtra and out of them three tribal groups have been categorized as Primitive Tribal Groups. They are Kolam, Madia and Katkari (Kathodi). These PTGs are concentrated in the following districts- Madia in Gadchiroli district, Kolam in Yavatmal and Chadrapur district and Katkari in Thane and Raigad district. Their total population is 433483 as per 1991 census. PTG communities value community life and ownership. Their distinctive culture enables them to remain close to nature and have a well developed system of reciprocal exchange as well as a customary dispute resolution system.

PTG communities have a lot of strength but development projects have and are currently destroying their lives. Development projects are established in the core of forest because most minerals (raw material of Industries) are found there. The communities living in these habitats are thrown out of their territories and forced to give up some of their traditional values. Policy makers, NGOs, and activists are trying to main stream their development. This adds additional pressures and has threatened their survival and livelihood. Hence, we call them Threatened Tribal Groups (TTGs).

In the 21^st century, India became a developed country because it signed the Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalization (LPG) Policy. This has spurred development projects all over the country. Wherever there are development projects there is also displacement. Maharashtra is an industrialist state and industrialists are known to exploit natural resources. Mines, as well as hydroelectric and irrigation projects are the largest source of displacement and destruction of habitat. Other major sources are super thermal and nuclear power plants, industrial complexes, SEZs (special economic zones) as well as military installations, weapons, testing grounds, railways, roads and mega highways. Some of the larger effects of displacement include desecration of ancestral sacred zones, graves, and temples, scattering of kinship groups and family systems, disorganization of informal social networks that provide mutual support, and the weakening of self-management and social control. The disruption of trade and market links between producers and their customer base (and systems of exchange and barter) are interrupted and local labor markets are dispirited by displacement. “Nearly 85.39 lakh Tribals have been displaced since 1990 on account of some mega project or the other, reservation of forests as National Parks etc. Tribals constitute at least 55.16 percent of the total displaced people in the country” (Old Drift of National Tribal Policy-NDA Govt.). This statistic shows how many Tribals have been displaced but does not show how many TTGs are included. In fact, there are no statistics available for the TTG community because no one distinguishes them from other Tribal communities. If separate data is not available then what is to become of their rehabilitation and resettlement? The Land Acquisition Act in 1894 holds the state liable for cash compensation. This legitimizes the gross injustice and social violence in reducing rights and interests into claims and complex systems that lead to monetary compensation .The Act only recognizes individuals and not the collective or community rights and hereditary usufruct rights.

Objective of the Study

•         To understand external forces affecting Tribal areas.

•         To understand the impact of external forces on the TTG (Threatened Tribal Group) community specifically.

Hypothesis of the study

•         ‘TTG communities have become more vulnerable or threatened because of outside forces like big development projects.

•         All of the Natural resources are becoming threatened.

Table: What's Happened With the Land?

ð     58% of the population had land earlier. 71% of the people that had land earlier still have their land. 28% of the population had their land acquired by the government or private companies.

ð     Most of the tribal communities lost their land without receiving compensation. Only the Thakar tribe received compensation because they had land ownership documents. Their compensation was in the form of rupees which holds no value to them.

ð     The TTG communities who lost their land through development projects didn’t receive any compensation because they have no legal proof of land ownership.

ð     50% of the Katkari lost their land through the ‘Murbe Dam’ development project without receiving any kind of compensation because they had no legal proof of land ownership.

ð     It is easy for outside forces and development projects to displace the TTGs because…        

1) The TTG communities don’t have individual ownership. Community ownership is a core part of their culture.

2) They are very close to nature; therefore they don’t look at land as     a valuable asset for them.

     3) They don’t have legal records for the land they cultivate.

4) Most TTGs are illiterate and are taken advantage of. If someone were to ask for their land ownership documents they would hand it over without any question.

[ TTG communities are more vulnerable than other tribal communities because they are easily exploited from outside forces.

Table: Is the Forest decreasing?

ð     91% of the Tribal population believes that the forest is gradually decreasing.

ð     The forest is decreasing because most of the natural resources and minerals that are found in the core of the forest area are being exploited. It is also decreasing because the Tribal areas are highly exposed.   

ð     A lot of minerals are found in the den of the forest area which makes it an ideal location for development projects.

ð     TTGs are more affected by development projects than other Tribal communities because of their deeply rooted attachment and association with nature and the forest.

ð     When development projects enter Tribal habitats those communities may lose their land or their access to NTFPs but when development projects enter TTG habitats, those communities lose their whole life.

ð     Development projects often pollute water, dry up wells, and destroy livelihood sources of nearby communities.

[     When development projects occur in Tribal areas the implementers of these projects are not thinking about the Tribal community’s perspective. These people or policy makers think they can rehabilitate the Tribal communities with monetary compensation or employment opportunities.

[      “It has been pointed out that a large majority of those displaced belong to poor, deprived classes. Almost 40% of those displaced by dams belong to the Scheduled Tribes (Government of India, 1990, SC .ST Commissioner’s report; Kothari, 1995) -Based on the figures quoted by Dr. Saxena, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, in a meeting on land acquisition, Delhi, January, 1999.

Conclusions and Overall Analysis

@     Tribal and TTG population is gradually increasing but their life expectancy is decreasing. There are far less people found in the age category of above 40 years.

@     Male and Female ratio is fairly equal among the TTG vis-à-vis other Tribal communities. Other Tribal communities discriminate based on gender like the mainstream population but TTGs do not.

@     Not a single person from a TTG community has received a higher education.

@     TTG’s are involved in NTFP and agriculture. They are into natural farming and their food requirement is filled from the forest and the land they cultivate. Land is the main source of livelihood among other tribes because they are moving towards more profitable agriculture and are into cultivating cash crops like cotton.

@     TTGs fall under the BPL (Below Poverty Line) list. Their annual income is within the Rs.5, 000 to Rs.10, 000.

@     A Tribal economy is based on the exchange or barter system, and gives less importance to cash. Outside forces and influences from mainstream society have pushed these communities into cash economies which make them work as labor.

@     The Kolam community is more marginalized than other tribes in the area because the nearest forest to them has totally diminished. The Kolam have very few livelihood sources for their survival and the forest is rapidly decreasing because of coal mining. ‘Kumbharkhani Coal Field Limited’ is the coal mine in the area established in ‘Ghonsa’ village. This coal mine is only 1 and half km from the TTG settlement. The presence of the coal mine causes Kolam to face many livelihood problems.

@     The Gond tribe is in Yavatmal; their main source of livelihood is agriculture. 50% of people are involved in NTFP+ labour and their main interest is harvesting NTFPs for the market purpose. Tendu leaves are the main NTFP in this area.

@     Katkari tribe doesn’t have land. They all work as wage labourers, agriculture labourers, labourers on construction sites, farm labourers or brick makers because they lost all of their land under the ‘Murbe Dam’ development project.

@     The Thakar tribe used to mainly be involved in agriculture and NTFP, but when the development project was established in their area, all the agricultural land and their habitat was displaced forcing them into agricultural labour on other people’s land.

@     The NTFP scenario in the tribal area of Maharashtra is changing radically. Forest degradation happened very fast because of outside forces and development projects that entered the core of the forest area and exploited its resources. Therefore the availability of NTFPs has become a crucial problem for TTGs vis-à-vis other Tribal communities. Different kinds of NTFPs are available in the TTG’s area but the quantity and accessibility is decreasing as the distance to the NTFPs increases day by day. Because of the commercialization of NTFPs, they are becoming more vulnerable through exploitation.  People have stopped harvesting for sustainability and have begun to harvest to make money. TTGs are unique in that they harvest for their survival and cultural needs.

@     Except the Madia tribe, all TTG’s are landless or marginal farmers, not a single tribe cultivates irrigated land. They don’t look at farming as profit oriented. They see farming as a way to sustain their food requirement.

@     A low percentage of tribal people have purchased land because their culture doesn’t emphasize individual ownership of land or forest. They don’t look at land as an asset for them. TTGs still maintain their indigenous culture. “Community Ownership” is part of their cultural values and is still followed.

@     Tribal communities are commercially exposed and becoming more main streamed. Land is a sustainable livelihood source for them but currently the closest land to them is governed by the forest department, revenue department, land lords, individual owners, mining companies, mega highways or any development projects.

@     The Madia and Gond Tribes from the Bhamragad area had land more than 20 years ago but most of the Madia at least do not have land regularization records. They do not have an individual land ownership concept. 

@     There are a lot of development projects going on in Tribal areas but no one thinks about the impact of these projects on the Tribal communities. When outside forces and development projects come in, they destroy the natural beauty and disturb the environment.

@     Presently, in some parts of Yavatmal and Raigad, the forest has totally diminished because of the development projects that run without concern for the local Tribes.

@     TTGs do not migrate very far from the place they live. They are more territorial in nature and have a close relationship and belonging with their habitat. Their socio-cultural and emotional bond with their homeland is very deep and therefore displacement is very painful for them. They maintain their original culture today.  

@     Most of the TTGs do not have land regularization proof which makes it very easy to displace them and makes them more vulnerable than other Tribal communities.

@     The Raigad area is highly exposed to development projects and outside forces.

@     Those Tribal communities that are more exposed have been forced to leave their original culture and have slowly adopted new cultures.

@     Hunting is a core part of a TTG’s life and provides nutritional survival by providing food. There is also a cultural aspect related to hunting and community hunting and sharing is part of their tradition. Displacement forces their food habits to change.

@     ITDP runs government schemes for the Tribals but most of the Tribal communities are unaware of that office and its schemes. Outreach of ITDP needs to be considered.

@     Government schemes are not really reached in the Tribal area and the areas that are reached the least are where the TTG communities live.

@     A very low percentage of TTGs benefit from government schemes. Most of the government schemes are not appropriate for their development.  ex. ‘Oil engine scheme’ government provides the oil engines on a 100% subsidy basis.

@     In general, the attitude of the government officers toward TTG communities is not good.

ð     Dams are the single largest cause of displacement accounting for about 75 to 80% of the total displacement. This means about one lakh 64 thousand to 4 crores persons have been displaced by dams since independence.

Recommendations

ð     TTG communities are different from other Tribal communities in the state and there is a need to look at them differently.

ð     Each state government should give special attention towards TTG communities (look at B.D. Sharma recommendations about PTGs).

ð     All the government schemes need to be reformed according to TTG (state wise) needs.

ð     Establish TTG ownership rights on the forest and forest produce because TTG communities are highly dependent on these factors for their survival. Their entire life (socio-culture and economic) is associated with the forest. We will lose the TTG communities if the forests all disappear.

ð     Resettlement policies need to recognize displaced TTG populations and treat them differently than other Tribal communities.

ð     Ensure that displacement is avoided, and when unavoidable, is carried out of TTG settlements.

ð     Amendment to Land Acquisition Act which makes the state liable for cash compensation.

ð     Land-for-land (good cultivated land) needs to be provided instead of cash compensation.

ð     There is a need to urgently situate the debate and take action on displacement and resettlement in the wider TTG social-political context.

ð     Revision of the law to provide a remedy for the attitude towards displacement of the TTG communities.