Schooling of Scheduled Tribes in India: Lessons from the indigenous people of Brazil – Odisha

Amarendra Das and I have visited a set of schools in the tribal villages of the Gajapati district of Odisha state (in India) early this year. Since these tribal communities …

Sacred forests and groves in the West Ghats – Goa, Karnataka & Kerala

Forests have been the lifeline for tribals and other forest dwelling communities since distant past. Communities have been setting aside certain patches of land or forest dedicated to a deity …

A constitution which guarantees: “The State shall not discriminate against any citizen” – The Sovereign Republic of India

Did the Constitution of India borrow ideas and many of its stand out features from the constitutions of other countries? Yes, after intense scrutiny, it turns out that our founding …

“Democracy and caste system can’t go hand in hand”: Paying attention to the enforcement of India’s 1989 act to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities against members of SCs and STs (Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes)

Hardly anyone seems to have paid attention to India’s dismal showing at the UN Human Rights Council’s universal periodical review when the latter alleged that India is “all words, no …

“Who are Scheduled Tribes?”: Clarifications by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes – Government of India

The framers of the Constitution took note of the fact that certain communities in the country were suffering from extreme social, educational and economic backwardness on account of the primitive …

“Adivasi”, “Tribals” and “Denotified tribes”: Usage in legal and historical records, in textbooks, scholarly papers and the media –  Classifications in different states

Government documents apply various labels besides “Scheduled Tribes” and “tribals”: Hill Tribes, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes, Forest Dwellers, Indigenous Communities, Aborigines, Backward Tribes, Backward Classes, Tribal Settlers, Original Settlers, Primitive …

“A historic opportunity of integrating conservation and livelihood rights of the people”: The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act – Reports & Articles

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is a result of the protracted struggle by the marginal and tribal communities of our country …

eBook | Adivasi: A definition coined in the 1930s and related information – World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

Adivasis is the collective name used for the many indigenous peoples of India. The term Adivasi derives from the Hindi word ‘adi’ which means of earliest times or from the …

eBook | Jawaharlal Nehru’s “Five Principles” for the policy to be pursued vis-a-vis the tribals

Jawaharlal Nehru [1889–1964, first Prime Minister of India] formulated the following “Five Principles” [Panchsheel] for the policy to be pursued vis-a-vis the tribals: (1) People should develop along the lines …