Constitution & Supreme Court

“While delivering the Foundation Day lecture, the Vice President asked that we shall first have to give up this hubris of considering tribes backward. Every tribe has a rich and living cultural tradition and we must respect them. He said it not only social courtesy to respect their cultural traditions but it is also our Constitutional obligation. He said as we are looking for ways of sustainable development, these groups can teach us lessons in sustainable development. [T]heir belief in the Nature remains one and firm. There can’t be a better example of Unity in Diversity.” – M. Venkaiah Naidu (Vice President of India) in the First Foundation Day Lecture of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) titled “Constitution and Tribes” (Press Information Bureau, 19 February 2019)
https://ncst.nic.in/sites/default/files/2019/Media/2.pdf
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=36256

eBook | Constitutional obligations towards communities “suffering from extreme social, educational and economic backwardness” and “untouchability” – Government of India

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Welcome to NCST – National Commission for Scheduled Tribes 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 arising out of age-old practice of untouchability and certain others on account of this primitive agricultural practices, lack of infrastructure facilities and … Read more

“Why India Needs Scheduled Tribes to Educate its Future Judges”: Adivasi rights and the the Indian constitution

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The rights of adivasis in the Indian constitution are not an act of benevolence to “mainstream and uplift them” but a recognition that the “mainstream” of Indian society has many streams that flow into it, each of them equally valid. | To read the full essay by Nandini Sundar, click here >> […] At the … Read more

Provisions for particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG): India’s Constitution guarantees justice “in tune with the customary law” of Scheduled Tribes

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“Primitive, geographically isolated, shy and socially, educationally & economically backwardness these are the traits that distinguish Scheduled Tribes of our country from other communities. Tribal communities live in about 15% of the country’s areas in various ecological and geo-climatic conditions ranging from plains to forests, hills and inaccessible areas.” – National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, … Read more

eBook | Tribal population displaced in the Narmada valley

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Ever since the Narmada Control Authority in its Action Taken Report permitted the raising of the Sardar Sarovar dam to 110.64 metres, the entire tribal belt in the Narmada valley came under the submergence zone. The scale of devastation during this monsoon will depend on the extent of rainfall here. | Read the full article … Read more