Syllabus
GS Paper 2
Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Context
What do the home lands of India’s ST communities look like? | Explained | The Hindu
Introduction:
In India, the Scheduled Tribes (STs) make up 8.6% of the population and are scattered across different states and union territories. Article 244 of the Indian Constitution plays a crucial role in governing these Scheduled and Tribal Areas.
What are Scheduled Areas?
- Scheduled Areas, which cover 11.3% of India’s land area, are home to various Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities, making up 8.6% of the country’s population.
- These areas are designated under two different schedules:
- Fifth Schedule includes 10 states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Himachal Pradesh.
- Sixth Schedule covers 4 states, such as Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
- Notably, in 2015, Kerala proposed to classify 2,133 habitations, five gram panchayats, and two wards in five districts as Scheduled Areas, pending approval from the Union government.
What are the Criteria for Identification?
- Neither the Constitution nor any law provides any criteria to identify Scheduled Areas. But based on the 1961 Dhebar Commission Report, the guiding norms for their declaration are:
- preponderance of tribal population,
- compactness and reasonable size of the area,
- a viable administrative entity such as a district, block or taluk, and
- economic backwardness of the area relative to neighbouring areas.
- No law prescribes the minimum percentage of STs in such an area nor a cut-off date for its identification.
- The 2002 Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Commission or the Bhuria Commission recommended considering areas with 40% or more tribal population according to the 1951 Census as Scheduled Areas.
Constitutional Provisions and Governance:
- Articles 244(1) provides for the application of Fifth Schedule provisions to Scheduled Areas notified in any State other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
- The Sixth Schedule applies to these states as per Article 244(2).
- Tribal Advisory Council: The President of India notifies India’s Scheduled Areas and the States with Scheduled Areas need to constitute a Tribal Advisory Council with up to 20 ST members.
- They will advise the Governor on matters referred to them regarding ST welfare.
- The Governor will then submit a report every year to the president regarding the administration of Scheduled Areas.
- Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) of 1996: It empowered the gram sabhas to exercise substantial authority through direct democracy, and stated that structures “at the higher level do not assume the powers and authority” of the gram sabha.
- Article 366(25): It only provides a process to define STs: “STs means such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this Constitution.”
Steps taken by the Government:
- Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 against Untouchability.
- Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
- Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996.
- Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
Concerns and Issues:
- Despite calls from Adivasi organizations, a considerable portion, accounting for 59%, of India’s Scheduled Tribe (ST) population remains excluded from the scope of Article 244 which deprives them of the rights safeguarded by laws that are applicable to Scheduled Areas.
- The lack of practical administrative units with a majority of Scheduled Tribe (ST) residents has prompted bureaucratic responses, resulting in calls for the removal of certain areas from Scheduled Areas.
- They are not entitled to the rights protected by laws like the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, and the Biological Diversity Act 2002.
- In 1995, the Bhuria Committee, constituted to recommend provisions for the extension of panchayat raj to Scheduled Areas, recommended including these villages, but this is yet to be done.
Way forward:
- All habitations or groups of habitations outside Scheduled Areas in all States and Union Territories where STs are the largest social group will need to be notified as Scheduled Areas irrespective of their contiguity.
- The geographical limit of these villages will need to extend to the ‘community forest resource’ area on forest land under FRA 2006 where applicable, and to the customary boundary within revenue lands made possible through suitable amendments to the relevant State laws.
- The geographical limits of the revenue village, panchayat, taluka, and district will need to be redrawn so that these are fully Scheduled Areas.
Source: The Hindu
Practice Question
Discuss the challenges and prospects for the effective implementation of policies and development initiatives in India’s Scheduled Areas, with a focus on ensuring the well-being and empowerment of Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities. (Answer in 250 words)