Chapter 12 : TRIBAL LIFE IN INDIA

TRIBAL LIFE IN INDIA

The tribal communities represent an important social category of the Indian social structure, considered the original inhabitants of India's multiracial stock. A number of groups are still in primitive stage and they are very often referred to as "tribals", "primitives", "adivasis" and so on.

• According to the 1991 census, the tribal population was 67.76 million (almost equal to the population of Britain), constituting 8.8% of the total population.
• India has the second largest tribal population in the world, next only to Africa.
• Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee of the constitution, preferred the concept of "Scheduled Tribe" over "Adivasis" because it enumerates the tribes and hence has a specific meaning.
• They constitute the second largest group of the backward classes under the "unprivileged section" of the populace.

TRIBE: Its Other Equivalent Terms and Usages

The term "tribe" lacks a single standard denomination and is used indiscriminately.

• Scheduled Area and Scheduled Tribes Commissioner observes: "The term "tribe" is nowhere defined in the Constitution and, in fact, there is no satisfactory definition anywhere. To the ordinary man the word suggests simple folk living in hills and forests; to people who are a little better informed, it signifies a colourful people famous for their dance and song; to an administrator it means a group of citizens who are the special responsibilities of the President of India; to an anthropologist it indicates a special field for study of a social phenomenon. In their own way, all these impressions are correct. No standard term has been accepted to denominate the people who are classified as of tribal origin."
• S.C. Dube comments that "the term tribe is used indiscriminately."

• The Backward Classes Commission…