A timely brain-storm on tribal people’s rights at ASU

Issues of tribal development, integration and autonomy have confronted the Indian society right from the time of British rule in the country. The complexity of the Indian tribal population made the task of integration and autonomy even more difficult. Ethnic tribal sub-nationalism posed serious challenges and hampered the progress of the communities over time.

To address the issue, the Rotaract Club of Apeejay Stya University – Gurugram, in association with Tribal Rights Forum, India, organised a webinar on “Tribal Rights” under Project Eklavya.

The webinar on Tribal Rights was held on July 12.  Anurag Tiwari, Executive member, Tribal Rights Forum, Think India, was the guest speaker.

Tiwari talked about various tribes in India. He said the tribal community in general does not become friendly with people in urban areas due to years of oppression faced by the community. The government is still working on various aspects to ensure they live in peace and harmony.

He also emphasised on their loss of control over natural resources, lack of education, displacement and rehabilitation, problems of health and nutrition and erosion of identity.

Talking about the legal provisions with regards to development of the Tribal community, he said that there are legal safeguards and laws that are in place such as the PESA ACT, 1996 and the FRA ACT, 1996.

Dr. Vijay Kumar, Faculty Coordinator, NSS and RaCASUG said people living in urban areas should have adequate knowledge of the issues and challenges being faced by the tribal people in the country.

“Tribal people are living examples of what Gandhi ji once said ‘The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed.’ They take only that much from Mother Nature, what is sufficient for them and in return, they protect, preserve and conserve nature. They are the actual owners of forests, but today, their Jal, Jungle and zameen (water, forest and land) are in danger just because of some greedy human beings. Because of human greed, we are facing pandemics at very short intervals now.  It is high time we accept, appreciate and ensure the rights of tribals,” Kumar added.

“After attending the webinar I realised how important it is to understand and respect the life of tribal people. The speaker made us aware regarding the issues they face such as erosion of identity, lack of health and education facilities and rehabilitation problems. Furthermore, I also learnt that the Indian Constitution provides protection rights like the Forest Rights Act, 2006 which protects individual rights of tribal people. Therefore, it is necessary to have knowledge about rights and help them preserve their own identity, culture, tradition and habitat.  ” Archita Rath, a student of B.Tech Biotechnology who is also the Secretary of the RaCASUG said.

President, RaCASUG, Shanika Rana added, “The webinar enlightened us about the problems the tribal folk face, the political and social exclusion they go through in their everyday lives. The continuous decrease in forest land endangers their way of life, which makes them helpless.”

 Vibhuti Verma, Treasurer, RaCASUG believes that tribals are an integral part of our country, and most people don’t give them the requisite appreciation and the pride of place they deserve in our country. “The event was absolutely needed to know the challenges faced by tribals, and how important it is to treat them equally,” she said.

“Due to years of oppression faced by the tribal community they don’t easily get friendly with urban people.”

– Anurag Tiwari