Question

how did the forest act destroy the tribal people (adivasi )

Answer 1

India is land of nearly 10.4 million tribes which constitutes 8.6% of its total population and spread over 15% of its geographical area. Tribe has very close relation with the forest and their life and sustenance is harmonized with available forest resources. The ongoing pursuit for economic development and market pressure on government have forced policy-makers to convert forest land into large corporations which again push away the indigenous people from their soils. Since the colonial period the forest policies jeopardized the tribal's rights over the forest and ignored their voices during framing the laws. In the colonial period the legal and policy instruments transferred the right over forests from communities' hand to government's hand. The post colonial law has provided a dignified status to tribals but it will not be able to resolve tribal people's human rights and livelihood issues without similar or greater advancement in law and administration in other areas such as land acquisition, development – induced displacement and political autonomy. Government and our policy makers should not ignore the importance of tribals and rights should be given to the latter by proper implementation of the law. Introduction: Tribes, also known as aboriginal communities/indigenous people/Adivasi/Janjati/Schedule Tribes, are residing in forests since time immemorial. There are nearly 10.4 million tribal people residing on 15% of total Indian geography and constitutes 8.6 % of total Indian population. Forests and tribals are culturally and traditionally linked to each other. Tribals have been living in the forest ecology and that has shaped their life and the society they presently have. Most of them live in close proximity of forest and depend on the forest for their livelihood and sustenance. Their entire existence evolves around the forest as they evolve in these woodlands and extract prerequisites like clean water, air, food, medicines, shelter, and even recreational retreats from these forests. The tribals get food from the forests by shifting or settled cultivation, apart from picking varieties of edible and herbal roots, tubers, creepers, fruits, leaves. Along with that tribals extracts varieties of minor forest produce (MFP), which includes fodder and grasses, raw materials like bamboo, canes and leaves, gums, waxes, dyes and resins and several forms of food including nuts, wild fruits, and honey. National Commission on Agriculture (1976) has classified MFP as i) Fibres and flosses, ii) Grasses (other than oil producing), bamboo, reeds, and canes, iii) Oil seeds, iv) Tams and dyes, v) Gums, resins and oleoresins, and vi) Leaves (Prasad, 2011). Forests are an integral part of tribal social life, because its importance is not only economic but also social, psychological and religious. Tribes worship the trees, bushes and animals, which dwell in the forests, as totem and believe that their gods and ancestors' spirits reside in the forest. So they never want to deplete it but conserve it through their traditional conservative methods. The symbiotic relationship between forest and tribes was acknowledged and crystallised by the customary right over forest produces. Regarding the relationship of tribals with the forest, the Committee on Forests and Tribal in India (1982) stated that "they are not only forest dwellers but also for centuries they have evolved a way of life which, on the one hand, is woven around forest ecology and forest resources, on the other hand, ensures that the forest is protected against the degradation by man and nature" by evolving their own unique and conservative systems. If we look at the tribal's distribution in India we can classify their concentration in three groups i.e. (i) NorthEastern Region (NER) which includes Arunachal