ISC SOCIOLOGY // TRIBES IN INDIA

1.Discuss any five government policies for the up liftment of tribals. [5]

1. Constitutional Provisions and Safeguards: Article 275 provides for the grant of special funds by the Union Government to State Government for promoting the welfare of Scheduled Tribes and providing them with a better administration. The Constitution of India prescribes protection and safeguards for Scheduled Tribes with the object of promoting their educational and economic interests.

2. Representation in Legislatures and Panchayat: Under Article 330 and 332 of the Indian Constitution, seats have been reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Lok Sabha and state Vidhan Sabhas.Following the introduction of Panchayati Raj, Suitable safeguards have been provided for proper representation” of the members of the Scheduled Tribes by reserving seats for them in the Gram Panchayats, Block Panchayats, District Panchayats etc.

3. Reservation in the Service: (i) Exemption in age limits,

(ii) Relaxation in the standard of suitability

(iii) Inclusion at least in the lower category for purpose of promotion is otherwise than through qualifying examinations.

4. Administration of Scheduled and Tribal Areas: The Union Government provides guidelines in regard to the administration of Scheduled Areas. It also provides necessary funds that are required to raise the standard of administration and for the improvement in the quality of life of the tribal communities.

5. Tribes’ Advisory council: The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the setting up a Tribes’ Advisory Council in each of the States having Scheduled Areas.

 

2. Describe any five types of economies of tribal India. [5]

ANSWER: Types of economies of tribal India:

Food gathering: Some of the tribes collect fruits, roots, berries, honey. Hunting and fishing also gets included here. The nomadic tribes like the Andamanese, Onge, Kadar, Kharia, Jarawa, Lodha, etc. practise hunting and food gathering. They practice subsistence economy and have a simple type of social organisation.

Permanent Settled Cultivators : The tribes like Oraon, Munda, Bhumij, Ho, Gond, Santhal, practice permanent settled cultivation. They practice wet cultivation through transplantation method and are unaware about modem means of cultivation and irrigation. They practice crop rotation. Some work as sharecroppers (Bhag-Khasi) and some as agricultural labourers. These landless agricultural labourers also practice seasonal migration to the neighbouring states.

Pastoralism: Some of the tribes rear buffaloes which is the focal point of their life and forms the economic base of their existence. They also practice cross breeding of animals. The Toda of the Nilgiri hills of South India and Bhotia of Almora practice pastoral economy. They rear buffaloes and cows; the milk and milk- products are exchanged to get the things for everyday use.

Shifting Hill Cultivators : Tribes such as the Gonds, the Nagas, Khasi, Savara, Garo practice this primitive form of cultivation by adopting ‘slash and bum’ method. It is known as Jhum cultivation by the Assam tribes and as Podu by the Gonds. A hilly forest area is selected for this purpose which is abandoned after three successive cultivating seasons as the soil loses its fertility. Different Kharif crops such like Bajra, Jowar, pulses, potato, tobacco, and sugar-cane are grown through this method.

 

Craftsmen : Some of the tribals practice their traditional crafts along with their main sources of subsistence. The Naga and the Khasi tribes are proficient in coloured handloom products. The Lohar are traditional blacksmiths. As they get only marginal profits in their traditional specialized crafts, they resort to other jobs.

3. Discuss how the cultural contact led to the changes in dormitories in tribal India.

ANSWER: The cultural contact with Hindus and conversion to Christianity has led to decay of tribal dormitories. The glamour of urban life and inferior treatment of dormitories by the outside people has led tribals to get detached from their own dormitories. Some of them secretly continue with them, but feel shy to admit it. A few dormitories of ‘Ghotul’ of Muria Gond have named their officers after village officers during British rule like Dewan, Tehsildar, Silledar. Some dormitories have adopted and assimilated new ways of social life.

 

The Christian missionaries also dissuaded tribal to dismantle the dormitories and to adopt Christianity. But such converted individuals feel a sense of deprivation and resentment. The influence of Christianity on dormitories is more dominant in north-eastern region. However, decay of dormitories without availability of any substitute has led to cultural breakdown and has invited a situation of anarchy. In the absence of the dormitories, the parent-child relationship has also got strained amongst the tribals.

 

4. Write an account on the geographical and racial classification of tribal India. [5]

ANSWER: he geographical classification of tribes as given by Guha is as follows :

North and North-Eastern Zone : The northern part includes tribes from Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Eastern Punjab, North Uttar Pradesh, e.g., Gaddis, Jads, Kinner, Pangwal and Jaunsari, Tharu, Bhoksa, Bhotia. The north-eastern zone of India includes,tribes of Assam, Manipur, Tripura, e.g., Nagas, Kuki, Khasi, Lushai, Garo, etc.

The Central or Middle Zone : It comprises of the plateaus and mountain belt between Indo-gangetic plain. It includes the tribes’like the Mundas, the Todas, the Santhals of Middle India and the Chenchu tribes of Western India.

The Southern Zone : It includes tribes of Andhra Pradesh, Coorg, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, etc. (Todas, Chenchu, Panyan, etc.)

The racial classification of tribes is as follows:

Proto-Australoid : The physical features of people are short to medium body structure, long and high head, broad and small face along with small flattened nose. It includes tribal of middle and central zone, e.g., Munda of Chota Nagpur, Ho of Bihar, Chenchu of South India, etc.

Mongoloid : It includes tribes of North India and Uttarakhand hilly region. The typical physical features include yellowish skin colour, straight and dark hair, prominent cheek bones, flat nose and almond shaped eyes, epicanthic fold, e.g., Bhotia, Naga, Lepcha, Khasi, etc.

Negrois : The typical physical features of such tribes include black skin colour, black woolly hair, flat lips, flat nose, etc., e.g., Irula, Kadar, Paliyan, Onge, Angami Naga and Jarwa.

6. Briefly explain the social-economic problems faced by the tribal people in India. [5]

ANSWER: The socio-economic problems faced by tribal people in India are :

Land alienation: The land alienation for the tribal people occurred when the British encroached the tribal regions for the resources. Cutting of forests, creation of dams, mines- excavation also led to the displacement of the tribal leaving them homeless and displaced.

 

Illiteracy and ignorance : Inspite of the attempts of the government to provide free and compulsory education to all, most of the tribal people are deprived of education. The main reason for their low level of illiteracy is their remote location, where teachers don’t want to go. Moreover, their superstitions and myths forbids them from acquiring education.

 

Poverty and unemployment : Most of the tribal people are living below the poverty line. They are mainly unskilled and as such are employed at low rates. Even, they are exploited by the moneylenders and zamindars, who often try to occupy their land in return of loans.

 

Poor health and nutrition : Infectious diseases are common among the tribal people due to unhygienic conditions. Most of them also suffer from malnutrition due to inadequate food and nutrition.

 

Cultural problems : Due to coming in contact with the mainstream people, the culture of tribal people is deteriorating, which is leading to degeneration of their dance, music and art forms. Sometimes, in an attempt to learn a mainstream language the tribals may forget their own language. This is termed as the problem of bilingualism.

7. Discuss Totemism as a theory of religion.

ANSWER: Totemism is a form of tribal religious belief in which people believe that they have descended from animate or inanimate objects and hold a feeling of awe and reverence towards these objects. These objects may range from being plants and animals to even stones or rocks. Durkheim observed totemism as being the simplest and most basic form of religion among the aborigines of Australia.

 

The totemic object is worshipped and considered to be sacred. Totemic objects are not only important for the people as religion but also are associated with clan membership. Every clan has a totem which could be an animal or a plant. The tribe is reverent towards the totemic object and adopts its name and offers sacrifice to it and adorn it. They consider the relationship with the totemic object of a descendant and believe themselves to have descended from that object. Harming of the totem is not allowed, although, eating of the totem is allowed during special occasions. The loss of a totem is mourned ceremoniously.

8. Give a detailed account of any five features of Indian tribes

ANSWER: Following are the features of Indian tribes:

 

Common habitat : Different tribes have different territorial area under which a tribal population lives.

Common language : A particular tribe has a definite language with no script. The language might be sub-divided into a dialect according to the particular area.

Common religion : Religion plays a major role in the lives of the tribal people. A tribal group has a common deity or totem which represents that tribal group.

Endogamous group : All tribes practice clan exogamy and tribe endogamy, hence are endogamous groups.

Unity : All the members of the tribe have a sense of unity. It is a self sufficient group which lends a helping hand to their members when in need.

9. Briefly explain any five functions of Dormitories in tribal India.

Following are the functions of dormitories in tribal India :

Safety : Since the dormitories are usually at the center of a tribal community, it is thought they were created to have warriors organized, together and ready at a moment’s notice in times of battle.

 

As a Recreational Centre : Dormitories acts as a recreational centre for different plays and also serves as a guest house.

Community : The dormitories create a sense of community and help ensure the longevity of the tribe and its culture.

 

Tradition : Tribes in ancient India used to live in communal houses and allowed for everyone to work together. With this tradition, the tribes may have tried to recreate this on a smaller scale.

 

Separation : Dormitories might have been created to segregate the genders, so the males and females did not have access to each other, keeping them pure.

 

10. Explain the important factors responsible for changes in tribal economy. [5]

 

The tribals are mostly engaged in various types of economies such as, food gathering economy (collecting economy), agriculture, shifting-axe cultivation, handicrafts, and pastoralism. However, a last few decades have seen rapid changes in tribal economy. Important factors responsible for changes in tribal economy :

 

Industrialization : The impact of industrialization is felt everywhere. The movement of the people towards industrial zones for jobs and other opportunities has great impact on tribal economy. The young tribals are no longer keen to play traditional roles in their respective places. There is a mass migration of people from tribal belts to industrial belts.

 

Urbanization and Modernization : The movement of the people towards urban areas for better lifestyle is another reason for the change in tribal economy. They are attracted to modem ways of living in urban centers. As a result, tribal economic structure has been disintegrating at a rapid speed.

Need for Education : There is a positive association between the level of education and the incidence of people’s mobility to urban centers. The educational opportunity has opened up the doors of possibility for almost every segment of population. Higher the level of education, greater is the mobility of the people. Many educated-tribals are working in the industries and organizations as professionals, executive officers and other skilled laborers. They have given up their traditional occupations.

 

Land alienation : Many tribals who lived in secluded areas, such as forests, for centuries together, have come in headlong conflict with the government as well as private organiza¬tions because of their undue encroachment. Displacement of the tribals for development works such as constructing roads, dams, establishment of towns and industries has greatly affected tribal life and economy.

 

Government restrictions : Tribal economy is largely dependent on shifting cultivation and use of forest resources. The restriction on the part of the modem govern-ment concerning the same, citing the reason of environmental imbalance, has curbed the progress of their traditional economy. Conse quently, many tribals are forced to move away and take up industrial labour as their occupation.

 

11. Write a brief note on the educative functions of dormitories in tribal India.

The functions of the tribal dormitories are mostly educative in nature. The young tribals in these dormitories enjoy their collective life with dance and music, telling stories to each other and sharing their life experiences. Dormitories are the places which provide opportunities for the young tribals to learn about their tribal customs and traditions, culture, language, religion, beliefs and ritual practices. The tribals are also given sex education so that they are able to lead a happy married life in future.

 

The young tribals in these dormitories are divided as seniors and juniors, and the senior members take care of the juniors and teach them about tribal way of life and tribal etiquettes.

 

According to the famous Indian Anthropologist, Surat Chandra Roy, ‘the dormitories help the young tribals in the gathering of edible things from the forest making them economically organized’. The dormitories also provide the young people with training to serve their community by involving them in agricultural operations, food gathering, hunting, assisting the community during marriage or during the harvest Self-discipline, social justice, respecting law and order, reward and punishment of the society are also taught in these dormitories. Since dormitories work under strict codes of discipline, the young tribals learn to live a life of discipline and self-control. Thus, tribal dormitories play a very important role in tribal society.

12. Discuss the various problems faced by tribals in India.

The numerous problems of the Indian tribals are as follows:

Problem of poverty and indebtedness : The majority of tribals are poor and even lack the basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter. Among them, the rate of indebtedness is also very high. To fulfil their basic needs, they have to take loan at a very high rate of interest. Tribals do not prefer to take loans from the banks because of tedious procedure. Also, banks can hardly provide loans for non productive purposes such as marriage, death, festivals, ceremonies, rituals, etc.

 

Problem of housing : The tribes are basically hunter-gatherers or engaged in shifting cultivation. So, there is a tendency among them of moving from one place to another. Usually their huts are made up of grasses, bushes, leaves, bamboo, woods etc. which are prone to fire or any sort of natural calamity. They are now suffering from the problems of non-availability of adequate forest products required for their huts. Along with this, due to increase in population, the division of homestead land is taking place leading towards the lack of housing facilities.

 

Problem of education : Educationally also, the tribals are backward as there are not enough educational institutions for them. Due to less educational opportunities, many of them are not able to’ find proper jobs. Educational problem in tribal area is also related to the wandering economy as practiced by them and their culture of relating education with everyday living. Due to lack of education the tribals are quite superstitious and believe in all forms of magic and totems and have remained backward for centuries together.

 

Problem of unemployment : The lands on which the tribals abide have now been brought under the government administra-tion. The new forest policies have snatched away the traditional rights of the tribal people over the forest. The division of land in each generation and the pressure of population on the land have reduced the employment opportunities among the tribals. In mining industries too they are facing the problem of unemployment because skilled labourers are employed and often non-tribal labour can be brought due to easy transportation.

Problem of health and sanitation : Due to isolation and lack of communication, the tribal people are not able to attain the benefits of the programmes related to the general health, reproductive health, child develop¬ment, family welfare, communicable diseases, sex-linked diseases, etc. They are also deprived of medical facilities, resulting in unsolved health issues.

 

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