‘Tribal Pride Day’ is a part of the steps being taken to secure the culture and welfare of the tribal communities of India.
in Ayodhya Scandal NS RamayanaWhen Lord Rama is exiled from the kingdom of Ayodhya, and reaches the northern bank of the Ganges at Shringaverapur, he is welcomed by the neighboring kingdom of Nishad, the king of Guha. Ram considers the tribal leader Guha as his conscience. Rama stays at Guha’s place and the Nishad king helps Rama cross the river the next day. In MahabharataArjuna’s journey to the northeast leads to his encounter with Ulupi, a Naga tribe princess, whom he marries and has a son with Iravan. NS Ramayana And this Mahabharata There are cordial relations between the forest dwellers and the “town dwellers”.
recognize now
Despite the place for tribals in Indian culture and history, the enactment of the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 by the British government criminalized Guha’s ‘descendants’. With its casteist tone and treating the tribes as uncivilized, the act was intended to instill a sense of fear against the tribal communities. Various tribes across India strongly opposed the British rule and the law aimed to deal with these tribes with an iron fist. From Birsa Munda and Tantiya Bhil in the north and central parts, from Komaram Bheem and Thalakkal Chandu in the south to Rani Gaidinliu in the north-east, tribal movements in various regions of the country fought ardently against the British colonial rule. Many of his contributions today are either not known or are not fully appreciated.
The objective of celebrating Lord Birsa Munda’s birthday on November 15 as Tribal Pride Day is to ensure that freedom fighters from different tribal communities who fought for India’s independence get their rightful identity. It will also ensure that the heritage, culture and values of 705 tribal communities (Scheduled Tribes) which constitute about 10% of our population are preserved and accessible across the country.
meaningful representation
Since independence, efforts have been made to improve the social, political and economic conditions of the tribal population. One such means was to ensure political representation by reserving electoral areas with large tribal populations. However, representation at the ministerial level was still confined to the disparate figures such as the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The recent expansion of the Union Council of Ministers led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi included eight ministers from Scheduled Tribes representing the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal. They represent the Gond, Santal, Miji, Munda, Chai tribe, Kokana and Sonowal-Kachari communities. The Union Cabinet now has three ministers who belong to different tribal communities. Compare this with the period between 2004-2014, when only the political representatives of the tribal community were considered the chief. Under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, between 2004–2014, ministers from the tribal community were few and mainly confined to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
economic well-being
Apart from political representation, it is also important to ensure that tribal communities see economic progress and better human development indicators. It received renewed impetus in 1999, when former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee set up a separate ministry for tribal affairs. Now, under Mr. Modi, the imbalance in budgetary provisions is being addressed in a mission mode. For the year 2021-2022, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs saw a budgetary allocation of Rs 7,524.87 crore. This is almost double the budgetary allocation made in the previous UPA budget of 2013-2014.
Nearly 90 years later, the Indian Forest Act of 1927 was amended in 2017 (Indian Forest (Amendment) Act, 2017; https://bit.ly/3wR8zSS) so that bamboo could no longer be classified as a tree . This has allowed the economic value of bamboo to be exploited to its full potential and has also brought the Act in line with the Forest Rights Act of 2006. Its biggest advantage is the tribal communities living in the forest who are now able to make use of such forest. Production to make value added utility products. The role of Tribal Marketing Development Corporations in making market linkages is further increasing the income of tribal communities.
Sustainable development also needs to ensure that the Human Development Indicators (HDIs) in nutrition, health and education are being improved. The National Education Policy (NEP) acknowledges the additional attention needed by tribal communities to address issues such as high dropout rates.
The NEP, by ensuring that the medium of instruction at least up to Class 5 shall be the mother tongue or the local language of the child, has ensured that tribal languages are protected and treated at par with the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution . , The expansion of Eklavya Model Residential Schools, from 90 new schools approved in the UPA years to 472 new schools approved since 2014, will ensure that tribal children see better education outcomes. This will see better HDI among tribal communities in the long run with health interventions in the form of primary health and wellness centers and nutrition programmes.
Bhagwan Birsa Munda was only 25 when he died in prison (1900). He fought bravely against the exploitative system of the British Raj and led a movement against the British colonial oppressive system. It is unfortunate that the contributions of many other tribal freedom fighters including tribal women freedom fighters like Rani Gaidinlu, Jhanno Murmu, Helen Lepcha and others have been almost forgotten.
Tribal Museum
There are records of over 200 tribal freedom fighters across India who took part in about 85 instances of rebellion and rebellion against colonial rule. To recognize this, 10 tribal freedom fighter museums are being set up in the states of Andhra Pradesh (Lambasingi), Chhattisgarh (Raipur), Goa (Ponda), Gujarat (Rajpipla), Jharkhand (Ranchi), Kerala (Kozhikode), Madhya Pradesh . (Chhindwara), Manipur (Taminglong), Mizoram (Kelsey) and Telangana (Hyderabad) will showcase the contribution of tribal freedom fighters and are in various stages of construction and completion.
Celebrating 15 November every year will integrate various stakeholders and allow discussion on the achievements and contributions of tribal communities, their cultural heritage, and practices and traditions among the younger generation of Indians. As India celebrates its 75th year of independence with the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, it will be a thoughtful gift to our tribal community and a memory of Rama Rajya – where the likes of Guha are given due respect, Their cultural diversity is respected, and their contributions celebrated.
Yes. Kishan Reddy is the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development (Donor) of the North Eastern Region.
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