Appropriate policies and practices for skills development currently occupy a dominant place in development discourse. But the focus is more on skills development for employability. Equally importan
Loknath Nauri comes home with a large herd of cattle. He had taken them out for grazing in the forest. But surprisingly they are not milch cows. “Only one of these gives milk and that too is
At Kondhavguda village, most people are out in the forest to pick wild food or firewood, tending to farms, washing at streams or carving out bricks from a muddy ditch. Aadi Kumbruka looks much youn
On a cloudy afternoon in the last days of September, a five-watt bulb hangs inside a kuchha hut in Kalamwadi village, somewhere deep in a tribal area of Palghar district, Maharashtra. The flickerin
Jharkhand is on the boil over acquisition of tribal land. On October 5, four people were killed and more than a dozen injured while protesting against a coal mining project of NTPC, a Mahar
Rameshwar Oraon, a former Congress MP who went on to serve as minister of state for tribal affairs, is completing his second consecutive term as the head of the ST commission. In an interview w
Taking suo motu cognisance of a news report of the death of over 500 tribal girls in the Maharashtra state-run ashram schools, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice
Former chief minister of Jharkhand Arjun Munda, of the ruling BJP, is among the leading tribal voices questioning the amendments to the CNTA and SPTA. Portraying himself as a willing arbitrator
A hulking armoured vehicle of the CRPF, olive green against the dull yellow of crop stubble, stands morosely where the road curves into Ulihatu, a village of Munda tribals. Such mine-proof vehicles
On October 1 last year, Mehtab Alam Ansari, 30, who worked as a tailor in Delhi, had arrived in his village, Chepa Khurd in Barkagaon tehsil of Harazibagh district, to celebrate Eid with his family
Seasoned BJP parliamentarian Nand Kumar Sai, who took charge as the chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) on February 28, has his work cut out for him.
Incense sticks were lit. Ram Sahay Marawi, 70, was ready to break the coconut over the ground – an auspicious ritual before starting anything new. He along with fellow tribal villagers was wo
Ministry of tribal affairs’ PSU— tribal cooperative marketing development federation of India limited (TRIFED) is contemplating to scale up marketing of tribal products through increase
Bhadiya from Bhanpur Kheda village does not know her age. She has five children – the eldest one is 12-year-old while the youngest is an infant. Considering she got married in her teens &ndas
Today, Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s first woman full-time defence minister, may appear a picture of poise and confidence. But 11 years ago, she wasn’t even sure if she should join the Bh
After spending almost a month among tribals of Mandla in Madhya Pradesh, I can confidently say that by restricting ourselves to Public Distribution System (PDS), we cannot solve the food security i
She is tall, skinny and dark-complexioned. She sports a tattoo of lines and dots on her forehead, as if displaying a hieroglyphic text. Her neck is laden with beaded jewellery and a thick, rusted i
It did not surprise me when the India: health of the nation’s states, the India state-level disease burden initiative report released recently reported malnutrition the prime risk factor driv
It’s a Friday, the day of the weekly market, or haat, in Bichhiya, on the outskirts of the Kanha tiger reserve, where the Baiga, Gond and Agariya tribals of the region congregate to sell and
Gyanwati, a Baiga tribeswoman, recently made the 15 km journey from her village Jhulup to a house in Bhanpur Kheda that has a large, framed picture of Lord Hanuman. It was an act of penance to a go
In India, the third most affected country due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the poor and marginalised forest communities have faced the loss of livelihoods, employment, food insecurity and resultant so
Shubhasish Chakraborty has been working for the upliftment of tribal areas of India. He wears several hats while discharging his duties as a general manager in a global conglomerate apart from
Being Adivasi: Existence, Entitlements, Exclusion [Part of ‘Rethinking India’ series] Edited by Abhay Flavian Xaxa and G.N. Devy Penguin, xxvi+182 pages, Rs 699
Meet Promila Krishna, 39, Lalita Nayak, 40, Parbati Gadba, 42, Sanadei Dhuruwa, 39, and Nabita Barika, 41, of Kundra block in Odisha’s Koraput district. Except for Promila who is a matriculat
Droupadi Murmu: From Tribal Hinterlands to Raisina Hill By Kasturi Ray Rupa, 256 pages, Rs 595
The efforts made by the Election Commission of India (ECI), over last two years, for inclusion of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) communities and other tribal groups in the electoral p
