2013
And how it is transforming tribals’ lives
The tribal belt of central India is one of the poorest, most hunger-prone and underdeveloped regions. The UNDP-Oxford University Report of 2011 put it in the global context thus: “The multidimensional poverty index (MPI) analysis reveals the persistence of very acute poverty in some of these states. There are more MPI poor people in eight Indian states alone (421 million in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal) than in the 26 poorest African countries combined (410 million). The adivasis in the above mentioned states have the highest Multidimensional Poverty Index or MPI (0.482), almost the same as Mozambique, and a headcount (the percentage of people who are MPI poor) of 81%…”.
Yet, their livelihood issue remains largely unaddressed and ignored, especially their access to the forests on which they largely depend. A 2011 Planning Commission working group paper for the 12th five year plan pointed out that about 275 million forest dwellers were dependent on minor forest produce (MFP). It said MFP contributed about 20% to 40% of their annual income, and critical subsistence during the lean seasons, particularly to the primitive tribal groups. The Government of India tried to address this issue by giving the tribals ownership right over the MFPs through the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996 (or PESA) and reinforced it through the Forest Rights Act of 2006 (meant to undo the ‘historic injustices’ as its statement of object and reasons stated). But various reports have shown how implementation of both remains grossly unsatisfactory (1). There is no official or unofficial estimate to show how many Gram Sabhas have actually got the right to harvest and sell the MFPs over which they have the ownership rights.
All we known are isolated instances like Mendha-Lekha village in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli, which was the first one in the country to actually get the right to harvest and trade an MFP – bamboo – in April 2011. And what happened next is hard to believe. A year later in 2012, this village of 100 households harvested and auctioned bamboo for Rs 1 crore! After paying generously for the labour, the village saved Rs 50 lakh and put it in a fixed deposit account. It is now planning to use a part of this saving for better management of their 1800-hectare community forest (Rs 25 lakh) and on health and education (Rs 12.5 lakh each). Imagine what a dramatic change this will bring about in their lives. This year, the villagers are going for e-tendering in October and expect to earn even more money.
In a similar development, 18 gram panchayats spreading over Gadchiroli and Amravati districts of Maharashtra have harvested and sold tendu for Rs 1.3 crore this year (to the state’s Tribal Development Corporation). In Odisha’s Narigaon in Korapur district, the villagers harvested tendu worth Rs 12 lakh but found no buyer as the traders ganged up against them. They are now seeking the state government’s help. In Jamguda in Kalahandi district of Osisha, who got their transit pass to trade bamboo this March (again thanks to personal intervention of Jairam Ramesh), the villagers have harvested and sold bamboo worth Rs 1 lakh.
Similar developments are taking place in isolated pockets of the country about which much needs to be learnt and documented. For instance, the Madhya Pradesh government announced minimum support price (MSP) for lack and chironji in July 2011 – at Rs 120 per kg for lac cultivated on kusum trees, Rs 100 per kg for lac cultivated on palash trees and Rs 80 for one kg of achar-guthli which bears chironji – but how this has impacted the tribals is not very widely known.
The ownership over MFPs, if actually passed on to the tribals, has the potential to make a paradigm shift in the tribals’ fortunes. In 2011, the Planning Commission estimated that this ownership alone would mean a direct income of Rs 50,000 crore for the tribals every year! Its report on MFPs of the same year said: “NTFPs have a tremendous potential to create large scale employment opportunity thereby helping in reducing poverty and increasing empowerment of particularly tribal and poor people of the poorest and backward districts of the country.”
Towards this goal, the Union Cabinet decided on August 2 to start a central scheme to provide MSP for 12 MFPs, in nine states having Scheduled Areas. These 12 MFPs are: tendu, bamboo, karanj, mahuwa seed, sal leaf, sal seed, lac, chironjee, wild honey, myrobalan, tamarind, and gums (gum karaya).
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(1)Mani Shankar Aiyar-led Expert Committee report of April 2013 and Ajay Dandekar and Chitrangada Choudhury report of 2010 about implementation of PESA and Citizens’ Report 2013 of Kalpavriksh, Vasundhara about implementation of FRA.
And how it is transforming tribals’ lives
The tribal belt of central India is one of the poorest, most hunger-prone and underdeveloped regions. The UNDP-Oxford University Report of 2011 put it in the global context thus: “The multidimensional poverty index (MPI) analysis reveals the persistence of very acute poverty in some of these states. There are more MPI poor people in eight Indian states alone (421 million in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal) than in the 26 poorest African countries combined (410 million). The adivasis in the above mentioned states have the highest Multidimensional Poverty Index or MPI (0.482), almost the same as Mozambique, and a headcount (the percentage of people who are MPI poor) of 81%…”.
Yet, their livelihood issue remains largely unaddressed and ignored, especially their access to the forests on which they largely depend. A 2011 Planning Commission working group paper for the 12th five year plan pointed out that about 275 million forest dwellers were dependent on minor forest produce (MFP). It said MFP contributed about 20% to 40% of their annual income, and critical subsistence during the lean seasons, particularly to the primitive tribal groups. The Government of India tried to address this issue by giving the tribals ownership right over the MFPs through the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996 (or PESA) and reinforced it through the Forest Rights Act of 2006 (meant to undo the ‘historic injustices’ as its statement of object and reasons stated). But various reports have shown how implementation of both remains grossly unsatisfactory (1). There is no official or unofficial estimate to show how many Gram Sabhas have actually got the right to harvest and sell the MFPs over which they have the ownership rights.
All we known are isolated instances like Mendha-Lekha village in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli, which was the first one in the country to actually get the right to harvest and trade an MFP – bamboo – in April 2011. And what happened next is hard to believe. A year later in 2012, this village of 100 households harvested and auctioned bamboo for Rs 1 crore! After paying generously for the labour, the village saved Rs 50 lakh and put it in a fixed deposit account. It is now planning to use a part of this saving for better management of their 1800-hectare community forest (Rs 25 lakh) and on health and education (Rs 12.5 lakh each). Imagine what a dramatic change this will bring about in their lives. This year, the villagers are going for e-tendering in October and expect to earn even more money.
In a similar development, 18 gram panchayats spreading over Gadchiroli and Amravati districts of Maharashtra have harvested and sold tendu for Rs 1.3 crore this year (to the state’s Tribal Development Corporation). In Odisha’s Narigaon in Korapur district, the villagers harvested tendu worth Rs 12 lakh but found no buyer as the traders ganged up against them. They are now seeking the state government’s help. In Jamguda in Kalahandi district of Osisha, who got their transit pass to trade bamboo this March (again thanks to personal intervention of Jairam Ramesh), the villagers have harvested and sold bamboo worth Rs 1 lakh.
Similar developments are taking place in isolated pockets of the country about which much needs to be learnt and documented. For instance, the Madhya Pradesh government announced minimum support price (MSP) for lack and chironji in July 2011 – at Rs 120 per kg for lac cultivated on kusum trees, Rs 100 per kg for lac cultivated on palash trees and Rs 80 for one kg of achar-guthli which bears chironji – but how this has impacted the tribals is not very widely known.
The ownership over MFPs, if actually passed on to the tribals, has the potential to make a paradigm shift in the tribals’ fortunes. In 2011, the Planning Commission estimated that this ownership alone would mean a direct income of Rs 50,000 crore for the tribals every year! Its report on MFPs of the same year said: “NTFPs have a tremendous potential to create large scale employment opportunity thereby helping in reducing poverty and increasing empowerment of particularly tribal and poor people of the poorest and backward districts of the country.”
Towards this goal, the Union Cabinet decided on August 2 to start a central scheme to provide MSP for 12 MFPs, in nine states having Scheduled Areas. These 12 MFPs are: tendu, bamboo, karanj, mahuwa seed, sal leaf, sal seed, lac, chironjee, wild honey, myrobalan, tamarind, and gums (gum karaya).
—————————————————————————————————-
(1)Mani Shankar Aiyar-led Expert Committee report of April 2013 and Ajay Dandekar and Chitrangada Choudhury report of 2010 about implementation of PESA and Citizens’ Report 2013 of Kalpavriksh, Vasundhara about implementation of FRA.
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