TRIBAL LIVELIHOOD AND GOVERNANCE: Regional Concerns

The tribes in India have experienced several legislative policies and amendments on two important issues – livelihood and governance. These two issues are important for the sustenance of a community. The first one, livelihood, addresses food security, and the second one, governance, addresses the administration of their village/habitat affairs, including food security. The traditional tribal governance system plays an important role in order to sustain their livelihood sources. Hence, these two issues, livelihood and governance, are interdependent and one influences the other with reference to the tribal life system.

The livelihood sources of tribals in India differ from one region to another, and from one tribe to another. The tribal regions are diverse in terms of having natural resources such as forest, water, and land. The traditional livelihood sources of tribes have become meagre due to several reasons, especially after the 1990s. The tribes, who used to depend on forest and forest-based minor products and related natural resources for their daily sustenance, have been migrating in search of alternative livelihood sources. In some cases, the tribes depend on government welfare schemes for their sustenance.

The present volume provides critical insights to understand different tribal livelihood patterns and the implementation of Fifth and Sixth Schedules, including Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, in tribal regions. It offers a fairly comprehensive account of a wide range of insights on strategies, programmes of tribal livelihood practices and issues around it.

The book will interest all those in the field of tribal studies, anthropology, sociology and development studies as also to NGOs, policy makers and funding agencies.