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Mal-administration
of indigenous and tribal peoples of India
Under
the constitution, the Fifth Schedule and Sixth Schedule were enacted
to administer the tribal areas in mainland India and North East
India. The Central government
also provides grants-in-aid under
Article 275(1) of the constitution
of India. Yet, the conditions of indigenous and tribal peoples in
India remain deplorable because of the mal-administration.
Fifth
Schedule
Clause
3 of the Fifth Schedule and Article 244 of the Constitution of India
make it mandatory for the Governor of each State having Scheduled
Areas to submit a report regarding the administration of such areas
to the President of India annually or whenever so required by the
President. The then Ministry of Welfare issued orders on 5 January
1987 that the report is to be submitted within six months from the
closing of the financial year i.e. by 30th September, of each year.
The
eight report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare
of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(2000-2001) on Working of Integrated Tribal Development Projects
in Madhya Pradesh of November 2000 informed that the report for
the year 1992-93 was despatched by the Secretariat of the Governor
of Madhya Pradesh on 9 July 1996 but it was still under examination
in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs by 2000!
It was only after the Parliamentary Committee decided to
study the situation in Madhya Pradesh that the State Government
became active and submitted the Reports upto years 1996-97 by the
time the subject was finally examined by the Committee in 2000.
The
Joint Parliamentary Committee further stated that “it is more
painful to note that this report highlights only the achievements
of the State Government in tribal development. The in-depth analysis
of the solution to the problems of Scheduled Areas are not included
in the reports. The Committee desire that the Union Government who
has the power to give directions to the states in regard to the
administration of Scheduled Areas, should ensure that the Governors
Reports by the States are submitted to the President of India within
the stipulated time. They also desire that analytical solutions
to the problems of the Scheduled Areas should also form a part of
the Report so as to make Governors Report a useful document.”
As
per Clause 4 of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of India,
each State having Scheduled Areas therein, should establish a Tribal
Advisory Council (TAC). The
track record of the Tribal Advisory Councils across India has been
dismal. The TACs are seldom constituted by the State governments.
When they are constituted, they seldom meet, as their meeting depends
on the wishes of the concerned bureaucrats in the Ministry.
The
Tribal Advisory Council of Rajasthan met only once in a year during
1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000. According to the Rajasthan government
“more meetings of TAC could not be organised due to preoccupation
of the Chairman and Members”. The Madhya Pradesh government gave
the ridiculous reasoning to the Joint Parliamentary Committee that
the TAC meetings could not be held on regular intervals as “issues
for Tribal Advisory Council were limited”.
On 4 June 1998, the then Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
government
announced the revival of the Tribal Advisory Council after a gap
of 18 years! It also met three times in three years but no information
is available about the outcome of these meetings. After the term
of the Tamil Nadu Tribal Advisory Council expired in 2001, the present
AIADMK government made no appointment.
The
failure of the Governors to submit reports about the actual situation
of indigenous and tribal peoples and non-functioning of the TAC
meant that Fifth Schedule remained in paper only.
Sixth
Schedule
There
are many disparities in the powers and functions of the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) under the Sixth Schedule.
Considering the inadequacy of the Sixth Scheduled provisions, the
Government of Assam and the representatives of Karbi Anglong and
North Cachar Hills Autonomous Councils signed a Memorandum of Understanding
on 1st April 1995 in New Delhi in the presence of the
then Union Home Minister granting greater Autonomy to the Autonomous
Councils of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills. In addition, the
representation of other minority indigenous and tribal communities
living inside the ADC areas for election to the ADC members are
not reserved. The State government interferes in the internal affairs
of the ADCs and does not release the funds timely.
Grants-in-Aid
The grants-in-aid under Article 275(I)
of the constitution of India and specific schemes such as Tribal
Sub-Plan launched in 1974 have been the key instruments of the government
of India to translate the constitutional guarantees into a reality. In
1997, the Programme Evaluation Organisation of the Planning Commission
of India undertook a study on grants-in-aid under Article 275(1)
from 1992-93 to 1995-96 and found that the flow of funds from the
State to the project authorities were not as per guidelines. Most
of the States had used the funds for infrastructure facilities like
irrigation, roads, bridges, school buildings and the like while
the funds were to be utilised in resettlement of tribals practising
shifting cultivation, development of forest villages and medical
assistance to the tribals suffering from specific diseases etc.
The
Planning Commission in its Report No. 3 of 1999, among others, stated
that (1) the 20 State Governments and Union Territories Administrations
reported utilisation of only Rs. 1546 crore out of Rs. 1809 crore
released by the Ministry during 1992-1998 under the tribal sub plan
and a large part was either retained in various deposit accounts
or was spent for purposes other than the intended purpose of providing
additive to States Tribal Sub-Plan; (2) the physical performances
reported by State Governments were inconsistent with the expenditure;
(3) Many State Governments did not contribute their share of funds
under the Tribal Sub-Plan and instead used the funds received from
the Union Government towards SCA isolation; (4) the Tribal Affairs
Ministry and the State Governments did not carry out evaluation
to ascertain the extent to which the objectives of economic upliftment
of the Scheduled Tribes for crossing the poverty line and protection
against their exploitation were achieved; and (5) the funds were
misused for assistance to ineligible persons, purchase of vehicles
and consumable durables, discretionary medical assistance, purchasing
teaching aids for school, meeting administrative expenditure, helicopter
hire charges, construction of building and houses, reimbursement
of loss.
Recommendations
In
order to address such systemic flaws in the administration governing
the indigenous and tribal peoples, the Draft National Policy must
suggest measures to ensure full compliance for timely submission
of the Governor’s reports and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs should
prepare a detailed “Guidelines on Reporting Under Clause 3 of the
Fifth Schedule and article 244 of the Constitution of India” in
consultation with indigenous and tribal peoples. The 5th
Schedule of the Constitution should be amended to ensure that Tribal
Advisory Council consists of tribal leaders who are not serving
either in the State legislature or with the State government so
that the members could give full time to the TAC. The Centre should
make specific budgetary allocations for the TACs from Grants-in-Aid
assistance to the State government for their proper and regular
functioning and implementation
of the TAC recommendations;
The
Autonomous District Councils need to be strengthened further and
all the subjects
given under the Sixth Schedule and those mentioned in the Eleventh
Schedule should be entrusted to the ADCs. In addition, seats be
reserved for different minority indigenous and tribal communities
living in the areas of an ADC in the elections to the members of
the ADCs according to the proportion of population of each tribal
community and the number of seats of the ADCs be increased accordingly.
The Central funding for Plan expenditure be given directly to the
ADCs instead of routing all funds through the State Governments
and the implementation of centrally funded projects from various
departments of the Union Government be entrusted to the ADCs with
strict audit by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
Active
participation of the indigenous and tribals peoples be ensured for
development and implementation of the tribal development programmes
effectively and a Central Vigilance body be established with jurisdiction
over the other implementing bodies to oversee the actual implementation
of the funds meant for indigenous and tribal peoples.
(To be continued)
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