New Deal for Jarwas
The Supreme Court, in its judgement on March 8, has ordered that to protect tribals from exploitation, Jarwas should be left on their own. The Jarwa reserve area has already been extended to 1,028 sq. kms. for them to have proper facilities for hunting and food-gathering. Under the central policy, waters upto five kms from the High Tide Line have been declared as tribal reserves. Incidentally, the next day March 9, Dr. B. D. Sharma, an authority on tribal affairs, in an interview to ToI said, 'for tribals ,development means exploitation".
This policy of 'isolation' of tribals was practised by the then British Indian government. Verrier Elvin after independence, as an advisor to Assam government also advised 'isolation' of tribals in extreme situation. However, Elvin's this approach was severely criticised by most of the experts as 'ethnographic park theory. That is why Pt. Nehru, in his 'tribal panchsheel' advocated integration of tribal into the mainstream.
However, all deeds of the government to integrate tribals have lead either to their 'isolation' or their 'assimilation'. The apathy of government machinery, the mismanagement of funds, lack of awareness among tribals regarding government programmes or their suspicion about these can be cited as some of the important reasons. Yet, the judgement of Supreme Court should be welcome to protect Jarwas but the question arises, 'why only Jarwas'? The government itself has identified 75 primitive tribal groups (PTGs), Jarwas being only one of them, but all of the are being exploited by all ans sundry; whether it be Raji of Uttarakhand, Abhujmaria of CG, Birhor of Bihar and Jharkhand or Chenchu of Andhra Pradesh, all are on the verge of extinction and therefore need special protection similar to the one given to Jarwas but depending on their respective needs.
This policy of 'isolation' of tribals was practised by the then British Indian government. Verrier Elvin after independence, as an advisor to Assam government also advised 'isolation' of tribals in extreme situation. However, Elvin's this approach was severely criticised by most of the experts as 'ethnographic park theory. That is why Pt. Nehru, in his 'tribal panchsheel' advocated integration of tribal into the mainstream.
However, all deeds of the government to integrate tribals have lead either to their 'isolation' or their 'assimilation'. The apathy of government machinery, the mismanagement of funds, lack of awareness among tribals regarding government programmes or their suspicion about these can be cited as some of the important reasons. Yet, the judgement of Supreme Court should be welcome to protect Jarwas but the question arises, 'why only Jarwas'? The government itself has identified 75 primitive tribal groups (PTGs), Jarwas being only one of them, but all of the are being exploited by all ans sundry; whether it be Raji of Uttarakhand, Abhujmaria of CG, Birhor of Bihar and Jharkhand or Chenchu of Andhra Pradesh, all are on the verge of extinction and therefore need special protection similar to the one given to Jarwas but depending on their respective needs.
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