Arrange the following statements in order of the historical experience of tribal communities in India.
A. In 1991 government data said 75 percent of tribal communities still awaiting rehabilitation
B. Attainment of statehood for Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh
C. Adivasi lands were rapidly acquired for new mining and dam projects
D. Post Independence the government monopoly over forests continued
E. From the late 19th century onwards government reserved most forest for its own use
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → E, D, C, A, B
(E) From the late 19th century onwards government reserved most forest for its own use — the colonial government, from the late nineteenth century, severing the adivasis’ rights to use the forest.
(D) Post Independence the government monopoly over forests continued — after 1947, the independent government kept the same monopoly.
(C) Adivasi lands were rapidly acquired for new mining and dam projects — this followed from the policy of capital-intensive industrialisation after Independence, which needed minerals and power from adivasi areas.
(A) In 1991 government data said 75 percent of tribal communities still awaiting rehabilitation — an estimate of 1991 (Fernandes) put the people displaced since Independence at 30 million, almost 75 per cent of them, by the government’s own admission, ‘still awaiting rehabilitation’.
(B) Attainment of statehood for Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh — achieved after a long struggle, in 2000.
Note: Box 5.5, ‘In the Name of Development — Adivasis in the Line of Fire’, which gives the figure of almost 75 per cent of displaced people still awaiting rehabilitation, was there in the chapter ‘Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion’ of the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023. This box has been deleted from the NCERT book (2025-26), though the chapter and its account of adivasi displacement are still there.
NCERT (2025-26): “Adivasi Struggles … From the late nineteenth century onwards, the colonial government reserved most forest tracts for its own use, severing the rights that adivasis had long exercised to use the forest for gathering produce and for shifting cultivation. Forests were now to be protected for maximising timber production. With this policy, the mainstay of their livelihoods was taken away from adivasis, rendering their lives poorer and more insecure. Denied access to forests and land for cultivation, adivasis were forced to either use the forests illegally (and be harassed and prosecuted as ‘encroachers’ and thieves) or migrate in search of wage labour. After the Independence of India in 1947 the government’s monopoly over forests continued. The policy of capital-intensive industrialisation adopted by the Indian government required mineral resources and power-generation capacities which were concentrated in Adivasi areas. Adivasi lands were rapidly acquired for new mining and dam projects. In the process, millions of adivasis were displaced without any appropriate compensation or rehabilitation.…” “…The positive impact of successes – such as the achievement of statehood for Jharkhand and Chattisgarh after a long struggle – is moderated by continuing problems.…” NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “In the Name of Development — Adivasis in the Line of Fire … It is estimated that 30 million people, more than the entire population of Canada, have been displaced by this land acquisition policy since India became independent in 1947 (Fernandes 1991). Of these, almost 75 per cent are, by the government’s own admission, ‘still awaiting rehabilitation’. This process of land acquisition is justified as being in the public interest since the state is committed to promoting economic growth by expanding industrial production and infrastructure.…” |