Thus social reform and social – awareness is very much important among the tribes which would help in restricting land alienation. In fact, the map in a feasibility report prepared for the project in March 2021 completely ignored tribal settlements and foraging areas and chose to show only national forests, forest reserves, and revenue lands. The Dima Hasao land allotment case is not an isolated episode but part of a larger trend where ancestral tribal land rights are being eroded through corporate intrusion, weak governance, and the commodification of land. Constitutional provisions such as the Sixth Schedule and Article 371 were designed to protect indigenous communities, but their efficacy depends on honest leadership, vigilant institutions, and community solidarity. Unless safeguards are strengthened and accountability enforced, tribal communities risk losing not just land, but their identity, culture, and ecological balance. (e) Many tribal lands are alienated on the account of development projects.

• Given such a scale of impact, the Directorate of Social Welfare under the Andaman and Nicobar administration sought a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report from Probe Research and Social Development Pvt.
• In such type of alienation, the tribals either outright sale their land at very low rates or are trapped by illegal mortgagers.
• Rajendra Gavit, BJP MLA from Palghar, said this decision will harm the tribal interests and render them landless.
• The development rhetoric is often used to justify acquisition of tribal forest lands.

In many cases it was reported that even the farmers had no idea about the loans, sometimes the loan was contracted by their previous generations too. Thus to stop such type of land alienations, laws need to be passed which would not allowed the interest to go beyond the principle amount of loan taken. These are all tribal villages,” Barnabas said, pointing to a map prepared by researcher Manish Chandi, taped onto the wall in his office. Manish Chandi prepared the map between 2000 and 2004 when he was working with the Andaman Nicobar Environment Team (ANET) and later went on to pursue a PhD in the field of human ecology. To date, this remains the only comprehensive map of the island that lists tribal lands. Scheduled Tribes are one of the most disadvantaged, marginalised groups in India.

The Maoists, for their part, do often attempt to get the tribals a higher wage for labouring in a landlord’s field, and higher rates for the collection of forest produce. (k)  Formation of self – help groups, seed- banks, and various other institutions should be encouraged in the tribal areas to fulfil short term credit https://todayharyana.com/15-minimum-deposit/ needs which in turn can be helpful for tribes to prevent mortgages and alienation of land. (c)   Various steps should be taken regarding restoration of cases and timely disposal.

Tribal – Nontribal Land Transfer

CAG also conducted physical verification of the lands and revealed shortcomings in their ownership and maintenance. Under the act, if a non-tribal had acquired a land belonging to an ST between October 4, 1956 and September 4, 2002, he/she had to furnish a declaration to competent authority stating circumstances and manner of possession of land. The declaration had to be furnished within two years from September 4, 2002.

Tribal lands, flood zones, forests now open for creation of integrated townships

According to these cases around 190 acres of cultivable land of tribals were sold to powerful families who reside in local areas and had good administrative and political connection. The acquisition of land by non-tribal individuals or entities in tribal areas covered by the 5th Schedule is prohibited unless the state governor gives prior approval. This provision is designed to protect the land rights of tribal communities and prevent their exploitation.

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The Nicobarese have made it clear that they would not like any development activities on their traditional lands. In a chapter titled ‘Ignored Shompens in Hiding’ in the book Andaman and Nicobar Tribes Restudied, Rann Singh Mann, who previously served as a director of AnSI, documents this phenomenon in detail. He writes about how the Shompen had to give up some of their land when ex-servicemen settlers were brought to the island and with it came loss of forest resources, death due to diseases and erosion of their culture. Being a relatively isolated tribe, the Shompen are not exposed to and therefore have not built an immunity to diseases from mainland India. The mega project also entails disease risks for the Shompen, given it will bring large populations from the mainland.

Despite the current Acts restricting the transfer of tribal land, there are complaints that businessmen, builders, and powerful people are using their influence within the government system to acquire it. If such a law is introduced, it would be misused, and the tribal landowner will become landless,” said Gavit. For the forest clearance, a no-objection (NOC) letter was obtained from the Tribal Council in 2022. But the council withdrew it later, stating it was obtained by providing false information that their lands would not be taken away. Barnabas Manju said the meetings were held amid Independence Day preparations and celebrations between August 13 and 16 in 2022 and he was rushed to sign the NOC. He also said that they were assured that the Nicobarese community would get all the help they needed to get settled in their pre-tsunami ancestral settlements, but it was never mentioned in the minutes of the proceedings.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. Both of them expressed fears of being removed from their land for the development of the mammoth project. A few days later, we met two women from the Nicobarese community in Barnabas’ office to resume the conversation that was stopped by the police and IB at the tribal colony in Rajiv Nagar earlier.