Essay on Tribal Development in India
Introduction
India has made a commendable progress since its independence. The pace of tribal and rural development is not that rapid therefore there is a need to have some solid policies and approaches to develop the tribes of India as they consist of almost 8% of our population. As a country it is our responsibility to promote the financial interests as well as educational avenues for the weaker section of the country which are generally referred as the Scheduled Tribes. It is also mentioned in our constitution that we must protect the weaker section from the exploitation or any form of social injustice.
Characteristics and kinds of Tribes in India
Indian tribes are an indispensable part of Indian population. It is one such element of our society which is still integrated with the cultural and traditional mosaic of Indian Civilization. There are a huge number of tribes prevailing in India for example, Kurumba, Asura, Oraon, Irula, Bodo, Gond, Panga, Ahom, Santhal and many more others. They have peculiar characteristics for example their language, names and dialect, culture and religion, even the territory, all are common to all. Any outsider or any kind of intrusion is not tolerated by them. Mostly all the people are related by blood therefore they have a sense of unity among each other. They have strange belief system and religion.
Tribal Development and Welfare Schemes
There are a number of tribal development and welfare schemes as launched by the Indian Government. The main objective of these schemes are to provide the tribal people with the sustainable means of survival by providing jobs and employment opportunities. And above all providing them with opportunities for education and improving their quality of livelihood by teaching them about health and cleanliness. Clean and safe water for drinking has been arranged for them along with the means of irrigation, road connectivity, electricity and solid and permanent houses. Grants have been given to states by the government for the upliftment of these scheduled tribes. A number of Non-government organizations are also contributing towards the development of these tribal people.
Many training centers have been opened up which provide vocational training to tribal people so as to enabling them to gain employment or even come to be self-employed. These vocational trainings provide modern and even traditional vocation to the youth and the women of tribal areas. Because of the low literacy rate, the children of these tribal communities are being enrolled in various schools. The boost in the literacy will make these children self-sufficient and also it shall facilitate the socio-economic development. Scholarships are also being sponsored by the government for these tribes wherein they can learn technical and non-technical courses.
Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana was introduced by the Government in the year 2014 and almost Rs.100 crores were allocated for this scheme. These schemes have been implemented in a robust way and has ensured proper infrastructure so that the developmental activities for these tribal areas are not compromised. Even though the state and central government is taking interest in the welfare programs and schemes, there is still so much which needs to be done for them.
