'Globalisation targeting tribal land, leaving them landless'

New Delhi, June 25 (UNI) Globalisation is harming interests of tribals with states making available tribal land to multinationals and corporate entities for mining and industrial purposes, says a paper.

Historically, tribal alienation has been attributed to private sources like landlords, money lenders, traders and powerful vested interest.

But now, due to development projects undertaken by the Government more than two crore people have been displaced from their houses and land, of which over 40 per cent are tribals.

"As a result, tribals who were never landless in history have been rendered landless...This has also given a spurt to migration of the tribals to different parts of the country," notes the paper on 'Role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in the Implementation of Land Reforms', authored by Prof K Gopal Iyer, Sociology Professor at the Punjab University.

Tribal women at a young age were migrating to cities at an alarming rate seeking employment as domestic help in Delhi and North India. They were also brought and sold in North India due to the adverse sex ratio in the Northern states, notes the report presented at a three-day workshop on "Writers and Thinkers on Local Governance and Panchayati Raj" which concluded here adds.

However, state governments do not appear to care for the decision of Gram Sabhas regarding prevention of land alienation, says the paper presented at a three-day Panchayati Raj workshop which concluded here today.

Comparing the tribal states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, Prof Iyer states that in Raigarh and its adjacent districts, the state government had alienated the tribals by giving their land to the big companies for industrialisation.

On the other hand, tribals in Jharkhand, having strong grass roots mobilisation, were posing a challenge to the state government in handing over land acquired from the tribals to industrialists.

Incidentally, the innovative Panchayat Extension to the Schedule Areas (PESA) Act, 1996, was yet to be implemented in Jharkhand.

"Jharkhand is facing an enormous problem with the spread of Naxal movement in the state, the root of which lies in non-implementation of land reforms, alienating tribal land and violating the forest rights of the tribals," the author said.

Further, tribal interests had been hurt by the debate between conservation and development. The forest which is an important source of livelihood for the tribals has become state property resulting in violation og fundamental human rights.

"Today, the forest land has become an important source of dispute and more than 50 lakh tribals are under the threat of eviction from the forest land equivalent to 100,000 lakh acres," the paper adds.

UNI SD AK GC0938