Question

Briefly discuss any four economic problems of tribes in India.

Answer 1

The tribal people are economically one of the poorest people of India. Majority of them lived below the poverty line. The main economic problems faced by the tribes in India are as follows:

1. Land alienation: The land alienation for the tribal people occurred when the British encroached on the tribal regions for resources. Cutting of forests, creation of dams, mines-excavation also led to the displacement of the tribal leaving them homeless and displaced.
2. Unprofitable agriculture: Tribals are engaged in cultivation and most of them are landless and practise shifting cultivation. They need to be helped in adopting new methods and cultivation. The tribal possess uneconomic holdings because of which their crop yield is very less.
3. Problems of land ownership and loss of control over natural resources: A good portion of the land in the tribal areas have been legally transferred to non-tribals. Tribals demand that this land distant should be returned to them. With the concept of protected forests and national forests, the tribal felt uprooted from their property of forests.
4. Poverty and unemployment: Most of the tribal people are living below the poverty line. They are mainly unskilled and as such are employed at low rates. They are also exploited by the moneylenders and zamindars, who often try to occupy their land in return for loans.