(EAS Sarma)
Around 1986, the then government in the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh identified more than 800 revenue villages, predominantly inhabited by the tribals at that time, and submitted the list of those villages to the concerned Ministry of the Government of India, proposing the same to be notified by the President as included in the Scheduled Areas of the State, so that the tribal communities in those villages could claim the statutory protection applicable to the Scheduled Areas already notified.
Shri S R Sankaran was the Principal Secretary (Social Welfare) and I was the Commissioner (Tribal Welfare) at that time. As such, I can readily recall the circumstances leading to that proposal.
The above-cited proposal was formulated on the basis of elaborate surveys and consultation with the local communities. The then political executive felt that such a step would be necessary, in order to recognise the villages outside the notified Scheduled areas, predominantly inhabited by the tribals, and provide them with the cover of the Fifth Schedule in order to shield them from the threats posed by the outsiders in respect of their lands, their culture and self-respect. It was a well thought out proposal that was aimed at safeguarding the interests of the tribals.
It was also the time when a number of other far-reaching policy decisions were taken with the approval of the then political executive to further the cause of the tribals, such as the introduction of a single-line administration of the tribal areas by the ITDAs, invoking the provisions of Para 5 of the Fifth Schedule to provide 100% reservation in certain categories of the posts for the tribals in the Scheduled Areas and so on. The State Tribal Welfare Dept at that time had the unique benefit of the advice provided by the eminent anthropologist, Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf, who had a lifelong association with the tribals in Telangana and elsewhere and, as such, could provide helpful insights for policy formulation.
The above-cited proposal remained unprocessed at the Centre for a long time, largely as a result of the extraneous pressures exerted by some non-tribal groups and a strong mining lobby.
Around 2003, Shri A V S Reddy, an AP IAS officer, took over as the Union Tribal Affairs Secretary and it was he who resurrected the proposal and processed it for securing the Union Cabinet’s approval. The latter, I understand, accorded in-principle approval for the proposal subject to a minor reduction in the number villages covered in it, but directed the Ministry to get the revised list rearranged Mandal-wise, as the original proposal was arranged Taluk-wise, at a time when Mandals were yet to be created in AP.
The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry immediately forwarded the Cabinet decision to the AP government requesting the latter to resubmit the proposal with the necessary changes. Promptly, the State Tribal Welfare Department rearranged the list as desired by the Union Cabinet and submitted the same for approval by the then Chief Minister, so that the same could be sent to the Centre for necessary action.
In the normal course, it would have taken within a week for the State government to resubmit the proposal to the Centre, thereby protecting the interests of the tribal communities inhabiting hundreds of villages outside the presently notified Scheduled Areas.
Unfortunately, as I have gathered from the RTI replies provided to me at that time by the State Tribal Welfare Dept, the then powers that be, apparently under the influence of the non-tribal and the mining lobbies that were exploiting the tribal communities, allowed the revised proposal to be on the backburner without any action. The same unfortunate situation continues to date, as the successive governments do not seem to have the necessary empathy for the tribals.
Had the successive governments genuinely cared for the welfare of the tribals, they would have followed up on the decision already taken by the Union Cabinet and resubmitted the proposal to the Centre so that a Presidential notification for including the villages in the Scheduled Areas could be issued expeditiously.
It is unfortunate that till date, the concerned governments in both the undivided State and later in the newly created AP and Telangana chose to remain silent, to the detriment of the interests of the tribals.
From the latest news reports I have come across, I understand that the State authorities are now trying to revise the list cited on the basis of the latest population data, which, in my view, would be highly inappropriate, as the changes that have taken place since 1986 have been the result of the inordinate delays caused by the governments under the extraneous influence of the non-tribal and mining lobbies, who gained unduly by grabbing the lands of the tribals through illegal money lending and collusion with the local Revenue officials.
By adopting a subsequent population basis for revising the list, the concerned governments would be regularising the injustices committed against the tribals from 1986 till now. That does not augur well for the welfare of the tribals and the well being of the two Telugu States.
Respecting the letter and the spirit of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution which seeks to provide special rights to the local tribal communities, both the AP and the Telangana governments should go entirely by the basis adopted for preparing the village lists in 1986 and they should not allow any changes to be made whatsoever, as such changes will effectively regularise the land grabbing that has taken place in the tribal areas since 1986.
In such villages which were predominantly inhabited by the tribals as in 1986, in addition to protecting the lands that were in occupation of the tribals at that time, it is equally necessary to protect the tribal communities from the threat posed by the outsiders in respect of their culture and self-respect.
Inclusion of the villages listed in 1986 in the Scheduled Areas would bring those villages within the ambit of PESA and FRA laws that recognise and protect their rights and grant special status to the local tribal Gram Sabhas.
May I, therefore, appeal to you (chief ministers of Telugu states) to put an end to all attempts on the part of the authorities to abridge the village lists vis-a-vis the lists prepared in 1986, so that the governments of AP and Telangana demonstrate their unambiguous commitment to the welfare of the tribals and inspire confidence and trust among them?
(Contents from the letter written to YS Jaganmohan Reddy and K Chandrasekhar Rao, Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana respectively.)
(*EAS Sarma, Former Secretary GOI.Visakhapatnam)