CEE April-June 2012

legal implications made more clear and transparent. The government has to come clean on these issues as this sends a strong signal to the local and international business community on how 'sustainably' future business would be done in India. LEF Tribal The word 'tribe' is generall y used for a socially cohesive unit, associated with a territory, the members of which regard them as politically autonomous. The tribals are a part of the Indian society and general problems of consciously changing or moderni sing Indian society are applicable to them as well. Before independence, tribals enjoyed an almost untrammeled control over forestland and its produce for their survival. Forests offered fodder for their cattle, firewood to warm their hearths, and above all a vital source of day-to-day sustenance. The wonderful equation between man and nature was demolished after independence with the encroachment of rapacious contractors on tribal land and the indiscriminate destruction of forest in the name of development. The Scheduled Tribes (STs) constitute 8 percent of the total population of the country. In 2001 , their number was around 820 lakh persons. They can be divided into two categories : (1) frontier tribes, and (2) non– frontier tribes. The former are inhabitants of the northeast frontier states-Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. They constitute 11 percent of the total tribal population. The non-frontier tribes, constituting 89 percent of the total population, are distributed among most of the States. They are concentrated in large numbers in Madhya Pradesh (23 percent), Orissa (22 percent), Rajasthan (12 percent), Bihar (8 percent), Gujarat (14 percent), Dadra Nagar Haveli (79 percent), and Lakshadweep islands (94 percent). The anxieties about the impact of Globalisation and marketisation of economy, media and information systems, the leisure and style of life etc, have today generated anxious debate among the scholars, the people and political parties The forest occupies a central position in tribal culture and economy. The tribal way of life is very much dictated by the forest right from birth to death. It is ironical that the poorest people of India are living in the areas of richest natural resources. Historically, tribals have been pushed to corners owing to economic interests of various dominant groups. The economic policy of India up to the 1980's has been that of import-substitution and protectionism in trade and market. The full momentum of the Globalisation of economy started from 1990's onwards but many checks and balances continue to persist. This historical change in policy has impacts upon local cultures deeply in addition to having an overall cultural impact on the society. Indigenous people are on the cusp of the crisis in sustainable development. Their communities are concrete examples of sustainable societies, historically evolved in diverse ecosystems. Today, they face the challenges of extinction or survival and renewal in a globalised world. The impact of globalization is strongest on these populations and they have no voice, therefore, easily swept aside by the invisible hand of the market and its proponents. Here is evidence that outside entrepreneurs, traders and influential people have succeeded in alienating the land and natural resources meant for the tribals by surreptitious means. In spite of the protection given to the tribal population by the Constitution of India (1950), educational standard, economic status and political empowerment of the tribal communities still remained backward in India. However, as the functioning of the democratic forces has become stronger, a resentful local leadership has emerged among these communities sponsoring movements for either a separate State, or political autonomy or even separation from the Union. The socio-economic forces of modernization and development have no doubt brought some benefits to the people of respective areas, but the benefits accrued to them have been largely out– weighed by the harm caused to them. Development induced displacement, involuntary migration and resettlement have caused marginalization of tribals and presented enormous problems to them. The new economic regime has led to privatization and marketisation of economy and hence it is viewed as a powerful threat to the survival of tribal communities According to one estimate, irrigation projects, mines, thermal power plants, wildlife sanctuaries, industries, etc., between 1950 and 1990 in India, displaced 213 lakh persons, 85 percent of them 4