Review Of Tribal Sub-Plan Approach In Odisha

Abstract

The Tribal Sub-Plan as a concept, approach and strategy owes its origin to the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79) period, when development of Scheduled Tribe (S.T.) communities throughout the length and breadth of our country was accorded top-priority attention. The S.T. development effort was revamped and invigorated in order to fulfill the Constitutional mandates ofensuring betterquality of life of the Scheduled Tribes, who were considered the weakest of the weaker sections of communities and faced various problems, such as abject poverty, un-employment,illiteracy, lack of educational facilities and basic health care services,malnutrition, high incidence of infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate, paucity of safe drinking water and basic infrastructure facilities and the like. The S.T. communities recorded the lowest Human Development Indices (HDI) compared to other sections of the Indian society. Therefore, the TSP approach, which is holistic, cherished to take note of theregulatory and protective regime and simultaneously provide participatory and sustainable development for the Scheduled Tribes through socio-economic empowerment. The TSP strategy is committed to provide the panacea for the eradication of maladies of S.T. communities through conservation of their splendid cultural heritage, traditional wisdom and intellect and mobilization of natural resource base.The present book entitled Review of TSP Approach: Study of Provision, Implementation and Outcome , is based upon anempirical research Study conducted in different Tribal Development Project areas, in 2007-08. It is not a pure evaluation study, rather, it is a comprehensiveanalysis based on assessment of tribal development scenario in different Tribal Development Projects set up during different plan periods in the aftermath of Independence from the socio-cultural, economic-anthropological and development perspectives. The documentation is presented in a precise form and enriched with important tables, charts, graphs maps and rare facts and figures and case studies relating the tribals of Odisha and tries to explain the tribal development strategies both, in conventions since the dawn of independence and recent intervention like conservation-cum-development, and suggests some corrective measures and an alternative tribal development mechanism, ie., Single Line Administration. The research output of the study has been impressive and it will provide essential materials for the policy makers, planners, development practitioners, academicians, research scholars as well as general readers.