Tribal Development in North East India

Abstract

This is an edited book containing papers presented in the seminars on Problems and Prospects of Tribal Development in Northeast India and The Tribal Communities of Assam Problems and Perspectives of Peace, Harmony and Development held in Guwahati on August 27 & 28, 2007 and September 6 & 7, 2007. Since time immemorial the North-eastern region of India has been the abode of various ethnic groups of Australoid, Mongoloid and Caucasoid origins who speak Tibeto-Burman, Siamese-Chinese, Austro-Asiatic and Indo-Aryan languages, etc. They possess distinctive socio-cultural heritage so much so that scholars have often referred to this region as a miniature India or an anthropological museum. Although unity in diversity is aptly seen, time and again the region has experienced ethnic clashes between different tribes as well as between tribes and non-tribal population, which have adversely affected peace and communal harmony. Development activities have also been seriously hampered. The concept of tribal development in North-east India started with the formulation and implementation of the First Five Year Plan 1951-56. Constitutional safeguards have also been provided under various Articles, although, the benefits does not seem to have percolated down to the grassroots level during the last six decades. As a result, the tribal communities of the region have been experiencing multifarious problems such as poverty, healthcare, drinking water, indebtedness, power, transport and communication bottlenecks, illiteracy, unemployment, border disputes, drugs, insurgency and identity crisis, etc. Keeping in view the above facts, the two seminars to discuss on problems of tribal development in the region were organized, and all the selected papers find their due recognition through this book.