Report on Tribal centric sustainable livelihood generation and innovative practices in India

Abstract

Livelihood is a means of securing the necessities of life. Conceptually livelihood connotes the means, activities, entitlements and assets by which people make a living, attempt to meet their various consumption and economic necessities, cope with uncertainties and respond to new opportunities. Livelihood is never just a matter of finding or making shelter, transacting money, getting food to put on the family table or to exchange on the market place. It is equally a matter of ownership and circulation of information, the management of skills and relationships, and the affirmation of personal identity. The Scheduled Tribes (ST) in India is generally known as Adivasis, meaning indigenous people or original inhabitants of the country. The tribal communities are geographically isolated, socially neglected and economically exploited and most vulnerable section in the society. Besides tribals have abundant natural resources, they are most marginalized and disadvantaged communities of the Indian society. Around five hundred different tribal communities exist in India. The tribals are categorized under the scheduled list of Indian Constitution under Article 342 (i) and 342 (ii). In accordance with the 2011 census, Indian Scheduled Tribes (ST) population are 10.43 crore that is 8.6 % of the total population living in 15% of total land. Indian tribal people are the worst off in terms of income, health, education, nutrition, infrastructure and governance. The government needs to more focused attention on tribes as they lack the basic conditions like communication, transport and relationship with the city or town. The livelihoods among tribal communities in India is a complex, dynamic and multidimensional phenomenon, the perception of which varies with geographic location, type of community, age, gender, education, fluctuations in resources, services and infrastructures and social, economic, cultural, ecological and political determinants. Forest and Land are connected to each other because the tribal livelihood history comes from natural and ethnic factors. The predominant livelihood of the tribal communities is based on gathering from the forest materials, agriculture, animal rearing, crafts, daily wages and other works. Even in the modern world, they are struggling for their existence by depending upon the livelihood attain from the forest.