Migration, Livelihood and Natural Resources Management: A Study on Guttikoya Tribe in Telangana State

Abstract

The present study was conducted on the migration of a tribal group moving from Chhattisgarh into Telangana state. Migration of Muria Gonds of Chhattisgarh state has been taking place there from an earlier period, since the 1980s, where they have been recognized as seasonal migrants who stay in Telangana maximum for six months and go back to their origin. But since 2005 onwards a large scale migration was seen in the areas of united Andhra Pradesh. In the earlier studies on Internally Displaced People (IDP) of Chhattisgarh by scholars like Bert Suyken (2010) and Goldy M. George (2015) stated that the situation of South Bastar areas, such as Dantewada, Sukuma and Bijapur, was unfavourable to the tribal communities to survive due to Salwa Judum. They migrated to the Border States with fear of survival. Salwa Judum (meaning "Peace March" or "Purification Hunt" in Gondi language) is a militia mobilized and deployed as part of anti-insurgency operations in Chhattisgarh, India. It aims to counter Naxalite violence in the region. Narendra Karma was the founder of this operation in the year 2005. Due to the conflict, NHRC (National Human Rights Committee) was appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate the cause and impact of Salwa Judum. The report consists of both side groups mistake, such as Naxalites harming locals as police informers and Salwa Judum members harming locals as sympathizers. The Supreme Court decided to ban the operation peace hunt (Salwa Judum) in the year 2011. Even after the ban of Salwa Judum, the migrants are not willing to go back to their origin, if we check the reports submitted by the news reporters from the year 2007 on the living condition of the particular tribal group in United Andhra Pradesh was not good. The forest department officials destroyed their houses which are built-in reserved forest areas in Khammam district. The children are facing malnutrition and the pregnant women are in anaemic condition. In some areas of Khammam district, they are taken by the forest officials in a lorry to the border of Chhattisgarh and asked them to go back to their home town. This was the situation of migrants in Khammam district of Telangana State which made the researcher find out the reason for refusing to go back and their condition of living in destination.