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INDIAN
ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
National Conference on Tribes, State Policies and NGOs
26th – 27th March 2004
India International Centre
New Delhi
Report
NGOs have come to occupy an important role in development and
advocacy activities. In welfare programmes, development oriented
initiatives, empowering women and weaker sections, protecting
the rights of marginalized segments, protecting the environment,
spreading literacy etc, participation of NGO sector has been
crucial and impressive. Tribals are the most marginalized
section of our population. NGOs working in tribal areas come in
direct contact with people and they are often in a much better
position to understand and deal with their problems. Besides
providing participatory measures in development initiatives,
they have been voicing their concerns through a variety of ways.
NGOs also have to deal with state machinery, local politics and
agendas of funding agencies. These negotiations are complex and
get articulated in socially significant ways.
With this background in view a conference was hosted by the
Indian Anthropological Association on “Tribes, State Policies
and NGOs” on 26th and 27th March 2004 at the India International
Centre, New Delhi.
The conference aimed at generating a meaningful dialogue among
agencies and individuals concerned with the empowerment and
welfare of the tribals and other marginalized sections of Indian
society.
The conference
was host to participants from various backgrounds (both academic
and non-academic)- universities, social workers, grass root
level organizations, NGOs, International funding organizations
and bureaucrats from various Indian states like Orissa, Bihar,
Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Assam, West Bengal, etc.
The conference sought to understand the potentials and
limitations of the NGO sector in working with marginalized
sections. This dialogue aimed to clarify the issues faced in the
development sector and achieve better coordination among various
stakeholders. The issues put on the platform are not only
important for research purposes but also in terms of exploring
how best these can serve as lessons for the NGO sector.
THEMES OF
THE CONFERENCE
The Conference was divided into five sessions spread over the
two days, namely
Session I: Fieldwork and Methodological Issues
Session II: Special Session on Draft National Policy on Tribes
Session III: NGOs and Development Initiatives
Session IV: Gender Issues
Session V: Tribal Health and Population Dynamics
On this occasion, the IAA took a step forward and organised the
First J.S. Bhandari Memorial lecture in memory of the
much-accomplished anthropologist. Prof. R.K. Jain who was a
close friend of Dr. Bhandari as well as his contemporary and is
an accomplished name himself delivered the lecture.
THE SESSIONS
AND DISCUSSION
DAY 1 The
IAA Conference began early with the Welcome address delivered by
Dr. S.M. Patnaik, the President of the IAA.
A brief outline
of the different sessions along with the discussions, thematic
outline of the papers, the important questions raised and the
solutions/realisations/suggestions offered follows.
INAUGRAL SESSION
The Conference was graced by the presence of Prof. Leela Dube,
the Chief Guest and Prof. T.N. Madan was the Guest of Honour.
Prof. B.K. Roy Burman delivered the keynote address and Prof.
B.S. Baviskar chaired the session.
Dr. S.M. Patnaik initiated proceedings by highlighting the need
for a meaningful dialogue on development experiences with
special reference to tribes and the marginalised groups among
various stakeholders. The other important function of the
conference was to renew and rejuvenate the ‘associational’
relationship among the members of the IAA. With the changes
brought out by forces of Globalisation, the tribal communities
are entering into a different social space and posing fresh
challenges to those who study them or are working with them in
development pursuits. The sphere of tribal studies is no longer
the sole prerogative of the anthropologist. With the withdrawal
of the state from significant domains of tribal life civil
society institutions have come to play an important role. The
formulation of the draft National policy on Tribes thus provides
much scope for debate and discussion. The idea of the conference
is to transcend the professional biases and limitations imposed
by the disciplinarian understandings of the tribal issues.
Prof. Baviskar,
as the Chairperson of the session, applauded the effort of the
IAA in organising the conference on tribal issues. Stating the
need to reconsider the issues in tribal development, he
highlighted the fact that inspite of the debates on tribal
policy since the Nehruvian days there have been little effort on
the part of the Government to formalise its intentions into a
law.
Professor B. K.
Roy Burman, the doyen of tribal studies in India, dwelled on the
core issues of the conference. He was of the view that in order
to clearly understand the issues at hand a little rephrasing of
the words is needed. The important issues the conference could
deliberate on could be restated as
Role of NGOs in
the context of state policies and their functioning among the
tribal people.
Role of NGOs with respect to the tribes in the context of state
policy for the tribals.
Perception of the tribes about the state policies as well as
about the role of NGOs working among them.
Prof. Dube
commended the move to make the association an active and vibrant
organization through the medium of such conferences. She mused
on the questions of interdisciplinarity and how to remain
conscious of one’s identity at the same time. She stated that
perhaps one could still preserve consciousness of a certain
identity of anthropology particularly regarding what
anthropology has been and is contributing to knowledge and to
the good of humankind. Ethnography has opened new avenues in the
past and continues to do so.
Prof. T.N.
Madan, in his address talked of the identity of tribals and how
in the last fifty years all that has been accomplished in the
name of tribal development is the positive discrimination
policy. All such notions of development and the very notion of
“tribe” need reassessment and thinking on our part. All the
three aspects of the debate need attention- Tribes, state
Policies and NGOs but at the same time care should be taken that
there is not an over emphasis on NGOs and civil society during
the course of the discussions.
SESSION I: FIELDWORK AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
The session on fieldwork and methodological issues centered on
the issue of relative merits and demerits of the techniques
followed by anthropologists and the NGO professionals- long
ethnographic fieldwork vs. the anthropological “quickies” –
Participatory
Rural Appraisal (PRA), Focused Group Discussion (FGD)
etc. The focus was on how the two techniques could be
converged so as to find a path that is beneficial to followers
of both methodologies. There is a need to operationalize
ethnographic fieldwork. Prof. R. S. Mann chairperson of the
session pointed that methodology as a part of theoretical
baggage is essential in order to relate what exists at the level
of ideas to what exists at the level of the field. Prof. V. K.
Srivastava in his presentation talked of the different and
sometimes extreme perceptions that NGOs and academicians have of
each other. These differences need sorting out via dialogues and
discussions that bring the two together. Dr. Nilika Mehrotra and
Dr. S. M. Patnaik in their paper highlighted the importance of
NGOs in ethnographic research. They delved into the
methodological issues and problems anthropologists encounter in
working with NGOs and working through NGOs.
Another
important point of discussion was the point of convergence
between the NGO sector and the anthropological scholars. It was
felt that there is a need to bring the two together more often
so as to initiate a continuous dialogue between the two. Such a
dialogue would be beneficial for both in the long run. It was
pointed out that the methods followed by NGOs stemmed from a
different point of orientation than those followed by
researchers. The motivations were different so the methodologies
that flowed would obviously vary. Dr. Rabindra Ray espoused the
need for a commonsensical understanding of the subjects –
sociology and social anthropology and emphasizing the study of
people from their own viewpoint. Prof. Mann reiterated the need
for ‘relational methodology’ and ‘operational research’. Dr.
Avanish Kumar from Development Alternatives stimulated the
discussion by explaining that the NGOs unlike social scientists
look at solutions and not at methods. They are mostly
implementers and not researchers. Therefore, while a commonality
of approach is needed the differences need to be understood as
well. Dr. Subhadra Channa pointed out that the discussions
lacked a review of the power equation. Anthropologists work
among tribes but NGOs work for them. Another strategy needs to
be developed wherein the anthropologist could build upon policy
research. Mr. Narendra, an NGO activist from Vasudeva Kutumbakam
stressed on the locality of the tribe since it is what defines
their attitude, behaviour, and perceptions. Terminology like,
development, sustainability etc. has become passé. Dr.Rabindra
Ray brought attention to the split between the “westernizers”
and the “Nativizors”, those who see development as a move
towards the western culture and those who look at it from the
point of the natives. Dr. Srivastava opined that implementation
should be informed by social research.
SESSION II:
SPECIAL SESSION ON THE DRAFT NATIONAL POLICY ON TRIBES
The session was
co-sponsored by the Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society,
Lucknow.
The special session was convened to discuss the merits and
demerits of the draft National Policy on Tribes. The policy is a
major source of concern among the anthropological community as
it falls short on almost all fronts! It was felt that right from
the reason for introducing the policy to the goals it seeks to
achieve, the document is a case in blunder. The government is
not clear in its objectives and opaque in its statements. All
the panellists could not find much to cheer about in the
document.
The main points
that flowed out of the discussion were - the issues of the
welfare, governance and development approaches to tribes are
what need attention in the policies. The need for such a policy
and its essential goals was questioned. It was pointed out that
tribal participation has not been looked into. The tribes are
treated as a ‘class’ or as a ‘whole’. There is a need to
distinguish between the different strata among tribes. The
policy divides tribes into two groups- primitive and other
tribes, which is meaningless. There is no mention of the
criteria that term a group as tribal. The policy mentions the
provision of Health institutions, but lacks focus on the
provision of basic infrastructure in tribal areas. The level of
administration in tribal areas needs to be raised. Then again,
the displacement issue has not been given its proper due. There
are no proper displacement laws or a particular agency looking
at the issue in the country. All this goes to suggest that there
is no comprehensive thinking behind the document. Even if the
policy is adopted adequate monitoring and enforcement of its
tenets is needed. The document should include steps to be taken
instead of being a general document on what needs to be done.
Prof. Xaxa
preferred the word ‘programme’, instead of ‘policy’ in referring
to the document. It is more a statement in what should be done
rather than what a policy document should be. The document
begins with controversial terminology like “mainstreaming” and
ends with “assimilation” of tribes. It does not account for the
changing scenario in tribal societies, which is essential and
should go into the formulation of policies. There are a lot of
omissions- there is no talk of reservation, there is no
reanalysis of the situation in the last 50 years, important
things like alienation have not been dwelled upon, gender issues
have not been looked at and an important aspect that needs to be
included is the financial allocation. The policy should clearly
define what percentage of national income goes into tribal
welfare. Further, any references to the 73rd amendment, the Gram
Sabha and its implications for tribal welfare are missing. What
is also missing is the relation between centre and state
governments with regards to tribals. Synchronisation of state
and central government policies and efforts is essential. There
is no talk of language and culture etc.
Dr. C B Tripathi said that this is not the first national policy
on tribes citing the Dhebar commission, 1960 and Shivram committee as
examples. The numbers (of tribes) given in the document are
faulty- the report states there are 698 scheduled tribes in
India; whereas the Ministry of law lists 300 tribes,
Anthropological Survey of India gives a different figure. Orissa
has 62 tribes not 68 as the document claims. Prof. I.S. Marwah
opined that the tribes’ dependence on forests should be weaned
by diversification of occupational activities not by spurning
their rights over the resource and evicting them from their
homelands. There should be some interface between the government
and tribes and NGOs fill this gap. He pointed out that the word
tribe and scheduled tribe have been used interchangeably in the
document, this should not be the case. Prof. Roy Burman talked
of the relevance of the forest policy and its importance in the
formulation of such documents like the Tribal policy. Dr. Ram
Prasad Mitra talked about how the approach of the policy is “for
the tribals” not “with the tribals”. The policy does not talk of
participation of tribals in the development process at any
stage. Empowerment issues have not been touched at all.
DAY 2
SESSION III: NGOs AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES
The 3rd session of the conference debated, deepened and enriched
the understanding of the role of NGOs in development at the
grassroots level. It emphasized the need and the role of
people’s participation in their own development. It served to
highlight the important issues like problems faced by NGOs,
their success stories, their intervention strategies, how the
fruits of development fail to reach the needy and how NGOs have
become implementers of programmes in many ways. Issues in
development like mobilising grassroots worker, training them,
role of SHGs, withdrawal of NGOs from the field were dwelled
upon. Acceptance of new technology, role of NGOs as mediators,
questions of identity, integrity, influence of political
leaders, sustainability issue etc. also formed the core of the
session.
Dr. A. K. Kapoor,
the Chairperson, highlighted the role of NGOs working at the
grassroots level in fostering change in a group/community or
people. They have several constraints during the implementation
of programmes like labourpower shortage, fund shortage etc. Dr. Neeti Mahanti discussed the situation in which the NGOs are
working in relation to grassroots levels. She highlighted the
lack of infrastructural facilities in tribal areas in terms of
education and that the content, medium of education and syllabi
should be constructed keeping in mind the culture of the area.
Dr. Debal K.
SinghaRoy discussed the problems of marginalised tribal peasants
in the context of Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh and the
Naxalite hit areas of West Bengal. His paper emphasized that
NGOs can play an effective role not only in the implementation
of state sponsored development initiatives but also articulate
the alternatives for development of the marginalised. Ramnath
Nayak evaluated the functioning of the Tribal Sub-Plan(TSP) in the Koraput
district and its failure because of the lack of commitment on
part of the villagers that was a result of the neglect of issues
of tribal exploitation by the programme. Ujjal Kumar Sarma
traced the evolution of Forest Policy in India. Through his case
study of the Kaziranga National Park he highlighted the issues
and problems of tribal communities living on the fringes of
protected areas in the country.
On the other hand Dr. Rajlakshmi Rath presented a successful
case of people’s participation through SHGs (Self Help Groups)
and other village level volunteers in the protection and
rejuvenation of forests and to develop forest resources in the
village. Saroj Kumar Dhal focussed on the role of NGOs in
development and how the NGOs have produced an alternative to the
development strategies of the government. Sarbeshwar Sahoo
brought out the issue of displacement and the little attention
paid to rehabilitation of communities.
The issue of
displacement and the little attention paid to rehabilitation of
communities was discussed energetically. As was the evolution of
Forest Policy in India and people’s participation in the
protection of resources. The link between the NGOs and the
Government was explored and dwelled upon as fruitful in the long
run. The session was brought to a close by Dr. Nita Mathur who
emphasized on what development means to the people and give due
importance to indigenous knowledge.
SESSION IV: GENDER ISSUES
This session emphasised the need for more gender sensitive
studies in the field of Tribal development. The concerns raised
by gender studies are very much different from the dominant male
perspectives and would go a long way in making the programmes
more successful in the long run. The case studies discussed in
the sessions served to highlight the problems that surface
whenever the needs of women are not addressed at the policy
level- empowerment issues, fertility decisions, effect of
patriarchal setup, etc. Very often the civil society serves to
highlight the lack of concern for gender issues and NGOs have
been an important medium of festering change in this regard. The
status and role of women in tribal societies is different than
that in the dominant cultures. These differences need to be
taken into consideration at the policy level so as to foster a
change in the development paradigms and serve people (read
tribals) better.
Vinita Singh in her paper dealt with the ethical issues in
gender and development with respect to the permanent nature of
the out-migration of the tribal women in Jharkhand with serious
consequences for the societal structure and identity of their
traditional tribal life. Archana Shukla espoused the impact of
NGO intervention on women in both positive and negative terms by
taking up the case of an NGO that dealt with women empowerment
issues and helped them in cases of divorce, separation etc. It
sought justice for these women but the tide turned when this
justice lead to the alienation of these women from their
communities as the rates of divorce increased. The whole notion
of development was looked at critically through the eyes of the
women Haria sellers in Jharkhand by Kali Nath Jha. Empirical
data has been used to analyze the role of the state in the
welfare of women. Since, the policies are framed under the
influence of the streams in the dominant culture which are male
centered, there is a need of understanding for gender needs and
concerns at the policy level and otherwise. Women are often
excluded by way of policy from receiving benefits and stress on
cohabitation as well as ‘family centred ‘policies lead to the
dependence of women on their male counterparts.
Other important issues under discussion were the multifarious
activities that the NGOs indulge in and the various sources they
tap that may cause problems for them when it comes to appeasing
certain people who hold power- locally as well as the higher
levels. It was felt that state and civil society should interact
closely without compromising on criticality. The important role
of women in the household as well as the community and the
importance of recognising this by the various agencies working
for their welfare was analysed. The voluntary agencies that are
mushrooming up these days should understand that in order to
empower women their economic opportunities need to be expanded.
Dr. Nilika Mehrotra as the discussant said that the gender
component is a part of most voluntary organisations today and
gender issues are no longer restricted to women’s groups. This
is a statement on the increasing realisation of the importance
of women’s studies informed perspectives. The role of NGOs in
development has to be looked at more critically and the
empowerment notion should be questioned. To this, Dr. Rabindra
Ray added that ‘empowerment’ is a delusion like liberty and
equality.
FIRST J. S. BHANDARI MEMORIAL LECTURE 2004
Through the first J.S. Bhandari memorial lecture the IAA sought
to honour the memory of Prof. Bhandari to whom many of the
people present had an emotional attachment- as a teacher, a
friend, an academician and a wonderful person. Dr. T. N. Madan
chaired the session. He had taught Prof. Bhandari which made the
event even more memorable for him. Prof. Jain was a contemporary
and a good friend of Prof. Bhandari. Before beginning his
lecture Prof. Jain reminisced the intense passion of Prof.
Bhandari for the subject of anthropology that still inspires
many people. He stated that Prof. Bhandari had mastered the art
of easy, untrampled transition from theoretical to the
practical. His communication and interactions with others were
always a source of inspiration and strength.
The lecture
INDIAN DIASPORA, OLD AND NEW: CULTURE, CLASS AND MOBILITY given by
Prof. R. K. Jain aimed at exploring the connections between old and new Indian diaspora,
viz., the labour diaspora of the 19th and early 20th centuries
and the ‘knowledge worker’ diaspora to industrially developed
countries from the mid-twentieth century onwards and continuing
to this day. The connection is sought in three dimensions,
namely, culture, class and mobility in the diaspora space. The
continuities and discontinuities are delineated with specific
reference to the diaspora experiences of South Indians in
Malaysia (a population gaining mobility most recently through a
partial dismantling of the plantation system), the East Indians
in Trinidad (a population beginning to gain mobility from the
status of plantation labour to a class of cane-farmers in the
early twentieth century) and Information Technology workers from
India into Australia from the 1980s onwards.
The
relationship between the variables of culture, on the one hand,
and class and mobility, on the other, is analysed in the dual
framework of ‘networks’ and ‘the diasporic imaginary’. The
hiatus between the longing and belonging in this group as well
as the affilial ties with the parent country have been
investigated. The paper looks at the conflicts resultant from
the intermingling of cultures in the three settings and how
‘Indian’ culture is used for maintenance of separate identities.
The paper ends by pinpointing the substantive and conceptual
problematic in this area of studies. In pursuance of this last concluding observation, illustrations have been drawn from the
entire globalized Indian diasporic field in addition to the
three locations selected for detailed examination. Time- space
specific instances are what the paper has and it shows a concern
for the contemporary spatial-temporal pattern of study. The
paper adopts a comparative perspective keeping in view the
differences in space, time and circumstances of the three
studies.
SESSION V:
TRIBAL HEALTH AND POPULATION DYNAMICS
The final session of the conference saw an array of issues
raised from status of tribal health, report on population
studies, and health care policies to the changes in the field of
tribal medicine and health and the related population dynamics.
These issues form an important part of any discussion on tribes
and society and have far reaching consequences for the people.
The emphasis on modern systems of medicine in the health care
programmes has led to the undermining of traditional knowledge
and working of the traditional systems of medicine. Tribal areas
often suffer from a lack of infrastructure that is required to
maintain the modern systems of medicine. Further the emphasis on
curative medicine has reduced the use of preventive, traditional
medicine with serious ill effects. Nutrition and health have
often not been linked in the policies or during implementation.
This lacuna on part of the government and civil society has
proved to be the undoing of the good measures that these
agencies sought to adopt. Population dynamics are directly
related to health aspects and this link was analyzed through
case studies.
Prof. Aneeta
Minocha, as the Chairperson for the session, stressed on the
need for population and health studies among the tribal
communities as these areas seldom receive their due at public/
popular forums. There is a need to take the problems in this
sphere out of the academic circles into the common people’s palate. Sunita Reddy rightly pointed out through her paper that the
National health policy has to be evolved within a fully
integrated planning framework which seeks to provide universal,
comprehensive primary health care services, relevant to the
actual needs and priorities of the community at a cost which
people can afford. Madhumala Chattopadhyay talked of the mostly
detrimental changes in the population of the Andaman Islanders
due to frequent encounter with the colonizers of the territory,
introduction of venereal disease and the other diseases through
convicts, breakout of epidemic (measles, influenza etc.) The
tribes are still struggling for survival despite the various
measures of the Government to protect them. Samhita Das
reflected on the health services in Bengal by looking at the
problems of accessibility to modern health care for tribals,
lack of focus on primary health, costs etc. Inspite of well
meaning policies the tribals especially women do not get the
benefits due to the lacunas in the field of education, and lack
of proper exposure, training and guidance. While the government
does its bit to reach out to the people, the NGOs fill the void
between the policy makers and the common man as they work
closely with communities and are well aware of the situations on
the ground. The changing face of NGOs in the light of the
changing scenario in the country served as the befitting end to
a great session.
THE VALEDICTORY SESSION
Summarising the discussions over the two days Prof. Srivastava
noted that the conference had played its role to the hilt in
enriching the knowledge of the participants as well as the
guests. He was keen on the state of contemporary Anthropology
and its contributions. Dr. Channa raised the classical questions
of whom are we addressing, what questions can we really use and
how do we select our modes of conduct? How we conceptualise
tribe dictates how we treat them. She mentioned the lack of
debate on the identity of the state. The talk on internal
diversity is very crucial as it directly impinges on identity
and other important issues. Again, debate on national vs.
people’s interest has to be dwelt upon as well. There is also
the question of Academic vs. pragmatic interest. The NGOs have
largely taken up the humanistic approach. Dr. Channa pointed out
that our reflections on issues are an important issue in itself.
She also emphasized the goals of NGOs, state and others. Dr.
Ramesh Chandra took the discussion further by stressing the need
to reformulate the definition of tribe in which anthropologists
have a role to play. A move from welfare to empowerment approach
in contemporary era has become a necessity. Dr. C.B. Tripathi
intervened by saying that there can be no universal definition
of a tribe but working definitions like that given by Majumdar
may be used. Prof. Srivastava reiterated that anthropologists
are moving towards the study of institutions, they should not
compromise on fieldwork. Regarding the National Draft policy on
Tribes, 2004 the theoretical and conceptual debates that have ensued
should be worked into the policy. He supported the notion of
‘diffused power in society’. Pressing for a need to reorient the
subject of anthropology he envisioned a great future for the
subject as well as the IAA.
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The conference brought forth a large number of issues that
served to enhance the understanding of NGOs as organisations and
the academic process and its practical utilities. Things like
developing a common platform for civil society and academicians,
what the difficulties that NGOs face while interacting with
university professionals and vice versa, the question of
accountability of the two, issues of sustainability, empowerment
etc were raised and discussed threadbare. While university
professionals were felt to be more theory oriented, NGOs have a
micro perspective. NGOs deal everyday with the realities of
life, the nexus of power structures and issues of sustainability
of projects. Therefore, their intervention strategies need to be
culturally bound and appropriate. The role of caste, class and
regional differences in the formulation of policies and in the
development work has not been give due recognition by the
government. This was a major point of debate. It was suggested
that such issue be brought to the limelight via the medium of
public forums like the conference wherein different parts of
society can meet and discuss issues of relevance. NGOs have
produced an alternative to the development strategies of the
government and at the same time, supplemented the programmes of
the government.
The list of recommendations emerging out of the discussion is a
long one. The important ones are as follows
-
Relational and
practical methods are the need of the hour and implementation
should be enriched by research.
-
Study of tribes
and local communities from their point of view is important for
a better understanding and thus for formulating better policies
and development programmes.
-
More common
spaces have to be carved out for the meeting of the different
spheres within society.
-
For
ethnographers the contributions of NGOs as facilitators and as
professional organisations are difficult to ignore. NGOs also
need to adopt a similar attitude to research.
-
A review of the
power equation, attitude of the so called ‘mainstream’ towards
tribes as a passive subject, issues of the welfare, governance,
development, empowerment and approaches to tribes are what need
attention in the policies formulated for them.
-
The draft
policy for needs to be reviewed in light of anthropological
knowledge.
-
Participation
of the tribals in the process of development and in the
formulation of policies is very important.
-
The national
policy on tribes should specifically mention the steps that the
state plans to adopt for the upliftment of tribal community.
-
NGOs play an
important role in mobilising people by creating awareness among
them to protest against the systemic fallouts in situations of
displacement and rehabilitation. This role of the NGOs needs to
be developed.
-
Women’s issues
need to be concretized into steps for their empowerment through
economic development and public forums for them to opine on.
-
In terms of
health and population dynamics many a time traditional knowledge
is crushed on the pretext of primitiveness. National health
policy has to be evolved within a fully integrated planning
framework that seeks to provide universal, comprehensive primary
health care services, relevant to the actual needs and
priorities of the local communities at a cost that people can
afford.
-
Finally, the
debates around the national policy should be worked into the
document and this responsibility lies as much with the people as
with the government. Tribal issues need to be kept away from
politics and its petty games of power and economic benefit.
All in all, it
was a learning experience for all those present. The general
feeling was that all those working for the welfare of the
tribals should come together more often as it is a great way of
getting at the various points of view in the field and looking
at the differences to incorporate them and move towards a
better, more integrative approach to Tribal issues. The
conference also served to bring together parts of society that
were/ are considered separate entities and to prepare base for
closer cooperation and exchange of ideas between those involved.
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