Alienation of tribal land and indebtedness

Alienation of land and indebtedness are two major causes of poverty among the scheduled tribe communities of India. These two are interrelated so much so that we can hardly think of one without the other. In fact it is indebtedness which ultimately leads to alienation of land.
The magnitudes of the problem of land alienation and indebtedness among the tribal communities differ from state to state, region to region and tribe to tribe. Similarly land systems and land management policies throughout the country are not uni form because of the fact that land is a state subject. The tribal people themselves have some customary laws in respect of land management,
To prevent alienation of tribal land and to curb the money-lending activities in the tribal areas, different states have been adopting legal measures since independence. But inspite of these legal measures alienation of tribal land is going on in different states unabated, Similarly the legal and other measures have failed to curb the money lending business in tribal areas.
In order to take stock of the situations prevailing in the country in respect of these two major problems and to suggest strategies and recommend suitable measures this National Seminar on Alienation of Tribal Land and Tribal Indebtedness was organised by the Tribal Research Institute, Assam, on March 5-7, 1984 at Guwahati.
The present volume, a product of the National Seminar, includes the proceedings, recommendations and papers presented in Seminar.