Towns in the tribal setting

Small towns contain some aspects of modernized life and they can be expected to spread the same to the region surrounding them. This study brings out the role of Towns in a Tribal Setting. Towns consist mainly of higher and varied social groups, the hinterland of tribes. The few tribesmen who came to towns became special groups within towns and their links with their erstwhile group ceased. In a region where security to life and property has remained a major problem over the historical past, even the non-tribals in towns (and in a few large villages) have tried to restrict marriage relations within their localities. While the towns show high degree of literacy and commercial activity, the hinterland shows high degree of illiteracy and agricultural occupations. Industries. and handicrafts have grown little, and voluntary organizations have shown minor impact though the region is a highly politically participant one. Towns have yet to emerge as major centres of urban influence over a tribal region in which government through democratic decentralization and famine-relief activities has become a more significant agency of modernization.