Tribal development in India : from despair of hope

Articles in this book explore the development history of the tribal communities in Kerala, beginning from Sangham period and even earlier. The conditions under which the tribal communities lived in the forest, in harmony with the nature and the subsequent
changes in their life as brought out by the introduction of Forest Rights Act have been explained in the initial articles. The policy of opening up forest for migration by the land hungry people from the plains brought about disaster in their living conditions. With beginning of planning in India efforts were made by the Governments, both Central and State, for developing these communities through various programmes. The success and frustration in implementing such programmes have been explained in detail, as Shri T. Madhava Menon, the author, was closely involved in these experiments from his days as District Collector, Palakkad, Kerala during 1957-59 period and later holding many key positions involving welfare, rehabilitation and resettlement of tribal communities. The five case studies have been developed from his personal involvement in all these cases. His article on late Dr. B. D. Sharma IAS (Retd.), the architect of a major epoch in Tribal Development in India, under section 5"Governance", brings out their close association in taking various initiatives in tribal development in India and Kerala.