CHENNAI: Immediate steps to pass a legislation banning the sale of land allotted to tribal communities, reconstitution of the administrative jurisdiction of their villages and an end to their displacement from forests are among the demands highlighted in the `Manifesto of the Adivasis' for the Assembly elections.

Prepared by the Salem-based Adivasi Resource and Research Centre, it says there are 36 tribes in the State whose total population has been estimated at 15 lakh. The official figure puts it at 6.51 lakh. They live in 42 Assembly segments spread over 17 districts. In each of these constituencies, they are considered to be a decisive force with a minimum of 10,000 votes.

Vote bank

The manifesto laments that for years, political parties have been treating the tribes as their vote bank, ignoring the fact that they have been deprived of their privileges. Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the State do not have an autonomous council. Nor do they enjoy Constitutional privileges enjoyed by the tribes in North India.

The number of Assembly constituencies reserved for the STs in the State has been scaled down from three to two, owing to delimitation.

The ST also face problems such as attempts to convert the reserved panchayats into general panchayats and non-issuance of community certificates to the students in time.

At receiving end

"Though the tribes have played a key role in preserving the forests, they are evicted from forest lands on the ground of implementing huge projects. Human rights are violated in the name of protecting the environment and sexual assaults have been let loose on tribal women in Vaniyambadi, Thimmam and Mettur forests," says the manifesto.

Around 36.5 per cent of the Scheduled Tribes are landless. Many tribes have small landholdings (between 0.5 acre to 1 acre of dry land). Though many States have banned the sale of tribal land to non-tribes, no effective law has been enacted in Tamil Nadu.

The manifesto calls for distribution of land, at the rate of five acres to each person. As village panchayats with a tribal population of 50 per cent or more alone are eligible to draw benefits under the Tribal Sub Plan, only 1.88 lakh tribals have been able to avail the benefits, the manifesto says.

It calls for fresh delimitation measures to merge tribal villages in a particular area under the same panchayat, block and district. This would pave the way for inclusion of their areas in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, thereby ensuring the security of their lands.

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