THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The draft national Tribal Policy, which proposes a series of innovative measures to protect the land holdings and fundamental rights of the tribal people who form 8.2 per cent of the country's population, is expected to have a major impact in Kerala which had witnessed intense struggles by the landless Adivasis.

The Union Ministry for Tribal Affairs is gearing up to frame a model legislation to check illegal transfer and restoration of tribal land holdings, provide one hectare to landless families and set up fast-track courts in tribal areas to expedite the settlement of land disputes. An empowered committee headed by the Chief Secretary and at least two members who have experience in working in the tribal areas has been mooted to monitor the land restoration process.

According to Census 2001, there are 84.3 million tribal people in the country. Majority of them are impoverished and are compelled to part with their fertile land for a pittance and cultivate barren patches, facing the vagaries of nature. The new policy has a number of suggestions to check illegal transfer and regain the alienated land.

The State Government as well as those working for tribal welfare feel that the Union

Government should evolve a consensus and take them into confidence before going in for such drastic changes in the existing system.

According to Minister for Welfare of Schedule Castes /Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes A.K. Balan, the Acts passed in 1975 and 1999 lack the teeth to check illegal transfer. The model legislation should be framed in consultation with the State Governments. It should reflect the regional realities and the specific issues in each region.

While 30,000 tribal families in the State have less than one acre land, 22,000 families are landless. The Government needs at least 7,000 hectares of land to rehabilitate the landless, but only 3,500 hectares are available. Top priority is being accorded to providing land to the landless tribals, but scarcity is a major impediment and that should be sorted out, he says.

The draft suggests changes in the Indian Registration Act to prevent registration of transfer of specified land in the tribal areas. Other than the relevant documents of the land, an affidavit of the person who transfers the land indicating whether he is a member of Scheduled Tribes, or a registered society composed solely of members of Scheduled Tribes will be made mandatory.

According to Adivasi Kshema Samithi State president B. Vidyadharan Kani, a comprehensive law to check exploitation of tribal people is imperative. As much as 50 acres of land owned by the Tribals in Vithura, Peringamala and Tholicode panchayats in Thiruvananthapuram have been appropriated using fake documents. The policy should have safeguards to check the exploitation of the poor tribals by Forest officials as well as the wealthy among them.

While adopting preventive measures against alienation of tribal land, it should also have provisions to monitor land transfer among the tribals so that the rich among them will not grab the land of the poor. Mr. Kani cites the cases at Njaraneeli where the rubber plantations of the tribals which would have fetched them a daily income of Rs.1,500 a day were bought by the rich among them for Rs.10,000 a year. The affluent groups get away with the yield, he says.

A sense of belongingness should be created among the tribal people. They should be given the freedom to use the land according to their will. The proposal to set up fast-track courts would help prevent exploitation at various levels, he says.

According to Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha leader M. Geethanandan, the draft policy sounds much more progressive than that of the former NDA Government since it focuses on protecting the land rights. Before setting up fast-track courts in scheduled areas, the Government should ensure the significance of such areas and create an awareness among such sections. The struggle for land has intensified in the wake of the liberalised policy to exploit the natural resources. The intrusion into the tribal belts is mainly for exploiting natural resources, especially minerals, and such instances are on the rise. While setting up monitoring committees, the Government should ensure the representation of those protecting the real interests of the tribal people. Quite often nominations are made on political considerations and the genuine representatives do not get their due, he says.

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