(a) Elucidate the shifting terrains of India's tribal policies in colonial and post-colonial periods. (20 marks) (b) Critically…

(a) Shifting terrains of India's tribal policies in colonial and post-colonial periods

Colonial phase:

• Early British rule sought revenue and control: Permanent Settlement, forest laws (Indian Forest Acts 1865, 1878 and 1927) which restricted customary rights, and revolts (Santhal 1855, Munda 1899–1900) in response.
• Administration by isolation: Scheduled Districts Act 1874, "backward tracts" (1919) and, under the Government of India Act 1935, Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas, which kept tribal areas under the Governor's control and away from political change. The Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 stigmatised some groups.
• Anthropology (Risley, Hutton, Mills) and missionary activity shaped the "isolation" policy, later criticised by Ghurye as keeping tribes backward.

Post-colonial phase:

• Debate between isolation (Elwin) and assimilation (Ghurye), settled in Nehru's middle path of the Panchsheel (1957): tribal development on their own genius, protection of land and forest rights, no imposition, training of their own people, and judging progress by human character.
• Constitution: Fifth and Sixth Schedules, Articles 15(4), 46, 244, 275, 330, 332 and 342, and the Tribal Sub-Plan from the Fifth Plan; Special Multipurpose Tribal Blocks, Dhebar Commission and ITDPs.
• Later shift to rights and self-rule: PESA 1996, Forest Rights Act 2006 and Niyamgiri, and the Xaxa Committee (2014), with the emphasis moving from welfare and integration to autonomy and rights, while displacement by development persists.

(b) Impact on tribal women of displacement by hydroelectric dams

Displacement is not gender-neutral.

• Loss of livelihood and commons: women gather fuel, fodder, minor forest produce and water from forests and rivers, which are submerged, so their work, income and food security fall, and they walk farther.
• Property and compensation: compensation and land titles go to men as "heads" of family, which leaves women landless and dependent, and unmarried or widowed women are often left out.
• Kin and community ties: resettlement breaks kin networks and customary women's rights, and increases stress, domestic violence and health problems in poor resettlement sites.
• Work and health: shift to unskilled wage work and migration, loss of status and of women's ritual and social roles, and greater burdens of care.

Examples: Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) oustees, where women led the Narmada Bachao Andolan but were excluded from compensation; Hirakud (Odisha), where displaced families became landless labourers; and Tehri, Pong and Koel-Karo projects. Remedies include joint titles, women's participation in rehabilitation planning and adherence to the 2013 land acquisition law and the FRA.

(c) Role of anthropology in nation building

Anthropology helps the state and society understand and integrate a diverse population.

• Policy: ethnographic knowledge by Elwin, Ghurye and others shaped tribal policy (Panchsheel, the Scheduled Tribe lists, Dhebar and Lokur committees) and the identification of PVTGs.
• Institutions: the Anthropological Survey of India, Tribal Research Institutes and the People of India project (K.S. Singh) document India's communities.
• Development and welfare: applied anthropology informs rehabilitation, health and education programmes, forest rights and resource management.
• Social harmony: it counters stereotypes and racism, explains caste and ethnic diversity, and supports rights, and studies of language and culture support integration and cultural relativism.
• Biological anthropology: population genetics, nutrition, growth and forensic work.

Caution: anthropology also served colonial control (Risley's classification), which makes reflexivity and ethical practice necessary.