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Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2019/Paper II/Tribal Development, Policy & Safeguards
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper II 2019 15 Marks Model Answer Available

Existing Plans and Programmes for Tribal Welfare — 2019 Paper II

Question · 2019 · Paper II · 15 Marks

Critically assess the existing plans and programmes meant for tribal welfare.

Model Answer

VAID ICS

Approach

  • Demand of Question: Critically assess major tribal welfare strategies and programmes in terms of their objectives, achievements and implementation limitations.
  • Structuring the Response: Begin with the constitutional-development philosophy, discuss major planning mechanisms, and critically evaluate outcomes before suggesting an anthropologically informed approach.
  • Key Dimensions to Cover: Tribal Sub-Plan, ITDP, MADA, PVTGs, Article 275(1), PESA, FRA, education, livelihood, displacement, participation and Tribal Panchsheel.

Model Answer

Introduction: Independent India adopted a policy of protective discrimination and development with cultural sensitivity for Scheduled Tribes. Nehru’s Tribal Panchsheel, influenced by Verrier Elwin, emphasized development along the lines of tribal people’s own genius rather than forced assimilation.

Major plans and programmes

  1. Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP): Introduced during the Fifth Five-Year Plan, TSP sought to ensure that development resources were specifically directed towards tribal populations.

Its major instruments included:

  • Integrated Tribal Development Projects/Agencies (ITDP/ITDA);
  • Modified Area Development Approach (MADA);
  • cluster programmes;
  • special assistance for tribal development.
  1. Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups

Special programmes have targeted communities characterized by particularly severe socio-economic vulnerability.

Major interventions focus on:

  • housing;
  • health;
  • education;
  • livelihood;
  • nutrition;
  • habitat development.
  1. Educational interventions

Important measures include:

  • residential schools and hostels;
  • scholarships;
  • Ashram schools;
  • specialized tribal educational institutions.

These have contributed to increased educational access, though dropout and language barriers remain significant.

  1. Economic and livelihood programmes

Programmes have promoted:

  • minor forest produce;
  • tribal cooperatives;
  • skill development;
  • agriculture and horticulture;
  • handicrafts;
  • market support through institutions such as TRIFED.
  1. Constitutional and legal support

Development programmes operate alongside protective legislation such as:

  • PESA, 1996;
  • Forest Rights Act, 2006;
  • Fifth and Sixth Schedule protections;
  • grants under Article 275(1).

These attempt to strengthen self-governance and rights over land and forest resources.

Positive outcomes

Tribal welfare programmes have contributed to:

  1. expansion of educational infrastructure;
  2. improved road and communication connectivity;
  3. greater political representation;
  4. access to health and welfare services;
  5. livelihood diversification;
  6. increasing legal recognition of forest and community rights.

Critical assessment

Despite substantial expenditure, major problems continue.

  1. Top-down planning: Programmes are often designed without adequate understanding of tribal institutions and local ecological conditions.
  2. Weak participation: Beneficiaries may remain recipients rather than active participants.

Development for tribals ≠ Development by tribals

  1. Land alienation and displacement: Mining, dams and infrastructure projects have simultaneously displaced tribal communities, sometimes undermining the benefits of welfare schemes.
  2. Poor implementation of safeguards: PESA and FRA frequently suffer from:
  • administrative delay;
  • weak recognition of community rights;
  • inadequate Gram Sabha empowerment.
  1. Fund diversion and administrative fragmentation: Tribal development funds may not always reach intended communities effectively.
  2. Cultural mismatch: Formal schooling and health interventions may ignore:
  • indigenous languages;
  • traditional knowledge;
  • local social organization.
  1. Uneven benefits: Better-connected sections may capture a disproportionate share of welfare benefits, producing intra-tribal differentiation.

Anthropological approach

Tribal development should move from:

Welfare → Participation → Rights → Self-governance

Anthropologists can contribute through:

  • ethnographic assessment;
  • culturally appropriate planning;
  • participatory development;
  • social-impact assessment;
  • documentation of indigenous knowledge.

Conclusion

India has created an extensive framework for tribal welfare, but outcomes remain uneven because development programmes often coexist with displacement, land alienation and weak local participation. Effective tribal development requires implementation of the Tribal Panchsheel spirit—rights over resources, cultural sensitivity and genuine participation in decision-making.

2026 Write an account on Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST). 2026 What are the provisions given in the Constitution of India for the safeguard of the Scheduled Caste populations? 2026 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) of the islands. 2026 'Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan aims to meet some of the Sustainable Development Goals'. Discuss.

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