-- Deeptiman Tiwary, November 12, 2005, Tehelka

Adivasis constitute eight percent (83,580,63 in Census 2001) of India's population. There is a big tribal population in the interiors of Rajasthan and Jharkhand in particular, where, in 1911, 60 percent of the population constituted adivasis. This, however, reduced to 27.67 percent in 1991 as non-tribals increasingly dominated the forests and land of the indigenous people. Consequently, adivasis have been reduced to the margins. Their land has been snatched away, their access to forests has been obstructed and their villages have been displaced to make way for mega development projects.

According to the Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS), over 10 million adivasis, since Independence, have been displaced to make way for various development projects such as dams, mining, industries, roads etc. Though most of the dams (over 3,000) are located in adivasi areas, only 19.9 percent of adivasi land holdings are irrigated as compared to 45.9 percent of all holdings of the general population - a clear sign of them paying a heavy price for `development'. Now, with liberalisation and the domination of free market, hunger stalks the tribal areas with the collapse of the public distribution system (PDS).

In a survey report on `Food Security in Adivasi Areas in India', recently released by cesf in Delhi, inaccessibility to the PDS was cited as one of the reasons behind chronic hunger among adivasis in Rajasthan and Jharkhand. While the two states had a combined proportion of 74 percent of sample households who possessed ration cards, a staggering 45.8 percent of Jharkhand adivasi households did not possess any ration card. Out of the total number of families holding bpl (below poverty line) cards, only 9.2 percent households said they were getting the regular quota of ration. The remaining 90.8 percent households either had an erratic access to ration shops, or no access at all.

Adivasis were denied the full quota of ration from PDS shops. Besides, in the recent past, their purchasing power has become so low that even if rice or kerosene is available, they simply can't afford it. An overwhelming 80.9 percent of adivasi households were deeply dissatisfied with the functioning of PDS shops and the behaviour of PDS dealers, the survey reported. With 99 percent adivasis facing chronic hunger, the deliberate dismantling of the PDS has created a vicious circle which they just can't escape; finally, this is the process that leads to destitution, hunger and starvation deaths.