Tribal Development in 21st Century: An Experience from Manipur

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Many scholars and experts have experimented with and experienced the various facets of tribal development in the country. Subsequently, numerous strategies by different committees for the upliftment of the poor tribals have been chalked out. Yet problems have not been solved. Due to globalization, rapid demographic and social changes have taken place in many tribal societies. Moreover, Indian tribes represent a fascinating variety of culture and their local customs, traditions and practices play an important role in the development process. Hence, tribal development cannot be treated as a stereotyped phenomenon.

It varies from one region to another due to differences in terms of geographical and socio-cultural settings. The present scenario of the tribal society is more complex as compared to the earlier situation especially vin in North-Eastern India. In the progress of tribal development in Manipur, problems of unrest in tribal conflicts, insurgency activities as well as problems of tribal identity have a perennial presence. These problems are becoming a major threat to the development process in the State. Therefore, the root cause of such problems and its impact on common people deserved a special attention for a holistic understanding of the problem which will facilitate a flexible policy for a better environment for improvement of tribal people, rather than mere heavy allocation of money. In this backdrop, this book examines the problems of tribal development in Manipur and explores unrest problems associated with the tribal development process in the State for a larger audience.

This book will be a tool of great value addition to previous studies. It will also create a strong base for further research on tribal development in the North- Eastern states. Subsequently, it will be useful for policy makers, social scientists and NGOs who are associated with tribal development studies.

M. ROMESH SINGH (b. 1974) is presently working as Faculty in Council for Social Development (an ICSSR Institute), Southern Regional Office, Hyderabad. He has received MA, M.Phil and Ph.D degrees from Hyderabad Central University. He has been actively involved in various research and consultancy assignments over the years. He has specialised in the areas of tribal and rural development, religion and socio- cultural change, research methodology, health and organization culture studies. He has contributed various articles to reputed journals and presented papers in seminars and workshops.

The problems of tribal development have long mystified policy makers, administrators, social scientists in India and the debate is enduring on the meaning, character and direction of their socio-economic transformation. The earlier studies carried out by Anthropologists and other Social Scientists among various tribal communities have constantly pointed out various problems of tribal development and offered various suggestions for bringing better results. Based on various committees' reports and studies on tribal development, efforts have been subsequently made to improve the tribal situation by providing various kinds of provisions and schemes. However, unfortunately, the tribals have not been able to derive sufficient benefit from the process of planned development. It is true that tribal development problem in the country cannot be considered as stereotyped phenomenon. It varies from one region to another. Thus, it is important to study all the tribal inhabited regions in different parts of the country through micro-level studies to gain better understanding of various tribal problems. The present scenario of the tribal society is more complex as compared to the earlier situation especially in North Eastern India. In the process of tribal development in Manipur, problems like tribal conflicts, insurgency activities, and problem of identity also have a perennial presence. As of now, these problems are becoming a major hindrance to the tribal development process. It is clearly understood from the various studies conducted by eminent scholars. They have not discussed the problems of unrest, which is very much associated with tribal development. Infact, the root cause of unrest problems needs a special emphasis for understanding and better improvement of tribal people, rather than heavy allocation of money. Apart from general tribal development problems, the present study is also concentrated on unrest problems associated with tribal development process.