The Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution

Abstract

For generations the tribal communities have been the custodians of the country's over-ground and underground wealth in the form of minerals, ores, forests, water and such other natural resources. Yet they have been and are being driven out of their ancestral homes and hearths for the sake of felling forests and mining minerals and ores. Their forced displacement has cut deep gashes in the tribal psyche. The recent years have seen a big spurt in mining-industrial activity in the country which is required, for economic development. But in the process tribals' rights are violated with impunity by authorities that put the interests of the corporate sector above their survival. In spite of a number of constitutional provisions, protective laws, and existence of constitutional and statutory institutions the tribal are faced with soul-searing atrocities, deprivations and displacement. There have even been overt and covert attempts to subvert the aforesaid instruments, enactments and institutions hurting the tribal communities. As a way out it is desirable not to upset the applecart too hard, but to discover solutions within the subsisting structures to surmount the challenge. A COUPLE of years ago, the Prime Minister gave the following call: The development of our tribal areas and improvement in the economic and social condition of our tribal populations is fundamentally linked to our concept of inclusive growth. We cannot have equitable growth without guaranteeing the legitimate rights of these eventually marginalised and isolated sections of our society. In a broader sense we need to empower our tribal communities with the means to determine their own destinies, their livelihood, their security and above all their dignity and self-respect as equal citizens of our country, as equal participants in the processes of social and economic development. The tribal people have been carrying the cross of indignities, torture