Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India

EXCLUSION OF MINORITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN INDIA
Published in September , 2017
Published by Department of Economics and Political Science

St.Xavier’s College for Women, Aluva
Website: www.stxaviersaluva.ac.in
E-mail : economics@stxaviersaluva.com
Ph: 0484-2623240, Fax: 0484-2628840
Editors:
Ms. Minimole. K and Sr.Sindhu.P.J(Sr.Sharin CTC)
Assistant Professors
Department of Economics and Political Science
St. Xavier’s College for Women, Aluva - 683 101
E-mail: minimol@stxaviersaluva.com
srsharin@stxaviersaluva.com
Publisher:
Swamy Law House
Website: www.swamylawhouse.com
E-mail: swamylawhouse@gmail.com
Ph: 0484-2361341, Mob: 9446161341
MESSAGE
It is a matter of pride that the Department of Economics and Political

Science is publishing a book on the topic „Exclusion of Minorities and
Indigenous People in India‟. I congratulate all the Contributors and the Editors Ms.
Minimole .K and Sr.Sindhu.P.J for bringing out such a theme oriented book.
Commendable job has been done by the Editors of the book in planning for and
producing the book. I am extremely happy to congratulate them and acknowledge
their sincere effort in preparing the book based on theme. I wish the department
blessings of God Almighty and all success in their future endeavours too.
Principal
Sr.Reethamma V.A
St. Xavier‟s College for Women, Aluva
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We express our whole hearted gratitude and obligation to
Rev. Sr. Reethamma, Principal, Rev. Sr. Geege Joanamma Xavier, Vice-
Principal and the Management of St. Xavier‟s College for Women, Aluva for
their encouragement and support for the publication of the book. We render our
sincere thanks to our contributors of various esteemed institutions and
organisations. We would also like to express our sincere thanks to Publisher of
the book, Adv.Venkit N.Y, Swamy Law House Publishers , Ernakulam.
Our heartiest thanks to Ms. Vandana Aravindan , Assistant Professor,
Department of Economics, Ms.Resmi. C.P, FDP Substitute Lecturer and all
other Staff members and Students of St. Xavier‟s College for Women, Aluva
for their cooperation and help in publishing the book on the topic. „ Exclusion
of Minorities and Indigenous People in India‟. We thank for the sincere help,
encouragement and unstinted cooperation from various quarters. We place on
record our indebtedness and gratitude to you all dear ones who were all the time
behind us in completing this task.
Minimole.K
Sr.Sindhu.P.J
Date: 03-09-17
Place: Aluva
FOREWORD
The book is the output of the Indian Council of Social Science
Research-Southern Regional Centre Sponsored National Seminar on
“Dimensions of Discrimination and Exclusion: The Experience of Minorities
and Indigenous People in India” held at Department of Economics and Political
Science of St.Xaviers College for Women, Aluva. The book titled as
„Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India‟ is important for
several reasons. Our society faces many challenges and issues that impose us
the necessity of reshaping the society with included of excluded. There is an
enormous responsibility of researchers and scholars in this area, since they are
expected to offer purposeful and efficient solutions and guidelines for the
problems of contemporary society. The book on “Exclusion of Minorities and
Indigenous People in India‟ has been the opportunity for researchers and
scholars to contribute solutions for solving dimensions of discrimination and
exclusion among Minorities and Indigenous people.
The book contains papers regarding the issues of Minorities and Indigenous
People in India. It is a collection of ten research papers based on their quality in
terms of the theme oriented topics which are relevant to policy issues. The first
paper deals with the Plight of the Religious Minorities in India – A Vicious
Circle of Exclusion. The Effects of Land Alienation on the Livelihood of
Scheduled Tribes in Kerala is the second paper. The Third paper focuses on
Indigenous People Rights over Biological Resources of India: Examine
Exclusionary Approach of Indian Biodiversity Act. Analysis of Human Rights
Violations against LGBT People in India is the Fourth paper of the book. The
Fifth paper deals with Violence against Scheduled Tribes in India and its
Preventive Checks. Social Exclusion and Inequalities in Maternal Health Care
in India is the Sixth paper. A Study on the Financial Inclusion of Pozhuthana
Grama Panchayath : A Socially Excluded Group In Wayanad District is the
Seventh paper. A Socio Economic Plight of Minority Communities in India,
Awareness of Human Rights among Women – A Case Study of Aluva
Municipality, Education and Indian constitution are the rest of the papers of the
book.
Dr. Xavier V. K, Ms.Aparna P, Ms. Chaithanya. E.P, Ms. Praseetha, Mr. Linto
Antony, Ms. Praseetha.V. P , Ms. Akhila. N , Ms. Hima. C. M , Ms. Amal
Sharin T J , Dr. Remmiya Rajan P, Ms. Reshmi CP, Sr.Sindhu.P.J, Dr. Ansa
Alphonsa Antony, Ms. Minimol K and Dr. Raji K Paul of various esteemed
institutions are the contributors of these ten research papers. I expect that
these Papers will be useful to the researchers, academicians as a ready reference
for the issues in Minorities and Indigenous People in India.
Minimole K
Sr.Sindhu.P.J
CONTENTS
Message
Acknowledgement
Foreword
Papers presented
Name, Designation & Page

Sl. No. Title of Paper
Address No.
Dr. Xavier V. K The Plight of the Religious

1. Professor of Economics, Minorities in India – A Vicious 1-15
Jain University, Bangalore Circle of Exclusion
Ms.Aparna P The Effects of Land Alienation

Assistant Professor on The Livelihood of Scheduled
2. Department of Economics
Sree Narayana College, Tribes in Kerala. 16-27
Kollam
Ms. Chaithanya. E.P, Indigenous People Rights over

Inter university Centre Biological Resources of India:
3 Intellectual Property Right Examine Exclusionary
Studies, 28-40
Approach of Indian Biodiversity
CUSAT, Kochi-22.
Act
Mr. Linto Antony Analysis of Human Rights

Guest Lecturer, Dept. of Violations against LGBT
4 Political Science 41-62
Mary Matha college, People in India
Mananthavady, Wayanad
Ms. Praseetha.V. P &
Ms. Akhila. N
Assistant Professors on
contract, PG Department of
Economics,St. Joseph‟s Violence against Scheduled
5 College, Irinjalakuda Tribes in India and its
63-74
Ms. Hima. C. M Preventive Checks
Assistant Professor on
contract, PG Department of
Economics,
St. Mary‟s College, Thrissur
Ms. Amal Sharin T J Social Exclusion and
6 Assistant Professor Inequalities in Maternal Health
Department of Economics, 75-89
K E College, Mannanam Care in India
Dr. Remmiya Rajan P, A Study on the Financial

Assistant professor, Inclusion of Pozhuthana Grama
Zamorin‟s Guruvayurappan
College & Panchayath : A Socially
7 Excluded Group In Wayanad 90-100
Reshmi CP, FDP
Substitute Lecturer, St Disrict
Xaviers College for
Women, Aluva
Sr.Sindhu.P.J A Socio Economic Plight of
Assistant Professor Minority Communities in India
8 Department of Economics 101-114
St.Xavier‟s College for
Women, Aluva
Dr. Ansa Alphonsa Awareness of Human Rights
Antony & Ms. Minimol K
9 among Women – A Case Study 115-129
St.Xaviers College for
Women, Aluva of Aluva Municipality
Dr. Raji K Paul,

Principal, Education and Indian
10 130-139
St. Peters Training College, Constitution
Kolenchery
Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India
THE PLIGHT OF THE RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN INDIA –

A VICIOUS CIRCLE OF EXCLUSION
Dr. Xavier V. K
Professor of Economics,
Jain University, Bangalore
Abstract
This paper tries to explain the plight of the religious minorities in India – A
Vicious Circle of Exclusion. The strategy of the twelfth FYP seeks to achieve
inclusive and sustainable growth in India. In order to operationalize the
concept of inclusive growth it is necessary to have information relating to
various vulnerable groups which have not benefitted from the growth of the
economy. Among those groups that have missed the opportunities of sharing the
benefits of growth, religious minorities are a prominent group. The religious
minorities in India are concerned about their distinct identities such as their
religious symbols, cultural mores, prayer halls, burial grounds, dress, food,
language and living styles. They would like to protect it and seek security
against possible vandalization. The desire to preserve their identity and to be
extra-ordinarily protective of it in a measure alienates the minorities from the
main stream of the society. The alienation thus endangered through a subtle
system of discrimination causes them to be socially, economically and
politically excluded. The first section introduces the concept of exclusion of
religious minorities in India. The next section explains the constitutional rights
and safeguards for minorities in India. The third section gives the statistical
data on the profile of religious minority in India. The fourth section examines
the problems faced by religious minorities and concludes.
Keywords: Religious minorities, exclusion

_______________________________________________________________
1. Introduction
The strategy of the twelfth FYP seeks to achieve inclusive and
sustainable growth in India. The states governments have also formulated their
own strategies for implementing programmes and policies aligning with the
national goal. In order to operationalize the concept of inclusive growth it is
1
necessary to have information relating to various vulnerable groups which have

not benefitted from the growth of the economy. Among those groups that have
missed the opportunities of sharing the benefits of growth, religious minorities
are a prominent group.
There is a view that during the pre-independence period the socio-

economic conditions of minorities were not bad at all. After independence the
dominant communities occupied their space and controlled politics and
economics. As a result, the socio-economic condition of minorities was
considered no better than that of the Dalits. The negative fallout of partition of
the country is that the Muslims have to take the blame of the partition. The
Christians – specially the converted Christians have faced the prejudice for
having come out of the Hindu fold. Several studies in academics and official
committees have brought out this picture (S. Seshiah, 1980, G. Thimmaiah,
1983, Abdul Aziz, 1984 & 1989, Goodwala Commission, 1985, Rahman Khan
committee, 1995) to review the socio-economic conditions of the minorities.
The main points of concern that emerge as to the plights of minorities

relates to their concentration in slums where civic amenities are not available,
attack on minorities‘ place of worship, communal disharmony and violence,
discrimination in providing benefits of government programs, selective
discrimination practiced by the police force during communal riots and
inadequate access by minorities to employment in government sector and bank
credit. There is a poor space shared by minorities in politics (Honurali, 2009) as
there is poor representation in Legislature and Parliament that has affected their
interests. The state minority commissions have recorded complaints of
discrimination regarding discrimination of minorities in government benefits
and government jobs. All the more shocking is that even private sector is
Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 2

practicing discrimination against Dalits and Muslims and Christians for

providing employment (Thorat et al., 2009).
From the existing survey available literature it appears that the

minorities are economically a deprived class having low per capita income and
a higher incidence of poverty. They are largely concentrated in urban areas, but
living a segregated life in slums with no civic amenities, educationally
backward having low literacy rates and low educational levels, deprived of
health and nutrition, subject to communal discrimination and violence,
politically weak having low representation in Legislature and Parliament. In
other words, minorities are an excluded lot – excluded from income generating
resources, educational opportunities and political space.
The State in the past have made attempts to improve the socio-economic
conditions of the citizens in general by formulating a series of development
programs for poverty alleviation and education development targeted to the
poor and down trodden and minorities have a sizeable number of poor among
them, they have also an opportunity to benefit from these programs in general.
Some programs also specially targeted to reach benefits to the minorities have
been launched such as 15 point program (Sachar Committee, 2006),
Establishment of Urdu and Tamil medium schools in Muslim and SC converted
Christian children dominated areas, 4 percent reservation of seats in higher
educational institutions and jobs in government to Muslims under the OBC II B
category, capital assistance provided by the government to encourage minority
community traders and businessmen, permission to minorities to start schools,
colleges and professional educational institutions such as ITI, engineering,
pharmacy, teaching training and medical colleges, provision of scholarships to
school going children of minorities to incentivize them to enrol and continue
3
education, modernization of traditional madrasa education system by

introducing modern education and remedial coaching.
It is true that the State is trying to reach benefits to the commoners and
deprived sections among minorities. However, the impact of such interventions
does not appear to be effective. Incidence of poverty continues to be high
among Muslims and among rural Christians, Jains and Buddhists. The so-called
Dalit Muslims and Christians, the single parent women headed families, the
slum dwellers, the landless workers and the disabled are more vulnerable
sections that need assistance.
Literacy rate continues to be low among minorities; their school

enrolment rate is low and dropout rate high among Muslim and other minority
group children especially among the female children. Those of the Muslim
children who have opted for Madrasa stream of education are deprived of
modern education and hence miss the opportunity of getting employment in the
organized sector including government service. With the adoption of the new
economic policy (LPG), it is feared that minorities have been further excluded.
Based on the above background, we need to identify a few sets of issues

and examine them in the light of following research questions. What has been
the pattern of the growth of Religious minority population? Do their regional,
social, gender disparities need special attention by the policy maker? What is
their asset base and income level related to other groups in the State? How far
the levels of their income and expenditure have changed vis-à-vis other sections
of the society? What is their relative share in public and private employment?
There has been a focus in the development planning towards

enhancement of human well-being and reduction in inequality along with

growth of per capital income. Human well-being would encompass individual

attainments in the areas of education, health and amenities like electricity, water
supply, sanitation, housing etc. What has been the level of literacy, education
and skill, health n how far they have improved their situation in this respect
over the years? To what extent, reservation provided to the minorities has
reached the minority communities? How far they have been able to be
politically empowered through the system of Panchayat Raj Institutions and
decentralized governance?
2. Constitutional Rights and Safeguards for Minorities in India

The Part III of the Indian constitution guarantees freedom of religion
and conscience to all the citizens as a fundamental right. The word secularism
enshrined in the preamble stands for equality of treatment between religions in
the state. The constituent Assembly debated on the preamble and indicated that
in order to realize democratic ideals of the nations, all forms of communalism
had to be eliminated.
Indian Constitution refers to minorities in several provisions such as

Article 29, 30, 330A and 330B which grant several rights to minorities and their
protection and their interest. However, the constitution does not define the term
minorities. Specific provisions relating to the protection of their rights and
interests refer to those based on religion and language. The preamble to the
constitution that declares state as secular has special relevance for the religious
minorities. Equally relevant is the declaration of the constitution that all citizens
of India to be secured ‗liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship
and equality of status and opportunity‘.
5
The Indian constitution distinguishes 212 listed ethnic communities as

minorities which collectively form 7.5 percent of the country‘s population. So
far as the category of religious minorities at pan-India level is concerned, all
those profess a religion other than Hinduism are termed as minorities.
The minority rights are essentially the recognition of one‘s separate

cultural identity by the state. Even though the state does not directly intervene
to preserve the culture, it makes sure that minorities have the freedom to live in
accordance with the practices of their community. The constitutional right
which the minorities enjoy can be placed in common domain and separate
domain. The rights which fall in the category of common domain are enjoyed
by all the citizens of the country. Separate domain includes those rights which
are applicable to the minorities only and the rights are meant to protect the
identity of minorities. To this end the constitution provide three sets of rights to
the minorities:
(i) Right to preserve their culture and language,
(ii) Right to administer and manage minority institutions,
(iii) Right to provide religious education in an institution which is
managed and aided by minority communities.
The common domain of the constitutional rights comes under

fundamental rights (Part III of the Constitution) and the Directive Principles of
the State Policy (Part IV of the Constitution). The directive principles are non-
justifiable rights which are connected with the social and economic rights of the
people. These rights are not legally binding upon the State, but are fundamental
in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the state to apply
these principles in making laws.

The DPSP includes the following provisions which have significant

implications for the minorities of the country:
i) The obligation of the State to endeavour to eliminate inequalities in
status, facilities and opportunities among individuals and groups of
people residing different areas r engaged in different vocations
(Article 38 (2));
ii) Obligation of the state to promote with special care the educational
and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people besides
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Article 46).
Part IV of the Indian constitution which deals with the fundamental duties
applied to all citizens, including those belonging to minorities. Article 51A is of
special relevance for minorities with the following provisions:
i) Citizen‘s duty to promote harmony and the spirit of common
brotherhood among all people of India transcending religious,
linguistic and regional or sectional diversities, and
ii) Citizen‘s duty to value and preserve the rich heritage of our
composite culture.
The following fundamental rights and freedoms are guaranteed under

Part III are also applicable to the minorities of India:
i) People‘s right to equality before the law ad equal protection of the
laws (Article 14);
ii) Prohibition of discrimination against citizens on grounds of religion,
race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15 (1) &(2));
iii) Authority of the state to make any special provision for the
advancement if any socially and educationally backward classes of
citizens (Article 15 (4));
7
iv) Citizen‘s right to equality of opportunity in matters relating to

employment or appointment to any office under the state and
prohibition in this regard of discrimination on grounds of religion,
race, caste, or place of birth (article 16 (1) &(2));
v) Authority of the state to make any reservation for the appointments
or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which in the
opinion of the state is not adequately represented in the services
under the state ( Article 16 (4));
vi) People‘s freedom of conscience and right to freely profess, practice
and propagate religion subject to public order, morality and other
fundamental rights;
vii) Right of every religious denomination or any section thereof subject
to public order, morality and health to establish and manage its own
affairs of matters of religion, and own and acquire movable and
immovable property and administer it in accordance with law (
Article 26);
viii) Prohibition against compelling any person to pay taxes for
promotion of any particular religion ( article 27);
ix) People‘s freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or
religious worship in educational institutions wholly maintained,
recognized, or aided by the state (Article 28).
The constitution also guarantees the following specific minority rights
under Part II: I. the right of any section of the citizens to conserve its distinct
language, script or culture (Article 29 (1)).
i) Restriction on denial of admission to any citizens, to any educational
institution maintained or aided by the state, on grounds only of
religion, race, caste, language or any of them (Article 29 (2));

ii) Right of all religious and linguistic minorities to establish and

administer educational institutions of their choice (Article 30 (1));
iii) Freedom of minority-managed educational institutions from
discrimination in the matter of receiving aid from the state (Article
30 (2));
iv) Special provision relating to the language spoken by a section of the
population of any state ( Article 347);
v) Provision for facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at primary
stage (Article 350 A).
vi) Provision for a special officer for linguistic minorities and his duties
(Article 350 B) and
vii) Sikh community‘s right of wearing and carrying kirpans (Article
25).
Overall the constitution is very clear in terms of the Minority rights and
it very well protects the minorities and provides them with opportunity to
develop them to fullness.
3. Religion-wise Demographic Profile of India

Christians are the only community (among major religions) in India that
has more women members than men. The ratio of men to women actually
improved from 1,009 females for 1,000 males in 2001, to 1,023:1,000 in 2011.
However, this 1.4 percent increase of females per male is not even the biggest
one over the past decade. The Muslim community saw a 1.5 percent increase in
the ratio of females to males (from 936:1,000 in 2001 to 951:1,000 in 2011),
and the overall Indian average was a 1% improvement in sex ratio. Meanwhile,
the Hindu community saw the lowest increase (from 931:1,000 to 939:1,000) at
only 0.8 percent.
9
The total 72.89 crore Indians have been listed as non-workers —

60.20% of the total population of 121.08 crore. Non-workers are defined as
those who do not participate in any economic activity — paid or unpaid,
household duties, or cultivation. Following Muslims in the list of communities
with the largest share of non-workers are Jains. There are 0.29 crore non-
working Jains, who make up 64.47% of the total Jain population. After them are
Sikhs (63.76%), Hindus (58.95%), Christians (58.09%), Buddhists (56.85%)
and others (51.50%).
Muslims have the highest percentage of illiterates at 42.7 per cent, while
Jains, at 86.4 per cent, have the highest percentage of literates, according to
Census 2011 data on education level by religious community. According to the
data, the percentage of illiterates is 36.4 for Hindus, 32.5 for Sikhs, 28.2 for
Buddhists and 25.6 for Christians. The overall percentage of illiterates is 36.9
for all communities. The Christian community has 74.3 per cent literacy,
followed by Buddhists (71.8 per cent), Sikhs (67.5 per cent), Hindus (63.6 per
cent) and Muslims (57.3 per cent).For religious communities as a whole, only
5.63 per cent have attained education levels of graduation and above. Of people
who have studied up to graduation or above, 61.6 per cent are men and 38.4 per
cent women. In 7-16 years age group for all religious communities as a whole,
11.7 per cent are illiterate, 1.46 per cent are literate without education, 36.67
per cent are educated below primary, 28.62 per cent have studied primary level;
15.56 per cent till middle school, and 5.69 per cent till matriculation.
In the 17-18 age groups for all religious communities, 11.73 per cent are
illiterate, 2.62 per cent are literate without education, and 4.62 per cent are
educated till below primary, 14.35 per cent till primary, 18.59 per cent till

middle school, 31.97 per cent till matriculation and 14.99 per cent till higher
secondary level.
In the 19-24 age group for all religious communities, 16.25 per cent are
illiterate, 4.20 per cent are literate without education, 5.73 per cent are educated
till below primary, 14.93 per cent till primary, 19.66 per cent till middle, 11.58
till matriculation, 16.84 per cent till higher secondary, 0.20 per cent have a non-
technical diploma, 1.56 per cent have a technical diploma, and 10.91 per cent
are graduates and above.
Among Jains, 25.65 per cent are graduates or have studied further. Of
them, 44.8 per cent are women. The corresponding figure is 8.84 per cent for
Christians (49.8 per cent women), 6.39 per cent for Sikhs (49.9 per cent
women), 6.17 per cent for Buddhists (38.15 per cent women), 5.98 for Hindus
(37.5 per cent women) and 2.75 per cent for Muslims, of whom 36.65 per cent
are women.
4. Problems of Minorities
Minorities among themselves have social divisions. Muslims are
divided into Sunnis and Shias. The former are found all over India and latter are
found in Bangalore, Mysore and Bijapur. Among the Muslims there are two
social groups, The educated elite groups and the group which are engaged in
low caste occupations who may be described as Dalit Muslims. Similarly
Christians have two groups one being the elite Christians who are also
incidentally rich and are found in Mangalore and Bangalore. But the so-called
Dalit Christians whose members are large are converted Christians from low
Hindu castes are concentrated in the southern belt of Karnataka bordering
Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. Among Jains also there are two groups
11
Swetambar and Digambar Jains. Since the Parsis have their origin from Persia
and since Buddhists are entirely converts from Hindu-Dalit castes, fortunately
they do not appear to have any divisions among them.
The minority groups face two sets of problems, one is common to all of
them and the other is specific to a particular minority. The common problems
are high incidence of poverty, unemployment, discrimination in the society and
in Government offices where they seek government benefits; another common
problem is low level of and inadequate access to education, health, housing and
municipal services.
Coming to the specific problem, Muslims are targeted with tag of

terrorism and earn epithet of deshadrohi. Their Dargah flag is similar to
Pakistan flag and their mother tongue is Urdu, their food habits, dress worn by
men and women cause them to be socially excluded. The social policing by
Hindu right wing outfits in the coastal Karnataka not to allow interacting with
Hindu girls is another example of social exclusion. Their separate residential
areas consequent to social exclusion are easily identifiable and are subject to
discrimination by authorities in matter of providing municipal amenities.
The Christian communities too face similar problems. Dalit Christians

are excluded not only by other communities but also by the elite Christians.
They live in separate areas which are nothing short of ghettos where municipal
amenities are sparsely available. More recently there have been attacks on
priests on suspicion that they are converting Hindus into Christians; there have
been attacks on churches particularly in south Canara as reported in
Newspapers. The outwardly appearance of Sikh males betrays their identity and
some kind of prejudice is created in the mind of Hindu community. Sikhs were

attacked in person and in their Gurudwaras. Buddhists and Jains are offshoot of
Hinduism, they exhibits similar features of rituals. But they constitute separate
religious groups. They are in a sense socially excluded because they are
primarily members of erstwhile Dalits. Obviously Hindu community treats
them as Dalits even today notwithstanding the social and cultural change.
Some minority communities, especially Muslims and Christians, due to

their specific socio-cultural background, their food habits differ from rest of the
citizens of the country, the reference should be made to the beef eating habit of
the two communities. Some Muslims are engaged in cow slather and sale of
beef. Since the member of the majority community respect and worship cow,
they look down upon them a s criminal and undesirable persons. As a matter of
fact in some states cow slaughter is totally prohibited as in Maharashtra. In
Karnataka it is regulated. Since beef is a source of high protein and also price-
wise low compared to mutton this is a convenient way of ensuring portentous
food to poor people who cannot afford mutton. Since some members of Muslim
community is engaged in the business of animal slaughter and sale of beef, any
move towards banning cow-slaughter and sale of beef would throw these
persons out of business.
Conclusion
Generally, minorities tend to be concerned about their distinct identities.
Their identities are generally their religious symbols and cultural mores, prayer
halls, burial grounds, dress, food, language and living styles. Having been
attached to their identity, they would like to protect it as also seek security
against it possible vandalization. The desire to preserve their identity and to be
extra-ordinarily protective of it in a measure alienates the minorities from the
main stream of the society. The alienation thus endangered through a subtle
13
system of discrimination causes them to be socially, economically and

politically excluded. Exclusion gives rise to communication gap between
members of the minority and majority communities which creates room for
rumour mongering on both sides. Under such conditions, even a silly argument,
a small incident of teasing, a small fight or a drunken brawl is good enough to
ignite the surcharged situation to cause riots and to trigger attacks on life and
property. Such untoward developments are a good reason to the minorities cling
on to their identity, and to further strengthen it. The need for strengthening the
identity calls for higher degree of effort for protection and security of their
identity. This will further alienate the minorities from the mainstream of society
in the next round inviting social, economic and political exclusion. And this
will go on again and again taking the minorities down into what is called as the
vicious circle of identity-induced exclusion. This means that the minorities tend
to be caught in the vicious circle of exclusion i.e., identity causing exclusion
and the latter strengthening identities which in turn leading to further exclusion.
Under these circumstances, there is a need to extricate minorities from

vicious circle of exclusion and to mainstream them into inclusive growth path.
As a follow up, the state is expected to play a proactive role in this direction by
coming out with a series of programs to resolve their problems such as high
incidence of poverty, low quality of life, lower educational attainment, low
political participation and attacks on life and property. While retaining their
identities, the minorities having been put on the general developmental
trajectory, their members would now tend to live with and by reasons of which
interact with members of majority community in their day-to-day business of
life.

References
1. Abdul Aziz(1984), Urban Poor and Urban Informal Sector, Ashish

Publishing house, New Delhi.
2. Abdul Aziz(1989), Development Program for weaker Sections,
Printwell, Jaipur.
3. Government of India (2006), Report of Prime Minister‘s High Level
Committee headed by Justice Rajinder Sachar, New Delhi.
4. S. Seshaiah( 1980), Levels of Living in Karnataka (Mimeo), ISEC,
Bangalore.
5. G Thimmaiah (1983), Inequality and Poverty, Himalaya Publishing
House, Bombay.
6. Honnurali (2009), Political Participation and Development, Kannada
University, Hampi.
7. S. Thoratet. al., (2009), Urban Labour Market Discrimination, Working
Paper Series, Vol III: No.01, Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New
Delhi.
15
THE EFFECTS OF LAND ALIENATION ON THE LIVELIHOOD OF

SCHEDULED TRIBES IN KERALA.
Aparna P
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics
Sree Narayana College, Kollam
Abstract
An agricultural economy relies largely on the predominance of land. The socio
economic status of the population is often determined by the amount of land
possessed. In the light of the above scenario, the Scheduled Tribes are the most
deprived community in terms of possession of land. The majority Scheduled
Tribes of Kerala depends on agriculture (71.98%). Out of these, the majority
suffers from land alienation and as a result they are forced to work as casual
labourers. The Dhebar Committee also opined that the main cause of poverty
among ST families all over India is landlessness (or land alienation). Land
alienation resulted in loss of agricultural labour and created a new class of
wage labourers. It also resulted in a process of transformation from a self
reliant to a highly dependent tribal economy.This paper tries to examine the
effects of land alienation, arising from low agricultural activities leading to
unemployment, low income, higher indebtedness, poverty and the malignant
fact of social exclusion. This analysis is based on the available secondary
sources.
Key Words : Land alienation, Scheduled Tribes, poverty, social exclusion.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
An agricultural economy relies largely on the predominance of land.
The socio economic status of the population is often determined by the amount
of land possessed. In the light of the above scenario, the Scheduled Tribes are
the most deprived community in terms of possession of land. The Scheduled

Tribes (ST) form the lowest strata of economic and social set up in Kerala. The
majority Scheduled Tribes of Kerala depends on agriculture (71.98%). Out of
these, the majority suffers from land alienation and as a result they are forced to
work as casual labourers. The Dhebar Committee also opined that the main
cause of poverty among ST families all over India is landlessness (or land
alienation).
Most of the Scheduled Tribes (60%) live in the northern districts of

Kerala. Landlessness, illiteracy and low standard of living are the main
problems faced by STs in these districts. According to Government reports,
thirty percent of the STs are landless. Among the ST communities, Adiya and
Paniya experiences more number of landless ST families. The tribals became
aware of the significance of property only in the late 1990s. The land revolts
also got organized only after that. Among the ST families, there was no concept
of private property. Property was owned totally by each colonies and
permission was given to each ST families in the colonies to cultivate in these
lands according to one‘s own will. This situation changed very recently. The
present status of ST families was due to the large scale change in land
ownership pattern and the protests associated with it. The 1992 bench mark
survey conducted by Economics and Statistics Department shows that 1700
hectares of land was lost to Adivasis in the ITDP centres. For each household,
1.2 hectares was lost. During 1990-91, the average land holding of Adivasis
was about 0.52 hectares. This pertains to the burgeoning fact of land alienation
among the Scheduled Tribes. This process continued to the 2000s also. The
influx of settlers also resulted in rapid land alienation. The enactment of
different forest acts also didn‘t solve the problem of forest rights of ST families.
The livelihood of forest dependent communities deteriorated significantly. Land
alienation resulted in loss of agricultural labour and created a new class of wage
17
labourers. It also resulted in a process of transformation from a self reliant to a

highly dependent tribal economy.
Review of literature
 Vemer Elwin (1943) propounded that land alienation was the root cause
of all evils of tribal population. He found out that when there is no land,
tribals lost their resistance power and was unable to sustain without any
source of livelihood.
 Patel (1998) observes that the root cause of land alienation is the
mounting indebtedness problem of Scheduled Tribe‘s. It also resulted in
the bonded labour system.
 SanathanamVelluva (2006) in his article titled ―Dynamics of land use in
recently settled forest areas of Kerala‖ depicts tribals as wage labourers.
A majority of the tribal households‘ farm income share lies below 20%
and only a very small percentage of households depend exclusively on
agriculture.
 The tribals view land as their prime concern for improving their
livelihood. The land alienation has resulted in the loss of their identity
and they are subjugated to bonded labourers. When it is difficult to have
a living with the forest produce, it will result in ethnic conflicts. (Walter
Fernandes 2012).
 Pankaj and Pandey (2014) visualises that the major determinant of
subalternity in India has been the distance and degree of exclusion ie,
the distance of social and degree of economic exclusion. They identified
land and caste as the two major determinants of social exclusion in rural
society.

Theoretical Framework
Low agricultural Higher
Land alienation Unemployment Low Income Poverty
activities indebtedness
Social exclusion
Objectives
 To examine the extent of land alienation in Kerala among the Scheduled
tribes
 To examine the employment structure of tribals in Kerala
 To examine the extent of indebtedness among the tribals.
Status of ST as per Census 2011- Table 1
Sl No Item ST
Kerala India
1 Population (in lakh) 4.85 1042
2 Percentage to total population 1.45 8.6
3 Decadal growth rate 33.1 23.7
4 Child population to the total population 11.2 16
5 Sex ratio 1035 990
6 Literacy rate 75.81 58.96
7 Literacy rate- female 71.1 49.35
8 Literacy rate- male 80.76 68.53
Source: Economic Review 2014
The relative position of Scheduled tribes in Kerala is better as per 2011
census (Table 1). There is a substantial reduction in tribal child population as
compared to the child population with the rest of India. The census data gives
only a general picture of the tribal situation in Kerala. But a community wise
analysis shows a dismal figure of Kerala.
19
Table 2 Kerala- ST- percentage of population below

poverty line
2004-05 (various NSS rounds) Rural Urban
44.3 19.2
2009-10 ( Tendulkar Methodology) 24.4 5.0
Source: Planning Commission
The percentage of Scheduled Tribe population below poverty line in

2004-05 is estimated to be 44.3 in rural areas and 19.2 in urban areas (Table 2).
It is based on various NSSO rounds. But in 2009-10, using the Tendulkar
methodology, it is estimated to be 24.4 (rural) and 5.0 (urban). But even though
the absolute poverty levels has decreased, it may be due to the difference in
estimation procedures. The 2004-05 estimation is due to the poverty estimation
based on calorie consumption and the 2009-10 estimates is based on per capita
consumption expenditure on basic human needs. Tribals still live in abject
poverty.
Land alienation
The process of land alienation took place even before independence.
The Scheduled Tribes had no legal documents to prove their ownership. The
intrusion of settlers took advantage of this situation and converted tribal lands
into their hands. Land alienation happened in two different forms:- (i)
permanent removal of title right through selling and (ii) temporary transfer in
the form of leasing. The problem of land alienation and its associated effects
came into limelight only after the pronouncement of tribal movements. It led to
the enactment of The Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction on Transfer of

Lands and Restoration of Alienated Lands) Act (1975). But the Act did not
serve its purpose. It was a failure.
Table 3: Landless Tribes in the State in 2014

Districts No. of Families
Thiruvananthapuram 16
Kollam 76
Pathanamthitta 128
Alappuzha 212
Kottayam 206
Idukki 453
Ernakulam 194
Thrissur 74
Palakkad 1826
Malappuram 733
Kozhikode 301
Wayanad 4913
Kannur 170
Kasargod 1215
Total 10517
Source: ST Development Department
21
Figure 1
No. of Landless Tribal Families in Kerala- 2014
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
The district having the highest number of landless tribal families is

Wayanad followed by Palakkad and Kasargod. The most tribal populated
district in Kerala is also Wayanad.
Effects of Land alienation

 Livelihood Issues-Land alienation results in food and nutritional
insecurity. They are compelled to work as hired agricultural laborers or
remain unemployed.
 Residential Segregation- The Tribal colonies lack basic facilities and are
centres of poverty, high rates of unemployment, labor market
discrimination etc.
Employment pattern of Scheduled Tribes in Kerala

The Scheduled Tribes are mostly employed as workers or casual
labourers in the agricultural sector. Their traditional source of livelihood such
as own cultivation, collection of forest produce etc is gradually declining (Table
no.4). Agricultural cultivation declines due to non availability of agricultural
land, infertile land and non productive agricultural technology. The Forest

Rights Act which empowers tribals to collect non timber forest produce also
failed miserably in mitigating tribal poverty.
Table No.4
Sl No. Sector of Employment Families
Number %
I Forestry Sector
1 Collection of Forest Produces 1967 1.82
2 Traditional Occupation 366 0.34
3 Collection of Herbal Plants 330 0.31
4 Worker- Forest area 6151 5.7
Sub Total 8814 8.17
II Agriculture and Allied Sectors
1 Agriculture 13174 12.2
2 Animal Husbandry 764 0.71
3 Worker- Agriculture Sector 61122 56.61
Sub Total 75060 69.52
III Non Agriculture and Allied Sectors
1 Petty Trade 205 0.19
2 Worker- MNREGS 2520 2.33
3 Worker- Non Agricultural Sector 10956 10.15
4 Plantation Labour 533 0.49
5 Govt/Quasi Govt employment 5973 5.53
6 Permanent worker in Private sector 530 0.49
7 Permanent worker in Forest Area 90 0.08
8 Permanent Worker in Plantation Sector 240 0.22
9 Others 1134 1.05
Sub Total 22181 20.53
No Income/ Employment 1910 1.77
23
Table No.5
Main Workers in Agriculture and Allied Sectors in the Age Group 15-59
Main Workers in Agriculture and Allied

Sectors
Total
Main Animal Worker- % to Total
District Workers Agriculture Husbandry Agriculture Total Workers
Thiruvananthapuram 6805 1024 31 1517 2572 37.8

Kollam 1810 86 24 162 272 15.03
Pathanamthitta 2217 137 4 378 519 23.41
Alappuzha 1155 4 2 15 21 1.82
Kottayam 5545 1322 104 497 1923 34.68
Idukki 25716 11858 373 6527 18758 72.94
Ernakulam 3365 374 40 236 650 19.32
Thrissur 2391 142 21 307 470 19.66
Palakkad 22672 2064 1139 9832 13035 57.49
Malappuram 5596 139 48 2903 3090 55.22
Kozhikode 4007 98 69 2559 2726 68.03
Wayanad 73802 6504 1316 52227 60047 81.36
Kannur 16496 612 141 12110 12863 77.98
Kasargod 22388 137 124 17043 17304 77.29
Total 193965 24501 3436 106313 134250 69.21
A district wise analysis shows that except in Kottayam, Idukki and

Ernakulam, all other disticts shows an increase in agricultural workers with
those whose occupation is own cultivation (Table no.5). It clearly indicates the
intensity of casual agricultural labourers among the tribal population.

ST- indebtedness
The indetedness of Scheduled Tribe families shows that they are more
dependent on the private money lenders rather than the official banking stream.
The highest indebted category among the Scheduled tribe is agricultural
workers. (Table no.6)
Table No. 6 Indebted Families According to

Occupation and Source of Loan
Sl
No. Occupation of Families Families according to Source of Loan
lenders/Institutions
Commercial Banks
Others including
Kudumbasree
Cooperatives
relatives
Money
Total
%
Forestry Sector
1 Collection of Forest Produces 83 85 80 486 74 808 1.34
2 Traditional Occupation 20 18 29 103 27 197 0.33
3 Collection of Herbal Plants 33 21 14 48 7 123 0.2
4 Worker-Forest Area 328 465 416 1558 395 3162 5.23
Sub Total 464 589 539 2195 503 4290 7.1
Agriculture and allied sectors
1 Agriculture 1442 2296 1579 3965 861 10143 16.78
2 Animal Husbandry 52 129 62 150 42 435 0.72
3 Worker-Agriculture Sector 4057 5438 7903 9987 2533 29918 49.51
Sub Total 5551 7863 9544 14102 3436 40496 67.01
Non Agriculture and alliedsectors
1 Petty Trade 33 64 32 58 13 200 0.33
2 Worker- MNREGS 155 239 327 514 134 1369 2.27
3 Worker- Non Agriculture Sector 1953 1476 1409 2299 640 7777 12.87
4 Plantation labour 23 47 57 103 31 261 0.43
5 Govt/Quasi Govt Employment 1017 1792 479 698 378 4364 7.22
6 Other Workers 317 293 195 406 126 1327 2.2
Sub Total 3498 3911 2499 4078 1322 15308 25.32
No Income 73 53 40 131 39 336 0.56
Total 9586 12416 12622 20506 5300 60430 100
25
Major Findings
 Failure of authorities to implement the land rights of tribals.
 Wayanad, largest tribal populated district, faces the highest socio-
economic discrimination- highest landless tribes.
 Land alienation converted tribals to wage labourers with meagre income
and high levels of poverty.
 Tribal settlements are segregated areas of poverty with no basic
facilities- no easy access to work places.
 Most of the tribal families (56.61 %) constitute workers in agricultural
sector. 1.77 percent of families have no income/employment.
 Wayanad experiences the highest percentage of agricultural workers
among Scheduled Tribes in Kerala.
 Highest indebted families among STs constitute agricultural workers.
 Tribal families depends more on private money lenders than the official
banking system.
 Permanent employees among STs are very minimal.
Recommendations
 There should be a special drive by all concerned State governments to
complete records of rights in all the tribal areas in a time bound manner
with active participation of Gram Panchayat and Gram Sabha.
 A complete ban on transfer of tribals land to non-tribals, through sale,
lease or mortgage etc
 Successful implementation of complete ban on land acquisition in
scheduled areas by government for private entities for industry, mining,
real estate etc,
 Effective implementation of PESA, 1996 and Indian Forest Rights Act,
2006 for conferring real ownership and utilization of rights over forest
resources by the tribals and other forest dwellers.

Conclusion
The biggest curse inflicted on the tribal population is the never ending
process of land distribution. The successive government allocates huge
proportion for the welfare of the oppressed class but not even a penny reaches
the beneficiaries. It‘s high time that the government as well as the bureaucrats
realises the leakages in the system and act accordingly.
References
1. Economic Review (2013, 2014), State Planning Board, Government of
Kerala.
2. Elwin, Vemer , The Aboriginals, Oxford University Press, New
Delhi,1943
3. Fernandes, Walter (2012). Tribal customary and formal law interface in
North East India: Implications for Land relations. Concept Publishing
Company, New Delhi.
4. Pankaj, Ashok .K & Pandey, Ajit. K. (Ed.). (2014). Subalternity,
Exclusion and Social Change in India. Foundation Books.
5. Patel, M.L. (1998). Agrarian Transformation in Tribal India. M D
Publication Pvt Ltd.
6. Report of the committee on India vision 2020 (2004), Planning
Commission, Government of India.
7. Report on the socio economic conditions of tribes in Kerala, Scheduled
Tribe Development Department, 2012.
27
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE RIGHTS OVER BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES

OF INDIA: EXAMINE EXCLUSIONARY APPROACH OF INDIAN
BIODIVERSITY ACT
Chaithanya. E.P
Research scholar
Inter university Centre Intellectual Property Right Studies,
Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi-22.
Abstract
Over the centuries, indigenous peoples have developed a close and unique
connection with the lands and environments in which they live. They have
established distinct systems of knowledge, innovations and practices relating to
the uses and management of biological diversity on these lands and
environment. Much of this knowledge forms an important contribution to
research and development, particularly in the areas such as pharmaceuticals,
agricultural and cosmetic products. This increasing economic importance of
biological resources and related knowledge to these resources has made the
allocation of property rights as one of the most contentious issues in the
discussions concerning biodiversity management. But this new property
allocation does not recognize property rights of holders of knowledge. As far
India is concerned one of the mega biodiversity countries of the world and also
concentrated with indigenous people too. A major intervention in this regards
is the adoption of biodiversity act of 2002. But existing legal framework does
not recognize indigenous people ownership over genetic resources. . In this
context, this paper seeks to analyze how the text of the law and its
implementation has seriously excluded community control over biodiversity, the
associated knowledge, its use and protection.
Key words: Indigenous People, Exclusion, Biodiversity

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
India is one of the ‗mega biodiverse' country in the world due to its
innumerable genetic resources (GRs) and associated TK and a diverse country
in all senses. India is fortunately endowed with a wide range of agro-climatic

conditions that support the growth of an equally diverse range of plant and
animal species. It has been well recognized that valuable and productive
biological resources are crucial for sustainable economic development. Tk
accounts as a valuable attribute of the indigenous and local communities that
depend on it for their health, livelihood general well being(kanniyan,2007:1).As
far the rural populations concerned, biodiversity is important for their
livelihood and survival. Moreover, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics are the major
consumers as well as exploiters of biological resources. But, with advent of new
technologies, the loss of biodiversity and commercialization of bio resources
and associated knowledge have been great concern of our nation today.
In order to protect biodiversity, India was enacted the Biodiversity Act

in 2002 with a three tired institutional mechanism. On the other hand, current
regulation framework does not require any interaction between access seekers
and community holders. The current regulatory system has failed to do so. It
shows anarchic mindset of government who does not like to bring this section
people into mainstream decision making process over their knowledge and also
have fear that if establish such mechanism would take way ownership and
control of resources of state over this resources. So in this background, it is
pertinent to examine how the exclusion of indigenous communities has been
envisaged in the act.
The role communities in the context of BD Act: Empowerment or

marginalization
Definitional issue
In India exists significant academic debate regarding the usage of the
term "indigenous" and corresponding non-recognition of the same under
domestic law. However, indigenous peoples have been recognized in
29
international human rights instruments as well as the specific declarations of

indigenous people. But the application of these instruments in the Indian
context is problematic.
Even though India does make efforts to maintain and protect its tribal
peoples or Adivasis, India has never recognized the application of the
international legal concept of ‗indigenous peoples‘ within its territory. It denies
the existence of particular indigenous groups within its boundaries by
maintaining that it regards the entire population of the country at the time of its
independence in 1947 and its successors as indigenous (Pushtok, 2012:87). The
argument behind of the objection of indigenous people in India is substantives
as well as political reason. Since the establishment of the UN working group on
indigenous population in 1982, India has espoused the position that the concept
of indigenous peoples does not apply within its borders (Kingsbury,122).
So the above mentioned reasons, the term indigenous and local

communities are not defined in the act. A glaring omission in the can be seen in
act with regard to indigenous people. However, the CBD unequivocally
recognizes the indigenous people, their knowledge system, and their rights in
relation to biodiversity management. But the act carefully avoids the term
indigenous people and uses the vague phrase "local people"(Faizi: 2001).
Moreover, it does not offer any definition on local people and leaving it to the
bureaucracy and rules to be formulated. This only betrays the archaic mindset
of the ruling elite.
It is evident that the national process on the formulation biodiversity law

is by and large no- consultative. The consultations process has taken place
Delhi without involvement of local communities who are staying in the

outskirts of village. They were not informed by MoEF is nodal agency for its
implementation. So what happened is NGO‘s is represented on the behalf the
communities and there is no definite answer for whether NGO is representing
the exact views of the communities in the consultation process.
The Preamble to the Act clearly states that the Act was legislated to
fulfil the objectives of conservation, sustainable use and fair and equitable
sharing of benefits. It, however, does not acknowledge indigenous communities
as conservers, protectors, developers of the biological resources and the
associated knowledge, and in that sense it makes a strategic departure from the
rubric of the CBD. The departure is a logical corollary to the recognition of
their role as is also suggested in the CBD.
However, the exclusion of communities are envisaged in the act

through the a three tier mechanism which comprises the National Biological
diversity Authority of India (NBA), the State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and
Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the national, state and local
level respectively.
This three –tier structure has been created through a decentralized

system. The salient feature of this three-tier structure is the involvement of self
governing institutions of panchayat and municipalities in ensuring the
conservation and sustainable use of biological resources. In accordance with the
Section 8 of the Biological Diversity Act a National Biodiversity Authority
(NBA) was established in the year 2003 which is responsible for its
implementation. While looking at composition of NBA, It consists of 10 senior
officials from government departments and five additional specialists as
members. There is not even a symbolic representation of communities within
31
the NBA or its Expert Committees. This in effect means that communities have
very little space to question the use of a biological resource or its associated
knowledge which they hold. However, the Act vests primary regulatory
responsibility with the NBA and its Expert Committees in Chennai
(kohili&Bhutani,2009:7).
SBB is a body corporate set up by the State Government in accordance

with the provisions of Section 22 of the Biological Diversity Act .The
constitution and the administrative and financial composition of the SBBS is
the same as that of the NBA. The SBB consists of a chairperson and not more
than five ex-officio members to be appointed by the State Government to
represent concerned Departments of the States, and not more than five expert
members on the subject(sec.22(4)a,BD:2002:395). Here SBB will not be
adequately represented by the indigenous and local communities.
It is under the BD Act that the idea of biodiversity management

committees (BMCs) was introduced to the country. BMCs are envisaged as the
third rung of decision-making on who will access, use, and/or conserve
biological diversity in the local area under their jurisdiction( Kohili& Bhutani,
2014:18).It has been laid down that every local body would constitute a
Biodiversity Management Committee within its area for the purpose of
promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological
diversity including preservation of habitats, conservation of land races, folk
varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals and micro-
organisms and chronicling of knowledge relating to biological
diversity(Gadgil). This provision directly empowers them to participate in the
formulation of measures for the protection and conservation of biological
resources associated with their way of life. The Act mandates that seven-

member BMCs be set up by every local body not less than one third would be
women and not less than 18% belonging to SC/ST( sec.41,BDA:400).
However, act has envisaged only two roles for BMCs in relating to the
use of biological resources. At first role is consultation with the BMC by NBA
before taking decisions relating to the use of biological resources occurring
within territorial jurisdiction of BMC. The term ―consult‖ has a track record of
eliciting dubious connotations in India, as it has almost never translated into
prior informed discussions. It is interesting to note that NBA has no obligation
to follow the suggestion or the decisions of the BMC (Kohili& Bhutani,
2009:48).And also there is no guarantee that this body will share all information
with BMCs in a form that latter sufficiently about project and activities at stake.
However, there is no evidence thus far to shows that local communities have
even been consulted in the approval process. Secondly, the function of BMC is
levy fees for the use of biological resources in their area, which will be part of a
Local Biodiversity Fund. However, the power to grant approval for access to
biological resources and knowledge, for which the afore-mentioned fees can be
levied, is firmly vested with the NBA or SBB. However, the BD Act, its text
and subsequent implementation unfortunately do not further the above
functions of BMCs. its remained in paper only. However, it also manifested
marginalization of communities in decision making process. However,
principles of decentralization did not find place in the clauses and procedures of
this law. But the act has provided a highly inherent institutional mechanism
which talks about top- down structures and procedures rather than bottom level
decision making. Such mechanism would further alienate local people from the
decision-making process
33
Differential Treatment between India and Foreign Citizens: Exclusion of

communities
As per section 3 of the act specifies that for commercial utilization of
biological resources, prior permission of NBA are mandatory for foreigners.
Further, Section 7 of the Act which relates to the requirement of prior
intimation to State Biodiversity Boards for obtaining biological resources for
bio-surveys or commercial utilization is applicable to all citizens of India. But
such exemption will provide unfettered opportunities for Indian corporations
exploiting their biological resources without any benefit sharing and their prior
informed consent. In this context, it is too hard to appreciate exemption granted
to Indian industries. These provisions, which differentiate between Indian and
non- Indian citizens and companies, have been questioned by many. This has
been felt to be unjustified, given that Indians (especially industrial corporations)
are not necessarily any more responsible towards the environment or towards
local communities and that some Indian Companies could just be local fronts
for foreign enterprises. Such exclusion from the scope of the act will have
serious impact on resource generation for the conservation of India‘s depleting
biological resources. The knowledge holders will not gain any return from
commercial utilization of their knowledge.
Moreover, there is an exemption from this obligation in the case of

people and communities of particular area and also vaids and hakims who
practice indigenous medicine (gopalakrishnan& surendra,2002). This provision
indirectly validates the claim of local and indigenous communities to access the
biological resources of the area(Gene campaign:67) Yet it doesn‘t support a
claim to ownership of the biological resources.

Benefit sharing and communities

Section 2 (f) defines the phrase ‗fair and equitable benefit sharing‘ as
something that will be determined by the National Biodiversity Authority. It has
been pointed out that the determination of fair and equitable benefit sharing is a
matter in which local persons and beneficiaries must have a strong say. Again,
it can be seen that the actual beneficiaries would have no role in this process of
determining equitable benefit sharing. .Unfortunately there is no legal assertion
that terms and condition for such agreements are binding upon parties and
NBA. Here Indian parliament has miserably failed to give legal recognition
over their traditional rights and knowledge associated with them. Rule 14(3)
lays down a duty on the part of the National Biodiversity Authority to consult
the local bodies while granting any approval to any person for accessing
biological resources(Gene campaign :67).This Rule reflects the custodianship
of local bodies over these resources. Rule 20(8) transfers benefits directly to an
individual or group of individuals as determined under the ABS agreement if
the knowledge or the resource is accessed directly from a specific individual or
a group of individuals. This clause implicitly recognizes the claim of primary
ownership of the local communities over specific biological resources and
knowledge. It can be reiterated here that the Act does not include any direct and
clear provisions on the question of ownership and access to biological
resources. In this context it would be crucial to identify the benchmarks to
provide a basis for establishing ownership. The scale of proof and admissibility
of oral evidence are some issues that would need to be clarified before any real
claims may be supported(Gene campaign,68).At this juncture, it can be say that
NBA is the final authority to grant access to resources and knowledge
associated with them. But this process is proved to be less beneficial for
custodians who are associated with knowledge. As far as community is
35
concerned, it is great blow to them because all powers are vested with NBA
instead of giving at least any say over it. Besides, overarching powers to the
NBA to decide the form and amount of compensation of benefits makes it less
attractive for local and indigenous communities. But reality is this, even the
identified benefit claimers do not have a primafacie right to the money that is
paid by the research organization that has used their resources or knowledge
unless the NBA decides whether to pay money directly or to the biodiversity
fund. It can be conclude that centralization of power may ignore the bond
between local bodies and benefit claimers and dictate terms and conditions in
accordance with her interests.
So far, the act is being silent about the ownership and control by the
indigenous and local communities of traditional knowledge based on biological
resources wherever it is clearly associated with them. It must be pointed that
some scholars believe the emphasis of the Indian Biodiversity Act is more on
the international trade in biological resources, neglecting the rights and interests
of local and indigenous communities (Gopalakrishnan 2002: 739).
Overall impression regarding the act is that , the regulatory framework

for access to biological resources in India doesn‘t accommodate mechanism for
the protection of rights of PIC of local and indigenous communities. No
explicit links are provided between the state and the holders of knowledge or
biological resources; the decision lies ultimately in the hands of state rather than
the holders(Ghose,2004:9). Therefore, the role for BMCS defined in the
biodiversity rules are a complete comedown from what was envisaged in the
biodiversity act, which itself had its own set of problems. Some of the critical
problems both with the act and rules are going to discuss here.

Conflict between Act& Rule of BD: In the Role of communities

There exist serious concerns that both the Biodiversity Act and Rules do
not reflect the empowerment of indigenous and local communities in the
conservation of biodiversity mandated by the CBD. As we believed that a
certain extent rules under the Act would strengthen the provisions on
conservation, sustainable use, and equity. Unfortunately, that hope was
shattered when the government notified the Biological Diversity Rules 2004 on
th
15 April under the Biodiversity Act (2002)(singh:2009). But the rules were
criticized by many experts because it defeat letter and spirit of the act and also
undermine the interests of communities who depend upon biodiversity and its
conservation itself. They alleged that the provision of rules were inadequate in
protecting community rights and powers. One of the critical issues was around
the powers on constitution of Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) to
be established by every local body.
The Act supposedly empowers the BMCs to take decisions on

conservation and control.However the Rules severely dilute this and state that
the main role and function of the BMC is to merely maintain Peoples
Biodiversity Register (PBR)(Sutar&Swain:24). The PBR appears to be a one-
way extractive flow out of information, which will then be neatly controlled, in
a centralized database where it then becomes easy for State to negotiate/enter
into agreements with private parties(gene capagin:176).)Creation of
biodiversity registers at local level, preferably digital media will enable foreign
corporations to locate the availability of commercially useful biological
resources and associated knowledge and acquire them through the NBA located
in Delhi without involvement of the indigenous and local
communities(Gopalakrishnan&surendra,2002). There is no clarity on how this
37
documented material could genuinely help people and communities. There are
no mechanisms envisioned or planned for taking this documented knowledge
back to communities. The flow of information seems to be completely one way
with the other lane of the highway blocked permanently(Gene campaign:176).
As on date, there is no legal protection available for the knowledge recorded in
the PBR(NBA,2011:24). By doing so, the act assumes that indigenous and local
communities are incapable of managing and protecting their own biological
resources and knowledge associated with them.
Then people has started objection towards rule which focused on

documentation PBR because it does not give any kind of control and legal
protection for the PBR. To protest against BD rules, the people from different
corner of the country with active support of NGO and citizens group took part
in the rally conducted on Delhi in 2004. Then they submitted a memorandum
to minister of MOEF, A. Raja, they said that BMCs cannot be mere data
providers for PBRs, and urgent steps had to be taken to ensure that the know
ledge and resources being recorded in the PBRs were legally
protected(Kohili&Bhutani,2014:18). However, they also sent resolution to
Prime minister which demanded for decentralized biodiversity governance and
also pointed that the biodiversity rules would have negative impacts on rights,
livelihoods and conservation. They announced that they would not be
cooperating with implementing the new law unless certain prerequisites for
people‘s control, recognition of their rights and responsibilities, and the
protection of outputs. Howevre, Rule 7 is clearly biased, as it gives BMC only
an advisory role in the of grant approvals.

Therefore in many ways the Rules do not facilitate community decision

making and control on their resources and knowledge and hence are not step
toward community sovereignty(Sutar&Swain:25). Therefore, the role for BMCs
defined in the Biodiversity Rules are a complete comedown from what was
envisaged in the Biodiversity Act, which itself had its own set of problems.
(kohili:2005). In order to address some of the challenges, the NBA offered help
in the form of ―Guidelines for Operationalisation of BMCs‖ issued as late as in
January 2013(Kohili&Bhutani,2014:19).The issued guidelines is somewhat
similar to the function and role of BMCs already said in the act and rule. But it
does not considered consultation or prior informed consent with BMCs as part
of their function and never recognized their role for regulating access to
Biological resources and associated TK. So it can be conclude that guidelines
are not strong enough to strengthen BMCs and it is not mandatory upon the
states to follow guidelines in the formation of BMCs. The situation remained as
it is after the guidelines issued. The rules have reduced their role into
preparation of people‘s biodiversity registers (PBRs) with local people. It is to
be noted that the Biodiversity Act and the Rules were essentially in response to
international treaty obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity,
and not primarily to protect the interest of the nation in respect of its bio
resources and indigenous knowledge systems.
Conclusion
From the reading of the Biological Diversity Act 2004 and the Rules is
that the Act has followed a centralized approach for granting prior informed
consent to use materials on mutually agreed terms and conditions rather than a
decentralized one. The unfortunate consequence of the act is the centralization
of property rights in the hands of the state through sovereign appropriation.
More over the act does not provide a framework for the rights of all holders of
39
biological resources and related knowledge. The act is conspicuously shy in its
treatment towards the knowledge of indigenous communities. It shows the
reluctance on the part of Indian government to recognize that ownership of
traditional knowledge rests with the community and to develop legislation from
that perspective, keeping in mind the new commercial interest that is the reason
for this unsatisfactory situation.
REFERENCES
1. Prof S. Kannaiyan(2007),Biological Diversity And Traditional
Knowledge,
http://nbaindia.org/uploaded/docs/traditionalknowledge_190707.pdf
2. Benedict Kingsbury(1998) "Indigenous Peoples" in International Law:
A Constructivist Approach to the Asian Controversy,
https://turtletalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/benedict-kingsbury-
indigenous-peoples-in-international-law.pdf
3. S. FAIZI, A diverse bill. Retrieved from
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/content/800/a-diverse-bill/

ANALYSIS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST LGBT

PEOPLE IN INDIA
Linto Antony, Guest Lecturer,
Dept. of Political Science
Mary Matha college, Mananthavady, Wayanad
Abstract
The most essential need of a human being is not food which helps to sustain the
life, but it is self-identity which includes the social, psychological and
physiological aspects. The self-identity of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender (LGBT) people is crushed by the clutches of the dominated sexual
group. LGBT people forced to live in the backyards of the society. Human
rights violation against LGBT is a common phenomenon in most of the
societies. Though the government of India granted voting rights to the
transgender in 1994 and Supreme Court of India declared them as the third
gender and other backward class, still their emotions are banned and declared
as criminal offence under section 377 of Indian Penal Code. The 1993 Vienna
World Conference on Human Rights noted that it is the duty of States to
promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, regardless of
their political, economic and cultural systems but the most glorified democracy
of India is not able to come out of the shadow of the sexual majority to see the
grievances of LGBT. It is in this context, the paper highlights the contemporary
situation of LGBT in India and Human Right violation against them due to their
transgender.
Keywords: LGBT, Human Rights

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
Human beings are usually believed to be born as man and woman .The
entire human world is divided into male and female. Social beliefs and
traditions established and constituted prevalent in the society based on the
social construction of gender .We have adapted to the world of gendered human
41
society and it has become a dogma that is deeply rooted in the fabric of social
system. There is a segment of the society that are labelled as anti-social or
perverts who live out of the social system. These people are identified as
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT).
The word Gay was the common name to indicate whole homosexual
and people but the term LGBT caught popularity to indicate the sexual
minorities in the contemporary times. There are divisions present among them
.Lesbian is a woman who is romantically, sexually and emotionally attracted to
other women .Gay is a man who is romantically, sexually and emotionally
attracted to other men .A bisexual person is someone who is romantically,
sexually and emotionally attracted to people of both sexes .Transgender is an
umbrella term used to represent the gender expression differs from their birth
sex .There are mainly male to female transgender people and female to male
transgender people. There are different names to indicate this category of
people in India such as Hijara, Kothi etc...
Due to the bitter experiences from society, the LGBT people forced to
live in the backyards of the society .Human rights violation against LGBT is a
common phenomenon in most of the societies .In India also, things are not
different .Though the government of India granted voting rights to the
transgender in 1994 and Supreme Court of India declared them as the third
gender and other backward class ,still their emotions are banned and declared as
criminal offence under section 377 of Indian Penal Code1 .The most essential
need of a human being is not food which helps to sustain the life ,but it is self-
1
IPC 377. Unnatural offences.—Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order
of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or
with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall
also be liable to fine.

identity which includes the social, psychological and physiological aspects .The
self-identity of the LGBT people are crushed by the clutches of the dominated
sexual group .The 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights noted that
it is the duty of States to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental
freedoms, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems2 but the
most glorified democracy of India is not able to come out of the shadow of the
sexual majority to see the grievances of LGBT.
The Supreme court of India banned their emotions and enforced the 154
year old section 377 of Indian Penal Code though the article 15 of Indian
constitution clearly states that there should not be any discrimination on the
grounds of religion, race, cast, sex, place of birth or any of them .It was also a
clear violation of article 2 of the Universal declaration of human rights that
stands for the equality of all before the law without any discrimination based on
race, colour, sex etc... They are legally oppressed, socially depressed and
disregarded by the government. Life of Shabnam Mausi Bano (First elected
transgender MLA),n Madhu Bai Kinnar (First openly transgender Mayor in
India) and Manobi Bandopadhyay (India‘s first transgender college principal)
show a slight progress of transgender people in their political rights but the rest
of three suffer total alienation from the society.
The prejudiced attitude of sexual majority stands as a barrier against the

desire of LGBT, for their dignified ordinary life, and pushes them to the dark
corners of the society. They are leading the life of a total banishment .As per
the Supreme Court order on 15th April 2014; transgender got the status as third
gender3 .It was a remarkable verdict of the court since the emotions of entire
2
Programme of action of Vienna declaration 1993
3
The Hindu, “Supreme Court recognisestransgenders as third gender”,16th April 2014,
43
LGBT was abolished by the same court. There is a ray of hope for the
advancement of Transgender with this verdict which recognized them as
backward people and the recent verdicts of the Supreme Court allowed them to
choose the status to call as. The Rajya Sabha has passed The Rights of
Transgender Persons Bill 2014 on 24 April 2015 which guaranteeing the rights,
reservation in education and government jobs, and other aids4. But the future of
the rest of the sexual groups still remains as an unanswered question .The
transgender bill is now facing an unanticipated delay in discussing the bill in
the Lok Sabha and it still pending in the lower house. In 2016, the government
came up with new bill ie. Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016
which is diluted version of 2014 bill. The transgender people are the only
section who leads an open social life in LGBT. Their main occupations are
begging, sex work and performing in ceremonies .Discriminations in the
employment force them to opt these professions where there is no biases based
on sex or preference for previous experience .The rest of the sections in LGBT
lead a hidden social life by fearing the social stigma.
These social and economic conditions of LGBT are happening not only
in India, the same things happen even in America but the situation in America
is rapidly changing favourably for LGBT. The American hotchpotch of culture
is now ready to accept the LGBT. Even the China has legalized the
homosexuality and made sound social and legal atmosphere to sexual
minorities. Still LGBT considered as an unnatural by the social stigma which is
ignorant to the realities about LGBT people and the Indian historical and
cultural support to the homosexuality and transgender. LGBT people have the
4
Indian Express,”RajyaSabha passes historic private Bill to promote transgender rights”,25th
April 2015

full rights to enjoy the human rights like all heterosexuals enjoy, as they also
born as human beings. The system of government and the culture of India
prevail in relation with heterosexuals and since the LGBT is minority, they
have no influence on these.
Homosexuality and gender

Human rights involve responsibility and duties toward other people and
the community. Individuals often have a responsibility to ensure that they
exercise their rights with due regard for the rights of others. For example,
exercising freedom of speech should not infringe someone else‘s right to
privacy. Governments have a particular responsibility to ensure that people are
able to enjoy their rights. They are required to establish and maintain laws and
services that enable their citizens to enjoy a life in which their rights are
observed.
All human beings have a sexual orientation and a gender identity, and
this shared fact means that discrimination against members of the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and Transgender community, based on sexual orientation or gender
identity is an issue that transcends that community and affects all the human
beings. Sexual orientation covers sexual desires, feelings, practices and
identification. Sexual orientation can be towards people of the same or different
sexes like same-sex, heterosexual or bisexual orientation.
Gender makes distinctions within each specious. Transgender stands as

another category of gender along with man and woman. There is a long time
prevailed rigid belief in many of the societies in the world that there is only two
types of distinctions as men and women. There was no place for third gender.
The same discrimination was applied to the matter of homosexuality in those
45
societies. But situation in societies like ancient India and ancient Rome were
totally different from those rigid societies. India and Rome viewed
homosexuality and third gender in a very positive manner. There is sound
historical evidence for the existence of the homosexuality in very ancient time.
The historical evidence of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum who were ancient
Egyptian royal servants, believed to be the first recorded same-sex
couple in history5.
Demand for the legalization of homosexuality is not just to have sex

with same sex but it is the demand for the expression of identity. Sexuality is
not only just a matter of sex alone but it is an integral part of personality or self-
identity. So there must a liberal attitude from the society to realise sexual rights
to all the people without the hindrance of age old baseless uncivilized
fundamental dogmas. Sexual rights are those minimum standards that are
required for a person to experience and express their sexuality in appositive
manner. They can only be realized and enjoyed in an environment that is free
from discrimination, coercion and violence. Choice and mutual consent are
cornerstones of such an environment.
LGBT in India
The history of homosexuality and Transgender in India mainly
incorporated to the history and evolution of Hinduism as it was widely accepted
and dominant religion across India from very ancient time onwards. Hinduism
is one of oldest living religion in the world. Hinduism follows very wide
philosophical base and sees divinity in every living or non-living things. It
views gender and sexuality in a very broad way. Its epics and Vedas, and the
5
“Same-Sex Desire, Conjugal Constructs, and the Tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep”,
Greg Reeder, Vol. 32, No. 2, Queer Archaeologies (Oct., 2000), pp. 193-208.

concepts of god and goddess show the wide and liberal attitude towards
homosexuality, non-vaginal sex and gender. Variations in gender and sexuality
have been discussed in Hindu texts for over two millennia and same-sex love
flourished in pre-colonial India without any much extended history of
persecution. Like the erotic sculptures on ancient Hindu temples at Khajuraho
and Konarak, sacred texts in Sanskrit constitute irrefutable evidence that the
whole range of sexual behaviour was known to ancient Hindus. The fourth
century Kamasutra, also a sacred Hindu text emphasizes pleasure and joy as
aims of intercourse. It non-judgmentally categorizes men who desire other men
as a ―third nature,‖ and describes in detail oral sex between men, also referring
to long-term unions between men. Hindu medical texts dating from the first
century AD provide a detailed taxonomy of gender and sexual variations,
including different types of same-sex desire6.
The British administers have highly contributed to the spread of

homophobia in India, by making laws against the expression of sexuality,
which was much marginal in the society. According to Jeffrey S. Siker,‖ Indian
nationalists, including Hindus, imbibed Victorian ideals of heterosexual
monogamy and disowned indigenous traditions that contradicted those ideals.
Ancient Hindu ascetic traditions see all desire, including sexual desire, as
problematic because it causes beings to be trapped in a cycle of death and
rebirth in the phenomenal world. While procreative sex, hedged around with
many rules, is enjoined on householders, non-procreative sex is disfavored.
These ideas influence householder life, which is structured as a set of
obligations‖7. Secret Hindu books like Manusmriti from the first centuries of
Common Era consider non vaginal sex as impure, which include oral sex, anal
6
J.Siker, Greenwood Press, 2007
7
Homosexuality and Religion: An Encyclopedia
By Jeffrey S. Siker, page 125
47
sex, animal sex…etc. Punishments for the same sex intercourse were very light
compare to the hetero sexual violence and adultery.
Arthashastra views non vagina sex as minor offence and prescribe lesser
punishments like fine to the man but contemporary interpreters explains
wrongly and command for sever punishments to the woman, even though it
does not prescribe harsh punishments to the woman.
There are three main sources discuss homosexuality in India. They are
images and sculptures on temple, epics and ancient law books. The Hindu
temples in stone at Puri and Tanjore came into being in 14th century which
contains varieties of sculptures of gods, goddesses…etc show the erotic scenes
of epics and legends which are considered as unnatural and obscene by the
modern law and the modern society. ―Similar images embellish prayer halls and
cave temples of monastic orders such as Buddhism and Jainism built around the
same time. There are images of women erotically embracing other women or
men displaying their genitals to each other in Khajuraho. These images cannot
be simply dismissed as perverted fantasies of an artist or his patron considering
the profound ritual importance given to these shrines. There have been many
explanations offered for these images‖8.
In Indian epics and chronicles, there are occasional references to same-

sex intercourse. For example, ―in the Valmiki Ramayana, Hanuman is said to
have seen Rakshasa women kissing and embracing those women who have
been kissed and embraced by Ravana‖9. The life of Shikhandi in epic
Mahabharata shows the changing of gender. Shikhandi was born as woman
named Shikhandini, but grew up as man and got married to a girl. When the
8
Dr.DevduttPattanaik,”Did Homosexuality exist in ancient India”.
9
http://devdutt.com/blog

wife realized her husband‘s actual gender, Shikandini changed the sex and
became a man named Shikandi10.
Famous folk story about Aravan from Koovagam tells the sacrifice and
latter incidents when Pandavas told to sacrifice Arjuna's son Aravan in order to
win the Kurukshetra war. Aravan refused to die a virgin but no woman was
willing to marry a man who dies in a day. Krishna turned into a woman to
fulfill the wish of Aravan. He married Aravan and spent a night with him.
Krishna mourned for him like a widow when he was finally beheaded and
sacrificed his life. This story is the base for the long traditional practice and
ceremony conducted by the transgender people in Koovagam. Every year they
gather in the Aravan temple and conduct ceremony of marriage with Aravan
like what Lord Krishna had done. The marriage ends up in mourning and
weeping in the next like what happened to Krishna.
According Dr.DevduttPattanaik, ―Most popular stories revolving around

gender metamorphoses are those related to Mohini, the female incarnation of
Lord Vishnu. They are found in many Puranas. Vishnu becomes a woman to
trick demons and tempt sages. When the gods and demons churn the elixir of
immortality out of the ocean of milk, Mohini distracts the demons with her
beauty and ensures that only the gods sip the divine drink. In another story,
Mohini tricks a demon with the power to incinerate any creature by his mere
touch to place his hand on his own head. Mohini is so beautiful that when Shiva
looks upon her he sheds semen out of which are born mighty heroes such as
Hanuman and Ayyappa‖. There is a common doubt and wonder of transform of
Lord Vishnu to woman instead he could appoint a goddess for the same
purpose. Possibility of homosexuality is not much discussed or focused. Rather
10
Vyasa Mahabharata
49
discussion and debate, every action of the God is justified by the devotees in the
name of cosmic stability11.
In the Kamasutra, there is a rather disdainful reference to male masseurs

who indulge in oral sex. The author of this sex manual was not a fan of
homosexual activities though he did refer to them in his book. Reference, but
not approval, to homosexual conduct does occur in many Dharmashastras.
These Hindu law books tell us what is considered by Brahmins to be acceptable
and unacceptable social conduct. Since laws are not made on activities that
don't exist, a study of these scriptures does give an insight into behaviors in
ancient India that merited a law.
Contemporary situation in Indian Society.

LGBT people face lot of grave problems in the contemporary Indian
society. Absence of proper job opportunities due to the discriminations leads
them to work as sex workers. It is a common practice among the LGBT people
especially transgender people. They forced to go for sex work due to the lack of
money and poverty even though there is a high risk of Aids and other sexually
transmitted diseases. There is high possibility to cave in to the health problems.
Alienated life style and absence of health care lead them into sever
health problems. Modern health care system mostly designed to suit with the
heterosexual people. Absence of government recognition of LGBT as
distinctive sexual group suppress the specialized medical attention on the health
related problems of them and Heterosexism in the medical field also becomes
as a reason for the absence of medical attention on them.
11
Dr.DevduttPattanaik,”Did Homosexuality exist in ancient India”.

LGBT people live in poor economic conditions. Their socio-sexual

aspects even influence their sources of livelihood. Discrimination in the
workplace, constant harassments, lack of proper education etc…are the main
causes of their economic problems. Most of the LGBT people are early school
dropouts and so most of them don‘t have proper education to get better job.
Lack of better work atmosphere due to harassment and discriminations causes
job instability and low income and make them away from the ordinary working
places. These economic problems lead them to utter poverty and there will be
nothing remains with them for their future.
Modern Hindu ultraconservative organizations aim to remake Hinduism

as a militant nationalist religion intolerant of differences, declare that
homosexuality is alien to Indian culture and tradition, and has been imported
into the country from Euro-America or West Asia. In 1998, activists of those
organizations violently attacked theatres showing the lesbian film Fire.
The Indian government has retained the British anti-sodomy law, which
is widely used by police and blackmailers to harass gay men and also to
threaten women. Lack of legal protection from the government makes the life
of LGBT more miserable. The Heterosexual people have the legal protection to
their identity. Most of the LGBT people are homosexual and their identity is
criminalized by the section 377 of Indian Penal code under which whoever
voluntarily has carnal intercourse with any man, woman or animal, shall be
punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description
for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. The
Delhi High Court decriminalized the homosexuality in 2009 but the Supreme
Court of India cancelled the High Court verdict and enforced 154 year old
colonial law on 11th December 2013. .
51
LGBT people have full right to get protection by the government and its
missionaries like police, court etc… as Article 14 of Indian constitution stands
for the equality before law and equal protection of all the people. But the
government just disregarding the matters related to the LGBT people especially
the transgender people. There are constant sexual abuse and violence against
transgender people. Most of the time police interest to accuse the victim as
cause of the incident and drop the case. It is a clear violation of human rights of
transgender people.
Article 15 prohibits discrimination on the grounds only of religion, race,

caste, sex, and place of birth or any of them. But LGBT people especially
transgender people face fatal violation of this article. The government
missionaries especially police system is the main culprit of the violation of this
article as they neglect to take just action in the fabricated cases against
transgender people. The police attitude is not just the attitude of that group
alone but it is a reflection of the attitude of the entire society.
Article 21 gives the right to privacy, dignity and health. Section 377,
IPC denies a person‘s dignity and criminalises his or her core identity solely on
account of his or her sexuality and denies a homosexual person‘s right to full
personhood which is implicit in the notion of life under Article 21 of the
Constitution. Thus there are clear violation of article 21 of Indian constitution.
Even though the Supreme court over ruled the high court verdict with its own
explanation, the validity of fundamental rights stand as an unanswered
questions.

Absence of legal protection makes further problems to LGBT. Supreme

Court declared transgender as the third gender and OBC on 15th April 2014. So,
there will be more laws to protect the transgender in near future. But, the rest of
the sexual sections in LGBT are outside the protection of law. Those people
cannot lead an open public life as heterosexuals and transgender.
Discrimination and human rights violations against LGBT people are

also the violations of the resolutions of the United Nations. International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights included the laws discriminating based
on sexual orientation in violation of human rights law in 199412. The UN
Human Rights Council resolution passed on September 26, 2014, to combat
violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is a
critically important achievement for upholding the principles of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. These resolutions of UN have violated in India
by the section 377 of IPC and the Supreme Court verdict on 11th December
2013.
LGBT people constantly become the victims of police brutality and

torture. Police can easily put them in cases in order to get money from them. As
the section 377 of Indian Penal Code abolishes the homosexuality and the
absence of any law to protect the LGBT make easy for the police to charge
cases against them.
IPC 377 criminalizes any penetrative sex that does not lead to
reproduction, thereby criminalizing sexual expression by homosexuals,
12
"United Nations: General assembly to address sexual orientation and gender identity -
Statement affirms promise of Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (Press release). Amnesty
International. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
53
bisexuals and transsexuals. Even though this section does not lead often to
filing of court cases against sexuality minorities, it becomes a powerful weapon
in the hands of police and goons to harass, abuse, extort and torture sexuality
minorities routinely. This law forms the structural basis for the widespread
stigma, discrimination, marginalization and prejudice against sexuality
minorities in our society.
Repealing IPC 377 will become a precondition in demanding changes to

various civil laws. Already the Law Commission of India in its 172nd report on
reviewing rape laws and recently the Planning Commission of India has
recommended the repeal of IPC 377.
Most rights including right to education, employment, housing

economic opportunities, health, mobility, marriage, adoption, ration card,
passport etc. are denied to Hijras and other transsexuals, as they cannot prove
their identities, their birth certificates and their present identities do not match.
Such technical issues stand as barriers to their sound ordinary life.
There is a large section among Transgender people are uneducated and

early school drop outs. There are various reasons which keep them away from
the educational institutions such as social, economic and their physical
appearance and sexuality. Solid and dogmatic social system which revolves
around man-woman division of system is the major cause for their uneducated
condition which even leads to the total banishment from the society. Man to
Woman transgender people is the main group among the transgender people
who faces worst situations and cruel harassments in their educational period as
they easily recognised by the society.

Even the educated people among the transgender people don‘t have any
job opportunities as most of the employers are not willing to give them job due
to the public attitude towards the transgender people. Usually transgender
people do the petty jobs for their livelihoods and most of them are forced to live
as sex workers due the unavailability of jobs for them. They get very lower
income from these kinds of jobs. The life of Amruta Soni , who is a MBA
holder from one of the prestigious institutions in India is one of the heart
wrenching life stories of educated transgender people. She successfully
completed MBA but none of the employers were ready to give job to her and
forced to do the sex work and to beg in trains to earn for the livelihood. But she
was not so unlucky; latter she got the chance to join Chhattisgarh state Aids
control society13.
Lesbians, Gay and Bisexual people have much better economic

condition compare to transgender people. They have the chance to hide their
sexuality as they don‘t have any physical difference from heterosexual people.
They have the chance to work like heterosexuals in India till they reveal their
sexuality. So, they have decent income.
Often treatments like SRS (Sex reassignment therapy), HRT (Hormone

replacement therapy), Voice modulation etc… are not easily available to the
transgender people in many of the states in India. These treatments are very
costly and so most of the transgender people are not able to get these treatment
as they are economically much backward and weak. Tamil Nadu state
government is the only state in India provide free SRS treatment to transgender
people and there is a much sound situation for the transgender people.
Transgender people are the only constant victims of discrimination in the
13
Times of India, Aug 18 2015.
55
medical field in India as compare to Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual people who are
not usually victims of such discrimination.
Most of the Indian States are not transgender friendly but Tamil Nadu
stands as the most transgender friendly state among other Indian states. Tamil
Nadu government have made transgender welfare policy, free SRS treatment,
admission in colleges, scholarships etc… They are doing good awareness
programmes to the other gender people about third gender and make a
comfortable situation. India Medical Association stands for the better treatment
system for the transgender people and they have already directed the hospitals
to make special facilities for the transgender people.
Transgender people often cave in to the police brutality. They will be

easily identified by the police and take negative stand against them to make
money even if the transgender people are innocent. The general public also
much prejudiced towards the transgender people and they keep themselves to
not interfere in the case related to transgender people and this stand of public
gives confidence to the police to take very negative attitude towards the
transgender people.
Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual people always keep their sexuality hidden
from the public due to the fear towards the public attitude towards their
sexuality. Police often take very much negative and harsh stand against the
homosexual people as they don‘t have the public support and care even up to
the level of transgender people get from the society.

Lack of any legal support to the homosexual people and Section 377 of
IPC give confidence to the police to take very negative and prejudiced attitude
towards the homosexual people. The police is showing not just their stand on
the LGBT people but it is just the reflection of the entire society.
Transgender people face high discrimination in the matters of

occupation. Most of the transgender people do the petty jobs like helpers in
small shops, cleaners etc… They face lot of discriminations even in these jobs
also. Employers hesitate to give jobs to transgender people by fearing the social
stigma and they fear of losing the business due to the public attitude towards the
transgender people. Lack of proper education also another problem to
transgender people to engage in the office related white collar jobs.
Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual people are not facing any discrimination in
employment. All three groups of people enjoy the non-discrimination as they
hide their sexuality from the public. In India they enjoy the non-discrimination
until they disclose their sexuality.
There are lot of NGOs work for the LGBT people in India. NGOs work
to uplift the LGBT people by providing vocational training, organising them,
seminars, classes, organising events and fest for the LGBT people, campaigns
etc…NGOs face lot of problems from the general public and the radical
fundamentalist groups in India.
NGOs works got wide acceptance and support from the general public
after the 2009 Delhi High Court verdict which legalised the homosexuality and
the verdict statements brought the catalyst of change in the attitude of the
general public. But, the Supreme Court verdict on 14th April 2014 again
57
criminalised homosexual activities. It again brought very negative attitude from

the society towards the works of NGOs.
Lack of legal support constantly makes problems in the works of NGOs.

Most of the time authorities don‘t give permission for the works of the NGOs
especially for their public demonstrations, campaigns and Pride parades.
Transgender people face harassments from their home. Harassments

from home force them to leave home and to lead an alienated life in the streets.
Transgender people are the constant victims as their family members feel that
they will be insulted in front of the society due to their transgender family
member. LGBT people face harassments from the school. Transgender people
are the main victims of harassments in the school. All the transgender
respondents say that they have been victimised to harassments in the school.
There are only fewer victims among the lesbian, gay and bisexual respondents
compare to the transgender people.
Police atrocities against transgender people are very high. Police often
finds easy way to close the cases by putting all the charges on the transgender
people and there won‘t be any one to stand with them since most of them are
leading alienated life style and lack of education and legal knowledge make
other transgender people away from helping those victims. Police put fake cases
on transgender people in order to get bribe from the transgender people.
LGBT victimise to the sexual violence. Majority of transgender people

victimise to sexual violence. The main reason of the sexual violence against the
LGBT people is the lack of legal protection for them. There is no special
section for the protection of rape victims from LGBT people. Transgender rape

victim won‘t get legal protection from the section created for woman or man as
they do not belong to both genders and there is no section for the transgender
people.. Homosexuality is criminalised by the Indian legal system and there is
no recognition for homosexual people and there is no special section for the
protection for the homosexual people and such sexual violence considered as
unnatural by the government of India.
CONCLUSION
LGBT people face grave human rights violations in India irrespective of
the urban and rural situations. Even though, they born as Indian citizens, they
deprived of their various rights varying from natural rights to legal rights by the
social and political system in India. There are clear violations of article 14, 15
and 21 of India constitution with regard to LGBT people. Many states have not
implemented the Supreme Court verdict to consider transgender people as third
gender and to make separate column in all the documents and applications to
recognise the identity of transgender. Transgender people are not able to make
government documents and records about them, and to attempt for the public
employment due to this problem. This is the clear violation of article 16 of the
Indian constitution. Transgender people faces sever human rights violations
by the approach and actions of the Police. Police often charge fake cases against
transgender people in order to take money from them and even to close the long
pending unsolved cases, and even to save their dear ones. Transgender
constantly face sexual violence in Police stations and Police even keep them in
police custody without the permission of court. These are the clear violations of
Article 22(1) and article 22(2) of Indian constitution.
LGBT people face constant harassments from the society. They forced
to lead a hidden life due to their sexuality. The society has seen homosexuality
59
as disease and anti-social. There is a strong social stigma which considers

homosexuality as unnatural. There are strong influences of deferent religion on
the creation and transfer of such social stigma through generations against the
homosexuality. LGBT people face harassments even from their family and their
schools. Usually these harassments make them away from their family and
make problems in their education.
The government of India is taking very passive attitude towards the

legalizing the homosexuality in India. When the Supreme Court of India upheld
the section 377 of Indian Penal Code, then UPA-II government declared to
move to Apex court14 to review the verdict and search all the ways to legalise
homosexuality15. But, there were no further developments in the legalising the
homosexuality especially after the government change at the centre and there
were warning and threatening of religious fundamentalist groups against such
moves16. The Indian constitution recognise the citizens irrespective of sex,
caste, colour etc…LGBT people are also the citizens of India and the
government has the full responsibility to make a sound environment to live.
Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual people are lucky enough to escape from the
clutches of fundamentalist people and groups in the society by hiding their
sexuality and by leading hidden social life. But, the situation of transgender
people is much worse in all means. Transgender people constantly become the
victims of harassments of the society. They are socially, economically and
educationally backward. Most of the transgender people are early school drop
outs and face lot of problems due to the lack of education. Most of the
14
The Hindu, December 21, 2013
15
The Hindu, December 13, 2013
16
Times of India, Dec 30, 2013

transgender people don‘t have any government official records or documents or

even ration cards. They don‘t know even the rights and schemes which granted
by the government for them. They deserve reservation in all the sectors in the
government system and in educational institutions in order to uplift them to the
front of the society. Their gender deference needs the special attention of the
government. There must be specialised treatment system for them.
LGBT people are also human beings. They also have the desire to lead a
peaceful life like any other heterosexual people enjoy in this nation. Once, there
were social stigmas which kept the women from the front of the society and
now there are lot of efforts to uplift all the women in the country. Now there
should be much attention on the matters of homosexuality and transgender
because there has been a sea change, not just in India but all over the world, in
the law on homosexuality.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Pullen, Christopher (2010).‖LGBT Identity and Online New Media‖.
Routledge.
2. Hill, Craig A. (2008).‖Human Sexuality‖. SAGE Publications.
3. Saxton, Lloyd (1990).‖The Individual, Marriage, and the Family‖.
Wadsworth Publishing Company.
4. Bondyopadhay, Aditya. (2011).‖Laws affecting LGBT persons in South
Asia‖. RFSU and South Asia LGBT Network.
5. ―Humjinsi: A Resource Book on Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Rights in
India”. (2002). India Centre for Human Rights and Law, Mumbai.
6. Vanita, Ruth. (2001).“Same Sex Love in India: Readings from
Literature and History”.Macmillan.
7. Wolf, Sherry. (2009).‖Sexuality and Socialism‖. Haymarket Books.
61
8. Pattanaik, Devdutt. (2001).‖Man who was a woman and other queer

tales from Hindu Lore‖. Haworth Press.
9. Suresh Kumar Koushal&AnrvsNaz Foundation &Ors on 11
December,2013:http://indiankanoon.org/docfragment/58730926/?formI
nput=naz%20foundation.
10. Subhrajit, Chatterjee: Problems Faced by LGBT People in the
Mainstream Society; Some Recommendations.
11. J.Siker, Greenwood Press, 2007
12. www.gaybombay.cc/reading/art0001.html
13. http://devdutt.com/blog
14. http://www.aamaadmiparty.org
15. www.thehindu.com
16. www.timesofindia.com
17. www.indianexpress.com
18. http://thediplomat.com

VIOLENCE AGAINST SCHEDULED TRIBES IN INDIA AND ITS

PREVENTIVE CHECKS
Praseetha.V. P., Hima. C. M. and Akhila. N
Abstract
Crimes against the historically marginalized Scheduled Tribes (ST) by the
upper castes in India represent an extreme form of discrimination. Despite the
right to non-discrimination on the basis of race or caste enshrined in Article 15
of the Indian Constitution, discrimination against Scheduled Tribes is
pervasive. There are so many steps taken by the Government of India to help
the social inclusion of them into the Indian society. Despite various measures to
improve the socio – economic conditions of scheduled tribes, they remain
vulnerable. They are denied a number of civil rights; they are subjected to
various offences,indignities, humiliations and harassment. They have in several
brutal incidents, been deprived of their life and property. This paper focuses on
the incidence and rate of crime committed against ST and government actions
for the protection of them.
Keywords: Scheduled Tribes, Discrimination

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
India is committed to the welfare and development of its people in
general and of vulnerable sections of society in particular. Equality of status
and opportunity to all citizens of the country is guaranteed by the Constitution
of India, which also provides that no individual shall be discriminated against
on the grounds of religion, caste or sex, etc. Fundamental Rights and other
specific provisions, namely, Articles 38, 39 and 46 in the Constitution of India
stand testimony to the commitment of the State towards its people. The strategy
of the State is to secure distributive justice and allocation of resources to
support programmes for social, economic and educational advancement of the
63
weaker sections in general and those of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
in particular. The Scheduled Tribes in India, constituting almost 8.6% of the
total population, have not remained untouched from various crimes. They have
been victims of countless crimes, both because of their gullibility and lack of
hearing of their grievances.
The Constitutional framers of our Constitution were well aware of the

discrimination faced by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes so they
provided fundamental rights coupled with positive discrimination to lessen and
eliminate all kinds of discrimination against the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes. In addition to that protective legislations have been enacted
to eradicate social prejudice and violence against Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes. Despite the Constitutional protection and benefits in form of
equal rights and affirmative action and the protective laws enacted for the
protection and upliftment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the caste
based discrimination is still persisting and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes are frequently being made targets of physical and sexual violence.
Importance of the study

Twenty years have passed since the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was brought by the Government of
India. Although the Act aimed to provide protection and eliminate atrocities
against the members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, there has
been no mitigation with annual average of Crimes registered against Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes standing at 33,596 and daily average being 93.
Despite the Prevention of Atrocities Act being a premier Legislation to protect
the security of life for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, from 1995 to 2007

less than one - third (30.7%) of Crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes across India were registered under the provisions of Prevention of
Atrocities Act. Incidentally, there has also been an alarming increase of
violence against Dalit women.
A study of 500 Dalit women‘s cases of violence across Andhra Pradesh,

Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh between 1999 and 2005 revealed that the
majority of the women faced several forms of violence from either or both
perpetrators in general community and the family. The most frequent forms of
violence were verbal abuse (62.4%), physical assault (54.8%), sexual
harassment and assault (46.8%), domestic violence (43.0%) and rape (23.2%).
According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) there has been 4,
41,424 registered Crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
during 1995-2007. The breakdown of Crimes include 9,595 cases of murder,
61,168 cases of hurt or grievous hurt, 20,865 cases of rape, 4,699 cases of
arson, 4,484 cases of kidnapping and 10,512 cases of ‗Untouchability‘
practices. A large number of cases have been closed by the police for various
regions. As per National Crime Record Bureau, police closed a large 21.7% of
cases under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, during 1997-2007. Apparently, out of 1, 76,397 pending cases,
investigation has been performed only on 1, 34,534 cases. And out of this, only
97,341 cases the charge sheet has been submitted. Adequate protection and
rehabilitation has not been provided to the victims of the atrocities. Victims are
being denied the justice enshrined in the Act. Every year official reports and
statistics revealed that there is a constant increase in atrocities against Dalits.
The low rate of conviction in atrocity cases and the release of offenders from
the cases causing terror among the victims of atrocities.
65
In order to protect the interests of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled

Tribes and to prevent atrocities against them there is a need to study the
provisions of the Act and strengthen the provisions of the Act for the effective
implementation of the Act. Now, it is right time to promote a progressive Act
like ‗The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities)
Act, 1989 by amending from some of the provisions of the Act which is very
essential for achieving its objects and goals.
Objectives of the study

 To analyse the incidence and rate of crime committed against scheduled
tribes in India and
 To study the various government actions for the protection of scheduled
tribes in India
Methodology
The present study is based on secondary data. The secondary data were
collected from various sources like various years annual reports of ministry of
tribal affairs, ministry of home affairs and National Crime Records Bureau,
various books, journals, periodicals, articles & newspapers, etc. In order to
analyse the collected data, simple statistical tools like tables, averages are used.
Data analysis
 Analysis of incidence and rate of crimes committed against
scheduled tribes in India

Table 1- Year wise analysis of incidence and rate of crimes committed

against scheduled tribes in India
*Rate of total
Year *Incidence
cognizable crimes
2011 5756 0.5
2012 5922 5.68
2014 11451 11
Source: Annual reports of ministry of tribal affairs, ministry of home affairs and National Crime
Records Bureau
*Rate of Total Cognizable crimes = (Total cases reported under crime against
STs/Total Population of SCs) x 100000 i.e., Incidence of Crime per 1, 00,000 of
Population of STs.
Table2- Violence against scheduled tribes in India during 2015

Forms of violence Cases reported victims Rate of crime
Attempt to commit murder 88 98 0.1
Rape 952 959 0.9
Attempt to commit rape 15 15 0
Assault of women outside 818 821 0.8
her modesty
Sexual harassment 307 308 0.3
Assault or use of criminal 55 55 0.1
force to women with intent
to disrobe
Dacoity 4 4 0
Robbery 9 9 0
Arson 25 28 0
Source:Crimes in India 2015, National Crime Records Bureau
67
 Analysis of measures taken by the government of India to reduce

violence against scheduled tribes in India
1. The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,

1989
The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989 an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to prevent atrocities
against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The Act is popularly known as
POA, the SC/ST Act, the Prevention of Atrocities Act, or simply the Atrocities
Act.Article 17 of Indian Constitution seeks to abolish 'untouchability' and to
forbid all such practices. It is basically a "statement of principle" that needs to
be made operational with the ostensible objective to remove humiliation and
multifaceted harassments meted to the Dalits and to ensure their fundamental
and socio-economic, political, and cultural rights. This is to free Indian society
from blind and irrational adherence to traditional beliefs and to establish a bias
free society. For that, Untouchability (Offences) Act 1955 was enacted.
However, lacunae and loopholes impelled the government to project a major
overhaul of this legal instrument. From 1976 onwards the Act was revamped as
the Protection of Civil Rights Act.
2. SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill 2014

The bill was introduced in parliament on 7 July 2014 and referred to the
standing committee on 17 July 2014. Subsequently it was passed by the Lok
Sabha on 4 August 2015.It is virtually the same as the ordinance, with a few
changes to improve efficiency.

3. The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955

An Act to prescribe punishment for the (Preaching and Practice of
―Untouchability‖) forthe enforcement of any disability arising there from and
for matters connected therewith.―Civil Rights‖ means any right accruing to a
person by reason of the abolition of ―untouchability‖ by article 17 of the
Constitution;
4. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, a branch of Government of India, looks
after the affairs of the tribal communities in India. The ministry was set up in
1999 after the bifurcation of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
(India) to have a more focused approach on the integrated socioeconomic
development of the Scheduled Tribes (STs), the most underprivileged of the
Indian Society.
Functions of the ministry are
1. Tribal Welfare-Planning, Policy formulation, Research and Training
2. Tribal development including scholarships to STs
3. Promotion of voluntary efforts in development of STs
4. Administrative Ministry with respect to matters concerning Scheduled

Areas
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the Nodal Ministry for overall policy,
planning and coordination of programmes of development for Scheduled
Tribes.
69
5. National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes is an Indian constitutional
body was established through Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003.On the
89th Amendment of the Constitution coming into force on 19 February 2004,
the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has been set up under Article
338A on bifurcation of erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes to oversee the implementation of various safeguards
provided to Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution.[2] By this amendment, the
erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was
replaced by two separate Commissions namely- (i) the National Commission
for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), and (ii) the National Commission for Scheduled
Tribes (NCST).
The following are the functions of the commission:
 To investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards

provided for the Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution or under any
other law for the time being in force or under any order of the
Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards;
 To inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of

rights and safeguards of the Scheduled Tribes;
 To participate and advise in the planning process of socio-economic

development of the Scheduled Tribes and to evaluate the progress of
their development under the Union and any State;

 To present to the President, annually and at such other times as the

Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those
safeguards;
 To make in such reports, recommendations as to the measures that

should be taken by the Union or any State for effective implementation
of those safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and
socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes, and.
 To discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare

and development and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes as the
President may, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament,
by rule specify.
6. National human rights commission of India

The Rights Commission (NHRC) of India is an autonomous public body
constituted on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights
Ordinance of 28 September 1993. It was given a statutory basis by the
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (TPHRA).The NHRC is the National
Human Rights Commission of India, responsible for the protection and
promotion of human rights, defined by the Act as "rights relating to life, liberty,
equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or
embodied in the International Covenants"."Human Rights" means the rights
relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the
constitution or embodied in the International covenants and enforceable by
courts in India. Human right means different thing to different people. Human
Rights are not static. New rights are recognized and enforced from time to time.
Only persons fully conversant with the latest development about the expanding
horizons of Human Rights can promote their awareness better than others.
71
Findings
It is clear from the analysis that the violence against scheduled tribes is
increasing. The incidence and rate of crimes shows an increasing trend.
Violence against scheduled tribes in India during 2015 shows that rape is the
major form of violence against scheduled tribes in India constituting reported
cases 952 and number of victims 959. The other crucial violence is assault of
women outside her modesty and sexual harassment. The other important forms
of violence are attempted to commit murder, assault or use of criminal force to
women with intent to disrobe, arson, robbery and dacoity. The major preventive
checks by Indian government are setting up of The Scheduled Castes and Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities)
Amendment Bill 2014, The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, The Ministry
of Tribal Affairs, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and National
human rights commission of India
Conclusion
Legislations have been passed by the Parliament like Protection of
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 and
the Protection of Civil Right Act, 1995. Despite these legislatures, Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes are continually facing various kinds of violence
committed by upper caste people in our country, so it is necessary that existing
legislature to prevent caste-based violence must be strictly implemented.
Nevertheless the real solution to the problem lies in the sensitization of the
people. People must be sensitized through education that all the peoples
including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are the children of the God
and therefore any hatred and atrocity towards them would be hatred to the God
and sin.

Suggestions
In upholding constitutional guarantees of equality, freedom, justice and
human dignity, the government of India should demonstrate its commitment to
the eradication of caste violence and caste-based discrimination by
implementing the following recommendations at the earliest possible date.
 The government should implement measures designed to ensure that

states abolish the practice of "untouchability," in compliance with
Article 17 of the constitution.
 Enforce the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of

Atrocities) Act, 1989 and other relevant legislation.
 Educate state agents and the Indian population on the rights and
constitutional freedoms of all citizens.
 Each police station should have a scheduled caste/scheduled tribe

atrocities cell to handle investigations of abuses and alleged violations
of the Atrocities Act.
 In keeping with the Atrocities Rules, police who refuse to register cases
under the act should be punished accordingly.
73
References
 Becker, Gary (1957). The Economics of Discrimination. Chicago:

University of Chicago Press.
 Chamarbagwala, Rubaina and Gunjan Sharma (2011). Crime and

Inequality in India. Working Paper, Indiana University.
 Human Rights Watch (1999). Broken People: Caste Violence against

India‘s Untouchables. New York: Human Rights Watch.
 Prasad, Kislaya (2012). Economic Liberalization and Violent Crime.

Journal of Law and Economics, 55, 925-948

SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND INEQUALITIES IN MATERNAL

HEALTH CARE IN INDIA
Amal Sharin T J
Assistant Professor
Department of Economics, K E College, Mannanam
Abstract
Throughout the world, people who are vulnerable and socially disadvantaged
have less access to health resources, they get sicker and die earlier than people
in more privileged social positions. The Indian Constitution identified the
untouchables as a „Scheduled Caste (SC)‟ on the basis of their socio-economic
and cultural vulnerability, but the situation remained pathetic as millions of
Dalits and Tribals are still subjected to social, economic, cultural and political
exclusionary process .Social exclusion is related with deprivation of certain
communities, depending upon their marginalization and lack of knowledge, in
terms of health and health care. Maternal health care is a concept that
encompasses family planning, preconception, prenatal, and postnatal care.
Women are excluded within excluded groups; women are multiple deprived in
term of health, first they are socially excluded and second they are excluded as
women, this multiple deprivations of Dalit and tribal women contributes for ill
health, high maternal mortality, high infant mortality, less antenatal care and
institutional deliveries. Social exclusion is the part of denial of human rights
and health deprivation is denial of health rights of socially excluded groups.
Key words:- Social exclusion, maternal health care

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
‗Social exclusion is the denial of equal opportunities imposed by certain
groups of society up on others, which leads to inability of an individual to
participate in the basic political, economic and social functioning of the
Society.‘ Amartya Sen draws attention to various meanings of dimension of
75
concept of social exclusion, he differentiated between the situation where some

people are being kept out and where some people are being included in deeply
unfavourable terms and described the two situations as ‗unfavourable
exclusion‘ and ‗unfavourable inclusion‘; the ‗unfavourable inclusion‘ with
unequal treatment may carry the same adverse effect as ‗unfavourable
exclusion,‘ he also made distinction of ‗active and passive exclusion‘ for the
causal analysis and policy response .
Throughout the world, people who are vulnerable and socially

disadvantaged have less access to health resources, they get sicker and die
earlier than people in more privileged social positions. Health equity gaps are
growing today, despite unprecedented global wealth and technological progress
. In Indian context, caste-based deprivation is highly prominent as the Indian
caste system classifies the population into four groups called Brahman,
Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudras. Caste is therefore fixed at birth and is the
vehicle for complex and diverse exclusionary processes .
The Indian Constitution identified the untouchables as a ‗Scheduled

Caste (SC)‘ on the basis of their socio-economic and cultural vulnerability, but
the situation remained pathetic as millions of Dalits and Tribals are still
subjected to social, economic, cultural and political exclusionary process in
India.SC people are socially and physically separated, they must live outside
the village and not having entry into main village in rural part of the country
and in prescribed areas in urban cities, they are denied from basic human rights,
not allowed to own the property, Dalits also do the dirtiest menial jobs like
cleaning toilets and in some part of the country, this pathetic physical condition
of the scheduled caste (SC) peoples makes them more vulnerable and
susceptible to infection of diseases and denial of basic rights to keep them away

from availing health care, the entire process makes them more deprived in
terms of health. Poverty force the Dalits to work in the risky environment,
which leads risk for life and health, particularly they may not be able to avail
health services for that injuries.Lack of social protection compounded by
financial barriers can lead to exclusion from health care and economic failure,
trapping families in a cycle of poverty and ill health, which effects are for long
time .Poor health is also related with lower level of education, less landholding
and assets. This paper examines the various aspects of social exclusion in
maternal health care in India by reviewing the expanding scholarly literature on
the topic.
Discussion
In India, an important determinant of social exclusion is caste. The
Government classification defines four categories of caste, SCs, STs, OBCs and
others. SCs constitute around 16% of Indian population, a large percentage of
them lives in rural part of the country and are landless labours. STs constitutes
around 8% of total population and OBCs and other caste together constitute
76% of total population .Even though STs are accorded special status under
the fifth/sixth schedules of Indian Constitution, their status of the whole,
especially their health, still remains isolated, tribal communities are highly
disease prone and also they do not have required access to basic health-care
facilities, they are most exploited, neglected and highly vulnerable to diseases
with high degree of malnutrition, morbidities and mortality .
Social Exclusion: in the Context of Health

Different kind of exclusion, deprivation and discrimination are mostly
considered as course of behaviour; social scientists, social activists and health
activist have realised that social exclusion is framework for understanding
77
deprivation, marginalisation and segregation from health and health care, in this
we arguing on framework of social exclusion in the context of health with
special groups of SCs, STs and OBCs who are having more worsening health
indicators.
1. Social exclusion is the process in which certain group of communities are

denied access to health care, due to their geographical remoteness, lack of
awareness for health and mostly negligence from providers.
2. Social exclusion is related with deprivation of certain communities,

depending upon their marginalization and lack of knowledge, in terms of
health and health care.
3. Social exclusion in terms of health in Indian context is deeply rooted in

the caste system, since years SCs (Dalits), STs (Adivasis) and OBC
population are excluded from main streams, dalits means untouchables
are kept aside village and tribes are geographically away from
mainstream.
4. Excluded communities in Indian context: SCs (Dalits): SC groups are

one of the most vulnerable and marginalised groups in the country, they
are denied by the basic human right and health rights in the country, these
communities are known as untouchables, even touching these people also
considered evil. STs (Adivasis): STs are indigenous people of the
country, they are mostly living in forests, remote areas of the country, and
tribes are more excluded from mainstream in term of health and health
care. OBCs: OBC communities are also compounded with poverty and
lack of awareness about the health and health care in the country.

Maternal health care is a rather wide term. Often, the term is confused
with only the period of time, when the women gives birth to the child. However
maternal health care is a concept that encompasses family planning,
preconception, prenatal, and postnatal care. India‘s progress toward universal
access to sexual and reproductive health is of global significance, as India
accounts for 17% of the world‘s population and more than one-fifth of all
maternal and child deaths. Empirical evidence suggests that maternal care has
improved in India over the last two decades, but progress has been slow overall
and uneven within the country. Maternal death is defined as death of women
while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy from any cause
related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management. The maternal
mortality ratio is maternal death per 100,000 live births in one year. WHO
estimates show that out of the 529,000 maternal deaths globally each year,
136,000(25.7%) are contributed by India. This is the highest burden for any
single country.
Maternal Mortality remains an intractable issue, especially in

developing countries, where maternal mortality ratios have scarcely fallen
in the last few decades, even as other health indices have shown
improvement .Most maternal deaths continue to occur at home in low resource
settings against a backdrop of poverty, unskilled home deliveries, sub
optimum care seeking and weak health systems .These outcomes are mainly
attributed to direct obstetrical complications, i.e.,haemorrhage , obstructed
labour , sepsis, eclampsia and abortion mostly occurring around the time of
delivery and cannot be predicted beforehand. Scientific evidence suggests that
skilled attendance at delivery; timely emergency obstetric care and effective
postnatal care are essential in promoting maternal health. In fact increasing
rates of skilled care during childbirth is widely advocated as the "single
79
most important factor in preventing maternal deaths" and the "proportion of

births attended by skilled health personnel" is one of the target indicators to
measure progress toward the attainment of improving maternal health.
Women’s Health Deprivation

Women are excluded within excluded groups; women are multiple
deprived in term of health, first they are socially excluded and second they are
excluded as women, this multiple deprivations of women in society makes
their health situation more pathetic, as far as maternal health is concerned they
are at greater risk of dying during giving birth to baby.
Table 1 shows prevalence of anaemia among the various caste groups. Mild,
moderate, severe or any anaemia among the SCs and STs is more as compared
to their counterparts of other caste groups, 68% of tribal women are having any
anaemia, that is, 51% for the other socially better off groups.Higher prevalence
of anaemia among the women leads higher chances of infection of diseases,
reproductive burden on women increased, anaemia among the pregnant women
is most common among the tribal population, which is one of the cause for
complicated pregnancies and higher mortality among the socially excluded
groups.

Table 4: Prevalence of Anaemia in Women by Social Groups in Percentage
Anaemia status
Social groups Any anaemia
Mild Moderate Severe
Scheduled 2.2
39.3 16.8 58.3
caste
Scheduled 44.8 21.3 68.5
2.4
tribe
Other
backward 38.2 14.5 1.7 54.4
class
Other 37 12.9 1.4 51.3
India 38.6 15 1.8 55.3
Source: National Family Health Survey-3
Table 2 shows the antenatal care received from various providers.There

is huge differences in antenatal care received from providers among different
social groups, only 32% of ST pregnant women received doctors care and 42%
of SC, but other caste groups received 63% of care from doctors that means
SCs and STs women are not seeking health care, 25% and 29% of SC and
ST women not received any antenatal care, respectively. This under utilisation
of maternal health services is attributed to social exclusion, negligence by part
of health providers, and some time lack of awareness among the excluded
population. The poor utilisation of ANC care and lack of birth preparedness and
lack of knowledge about pregnancy complications, put women at higher risk of
maternal mortalities and morbidities. Under utilisation of ANC services leads to
lack of awareness about pregnancy complications and importance of
institutional delivery.
81
Table 2: Antenatal Care Providers during the Pregnancy by Social Groups

in Percentage
ANM/nurse/ Other Dai/TBA No
Social Doctor ICDS
midwife/LHV health Anganwadi/ other one
groups worker
Personnel
Scheduled
42 28.1 0.7 1.5 1.8 0.1 25.9
Caste
Scheduled
32.8 28.3 1 2.3 5.9 0.2 29.4
Tribe
Other
backward 48.4 23.1 0.8 0.7 1.3 0.1 25.5
class
0.1
Other 63.6 17.7 1.6 1.1 0.7 15.2
India
50 23 1.2 1 1.6 0.1 22.8
Source: National Family Health Survey
Abbreviations: ANM-Auxiliary nurse midwife, LHV-Lady health visitor, TBA-

Traditional birth attendant, ICDS- Integrated community development service
Table 3 shows the differences between different caste groups in safe

delivery practice in the country .The table depicts that 33% of SC women and
only 18% of ST women has given birth in any institution.This means that large
proportion of tribal women delivered at home, and thatit was not a safe
delivery. 51% of other caste group women had institutional deliveries.The
situation of safe delivery itself speaks about how women are double excluded
from society, even though they are part of the same society.

Table 3: Safe Delivery of Social Groups in Percentage

Place of delivery and percentage delivered in health facility of social
groups
Health facility/institution Home percentage
Social delivered in
Public Private Own Parent’s Other
Groups NGO/Trust health
sector sector home home home
facility
Scheduled
19.4 0.2 13.4 56.8 9.6 0.4 32.9
Caste
Scheduled
11.6 0.3 5.8 70.9 10.5 0.5 17.7
Tribe
Other
backward 16.1 0.5 21.1 51.8 9.6 0.5 37.7
class
Other 21.8 0.6 28.7 40.5 7.9 0.4 51
India 18 0.4 20.2 51.3 9.2 0.5 38.7
Table 4 shows information about the personnel attended or assisted

during delivery .The caste differentials are significant in this relation. 25% of
STs only received help from trained person during the delivery. Socially
excluded groups are always behind as compared to other caste group people.
83
Table 4: Provision of Assistance during the Delivery to Social Groups in

Percentage
Persons who provided assistance during delivery
Percentage
ANM/nurse/ Other Dai/TBA Friends/ No
Social Doctor delivered
midwife/LHV health Anganwadi/ relatives one
Groups by skilled
personnel
provider
Scheduled
29.4 10.4 0.9 37.7 20.7 0.1 40.6
Caste
Scheduled
17.1 7 1.2 50.2 23 1.3 25.4
Tribe
Other
backward 33.8 11.7 1.1 37.1 15.5 0.1 46.7
class
Other 47.4 9.3 1.1 30.4 11.3 0.5 57.8
India 10.3
35.2 1.1 36.5 16.2 0.5 46.6
Abbreviation: ANM- Auxiliary nurse midwife, LHV- Lady health visitor, TBA-
Traditional birth attendant.
Table 5 presents data on births attended by skilled personnel across

social groups in some of the Indian states. The top ones among the better
performing states are Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (The National
Rural Health Mission indeed has added more states to this group by 2015) and
the bottom performers among the least performing states are Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh. Kerala, being an exception, has only negligible intergroup disparity in
access to skilled personnel for child birth.

Table 5 Births attended by Skilled Personnel in Selected States.

STATE Non SC/ST SC ST Total
Andhra Pradesh 77.6 79.5 44.7 75.2
Assam 36.8 30.3 33.5 35.1
Bihar 33.6 17.6 16.3 28.8
Gujarat 68.1 62.9 31 63.2
Haryana 50.7 44.4 NA 49
Himachal 51.8 38.3 40.8 47.8
Pradesh
Jammu and 51.8 45.3 35.3 47.1
Kashmir
Karnataka 74.9 55.9 53.7 69.7
Kerala 100 99 88.5 99.5
Madhya 44.9 37.0 15.1 35.6
Pradesh
Maharashtra 76 68.6 31.6 69.1
Orissa 59 40.8 17.6 44.1
Punjab 77.5 55.4 N.A 69
Rajasthan 45.6 35.2 30.2 41
Tamil Nadu 93.9 82.6 92.9 90.7
West Bengal 54.4 53.3 25.6 52
Uttar Pradesh 32.1 20.5 12.8 28.8
New Delhi 69.2 47.3 44.4 64.1
All India 51.8 40.5 25.6 46.8
85
Policy Implications
This review has shown that it is not sufficient to speak of achieving
MDG 5 in India as a whole. The differences between states, and social status
are simply too great to allow such generalizations. A very focused campaign of
action delivery services to the most disadvantaged, to reduce inequities in
health, particularly in maternal and reproductive health, will be necessary at the
national, state, and district levels to have a significant impact on the most
disadvantaged populations. In addition, due to the wide disparities between and
within states, which are often caused by varying policies and programs, health
infrastructural shortcomings and governance challenges, analysis of inequities
in maternal health care need to be undertaken at the state and district level. This
also calls for additional research focusing on specific geographical areas or a
specific group within the population. Especially qualitative research is needed
to answer questions on how social determinants influence access to and use of
maternal and reproductive health in a specific setting or among a specific
community. Disparities between regions and subpopulations also emphasize the
need for context sensitive policies and programs. It is clear that one-size will
not fit all and especially the poor and vulnerable will be left out. How social
determinants interplay in a specific context influencing access to and use of
maternal and reproductive health needs to be carefully considered when
designing and implementing policy and interventions.
Conclusion
The existence of social exclusion in our society is the cause for health
deprivation of excluded caste groups in the country, excluded caste group
women are again excluded within excluded, this double exclusion of Dalit and
tribal women contributed for ill health, high maternal mortality, high infant

mortality, less antenatal care and institutional deliveries.Health-seeking

behaviour of this groups very less because the process of exclusion continues
from many years even after the independence. Social exclusion is the part of
denial of human rights and health deprivation is denial of health rights of
socially excluded groups.Until and unless we address this excluded group
problems and health, we will not able to achieve Millennium Developmental
goals.
Whilst it is important to promote institutional births especially in India

where population level risks of maternal and child mortality are very high,
essential postnatal care can have additional and substantial benefits in
enhancing maternal and child health outcomes and wellbeing at later life .
Moreover, essential postnatal care could help in reducing postpartum
depression among new mothers – a topic that has not received adequate
attention in the country . India urgently needs a comprehensive maternal health
package that addresses the spectrum of maternal and extended newborn care –
both components envisaged critical in achieving the targets of the UN
Millennium Development Goals . Targeted policy interventions such as health
promotion and knowledge campaigns are needed to strengthen the postnatal
care component in the maternal health care system.
Empowering the women by appropriate economic and social programs
could be one of the ways to grapple with ‗inequity trap‘ that the women face
which may indirectly impact on MCH service utilization. Given the cultural and
social norms attached pregnancy, child birth and child rearing, the best possible
pathway for the health programs is through the women themselves. These could
be through focused action with women's participation (as against targeted
interventions imposed from above). This could be through a democratic
participation in health programs through which ideals of Primary Health Care
can be realized.
87
The Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is one such effort to bring the poor,
excluded and marginalized women closer to the health services system through
a facilitatory and participatory approach with the objective of reducing maternal
and neo-natal mortality. The Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) who
are women from the same community under this program serves as the link to
motivate and support the women. The JSY is a program which combines
economic support and facilitatory approaches to enhance institutional deliveries
in rural areas. Public health scholars have raised a number of issues with regard
to the JSY. One controversy is with regard to the over-emphasis on institutional
deliveries given the long-term mistrust of government health services i.e. the
credibility gap and the caste, class and gender bias when women access care .
The other issue is with respect to the component of privatization which

some public health scholars argue could lead to further weakening of public
sector health services . The third issue is with regard to the approach of
conditional cash transfer and the argument that it is difficult to attribute cash
transfer alone to positive outcomes . It is not just access to health care, but the
ability to make an informed choice and decision that plays a vital role in
women's health.

References
1. Dhar R, Nagpal SJ, Sinha S, Bhargava VL, Sachdeva A, Bhartia A.
Direct cost of maternity-care services in South Delhi: a community
survey. J Health Popul Nutr 2009; 27: 368–78.
2. Mavlankar DV (1999) Promoting safe motherhood: issues and
challenges. In Pachauri S (ed). Implementing a Reproductive Health
Agenda in India. New Delhi: Population Council.
3. National Family Health Survey, Round 2 (1998-99) and Round 3
(2005-06). International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai.
4. Navaneetham K, Dharmalingam A (2002) Utilization of maternal
health care services in southern India. Social Science and Medicine
55: 1849–1869
5. Nayar, K R (2007). Social Exclusion, Caste and Health: A Review
Based on the Social Determinants Framework. Indian Journal of
Medical Research, 126 (October): 355-63.
6. Rani M, Bonu S, Harvey S. Differentials in the quality of antenatal
care in India. Int J Qual Health Care 2008; 20: 62–71.
7. Thorat, Sukhadeo and R S Deshpande (2001). Caste System and
Economic Inequality? Theory and Evidence. In Ghanshyam Saha (ed),
Dalit Identity and Politics. New Delhi: Sage Publication.
89
A STUDY ON THE FINANCIAL INCLUSION OF POZHUTHANA

GRAMA PANCHAYATH A SOCIALLY EXCLUDED GROUP IN
WAYANAD DISRICT
Dr. Remmiya Rajan P,
Assistant professor, Zamorin‘s Guruvayurappan College
&
Reshmi CP,
FDP Substitute lecturer St Xaviers College for Women, Aluva
Abstract
Financial inclusion ensuring access to financial services and timely and
adequate credit needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low
income groups. The present study intends to analyze the banking facility of
Pozhuthana Grama Panchayath and the role of banks in uplifting the tribal‟s
economically and socially. The investigations were carried out in Pozhuthana
Grama Panchayath, Wayanad District, Kerala, which is one of the major tribal
center of the state. The study found that Pozhuthana tribal‟s repeatedly faced
the problems due to poor economic condition due to lack of financial
assistance.
Keywords: Financial inclusion,Tribal, Public policy
INTRODUCTION
Financial inclusion is the delivery of banking services to all the sections
of the society at an affordable cost. Easy access to public goods and services is
the sine qua non of an open and efficient society. As banking services are in the
nature of public good, it is essential that availability of banking and payment

services to the entire population without discrimination is the prime objective of

the public policy financial inclusion as in Figure 1 is not just limited to credit
but involves a wide range of financial products and services like savings
accounts, insurance, remittance and other facilities to the under-privileged and
the poor in rural, semi-urban and urban areas. Financial sector is the backbone
of any economy and it plays a crucial role in the mobilization and allocation of
resources.
According to C.H. Bhabha, ―Banking is the kingpin of the chariot of

economic progress. As such its role in expanding economy of a country like
India can neither be underestimated nor overlooked. The success of our plan is
dependent among other things, on the smooth and satisfactory performance of
the role by banking industry of our country‖. Banking is a service-oriented
business. A bank is a financial institution that provides banking and other
financial servicesto their customers such as accepting deposits and providing
loans. A banking system is referred to as system provided by the bank which
offers cash management services for customers, reporting the transactions of
their accounts and portfolios, throughout the day. The bank safeguards the
money and valuables and provides loans, credit and payment services, such as
checking accounts, money orders and cashier‘s cheques. The banks also offer
investment and insurance products.
RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

Pozhuthana is a Panchayath in the Wayanad district, state of Kerala. In
recent times, tribes in Pozhuthana have acquired an important place in the
state development agenda due to the recurrent infant deaths in the tribal
hamlets of Pozhuthana Grama Panchayath. One important characteristic they
share is that wherever they live, they are at the bottom of economic and social
91
ladders they are among the disadvantaged groups in any society. The
percentage of workers in the agriculture sector is more, indicating the
predominance of agriculture in the Panchayath. The Panchayath is endowed
with rich agricultural, mineral and marine resources. Formalization of priority
sector lending was formalized in 1972 with the recommendations of Informal
study group on statistics relating to advances to the priority sectors. Pozhuthana
is considered as priority area. The investigations were carried out in
Pozhuthana Grama Panchayath, Wayanad District, Kerala, which is one of the
major tribal centre of the state. An average HDI of tribes in Pozhuthana is
0.370, i.e. in Pozhuthana more than 80 percent of the tribal population live
below poverty line. Analysis among tribes reveals that, where indigenous
peoples are known as ―tribal people‖ or ―tribal‘s‖, they are at the bottom
of society: they are the poorest, most marginalized, oppressed, and deprived
people in the country. The present study intends to analyze the banking facility
of Pozhuthana Grama Panchayath and the role of banks in uplifting the tribal‘s
economically and socially.
Why Financial Inclusion in India is Important?

The policy makers have been focusing on financial inclusion of Indian
rural and semi-rural areas primarily for three most important pressing needs:
1. Creating a platform for inculcating the habit to save money

The lower income category has been living under the constant shadow of
financial duress mainly because of the absence of savings. The absence of
savings makes them a vulnerable lot. Presence of banking services and products
aims to provide a critical tool to inculcate the habit to save. Capital formation in
the country is also expected to be boosted once financial inclusion measures

materialize, as people move away from traditional modes of parking their

savings in land, buildings, bullion, etc.
2. Providing formal credit avenues – So far the unbanked population

has been vulnerably dependent of informal channels of credit like family,
friends and moneylenders. Availability of adequate and transparent credit from
formal banking channels shall allow the entrepreneurial spirit of the masses to
increase outputs and prosperity in the countryside. A classic example of what
easy and affordable availability of credit can do for the poor is the micro-
finance sector.
3. Plug gaps and leaks in public subsidies and welfare programmes– A

considerable sum of money that is meant for the poorest of poor does not
actually reach them. While this money meanders through large system of
government bureaucracy much of it is widely believed to leak and is unable to
reach the intended parties. Government is therefore, pushing for direct cash
transfers to beneficiaries through their bank accounts rather than subsidizing
products and making cash payments. This laudable effort is expected to reduce
government‘s subsidy bill (as it shall save that part of the subsidy that is leaked)
and provide relief only to the real beneficiaries. All these efforts require an
efficient and affordable banking system that can reach out to all. Therefore,
there has been a push for financial inclusion.
Measures to promote Financial Inclusion

The scope of financial inclusion can be expanded in two ways
a) Through state-driven intervention by way of statutory enactments
93
b) Through voluntary effort by the banking community itself for evolving

various strategies to bring within the ambit of the banking sector the large
strata of society.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the basic objectives of the study:
1. To examine the reason for bank exclusion from bank accounts
2. To assess the details of bank account
3 To study the opinion of tribal‘s towards banking service
METHODOLOGY
The study relies up on both primary and secondary data. Primary data
were collected by administering a scheduled questionnaire and also through oral
interviews. The primary data collected through survey method taken by sample.
The secondary data collected from the sources like journals, records,
newspapers and internet etc.
ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY

1. To Check The Source Of Income
Table No: 1
Programmes %
Nrg Programme 32%
Shepperd 15%
Construction Work 15%
Factory Labours 30%

Others 10%
Source: survey data

2. To analyse the use of Bank Accounts by different community.

Use of Banking Operations
Table No: 2
Year Factory Kurichiya Kattunaiker Paniyar

Labours
1990-2000 2 1.2 0.8 0.1
2000-2005 2.2 1.5 1 0.4
2005-2010 3.2 2 1.2 0.4
2010-2016 4.5 2.9 1.5 0.6

Source: survey data
3. To Check Reason For Exclusion From Bank Accounts

Reason for Exclusion from Bank Accounts
Table No: 3
Reason For Exclusion Total
Access Exclusion 7.70
Condition Exclusion 11.50
Marketing Exclusion 11.50
Self Exclusion 69.20
Total 100
Source: survey data
95
3. To Study the Opinion of Tribal’s Towards Banking Service.

Customers Ranking For Service Of The Bank
Table No: 4
%
Rank The Customer Services No. of Respondents of Respondents
Excellent 16 22.85
Good 36 51.43
Average 14 20
Poor 4 5.72
Total 70 100
Source: survey data
4. to Study on the Distribution of the Type of Accounts

Distribution of the Types of Accounts
Table No:5
Type of account % Of Account
Savings bank account 25.30
Post office account 1.10
NRGS account 50.80
Both S.B account and NRGS 22.80

account
Source: survey data

4. To Assess The Details Of Bank Account

Kinds of Bank
Table No :6
Sl.No. Name of Bank Places
1 District Co-Operative Bank Peringoda,pozhuthana
2 Gramin Bank Peringoda,pozhuthana
3 South Indian Bank Sugandhagiri,pozhuthana
4 Co-Operative Bank Peringoda,pozhuthana
5 Catholic Syrian Bank no
6 Pdc Bank no
7 Muthoot Bank no
Source: survey data
5. To Check the Banks In Which Tribes Have Accounts

Banks in Which Tribes Have Accounts
Table No: 7
Name of Communities Tribal Communities
Total Nationalized banks 1
Scheduled private sector bank 3
Regional rural banks 1
Cooperative banks 2
Post offices 1
Source: survey data
97
6. To Check Tribes Holding ATM/ Credit Cards

Table No:8
Tribes Holding Atm/ Credit Cards
Holding Cheque Book % of Holding
Total yes, do hold 12
No, do not hold -
Total 12%
Source: survey data
SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

In Pozhuthana tribal‘s repeatedly faced the problems due to poor
economic condition due to lack of financial assistance. The primary cause of
financial exclusion is lack of banking awareness among tribal people.
Suggestions to the Respondents

 Tribal people should have much absorptive capacity to understand the
financial services and the operation to be done.
 Low income people should have an account or access other financial
services.
Suggestions to the Banks

 Banks should conduct awareness programmes among tribal‘s so that the
account holders and non account holders get awareness about the
facilities offered by no frills account, SHGs and other banking services.
 Banks should provide general credit card, ATM, overdraft facilities
along with no frills account to encourage the account holders to actively
operate the accounts.

 The accessibility of banking services is poor on an account of various

constraints such distance, no money, low income and difficulty to
understand the banking services.
Suggestions to Government
 Government should take various steps regarding a greater focus on
credit rather other financial services like saving and insurance although
banks and financial institution and co-operative did provide facilities.
 Government must conduct generation camp on financial services like no
frills, SHGs and its benefits for opening an account to all the socially
excluded groups.
 Government should introduce new scheme to bring the socially
excluded groups to be included in the financial sectors by offering low
interest rates, credit facilities, low premium insurance, schemes, pension
scheme and promote self help group.
Conclusion: Economic development is the soul of any development in the

society. To develop a nation, first we have to uplift the downtrodden classes.
Tribal are the downtrodden race of our nation. It has to be concluded that we
have to uplift our tribal through Financial Inclusion. Financial inclusion should
go hand in hand for all round tribal development to take place so as to ensure
that tribal have access to education, shelter, health, technology and insurances
apart from credit behavior. State Government has to take measures to promote
financial inclusion among tribal and do what is just and necessary to ensure that
the ‗Adhivasi‘ populations are freed from the poverty that has engulfed them.
 In pozhuthana tribes contributed their income mainly in NRGS

accounts.
99
 There 68% tribes have bank accounts. And 15% start bank account on
self decision.
 Pozhuthana more concentrated in coffee and tea cultivation.
 Tribes have insurance about 52%.
 The main pension schemes of tribal community are old age pension and
then widow pension.
 Almost 66% population of pozhuthana had wages below 1000Rs.
Today it is more below than expenditure.
 In pozhuthana almost 80% of tribal groups had no practice of saving
their income.
REFERENCES
1) Agarwal, P., Goldar, B., & Nayak, P.B. (2011). India‘s Economy and
Growth. Essays in Honour of V K R Rao. India: Sage Publications.
Jack, R.K., Les, R.D., & Robert, J.H. (2008). Personal finance. New
Delhi: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd., pp. 22-88.
2) Balashri, S.J. (2011). Empowering Financial Inclusion through
Financial Literacy. (pp. 1-12).
3) Benjamin, S. (2009). Urban Slums in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Ahmedabad, India: Mahial Housing Sewa
4) Trust. Bhole. L.M. (2004). Financial Institutions, Market and Services:
Structure, Growth and Innovation (4th ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw
Hill Publications
5) Jack, R.K., Les, R.D., & Robert, J.H. (2008). Personal finance. New
Delhi: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd., pp. 22-88.

A SOCIO ECONOMIC PLIGHT OF

MINORITY COMMUNITIES IN INDIA
Sr.Sindhu.P.J,
Assistant Professor, Department of Economics
St.Xavier‘s College for Women, Aluva
ABSTRACT
Socio-economic plight is an important indicator to measure the development
level of any community. The paper is based on the secondary data. The needed
secondary data could be accessed from the official documents like Socio-
economic Caste census, Census of India and NSSO etc., The main objective of
the study is to explore the socio-economic condition of Minority communities in
India. Though there is paucity of literature and data about these communities, it
is an attempt to gather the data from various sources and put together in a
systematic fashion and analyzed. Indicators such as population, literacy,
household size, work force participation rate, unemployment rate, poverty
incidence and per capita consumption expenditure are discussed. Hence, one
can easily understand the plight of the communities who are the victims of a
process of invidious discrimination in Indian society.
Keywords: Minorities, Socio-Economic Plight,

________________________________________________________
Introduction
The concept of a ‗Minority‘ is not as unambiguous as it may appear at
first glance. It may mean different things to different people. A jurist would be
concerned about a group‘s legal protection, safeguards and rights such as
freedom of expression and the right to justice. A sociologist may be concerned
with a group‘s culture, language and ethnic identity. An economist is more
101
concerned with the socio-economic condition or disadvantage of a group than

its religion or other noneconomic attributes.
The notion of ‗minority‘ may simply be a matter of perception that

changes over time. Writing of Weiner, (1998, p. 461) notes that ‗the sense of
belonging to a minority depends upon where one lives, how much power and
status one has, and one‘s sense of community threat‘. The concept of a minority
may be associated with an economic, social or political disadvantage that a
group may feel or actually face. In a narrow sense, any group that does not
represent a majority population may consider itself a minority. In the context of
India, anyone who is not a Hindu (that is, over 80 per cent of the population)
may be considered a minority. Furthermore, a population group may be a
minority in one spatial context but not another. For example, in India the
Hindus are a majority community in the country as a whole, but they are a
minority in the state of Jammu and Kashmir where Muslims exceed the Hindu
population. Minorities may be defined according to a variety of criteria;
namely, religion, caste, backward class and language. India‘s minorities consist
of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians.
1. MINORITY COMMUNITIES IN INDIA

Minority is a group whose race, language or religion is different from
that of the majority. India‘s minorities consist of Muslims (a little over 13 per
cent of India‘s total population), Christians (over 2 per cent), Sikhs (about 2 per
cent), Zoroastrians (0.007 per cent), Buddhists (0.8 per cent) (GOI, 2001a).
Christians, Buddhists and Jains form less than 4 per cent of the total population.
The main Minority communities are briefly described below.

1.1. Muslims
Muslims are the largest minority in India. Historically, Muslims (from
Afghanistan, Turkey and Asia Minor) ruled India for several hundred years
(from the twelfth to the nineteenth century) before the arrival of the British.
They enjoyed a powerful political, economic and social position, especially in
greater Punjab (which included Delhi) in northern India. Muslims were also
predominant in the Deccan. The situation of Muslims in India today is in sharp
contrast to their position during the centuries when they ruled the country. They
are generally poorer than Hindus, the majority population. The incidence of
poverty among Muslims in urban areas is the highest among the religions.
However, Muslim poverty in rural areas has declined substantially.
Notwithstanding, the Prime Minister‘s High-Level Committee (GOI, 2006a, p.
162) notes that ‗the situation of the community in urban areas seems to be
particularly bad in relative terms in almost all states except Kerala, Assam,
Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
1.2. Christians
Christianity arrived in India about 2,000 years ago. A good proportion
of Indian Christians are converts from Hinduism or Islam. Both the Portuguese
(who ruled Goa) and the British missionaries spread this religion in India
through conversion, which began in the fifteenth century with the arrival of
European missionaries. Christians are concentrated mainly in the states of
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Manipur and Mizoram.
1.3. Buddhists
Buddhism was born in India and flourished there until about 500 CE.
However, it did not survive its original form, moving out instead to Ceylon
(now Sri Lanka), Tibet and South-east Asia. At the time of the Muslim rule in
103
India in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Buddhism had practically

disappeared in India. It may sound surprising but the dominant Hindu religion
did not allow Buddhism to grow. In 2001, there were about 8 million Buddhists
living in the northwest as well as the north-east of India. Buddhists formed 28
per cent of Sikkim‘s population, 13 per cent of Arunachal Pradesh‘s and 8 per
cent of the population of Mizoram in the north-east of India. In the northwest, 6
per cent of Maharashtra‘s population (or nearly 6 million) are Buddhists.
Between 1991 and 2001, the Buddhist population increased by nearly 38 per
cent in Sikkim, by 28 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh and by 16 per cent in
Maharashtra (GOI, 2001a).
1.4. Sikhs
Unlike Islam and Buddhism, Sikhism is quite young – only 400 years
old. Its followers, the Sikhs, originated in the northern Indian state of Punjab.
They form only about 2 per cent of the population, although their contribution
to society, the economy and the Indian army is disproportionately large. Like
the Mughals, the Sikhs ruled the Greater Punjab in the nineteenth century
before the British conquered them. As a religious minority, the Sikhs are known
to be sturdy farmers, soldiers and successful businessmen.
1.5. Zoroastrians (or Parsis): Zoroastrians migrated to India in the eighth

century after the Arab conquest of Persia. The size of the Parsi population in
India is extremely small: according to the 1951 Census of India there were
111,791 Parsis in India and, according to the 1951 Census of Pakistan, 5,435 in
Pakistan (Jhabvala, 1977). According to the 2001 Census, there were only
69,601 Parsis in India. The reasons for this decline are unclear. Bose et al.
(2004) note childlessness and migration as the two main causes of the decline in

the Parsi population in India. The Parsi population is highly educated,

urbanized and westernized, with a literacy rate of nearly 98 per cent compared
with the national average of 65 per cent.
1.6. Jainism
Jainism traditionally known as Jain Dharma is an ancient Indian
religion belonging to the śramaṇa tradition. The central tenet is non-violence
and respect towards all living beings. The three main principles of Jainism
are ahimsa (non-violence), anekantavada (non- bsolutism)and aparigraha (non-
possessiveness).Jainism is India's sixth-largest religion and is practiced
throughout India. As per the 2011 census, there are only 4,451,753 Jains in the
1.21 billion population of India, the majority living in Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, however, the influence of Jainism has
been far greater on the Indian population than these numbers suggest. Jains can
be found in 34 out of 35 states and union territories, with Lakshdweep being the
only union territory without Jains. The state of Jharkhand, with a population of
16,301 Jains also contains the holy pilgrimage centre of Shikharji.
2. DEMOGRAPHIC AND GROUP CHARACTERISTICS OF

MINORITIES
In this section, the demographic and group characteristics of Minority
communities are presented based on the secondary data available from Census
of India 2011, NSSO, 61st Consumption Expenditure Round, Employment and
Unemployment survey of NSSO and Socio Economic Caste Census data.
2.1. Population of Minority Communities

According to population growth across Minority communities in India
based on the census data 2011, the Muslims are clearly the dominant minority
105
community, constituting over 26.56 per cent of overall population of India. The
Christians are the next dominant group at 18.38 per cent, Sikhs, Buddhist, and
Janis are at 1.72, 0.70 and 0.37 percent respectively.
Table. No. 2.1.
Population across Minorities in India
Minorities Population %
Muslims 172245158 14.23

Christians 27819588 2.30
Sikhs 20833116 1.72
Buddhists 8442972 0.70
Jain 4451753 0.37
Source: Census of India 2011
2.2. Literacy of Minority Communities
Literacy rates based on the Census of India, 2011, for all India, indicate
highest literacy levels among the Jains at 94 per cent, who are a very small and
extremely prosperous business community in India. The Sikhs generally are a
prosperous community, who can provide education to their children if so
desired; however, being involved in farming and dairy in rural areas and
businesses in urban areas, many of them may choose to simply concentrate on
their traditional work. They are followed by the Christians at nearly 80 per cent,
who have benefited immensely from Western style missionary schools and
colleges and other educational institutions. Next are the Buddhists at 72.7 per
cent. The Buddhists (except for the tribal convert in the northeast), on the other
hand, have traditionally been excluded from education and economic ownership
of assets of any form. Thus in the post-independent India, education has been
their only real source of emancipation and progress. The dominant minority

community the Muslims have the lowest rates of Literacy at 59.1 per cent. This
could be also because a majority of them are educated at the Madarsas than
formal schools.
Table. No.2.2.
Literacy Rates among Minorities Communities
Minorities Literacy Rate Literacy Rate Literacy Rate

(Total) (Males) (Females)
Muslims 59.1 67.6 50.1
Christians 80.3 84.4 76.2
Sikhs 69.4 75.2 63.1
Buddhists 72.7 83.1 61.7
Jains 94.1 97.4 90.6
Others 47.0 60.4 33.2
Source: Census of India 2011
2.3. Household Size of Minority Communities

A look at the average household size of families across Minority
communities indicates that there is not much difference in average household
size across rural and urban regions. The exception here is the rural Zoroastrians,
who being a tiny minority have historically married within their own
community as well as families and probably live in large joint families, thus
showing a large average of eight members per family. Additionally very few
such families would be found in the rural areas, as most are well educated and
prefer urban settings, thus increasing the likelihood of a few large families in
rural areas. Of the remaining minority groups in rural areas, the Muslims, Sikhs,
Buddhists and the others share an average household size of five members.
While the Christians and the Jains, who have the highest literacy levels, show
the lowest averages.
107
Table.No.2.3.
Average Household Size of Different Minority Communities
as they vary in Rural and Urban Areas
Rural Household Urban Household
Minority Communities
Size Size
Buddhists 5 5
Christians 4 4
Jains 4 5
Muslims 5 5
Sikhs 5 5
Zoroastrians 8 3
Source: NSSO, 61st Consumption Expenditure Round
2.4. Workforce Participation Rate by Minority Communities

The table below gives the percentage of population from various
religions participating in the national workforce, for all ages. At all India level,
the WRP rate indicates that the Zoroastrians have nearly 45 per cent of their
community as part of the labour force. They are followed by the Christians. The
Buddhist, Sikhs, Jains and others show similar rates ranging from 34 per cent to
37 per cent. The lowest rate is shown by the Muslims at 32 per cent. Between
the lowest and the highest rates, the difference is to the tune of around 12 per
cent. This overall pattern is seen to be exactly replicated across the urban
region. However, in the rural areas the pattern changes considerably. The
Buddhists show, the highest rates here, pushing the Zoroastrians down one
position. The Sikhs and the Christians experience a fall in their rates, whereas
the others and the Jains have improved their positions and moved up. The rural
rates are higher than the urban rates as is understandable due to the nature of the

rural occupations and the remunerations expected to be earned, forcing more

people to work in one form or the other. Muslims show the lowest WRP rate
across all three categories.
Table. No.2.4.
Workforce Participation Rate by Minorities (All ages)
Minorities Rural Urban Total
Budhisits 51.29 37.33 37.33
Christians 43.66 39.62 39.62
Jains 45.37 34.38 34.38
Muslims 31.23 32.72 32.72
Sikhs 33.43 35.16 35.16
Zoroastrians 50.00 44.42 44.42
others 47.72 34.24 34.24
Total 40.07 36.57 36.57
Sources: Employment/Unemployment Survey, 61st Round, 20004/2005
2.5. Unemployment Rates

Unemployment rates across all religious groups, as can be seen, are very
low for both rural and urban regions. The rates are at their highest at 3.9 per
cent for the urban Christians and 3.1 per cent for the urban Buddhists. The
lowest are seen for the rural Jains and the Zoroastrians. On the whole, urban
unemployment rates are slightly higher for all except for the Sikhs and the
Jains. These rates are based on the ‗usual principle status‘ of individuals, which
defines a person as working, if he or she had been gainfully employed for a
major part of the year (usually more than 180 days) preceding the survey (time
criteria).
109
Table. No.2.5
Rural, Urban Unemployment Rates across
Minorities
Minorities Rural Unemployment Urban Unemployment Total

Rate Rate
Muslims 1.04 1.58 1.22
Christians 2.72 3.92 3.07
Sikhs 2.23 1.91 2.17
Jains 0.00 1.20 1.00
Buddhist 1.07 3.17 1.77
Zoroastrians 0.00 2.19 2.14
Others 0.29 4.64 1.06

Total 0.98 1.94 1.23
Sources: Employment/Unemployment survey, 61 st Round, 2004/2005
These rates would go down further, if we used the ‗usual status‘ criteria,
which in addition to the ‗usual principle status‘ of a person, also includes his or
her ‗usual subsidiary activity status‘. Persons designated as unemployed for the
major part of the year based on the ‗usual principle status‘ criteria, also do some
form of work for a shorter duration ( but more than 30 days) or on a part-time
basis along with their principal activity (in this case, usually less than 180
days). Such persons are taken as working or employed under the usual status
criteria, thus further reducing the incidence of unemployment

2.6. Poverty Incidence across Minority Communities

Approximately a fifth of the world‘s population is defined as being
extremely poor (i.e. they live on incomes of less than US $1 a day). Although
minority groups may not necessarily constitute the largest identifiable group
among the poor, the incidence of poverty is often high for minority groups, and
a range of other development indicators are often worse for those groups.
Empirical evidence from numerous countries shows that minorities are more
likely to be income-poor, and experience lower levels of educational attainment
and formal job skills, poorer health and limited access to mechanisms of power.
In this section, we examine the incidence of impoverishment across

Minority communities. Here we look at rural and urban poverty separately, as
these are based on two different poverty lines as per the calculations of the
Planning Commission of India, for the year 2004/05, generated for each region.
Looking at the rural poverty first, we observe that incidences are high for some
of the minority groups, while being low for others. The highest incidences are
seen for the Buddhists, followed by the others, Zoroastrians and Muslims. The
lowest levels are for the Christians, Sikhs and Jains. The urban picture shows a
different pattern from the rural one. Here the Muslims show the highest
incidences followed by the Buddhists. Urban Zoroastrians seem to show lower
incidences than their rural counterparts and show the third lowest poverty
levels. Lowest incidences are again shown by the Jains, Sikhs and Christians.
On the whole, across both the regions, we find that Jains and Sikhs, both of
which are primarily into individual enterprise (even rural Sikh farms undertake
additional income earning activities, such as rearing milk cattle, etc.,) show
lowest incidences along with the Christians who can be safely assumed to be
well.
111
Table. No. 2.6

Poverty Incidence across Minority Communities
Minorities Rural Urban
Buddhists 40.59 28.62
Christians 16.21 12.47
Jains 2.59 2.57
Muslims 29.26 41.38
Others 36.02 22.91
Sikhs 5.00 6.08
Zoroastrians 35.42 10.74
Total 28.29 25.62
Sources: NSSO, Consumption Expenditure, 2004/05
2.7. Mean Percapita Consumption Expenditure

Mean per-capita expenditure across religious groups for both rural and
urban regions is given below. The rural expenditures indicate that only three
groups, namely the Jains, Sikhs and the Christians have above all India average
expenditure. For the Jains, their preoccupation with self-employed economic
enterprise and for the Sikhs, their relative success in farming and off farm
diversification can be largely assumed to have contributed to their position. The
bottom three groups are the Zoroastrians, others and the Buddhists. The
Zoroastrians‘ unlikely poor performance could be due to a very small
proportion of them inhibiting the rural regions and probably unsuccessfully.

Table. No.2.7.
Mean Per-capita Consumption Expenditure (Rural/Urban)
Minority Mean MPCE/Rural Mean MPCE/Urban
Communities
Buddhists 506.26 880.59
Christians 806.27 1352.63
Jains 978.36 1901.36
Muslims 545.81 776.50
Sikhs 864.72 1498.81
Zoroastrians 474.07 2883.57
Others 504.09 1179.45
All India. Average 558.81 1052.34

Sources: NSSO, Consumption Expenditure, 2004/05
Unlike the rural picture, the urban situation shows the Zoroastrians
doing the best amongst all, as is usually expected of them due to high level of
education and private economic enterprise. Also all the groups show above
average expenditures except the Buddhists and the Muslims. After the
Zoroastrians it‘s the Jains, Sikhs, Christian and others who show above average
expenditures
2.8. CONCLUSION
The detailed analysis done above considering economic and social
indicator of Minority Communities shows substantial variations across these
groups in their level and nature of exclusion or marginalisation. While many of
the differences in their well-being can be explained by cultural differences and
113
beliefs, many arise due to the differences in group strength in terms of numbers,
level of education, group cohesiveness, economic endowment and their political
awareness and clout. The Jains are a case in point. Despite being one of the
smallest groups they are the most well educated, prosperous and also quite
politically influential in India. The Muslims, on the other hand, despite being
the second largest religious community in India lack significant education
levels as well as general socio-economic standing. If we choose different
measures of economic well-being and observe which groups perform the worst
and which least, we find that those falling in the others, Zoroastrians and the
Muslim categories show up across most of the chosen indicators. They are
followed by the Buddhist and Sikhs. The Christians and the Jains show up the
least number of times. These relative positions of groups get further entrenched
by inter-group competition arising from differences in religious beliefs and
animosity.
REFERENCES
 A.S. Bhalla, Dan Luo, (2013),Poverty and Exclusion of Minorities in China
and India, Palgrave Macmillan publishers, U.K.
 GOI (Government of India), National Commission for Minorities (2008b)
Socioeconomic Status of the Notified Minority Communities (other than
the Muslims) (New Delhi).
 GOI (Government of India), Planning Commission (2001b) Report of the
Working Group on Empowering the Minorities, The Tenth Five-Year Plan
(2002–2007) (New Delhi).
 Government of India (2009), Eleventh Five Year Plan -2007- of Poverty
with Application to Thailand‖, Journal of Quantitative Economics, Vol. 16
(1), pp 67-79.

AWARENESS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AMONG WOMEN – A CASE

STUDY OF ALUVA MUNICIPALITY
Dr. AnsaAlphonsa Antony
And Smt. Mini Mole.K
St.Xaviers College for Women, Aluva
Abstract
The present study focuses on studying the awareness of women about
their own rights given to them by constitution of India. Randomly a sample of
50 women from the Aluva Municipality was taken. A questionnaire having
questions related to women‟s special rights was prepared by the investigators
including Right under international law, Rights of wife, Women‟s Rights to
minor children, Women‟s Protectional Rights under Criminal law, Women‟s
Rights under Labour Laws, Women‟s Personal Rights and Right to Marry. This
questionnaire was used as a tool for data collection. The data was analyzed
with help of percentage. The study points out the threats or challenges of
women facing in a modern society. Moreover, this study enables to understand
the concept of human rights related to women and their protection by the
legislations
Key words: Human Right, Women
________________________________________________________________
Introduction
Human rights are those minimum rights which are compulsorily
obtainable by every individual as he/she is a member of human family. Indian
society is a male dominated society where men are always assumed to be
superior to society. The women in India very often have to face discrimination,
injustice and dishonor. Though they have been given more rights as compared
to men, their condition is miserable.
115
Women's rights are those rights and entitlements which are claimed for
women and girls of many societies worldwide. Women are defined in most
human rights instruments in terms of their childbearing and household
responsibilities. Family, the primary unit of society, is often a platform of
violence, injustice and oppression for many women rights. There are severe
problems on the possibility of equal treatment and due respect to women within
the existing human rights regime. These are some of the rights ensured by the
Government as a democratic polity.
Right to equality
 Right to education
 Right to live with dignity
 Right to liberty
 Right to political participation
 Right to property
 Right to equal opportunity for employment
 Right to free choice of profession
 Right to livelihood
 Right to work in equitable condition
 Right to get equal pay for equal work
 Right to protection from gender discrimination
 Right to social protection in the eventuality of retirement, old
age and sickness
 Right to protection from inhuman treatment
 Right to protection of health
 Right to privacy in terms of personal life, family, residence,
correspondence etc and
 Right to protection from society, state and family system.

All of the above said rights are guaranteed for women as per the Indian
constitution but the status of women in Modern India possesses a paradoxical
picture. As compared with past women in modern times have achieved a lot but
in reality they still have to travel a long way. Earlier the status of women in
India as a whole was very low when compared to their male counterparts due to
several socio-economic and cultural factors like dominance of male chauvinism
in the society, non-existence of employment opportunities, lack of education,
absence of absolute property rights, social prejudices, social evils like sati,
Jauhar, pardha, child marriage, denial of remarriage to widows and restriction
on girl education, etc. Freedom struggle led women in India as creative
thinkers. The close contact with western culture, tradition, literature and
education influenced the Indians. Meanwhile, there were debates on elimination
of Sati, female education, widow remarriage, the age and consent for marriage,
and more generally on the status of women among Indians. The industrial
revolution, American independence and World Wars made drastic changes in
development of women in western countries. Changes happened in western
countries have also influenced the movement of upliftment of women in India.
British rule led to realization of the need of education equally for men
andwomen. More and more girls are given the facility to have higher
education.Gender based Education and vocational training are offering
stereotyped‗feminine‘ jobs for girls such as nursing, cutting, tailoring, etc. As a
result womanworkers are mainly concentrated in the informal sector which does
not requiremuch training or education, in traditional activities such as domestic
work,laundry, child minding, farming etc. Women predominate in this sector
becausethe only work that they can find is informal in nature and their incomes
are at thepoverty level.
117
According to Indian constitution women have equal rights with

menTwo National Labour Commissions, along with several other
internationaland national commissions, committees and conferences in the last
50 yearshave documented the socio-economic conditions of workers in the
unorganized sector in India. The latest is the National Commission for
Enterprises in theUnorganised Sector (NCEUS), also known as the
ArjunSengupta Committee,which submitted its report to the Government of
India in 2006. The reportestimated that there are over 340 million
(approximately 34 to 37 crore) workers in the unorganised sector in India, and
that they contribute around 60 percent tothe national economic output of the
country. Around 28 crore work in the ruralsector, of which an estimated 22
crore are in the agricultural sector. Around 6crore are in urban areas. Women
make up 11-12 crore, of which around 8 croreare engaged in agriculture. In
terms of overall employment, the report estimates that over 92 percent of the
country's working population is engaged in theunorganised sector, and that the
majority of women workers also work in thissector. They are amongst the
poorest sections of our population. It is thereforeimperative that urgent steps are
taken to improve their condition, which is theConstitutional obligation of those
who govern the country. The 73rd and 74th Amendment to the constitution in
1990 had opened avenues for women‘s empowerment which emsured women
participation in the decision making process .For the empowerment of women
so many schemes were introduced bythe Government during the post
independence period. The schemes includeIRDP, TRYSEM, DWCRA, etc. Of
this DWCRA, a sub scheme of IRDP isexclusively for women, which is
introduced in all the districts in Kerala.

All these rights can be enjoyed by the women community at par with the
men. However, in the sphere of women‘s right in India, there exist a wide gulf
between theory and practice. The constitution of India gives women equal
rights with men from the beginning. Unfortunately, women in India are
unaware of their rights because of illiteracy and lack of interest in politics.
Women are striving to achieve equality -socially, economically, educationally,
politically and legally. However, they continue to face discrimination and
marginalisation both subtle and blatant, and do not share the fruits of
development equally.Even though, women have participation in fields such as
legislative assembly, political agitation, productive sectors, literature, etc., there
were so many unfavourable factors, which constrained them to enter into social
activities.The purpose of this study is to check the level of awareness among
rural women about their rights and also analyze the effectiveness of the laws for
the progress and protection of women passed by the Government. This study is
very significant as it provides valuable information about the level of awareness
among rural women about their rights. It also helps to realize the need of
effective implementation of the existing laws and its amendments according to
the requirement of the society. The study points out the threats or challenges of
women facing in a modern society. Moreover, this study enables to understand
the concept of human rights related to women and their protection by the
legislations.
Objective of the study

To study the awareness on human rights among the rural women in
Aluva and their household problems related to violation of human rights.
119
Methodology
This is a descriptive study. The data collection tool used in this study is
self made questionnaire having different dimensions like education, decision
making, perception, social restriction and property. Convenience sampling was
followed. A sampleof 50 women from different rural areas of Aluvawho are the
mothers of the students of our college were the respondents. 92%of participants
have primary education and all of them are literate. Among the participants
83% are income earners.
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Before analyzing the primary data it is essential to compare the sex ratio
and literacy rateof India and Kerala. Kerala stands in the topmost position
among other states in India in Literacy rate and sex ratio. This is an indicator of
the physical role of women in the Indian and Kerala society. The data is
depicted in the following table.
SEX RATIO OF INDIA AND KERALA
(Per thousand males)
Year India Kerala
1971 930 1016
1981 934 1032
1991 927 1036
2001 933 1058
2011 940 1084

Source: Economic Review 2009, p.35, Census 2011.

The sex ratio measured as the number of females per thousand males is
considered to be fairly good indicator of women‘s status. The sex composition
of India‘s population shows a shortage of females per 1000 males. Although,
the country as a whole is marked by adverse sex ratio Kerala is the only state
which outnumbers males with 1058 females per 1000 males as against 933
females per 1000 males at the All India level during 2001. In 2011 also Kerala
is the only state which women outnumbers males with 1084 females per 1000
males in Kerala as against 940 females per 1000 males at the All India Level.
There is a need to strengthen and streamline the role of women in the
development of various sectors. Utilizing their power is very important for
nation building and to attain accelerated economic growth. There is an urgent
need for more empowerment programmes to be implemented for women.
LITERACY RATES IN INDIA AND KERALA

- Kerala India
Year Male Female Total Male Female Total
1971 77.13 62.53 69.75 45.96 21.97 34.45
1981 84.56 73.36 78.85 56.38 29.79 43.57
1991 93.62 86.17 89.81 64.11 39.29 52.21
2001 94.20 87.86 90.92 75.49 54.28 65.38
2011 96.02 91.98 93.91 82.14 65.46 74.04
Source: Census 2011
Kerala which has the highest literacy rate of 90.92 percentages occupies
the top spot in both male and female literacy, at 94.20 percentages and 87.86
percentages respectively. Here also female representation is less than male
representation In 2011, the position of literacy rate among male and female
increased to 96.02 and 91.98 respectively, but female representation is still less
121
than male representation. So there is an urgent need of empowerment of women

for their overall progress and achievement at different levels such as economic,
social and political.
*The values given in all tables are expressed as percentage

Table 1.Awareness on Rights
Yes No
Human rights awareness 58 42
Right to speech and expression 98 2
Source: Primary
120
100
80
60 No
Yes
40
20
0
Human Rights Awareness Right to Speech and Expression
Their awareness on freedom to speech and expression is very high but

the awareness on different aspect has not been crystallized and they did not
have evaluative and effective orientations toward their rights.

AWARENESS ON SOCIAL SECURITY MEASURES OF

GOVERNMENT FOR THE UPLIFTMENT OF WOMEN
Social Security Schemes Yes No
Health security measures 58 42
Mother child shceme 64 36
Reservation of seats in governmental bodies 82 18
Law of equal pay for equal work 10 90
Laws for the protection of women 58 42
Educational benefits 40 60
Source: Primary
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
We see that the rural women are not sufficiently aware of the social
security scheme by the Government. The ignorance on law of equal pay for
equal work has to be specially mentioned. In this context, we can infer that the
present tools for the political communication and information is not effective in
propagating the initiations of the Government to the beneficiaries.
123
EFFECTIVENESS OF LAW AND ORDER

Lack of safety prevents women from fully participating in the life of the
city. Thus providing safety or finding solutions also need to be observed within
a framework of rights. Only then can women access the full range of rights of
being a true citizen and thereby protecting their most fundamental freedoms as
enshrined by the constitution.
Whether the law and order is effective

Yes 40%
No 60%
Source: Primary Data
DECISION MAKING CAPACITY
Whether they enjoy the right to decision making – Yes-92%
On On Education On Marriage On Family No
Property of children of children expenses

Yes-56 Years-91 Yes-95 Yes-97
4
No-44 No-9 No-5 No-3
Source: Primary
The advancement of women in the decision making process of a country

determines the gender equality Important drivers of women‘s political power
and influence include improved access to education and material assets, more
equal and inclusive politics, strong women‘s movements and women being
effective political operators. Increasing women‘s presence in public life ensures
the empowerment through the participation in the public decision making
process .

data on decision making rights shows that women play a decisive role in the
family regarding the education of children , their marriage and family
expenses. But on family property matters, only 56% had a say.
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Property Education of child Marriage of Family
children expenditures
SAFETY OF WOMEN IN THE PUBLIC

Yes No-98
Ineffeciency of
Way of dressing Attitude of men
police
2
Yes 61 Yes-57 Yes-83
No 39 No-43 No-17
Source: Primary
From the above table it is evident that majority of the participant are
unsatisfied with the security measures. That is their freedom to move in the
public is not protected by the authorities. They said that the inefficiency of
police and lack of implementing the rules properly is the main challenge of
women safety in public. As rural women, they also consider the way of
dressing of women as a reason.
125
As we see in the table, the participants stressed the attitude of men

towards women as the major reason for violence against them.
NEGLIGENCE OF PUBLIC
Negligence by public Percentage
Yes 58
No 42
Source: Primary
The women community realized that they were neglected by the public
in many matters. this requires special attention.
AVAILABILITY OF PUBLIC TOILETS

Bad 92
Reason for this opinion
Installing Other
Good 8 Neatness
camera inconvenience
Yes-91 Yes-65 Yes-72
No-9 No- 35 No-28
Source: Primary
The freedom of movement is restricted due to several reason in the case

of women .They restrict their journey because of the non availability of clean
and neat toilets in public places.92 % of the participants of the survey opined
negatively about the toilets available to the public.

WOMEN’S PLACE IN POITICS

Women participation in Politics is an essential indicator of women
empowerment in a state. A democratic state should ensure gender equality by
ensuring women participation in Politics. It provides an opportunity to the
women community to take part in the decision making process of the country.
Unfortunately during the survey most of the respondents admitted that they are
as women, is represented disproportionately. 92% of participants addressed the
need to recognize women in politics.
CONCLUSION OF SURVEY
Even though the awareness of rural households on human rights were
only 58%, 98% of the participants claimed that they were aware of freedom to
speech and expression and the laws for the protection of women. High percent
of participants were suffering atrocities within their home which indicates that
awareness on laws and rights are not sufficient to empower them. About the
decision making role good percentage of households enjoy the right to decide
the education, marriage of their children and freedom to spend money for
family matters. At the same time their role to decide matters on family property
is negligible.
On the effectiveness of laws and orders passed by the governments on

matters related to women problem is improper. Dowry prohibition Act of
government of India is not reaching to them who are the real beneficiaries of it.
They denied the need of such law and majority of them stated that the law
doesn‘t make any change in the dowry system. The security of women is also
in trouble as per the survey result. Majority of household were not able to travel
during night. The reasons for insecurity vary- the inefficiency of authorities is
an important reason and 98% of the participants pointed out the attitude of men
127
towards women in the society. The survey reveals that majority participants
thought that the women community suffers negligence and humiliations in
public.
During their journey the lack of access of safe and clean public toilets is
a threat to their security. The filthy conditions of the public toilets and the fear
of the presence of cameras in the public toilets hindered them to use these
toilets. Majority of the participants stressed the need to reserve seats in elected
bodies of Governmental institutions especially elected bodies which provides
great opportunities for them in the decision making process and makes drastic
changes in all spheres of their life.
The survey points out that we have to work far more to attain the
empowerment and ensure the security of women. In every region of the world,
there are continuous efforts to promote women‘s rights and end discrimination
against them. Even after Thirty years of the adoption of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), many
girls and women still do not have equal opportunities to realize rights
recognized by law. In many countries, women are not entitled to right to
education, equal status and inherit land. Social exclusion, trafficking, restricted
mobility and early marriage are the other issues. In case of women education
rates, progress has been made around the world, and in many countries girls and
young women have outnumbered and outperformed boys. Nevertheless, these
advances have yet to translate into greater equity in employment, politics,
family and social relations. So it can be concluded that there is a lot of
improvement in the status of women in the society.

Reference
1. Poonam Devi. A Study of Awareness among Rural Women about their
rights. Assian Journal of Educational Research and Technology. 2013,
3(2), ISSN: 2249-7374.
2. Shabana Ashraf. A Study of Human Rights Awareness among Prospective
Teachers.International Journal of Scientific Research. 2013, ISSN: 2277-
8179.
3. Desai S. (1994): Gender Inequalities and Demographic Behavior, India,
New York.
4. United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women: Introduction.
5. Wiegman, Robyn (editor) (2002): Women's Studies on Its Own: A Next
Wave Reader in Institutional Change. Duke University Press,
129
EDUCATION AND INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Raji K Paul, Principal,
St. Peters Training College,
Kolenchery
Abstract
The word Education is derived from the Latin word Educare, which means 'to
bring up', 'to nourish', 'to raise' etc. Education is a process which draws out the
best in man with the aim of producing a well-balanced personality culturally
refined, emotionally stable, ethically sound logically correct, mentally alert,
intellectually competent, technically advanced, morally upright, physically
strong, socially efficient, spiritually mature, vocationally self-sufficient and
internationally liberal. It is in this background, the aim of the paper is to bring
out the definition, meaning, aims and types of education in the light of
Constitution. The paper is also highlights the articles related to education in
the Constitution.
Key words: Education, Constitution
________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
Education is a process which draws out the best in man with the aim of
producing a well-balanced personality culturally refined, emotionally stable,
ethically sound logically correct, mentally alert, intellectually competent,
technically advanced, morally upright, physically strong, socially efficient,
spiritually mature, vocationally self-sufficient and internationally liberal.

ETYMOLOGICAL MEANING
The word education is derived from the Latin word Educare, which
means 'to bring up', 'to nourish', 'to raise' etc. According to another explanation
‗E‘ means 'out of and, ‗duco‘ means 'to lead', i.e.'to educate' means 'to lead
forth' or 'to extract out' the best in man. Gandhiji and Tagore maintained that
education should draw out the best in child and man.
DEFINITIONS
Aristotle defined 'education, as the creation of a sound mind in a sound
body'. Rig Veda says 'education is something which makes a man self-reliant
and self less'. Sri Sankaracharya regarded education as the realization of the
self. According to Swami Vivekananda 'education is the manifestation of the
divine perfection already existing in man.‘
Gandhiji said, "By education I mean, an all-round drawing out of the

best in child and man-body, mind and spirit.‖
NARROW MEANING OF EDUCATION

In its narrower sense, education means a bi-polar or tri-polar process. In
bi-polar process the teacher and the taught interact with each other, which
results in learning. Education as a tri-polar process includes three elements - the
teacher, the taught and society.
WIDER MEANING OF EDUCATION

In the wider sense, life is education and education is life". The Indian
tradition says:
131
'Acharyath padharnadathe
Padham shishya swamedhaya
Padham sabrahmacharibhya
Padham kalakramenachaS
It is said that a pupil gets one-fourth of his education from his teacher,
another one-fourth by his own intellectual efforts, another one-fourth from his
fellow students and the rest in the course of time through life and experience.
Education has to lead the individual from darkness to light, from ignorance to
knowledge, from wickedness to righteousness and from falsehood to truth.
AIMS OF EDUCATION
During the days of Aryans in India, Spiritualism was the main aim of
education. The aims of education will vary from time to time and from people
to people.
Knowledge Aim
Socrates said, "Knowledge is power by which things are done. One who
had true knowledge could not be other than virtuous" True knowledge develops
the mind and gives strength to act.
Character Aim
Character formation has been the most important aim of education since
the beginning of human culture. Without the development of character, no man
can become an educated one. Gandhiji tried to develop courage, strength,
virtue, the ability to forget etc, as good elements of character. Swami
Vivekananda has emphasized the importance of character building as the aim of
education in the following words.

Harmonious Development Aim

Gandhiji defines education as an ―all round drawing out of the best"
Pestalozzi defines education as "the harmonious development of the head, heart
and hand". Harmonious development means development of the total
characteristics of the individual.
Vocational Aim
It is also known as the Bread and Butter aim of education. Education
prepares a child for a profession and enables him to earn his livelihood.
Complete Living Aim

According to Herbert Spencer education should prepare the individual
for complete living.
Religious and Spiritual Aim

The term 'religion' means "particular system of faith and worship".
Ancient times, religion and education had no separate existence, and education
was a part of religious life.
Moral Aim
Herbert Spencer wrote, "the one and the whole problem of education
may be summed up in a single concept morality. It is believed that the main
function of education is to cultivate socially desirable values in children.
Development of Culture
The culture of a people includes their knowledge, belief, aft, law, mode
of communication etc. The main aim of education is to preserve, transmit and
transform these qualities and make man cultured and civilized. Gandhiji
attached far more importance to the cultural aspect of education than to the
133
literary, and said, "Culture is the foundation, the primary thing... It should show
itself in the smallest detail of your conduct and personal behaviour, how you sit,
how you walk, how you dress, etc.
Leisure Aim
An idle brain is a devil's workshop. One great cause of strikes and
indiscipline among the students is that they are not taught how to utilize their
leisure hours.
Individual and Social Aim

Individual aim of education means that education should develop the
individuals according to their interests and capacities. It means the free growth
of individuality. All social institutions exist for the betterment and improvement
of the individual. The individual is the architect of his own destiny. Education,
therefore, must cater for the complete development of the individual.
According to the supporters of the social aim of education, society is

superior to the individual. The individual has to work for the welfare and
progress of the society. According to John Dewey, "education should aim at
making each individual socially efficient‖. A socially efficient individual will
not be a burden to the society, and he can contribute a lot to the progress of the
society.

TYPES OF EDUCATION
1. Formal Education
Formal education refers to the hierarchically structured and
chronologically graded system of education. It is consciously and deliberately
planned system of education to bring about specific behavioural changes in the
educand.
2. Informal education
Informal education is really lifelong education. It is a natural and
spontaneous education. It is not It is a natural and spontaneous education. It is
not confined to any specific agency. The family, peer group community, press,
libraries, films, radio, TV etc. are typical agencies and mediums of informal
education. The process of informal education starts from birth and continues
until death. In short, informal education can be termed as continuous and life
long process without any organized system or structure.
Agencies of Informal Education

Family
Family lays foundation for the physical, mental, moral, emotional,
social and spiritual growth of the child. Interaction with the total home
environment helps the child in many ways. When we think of the transmission
of knowledge from one generation to another, it is clear at once that the family
is always one of the fundamental agencies of education in society.
Peer Group
The peer groups are the activity groups of young children, which also
play the educational role of informal agency in their own way. They come next
to family. They are the associations formed spontaneously for the purpose of
recreation or play or such other common mutual interests.
135
Community
A child grows in the family, school and community. He learns more by
living as a member of the community. Mutual co-operation and collaboration
between the school and community is desirable for democratization and
improvement of education. The school should be developed as the community
center, or 'miniature community' by making its programme relevant to the life
needs and aspirations.
3. Non - Formal Education

Non -Formal education may be defined as "any educational activity
outside the established formal system. It is an organized and systematic
educational activity carried on outside the framework of the formal school
system to provide selected types of learning situations to the target population.
It is out of school education for any group or age.
It is an open system of education with regard to various aspects of

education such as admissions, place of instruction and duration of instruction.
E.g. Open schools, open universities, correspondence courses, adult education,
continuing education etc.
ARTICLES RELATED TO EDUCATION

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India and is a living
document and an instrument which makes the government system work. It lays
down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the
structure, procedures, powers and duties of government institutions and sets out
fundamental rights, directive principles and the duties of citizens.

Our constitution has an elaborate provision to protect the interest of the

child especially for giving the right type of quality education for all. Some of
the articles of the constitution are directly related to education and some others
have an indirect effect on education. The articles related to education
guarantees opportunities for education to all children and needy and directs the
government to take the necessary steps for the national goal of education for all.
1. Article 14. Equality before law
2. Article 15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race,
caste, sex or place of birth.
3. Article 16. Equality of opportunity in Matters of public Employment
4. Article 17. Abolition of Untouchability
5. Article 21. Protection of life and personal liberty.
6. Article 21A. Right to Education-―The state shall provide free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years, in
such manner as the State may, by law, determine".
7. Article 24. Prohibition of employment of Children in factories and risky
occupations. No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to
work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous
employment.
8. Article 25. Freedom to manage religious affairs.
9. Article 28. Freedom to attend religious instruction or religious worship in
certain educational, institutions. No religious instruction shall be provided
in any educational institution wholly maintained out of the Stage funds.
10. Article 29. Protection of interest of Minorities. No citizen shall be denied
admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or
receiving aid out State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste,
language or any of them.
137
11. Article 30. Right of Minorities to establish and administer educational

institutions of their choice.
12. Article 45. "The state shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and
education for all children until they complete the age of six years".
13. Article 46. Promotion of educational and economic interests of
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections. " The
state shall promote with special care, the educational and economic
interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from
social injustice and all forms of exploitation".
14. Article 51 A (k). "Who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities
for education to his child or as the case may be, ward between the age of
six and fourteen years." It stresses the responsibility of the parent in
providing educational opportunities to his child.
15. Article 337. Special provision with respect to educational grants for the
benefit of Anglo-Indian community.
16. Article 338. It makes provision for the appointment of a special officer
for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
17. Article 340. It envisages the appointment of the commission to
investigate the conditions of the backward classes.
18. Article 350 A. Facilities for instruction in Mother- tongue at primary
stage
CONCLUSION
Education is that process which draws out the inborn capacities and
potentialities of the child and develop them to its maximum level. The
Constitution of India which came into force on January 26, 1950 is a unique

and rare blue print of democracy, secularism, justice and equality. It is a

document committed to equality and social justice. It reflects the aspirations,
hopes, ideals, and values of the people of India. It has recognized the
significance of education for social transformation. Education forms the
cornerstone for making the provisions of liberty of thought and equality of
opportunity a reality. The provision aim at fulling the aspiration of the people
through the medium of education.
REFERENCE
 Shashi Prabha Sharma, Teacher Education, Kanishka Publishers and
Distributors, New Delhi 2005.
 Sheela Mangla, Teacher Education: Trends and Strategies, Radha
Publications,New Delhi, 2003.
 Singh, Y.K., Philosophical Foundation of Education , APH Publishing
Corporation, New Delhi, 2009
 http://www.careerride.com/view/education-in-india-history-and-
constitutional-provisions-19671.aspx
 Elementary Education in India, 2009, Progress towards UEE,‖ DISE
2009-10.
 Elementary Education in India, Progress towards UEE,‖ 2011, DISE
website, http://dise.in
 http://www.right-to-education.org
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India
139

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India

Diunggah oleh

Informasi Dokumen

Hak Cipta

Format Tersedia

Bagikan dokumen Ini

Bagikan atau Tanam Dokumen

Opsi Berbagi

Apakah menurut Anda dokumen ini bermanfaat?

Apakah konten ini tidak pantas?

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India

Diunggah oleh

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

EXCLUSION OF MINORITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN INDIA

Published in September , 2017

Published by Department of Economics and Political Science

It is a matter of pride that the Department of Economics and Political

Name, Designation & Page

Dr. Xavier V. K The Plight of the Religious

Ms.Aparna P The Effects of Land Alienation

Ms. Chaithanya. E.P, Indigenous People Rights over

Mr. Linto Antony Analysis of Human Rights

Dr. Remmiya Rajan P, A Study on the Financial

Dr. Raji K Paul,

THE PLIGHT OF THE RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN INDIA –

Keywords: Religious minorities, exclusion

necessary to have information relating to various vulnerable groups which have

There is a view that during the pre-independence period the socio-

The main points of concern that emerge as to the plights of minorities

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 2

practicing discrimination against Dalits and Muslims and Christians for

From the existing survey available literature it appears that the

education, modernization of traditional madrasa education system by

Literacy rate continues to be low among minorities; their school

Based on the above background, we need to identify a few sets of issues

There has been a focus in the development planning towards

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 4

growth of per capital income. Human well-being would encompass individual

2. Constitutional Rights and Safeguards for Minorities in India

Indian Constitution refers to minorities in several provisions such as

The Indian constitution distinguishes 212 listed ethnic communities as

The minority rights are essentially the recognition of one‘s separate

The common domain of the constitutional rights comes under

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 6

The DPSP includes the following provisions which have significant

The following fundamental rights and freedoms are guaranteed under

iv) Citizen‘s right to equality of opportunity in matters relating to

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 8

ii) Right of all religious and linguistic minorities to establish and

3. Religion-wise Demographic Profile of India

The total 72.89 crore Indians have been listed as non-workers —

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 10

Coming to the specific problem, Muslims are targeted with tag of

The Christian communities too face similar problems. Dalit Christians

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 12

Some minority communities, especially Muslims and Christians, due to

system of discrimination causes them to be socially, economically and

Under these circumstances, there is a need to extricate minorities from

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 14

1. Abdul Aziz(1984), Urban Poor and Urban Informal Sector, Ashish

THE EFFECTS OF LAND ALIENATION ON THE LIVELIHOOD OF

Key Words : Land alienation, Scheduled Tribes, poverty, social exclusion.

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 16

Most of the Scheduled Tribes (60%) live in the northern districts of

labourers. It also resulted in a process of transformation from a self reliant to a

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 18

Table 2 Kerala- ST- percentage of population below

The percentage of Scheduled Tribe population below poverty line in

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 20

Table 3: Landless Tribes in the State in 2014

Source: ST Development Department

The district having the highest number of landless tribal families is

Effects of Land alienation

Employment pattern of Scheduled Tribes in Kerala

Exclusion of Minorities and Indigenous People in India 22

Source: ST Development Department

Main Workers in Agriculture and Allied