Summary
Five years after the 'Adivasi Agreement', the Kerala
state has failed to honour its 2001 agreement with the
Adivasi (tribal) leaders. The government has promised to
provide at least 1 acre of cultivable land to all
landless tribal families, but ignored the order of the
High Court of Kerala to complete land distrbution by July
2006.
More than 22,000 Adivasi families in Kerala state, India,
live in misery because they have no land for their
sustenance. A great number of Adivasis have died recently
in different parts of the country, especially in the
state of Kerala due to hunger and poverty. Thousands of
them are struggling due to serious ailments. It is
believed that since the Adivasis only form a negligible
1.1% of the total population in the state, their voice is
ignored. In spite of legal battles and agitation since
the 80s, their rights continue to be denied.
As the state government has failed to complete land
distribution by July 2006, local rights groups hope
international pressure can compel the Kerala government
to act on its promise. They hope that with the launch of
“Suvarna Keralam” (Golden Kerala), a variety of
schemes initiated by the government for the welfare of
the people to mark the state's jubilee year in November
2006, the government will include concrete action to
alleviate Adivasis' suffering.
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Sample
Letter
We are writing in grave
concern for the Adivasis in the state of Kerala.
The agreement entered by the Kerala state
government with the Adivasi leaders on 16 October
2001 promised a maximum of 5 acres of land to
every landless Adivasi family in the state within
5 years. Although lands are available, as
observed by Adivasi organizations, the government
has not honored the agreement by distributing
them.
Ownership of land signifies livelihood, culture
and identity in tribal economy. Most of the
Adivasis are dispossessed from their land and are
living without any source of livelihood.
Alienation of land is the single most important
factor causing their precarious economic
situation.
Providing land to the landless will be the most
important step to alleviate poverty and misery of
the Adivasis. We respect your government’s
devotion to the cause by voting for the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People,
which states in unequivocal words that
“indigenous people have right to the lands,
territories and resources which they have
traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used
or acquired” (Article 26). It echoes Section
6.1 of the National Tribal Policy statement of
India, “Land is the most important source of
tribal livelihood for agriculture both for
settled and shifting cultivation, horticulture,
forestry and animal husbandry in mixed farming
systems. Alienation of tribal land is the single
most important cause of pauperization of Tribals,
rendering their vulnerable economic situation
more precarious.”
We understand Adivasis in Kerala have a long
history of struggle for land, through both legal
means and public protests. We fear that their
small proportion of the total population (1.1%)
has made their voice unheard. As the Kerala
government celebrates the jubilee year with
“Suvarna Keralam” (Golden Kerala) in
November 2006, we earnestly request your
authorities to demand the Kerala state government
to fulfill the agreement with the Adivasi leaders
made on 16 October 2001 and to distribute land to
all the landless Adivasis accordingly.
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Background
Poor land
record systems in tribal areas coupled with illiteracy,
poverty and ignorance of tribals and the greed of others
have resulted in the continuous transfer of resources
from tribals to non-tribals for several decades.
Diminishing access to natural resources and dispossession
has led to their exclusion and economic impoverishment
often reducing them to the status of migrant labor.
Displacement are due to development projects which
include irrigation or hydro projects, coal and other
mines, thermal power plants and mineral based industrial
units. Inadequate rehabilitation of the displaced tribals
compounds their woes making them asset-less and
unemployed, trapped in debt bondage.
Legal battles
The struggle for land has a long history for the Adivasis
in Kerala. Tribal questions were first addressed with the
formation of the Dhebar Commission in 1960 by the central
government, which suggested that all land alienated from
1950 onwards should be restored. It was on the
recommendation of the Dhebar Commission and its
endorsement by the central government that “The
Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction on Transfer of Land
and Restoration of Alienated Lands) Act, 1975” was
passed unanimously during the tenure of the Achutha
Menon, the then Chief Minister of Kerala. However the
rules and regulations accompanying the act were not
framed for many years. A weakness of the Act was that
only a small minority was able to present documents as
required by the Act, leading to vast majority of the
Adivasis in Kerala not coming under the protection of the
1975 Act.
It was only in 1986 that efforts were made to implement
the act, giving retrospective effect only from 1982. Only
4,524 out of 8,879 applications were accompanied by
supporting evidence as required by the 1975 Act to be
found valid. Accordingly, 3,170.12 hectares of land had
to be restored. However the Kerala government did little
in this regard.
In 1988, a public interest petition was filed seeking the
intervention of the Kerala High Court, which issued an
order in October 1993 calling for the restoration of
alienated land. The state government not only ignored the
order, but attempted to pass amendments to the 1975 Act.
In 1996, the United Democratic Front government through
an ordinance, tried to effect changes in the 1975 Act but
the then governor foiled the attempt. In 1999, the Left
Democratic Front government scrapped the 1975 Act and
passed the Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction of
Transfer of Lands and Restoration of Alienated Lands)
Act, 1999. The High Court of Kerala later nullified the
1999 legislation and observed that the Kerala government
had committed contempt of court. However the government
has appealed to the Supreme Court. Such legal
entanglements have enmeshed the possibility of retrieving
alienated land. Until this phase the tribal’s demand
for the retrieval of their lost land was waged through
legal means, but it has become clear that legal measures
alone would be insufficient to address the question of
land alienation.
Land agitation of Adivasis in Kerala
With the failure of legal measures, the Adivasi shifted
to the path of agitation. In 2001, Adivasi-Dalit Samara
Samithi (ADSS), an organization led by Ms. C.K Janu held
a 47 day demonstration in front of the state legislature:
The protestors occupied the entrance to the Kerala
Secretariat and its premises, constructed makeshift huts,
cooked food and performed cultural events as they
protested. Similar 'refugee camps', as they called them,
were set up in front of the Chief Minister's residence.
An open letter was submitted to the State Chief Minister
Mr. A.K. Antony on 24 August 2001.
The action highlighted land alienation as the crucial
causative factor behind starvation deaths. They demanded
the implementation of the recommendations of the Bhuria
Committee, which was established to study the possibility
of extension of Panchayath Raj (Local Self Government) to
scheduled areas of tribals, including direct
participation in formulation of all schemes and in
deliverance of welfare measures by the government.
Eventually, they demanded 5 acres of land for each
landless tribal family since land was considered as an
integral part of Adivasi culture, identity and
livelihood.
On 16 October 2001, the state government and the Adivasi
leaders signed the agreement popularly known as the
“Adivasi Agreement” in which the state
government agreed to grant 5 acres of land to each
landless tribal family. In case sufficient land was not
available, each of them would be given at least 1 acre of
cultivable land. The activists of ADSS laid emphasis on
the distribution of forest land in Wayanad. The State
Planning Board was told to prepare a master plan for
integrated tribal development and to implement it on a
time bound basis from the beginning of the Tenth Five
Year Plan in 2002.
Inaction of the Kerala Government
While some lands were distributed to a number of Adivasis
in some parts of the state, local groups criticize that
the state government has not shown sincerity to address
the urgency and seriousness of the issue.
Local groups observe that the government has lots of
possible avenues to do justice to the Adivasis, but was
not keen to do so. The government needs only 250 thousand
acres of land to honor the agreement. Local rights groups
spoted that more than 59,000 acres of revenue land under
the government possession could be identified easily.
Adivasi groups have identified more than 40,000 acres of
land under the custody of government itself in the name
of different projects under the control of the Tribal
Department, the Agriculture Department and the Forest
Department. Most of these projects and its development
funds were established for the welfare of the Adivasis.
However history seems to demonstrate that officials with
political patronage, instead of Adivasis, benefited from
these projects and hunger deaths of Adivasis were
recorded in these projects. Besides, around 600-800
thousand acres of land is in the custody of various
corporations like Plantation Corporation. Moreover, 'The
Private Forest Vesting and Assignment Rules 1974' permits
the Government to distribute 50% of the vested forest to
the Adivasis.
Source:
Madyamam Daily and Madyamam Weekly
Mathrubhoomi Newspaper
Publicaitons of Adivasi-Dalit Samara Samithi
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