The Odisha government recently withdrew over 48,000 cases lodged for the violation of excise and forest laws against tribal people, a decision that followed a series of steps taken apparently to woo the community ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
Earlier, the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government had announced a plan to buy minor forest produce on minimum support price (MSP) after an over two-decade delay, and approved the formation of a commission for the preservation and promotion of tribal languages.
In official circles, all three decisions have been hailed as a game changer for the ruling party, which faced massive criticism after it allowed tribals to transfer their land to non-tribals, a move that was seen as favouring big mining firms.
Though the decision was later withdrawn, it caused a dent in the ruling BJD’s support base in the State, which has the third-largest concentration of tribal population, trailing behind only Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Moreover, according to experts, Mr. Patnaik is looking to tighten his grip on tribal areas as the BJP has emerged as a major challenger in some pockets.
The BJP had replaced the Congress as the main Opposition for the first time in the 2019 Assembly poll, bagging 22 seats, half of these coming from tribal areas. In the Parliamentary election that year, the party won eight of 21 seats, with the BJD getting 12 and Congress one.
The BJP further tried to cement its position among tribals by fielding Droupadi Murmu for the President’s post as 50 out of the 147 Assembly seats are influenced by the community. Thirty-three of the total seats are also reserved for tribals.
BJP MLA and the Opposition’s chief whip in the State Assembly, Mohan Charan Majhi, said the decisions taken by the BJD aimed at assuaging the anger of the tribals.
“The BJD knows that we have very good presence in tribal pockets. Tribals have fathomed the intention of the Patnaik government’s about the tribal land. They won’t be influenced by such sops,” he said.
‘Corruption galore’
Meanwhile, Jayram Pangi, a prominent tribal leader who joined the Congress recently, alleged that there was huge corruption in the implementation of welfare programmes in tribal areas as the intended benefits were not reaching the people. “The anger against the government is rising,” he said.
However, A.B. Ota, an expert in tribal studies, said the withdrawal of cases has come as a huge relief as such petty cases dragged on for years. “The tribals are largely entangled is such cases due to low awareness regarding laws,” he said, adding that the financial burden to meet legal expenses makes their lives miserable.
According to official data, the bulk of the cases — 36,581 — were filed by the Excise Department and were linked to the seizure of small quantities of liquor.
The other cases were generally filed for the recovery liquor, sal seeds, honey, or other minor forest produce, whose value often doesn’t exceed beyond a few hundred rupees. The consumption of these things form an important part of their culture.
The other scheme that has been lauded by government-backers is the Laghu Bana Jatya Drabya Kraya Yojna, a 100% State government-funded MSP plan for minor forest produce. The State government has allocated ₹100 crore for the purpose.
Had the government implemented MSP for forest produce seriously, the need for the plan would not have arisen, said experts.
“More than six million Scheduled Tribe population (86% of total rural tribal population) is dependent on forests for their survival in Odisha. Forests provide food security from three to five months to 87% of the dwellers and contribute 30 to 40% to their annual income,” said Y. Giri Rao, executive director of Vasundhara, an NGO focusing on tribal livelihood.
He said the income from the minor forest produce acts as the economic support for women. In Odisha, eight out of 10 forest produce gatherers are women. It took the Odisha government 24 years to bring such a law, he added.
“Before 2000, almost all minor forest produce was controlled by government agencies. The Odisha Grama Panchayat (Minor Forest Produce Administration) Rules, 2002 had given the ownership rights to gram panchayats for the procurement and trading of 69 forest produce,” he said.
