Dialogue on Governance of Scheduled Area

Dialogue on Governance In Scheduled Areas: Constitution and Path Ahead- Samata, along with the Mines, Minerals and People (mm&P) had organized a two-day deliberative sessions on governance and plight of the Adivasis inhabiting the scheduled areas of India. The rationale for the dialogue stems from the recent legislations and judgments which have had an adverse effect on the Adivasis, their livelihood, culture, health and environment. The Conference brought together legislators, activists, legal luminaries, academicians, researchers, journalists and the voices from the ground that can lead to a more meaningful and collaborative process between various stakeholders culminating in a more inclusive development policy recommendations. The conference had been an attempt to addresses mainly three questions:

First, how has the courts ensured access to justice by reformulating traditional principles of “Rights”? Second, how have the legislators and executives at the centre and the state level responded to the newer interpretations of the court? And finally, how after 25 years of reforms the fate of the Adivasis has not shown any discernible change in any parameters of development index? What are we missing? Is it not the time to think differently! It is truism to iterate here that data regarding tribals, their dispossession, displacement, health hazards, educational outcomes, even official ones, are at best sketchy and unreliable.