Context:

• Tribals in India still face several problems which range from Rights to land to lack of social empowerment.

Problems faced by Tribals in India:

• Land Rights and Displacement: Tribes often face challenges in securing their traditional land rights, leading to displacement due to large-scale development projects like mining, dams, and infrastructure expansion. 
• Lack of Access to Basic Services: Many tribal communities lack access to basic amenities such as clean water, healthcare, education, and sanitation. This results in poor health outcomes, limited educational opportunities, and overall lower quality of life.
• Marginalisation and Discrimination: Tribes often experience marginalisation and discrimination, both socially and economically. They may face prejudice and stereotyping, hindering their access to employment opportunities, education, and other resources.
• Loss of Traditional Livelihoods: Rapid socio-economic changes, coupled with environmental degradation, threaten traditional tribal livelihoods such as hunting, gathering, and agriculture. This loss of livelihood leads to increased poverty and dependency on external sources for sustenance.
• Cultural Erosion and Identity Crisis: Globalisation, modernization, and urbanisation contribute to the erosion of tribal cultures and traditions. Language loss, changes in social norms, and the influence of mainstream culture often result in an identity crisis among tribal communities, impacting their sense of belonging and cultural pride.
• Limited awareness in getting the rights and entitlements provided by the Governments at different levels.

Measures taken by the Government to address the problems of Tribals:

• Constitutional safeguards like the Fundamental rights, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, Schedule 5 and Schedule 6 are given for tribal people.
• Legislations: Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (In short FRA) was enacted by the Parliament to recognize and vest forest rights in the Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers who have been residing in forest land for generations, but whose rights on ancestral lands and their habitat were not adequately recognized resulting in historical injustice to them.
• Educational Empowerment: Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) have been set up to provide quality education to ST students (Class VI-XII) in remote areas through residential schooling facilities.
• Economic Empowerment: Under the Pradhan Mantri Vanbandhu Vikas Yojana, a venture capital fund has been set up to promote entrepreneurship/start-up projects by ST youth. 
  • TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India) supports retail marketing for livelihood development among tribal communities of India. 
  • Minimum Support Price (MSP) is ensured for Minor Forest Produce, and marketing support for tribal products is provided through the Pradhan Mantri Jan Jatiya Vikas Mission. 
• Improved Infrastructure and Livelihood Opportunities: The Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAAGY) aims to provide basic infrastructure in villages with a significant tribal population. 
• Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN) to saturate the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups(PVTG) families and habitations with basic facilities such as safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition, road and telecom connectivity and sustainable livelihood opportunities. 
• National Sickle Cell Elimination Mission to be implemented jointly by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with ICMR and States concerned. The Mission will cover preventive, curative and management aspects of this genetic disease in an integrated manner.
• Under Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST), besides Ministry of Tribal Affairs, 41 Ministries/ Departments are allocating funds in the range of 4.3 to 17.5 per cent of their total scheme allocation every year for tribal development projects relating to education, health, agriculture, irrigation, roads, housing, electrification, employment generation, skill development, etc. 

Conclusion

All these initiatives, along with other steps taken by the government, have paved the path of bringing the tribal communities into the mainstream while honouring their cultures, legacies and ways of life.