Mapping the Questions of Resources, Livelihoods and Development Interventions : A Case Study of Adivasi Community from South India

Policy initiatives that are being initiated by the State and different agencies for improving the life situation of the marginalised sections of Indian society are generally not showing the expected outcomes. There has also been a sizable body of work, which explains the conditions of the marginalised people and the development programmes directed at them. These sections are swelling in number and are in a condition of destitution. The primary means of understanding their situation has been through the rubric of deprivation. The tribal communities in India, to a large extent, are overwhelmingly marginalised not only economically but also spatially, culturally, and otherwise. Andhra Pradesh has a significant proportion of tribal population and is ranked fifth in the country in this regard. These groups, who were forest dwellers, have been denied usufruct rights over forest produce. Recent incidents, for instance, which got attention because of the vibrant media and other sources at Nandigram, Singur (West Bengal), parts of Orissa, and Sompet (Andhra Pradesh) reflect the severity of the existed situation which portrays the destitute conditions of the tribal/Adivasi people. Land reforms have not benefited them in any significant way. Hence, they remain landless and, to some extent, even homeless. Thus, in order to understand these processes, an attempt has been made in the paper to map out the questions related to livelihoods, resource availability and development interventions in the locality. Before switching to these discussions, here I am quickly proposing the methods and tools used while carrying out the study among the adivasis of Andhra Pradesh