Development interventions

In the first years following independence, development policy in tribal areas was heavily influenced by the philosophy of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and anthropologist, Verrier Elwin (Guha, 1999). They envisaged a soft, humanist approach that balanced the need for development with respect for the cultural and social integrity of tribal societies. The wisdom behind this thinking was that fragile societies should not be overwhelmed and their identities threatened by unwarranted developmental pressures (Mahapatra, 1994). At the same time, Nehru was of the opinion that they should not remain ‘museum pieces’ living removed from a changing, national context and the opportunities for positive change and a better quality of life. Affirmative action was seen as an instrument to protect and develop tribal areas. Constitutional and other legal amendments were subsequently enacted to protect tribal societies and their land, and specific schemes for upliftment of these societies were launched. The fifth and sixth section of the constitution grant a certain degree of autonomy to tribal areas. Resources to finance development activities are divided between the central and state government.

Kerala’s outlook on tribal development was largely in unison with the set, national paradigms with key differences ingrained in its own political functioning. Currently 38 tribal communities exist in Kerala with distinct - yet similar - cultural and economic practices and ethnic traits. Social discrimination, land alienation and poverty like conditions are, in varying degrees, shared features that characterise their socio-economic state up to the present day (Kurien, 1995; Mathur, 1977;

Kunhaman, 1981;Kjosavik and Shanmugaratnam, 2007)

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Attappady was established as a tribal block in 1962 to allow for greater autonomy and the instituting of tailor-made programmes. Initially the emphasis lay on physical and social infrastructure development such as roads, water, healthcare centres and educational institutions.

To diversify livelihoods, animal husbandry projects were launched. Kundha River Valley project was a major project (still operational today) to stop river siltation, and the Attappady Valley Irrigation Programme was created to provide irrigation water to Agali and Sholayur panchayats.

Land rights issues were taken up on paper at this point as well.

The 70s saw the emergence of Integrated Tribal Development Blocks. These institutions were formed all over India to become nodal agencies to coordinate all government departmental functioning (agriculture, marketing, financing) and to promote ‘holistic’ development. Housing and economic development were focal areas during this period. The Western Ghat Development Programme resulted in the setting up of two cooperative farming societies (coffee, pepper, cardamom) and a number of smaller investments in forestry, agriculture and animal husbandry.

During the 80s and early 90s, national self-employment and wage employment programmes played a prominent role. Decentralisation under the Panchayat Act of 1996 saw the granting of local self-government status to the three gram panchayats of the Block, together with increased local autonomy and decision-making powers.

More recently, the largest targeted tribal development scheme in terms of funding and ambition, was the Attapaddy Wasteland Comprehensive Environment Conservation Project, implemented through the Attapaddy Hills Area Development Society (AHADS). Its objective was: ‘ecological restoration of degraded wastelands and sustainable livelihoods with special focus on indigenous communities using participatory resource management methodology’ (AHADS, 2010:3). The project was funded mainly by Japanese Overseas Development Assistance and incurred expenditure of 219 INR crore³¹ in the years between 1996 and 2010. Institutions were formed to include the tribal community in eco-restoration activities and physical infrastructure construction such as housing, bridges, irrigation channels and micro-check dams. A number of basic services related to education and health care were also funded. Research under the project included assessment of ecological health, eco-restoration potential and linkages to the livelihoods of the

31 1 crore=10,000,000/ 219 Crore is approximately 34 million USD.

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tribal communities. Project works continue to be visible in Attappady through physical infrastructure improvements such as bridges, roads and also biophysical improvements through ecorestoration works, distributed in parcels over the Block. Some successes have been recorded over the span of the project period, mainly of a physical and technical nature, these being recovery of wastelands, increased availability of water in select places and recovery of farmland (Takaki, 2012). The sustainability of these developments, however, is questionable (Takaki, 2012). By providing employment, AHADS created a potential avenue for livelihood diversification and building of institutions. The end of the project was extended a few times but it ultimately failed to garner support and funding in order to continue (Rajagopal, 2013).

4.6.1 MGNREGA in Attappady

The MGNREGA coexisted briefly with the wasteland project before the latter was ultimately wound up. Attappady came under the first phase of the implementation of the MGNREGA in 2006 and has been functional ever since. It is the most significant development scheme in operation since then.

Given the special status of the Block, the schemes ambits have been directed particularly at improving the socio-economic conditions of the tribal communities. Especially from 2010/11 onwards additional regulations were introduced that aim at their empowerment and promise to deliver livelihood renewal. An action plan was put in force for this purpose (The Hindu, 2011). It aims at the development of tribal development landholdings to enable a ‘return to agriculture’ forof the tribal communities – apart from providing income and employment. The administration on its own account has described these activities as successful (Prabhakaran, 2013). In total 25,750 acres of tribal land were agriculture related development activities. In the first phase 3,344 acres of land were earmarked for development. The aims of which were to increase the productivity of fallow or degraded land and provide an incentive for the tribal households themselves to develop these.

Also, it was supposed to provide an entry point for other, associated programmes to step in and make these activities successful, for instance through support from the agriculture department (for instance provision of seeds). Tribal land development was given priority by not allowing development of lands belonging to other communities or private lands until tribal land

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development has been exhausted or is not feasible anymore in a particular area. In practice development works can involve minor irrigation works, clearing shrub growth and preparing land for sowing, pond construction, construction of bunds or terracing among other allowed activities.

Paper 2 and 3 explore the MGNREGA in Attappady in detail.

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