Multi-Functional Approach to Tribal Welfare
Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao
Published in AP Times on 21st December 1996
Twenty five years ago gentle and modest late P. Kamala Manohar Rao, in his report to the AP State Government on streamlining Tribal Development Administration, strongly recommended a “Single-Line Administration”. Though number of schemes for the welfare of tribals in the State as elsewhere in the country has been drawn up and scores of them are being implemented, most of the key suggestions made by Rao were not considered by Government. Still miles and miles to go to tackle this delicate issue! Kamala Manohar Rao was the first Director of Tribal Welfare when it was created in 1966 and continued for a decade until he retired in 1975
The Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1985 appointed Rusthomjee and Associates as Management Consultants to advise the State Government on Administrative Reforms in the state for simplifying and quickening the work in administration. Kamala Manohar Rao was entrusted with the task of Tribal Development Administration as part of that.
In his report titled “Streamlining of Tribal Development Administration in Andhra Pradesh” Rao recommended a “Single-Window Approach” and a decentralised multi-functional organisation for tribal development administration. His report was a comprehensive document and for all those who wish to look at problems of tribals in perspective, the report reads very interesting.
The then Principal of Administrative Staff College of India Dharani P. Sinha commending the report wrote: “if one wants to get results in tribal areas there is no alternative other than creating a decentralised administration with integrated multi-functional approach, where executives from different departments are accountable to the tribal development administrator”.
Kamala Manohar Rao with Kasu Brahmanada Reddy
Late Prof. C. Von Fuer Haimendorf, whose service to the tribals of the State lives for ever in the minds of one and all, in his letter in December 1985 from London to Kamala Manohar Rao, in his capacity of Emeritus Professor, London School of African and Asian Studies had all praise for the efforts of Rao. He Congratulating Rao for his brilliant analysis Haimendorf agreed with Rao and wrote that, there was an urgent need for a thorough revision of the administrative machinery in the tribal areas. Haimendorf said: “I am particularly impressed by the soundness of Rao’s recommendation to introduce in the tribal areas a single-line administration and to concentrate for this purpose power in the hands of project officer, who should act as agent to the government, with revenue and judicial powers comparable to the powers of the collector as agent exercised in the system which was established by the Hyderabad Tribal Areas Regulation Act of 1949. Prof. Haimendorf expressed the hope that Rao’s realistic proposals would be accepted by the State Government, the implementation of which would greatly benefit the tribal population of the State.
Kamala Manohar Rao recommended that the Girijan Cooperative Corporation to be combined in itself credit, commercial and welfare functions as a central bank as well as to function as a marketing organisation. He wanted it to have a project review and control mechanism and an independent status as Tribal Cultural Research and Training Institute. Another suggestion made by him refers to changes in the administrative structure at the secretariat level which included constitution of a State level high power committee with the Chief Minister as Chairman, constitution of committee of experts to advise the Chief Minister on tribal affairs and constitution of another committee of direction to assess and review development. At the directorate level and district level also, Rao made many outstanding suggestions.
Kamala Manohar Rao, born on December 20, 1919 as a postgraduate student in 1947 was identified by Haimendorf to work among the tribals. He joined service in the Social Welfare Department of Nizam’s Government. Rao evolved an integrated programme of development for weaning away tribals from the extremist movement launched by the Communists in the Telangana tribal belt, in collaboration with Haimendorf, who was then adviser to the government to Hyderabad on tribals in 1949. They were successful in restoring peace in that area.
Haimendorf was responsible for starting the social service department for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and at that time Rao was appointed as trainee organiser. Rao was instrumental in implementing the Hyderabad Tribal Areas Regulation Act, 1949 in Warangal district. It was Kamala Manohar Rao, who worked out a strategy for bifurcation of the tribal welfare and social welfare departments. He was Director of the Tribal Cultural Research and Training Institute for three years before assuming as the first director of the newly created Tribal Welfare Department in 1966.
Tribals also known as “Adivasis” are the people who have been living in India from the beginning-Adi meaning the first. In English they are referred as aboriginal tribes, hill tribes and forest tribes and so on.
Among the 33 different tribes of Andhra Pradesh known as pre Dravidian notable are: Kondu or Kandha, Koya or Kuyi, Kondadora or Kondakapu or Oza, Poraja, Gadaba, Savara, Chenchu, Yenadi, Irula or Villavan, Yerukala or Koracha or Korava, Lambadi or Banjara, Sugali, Jatapu, Bagata Gondu and so on.
The Kondus live in the Ganjam area of erstwhile Vizag district now in Orissa and also in Telangana districts. Porjas, Saravas, and Gadabas live in Vizag district where as Chenchus live in Mahaboobnagar, Kurnool and Vizag districts. Yenadis live in Nellore, Guntur and Chittoor districts, Irulas in Chittoor district, Jatapu, Bagata tribes in Vizag district and Yerukala and Lambadas in all the districts.
The original tribals used to live on hill tops, forests, caves and under the shade of trees. They were scared on seeing the civilized people from outside and used to literally run to their hide outs. They develop their villages also along the river side, which, however, are very small in size. Rarely 10 to 15 huts will make one village. The huts will have no windows or doors. The walls are made up of mud and bamboo.
Among the tribals the names of the sect sound very peculiar. Normally, they are derived from an animal or a tree. For example some of the first names are Nakkala (fox), Mamidi (mango), Gurram (Horse), Pamula (snake) and so on. Simplicity, honesty, frankness and contented happiness are the qualities of Adivasis. A bow with arrows of an iron rod or an axe is the weapons which normally a tribal carries with him for protection from animals and enemies.
Their routine starts with their going into the forest early in the morning in search of food. They normally reach home at the end of the day but occasionally may stay out for two or three days. They lived on mostly podu cultivation but as the days passed, they are also getting used to modern agriculture methods.
The tribals of AP live both in plains as well as in the hills and jungles. Many tribes of the plains are nomadic, lend-lease, primitive. Tribes in the agency areas have their lands alienated, whatever little property they have, mortgaged.
The British rule in Madras State, including Andhra, integrated tribals within the orbit of direct administration with some reservation. It was based on the concept of protection of the tribes as ethnic communities, the colonial tribal administration set up the agency system under the India Act, 24 of 1839. The system was strengthened by Scheduled District Act of 1874 and the Agency Rules of 1879. It continued under the Montague Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 and GOI Act of 1935. This kept tribal areas out of the operations of ordinary laws and regulations. By formulating simple laws and rules for the settlement of disputes and also by regulating the entry of aliens into tribal areas and similar other gestures, by and large the colonial rule sought the support of tribal institutions and through it tribal leadership as far as possible.
The agency system, however, brought the market economy into tribal areas and facilitated the emergence of private rights in land. Non-tribals began settling down in tribal areas as traders, money lenders and land grabbers. The collection of minor forest produce pushed tribals into the hands of forest contractors. Gradually the tribals were subjected to forced labour in the form of “vetti” (bonded) and “gothi”.
The Agency Tracts Interest and Land Transfers Act of 1917, the Madras Agriculturists Relief Act of 1938 which was extended to agencies, Abolition of Bonded Labour through a Regulation in February 1938, the Agency Debt Bondage Abolition Regulation Act of 1940 etc., were some of the protection measures taken up by the provincial government in Madras. However, the implementation of the above measures was far from satisfactory. While the Constitution of Independent India was being drafted, a sub-committee headed by Thakkar Bapa recommended various solutions to tribal problems. These were incorporated in various articles and schedules of the Constitution.
Articles 46, 275, 330, 334, 335 and 339 of our Constitution relate explicitly safeguarding the tribal interests. The 5th schedule of the Constitution envisages a division of responsibility between the State and Central Governments for administering the scheduled areas. The responsibility of the Stat Government in regard to tribal administration has to be submitted to the President of India and annual report and periodical reports to the GOI regarding the scheduled areas administration. In effect there were and have been obvious failures and anticipated results did not materialise. This fact was observed even by the Dhebar Commission.
The post independence government brought several land legislation measures to protect the tribals but when it came to implementation the results were poor. The Scheduled Areas Estates Land Reduction of Rent (Amendment) Regulation of 1951 The Andhra Scheduled Areas Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Rytwari) Regulation of 1951; the Scheduled Areas Land Transfer Regulation of 1959; the Scheduled Areas Money Lenders Regulation of 1960 and the Scheduled Tribes Debt Relief Regulation of 1960 were all aimed at welfare of tribals. Despite the condemnation of the various evils of “Muttadari” or “Mustajari” system by the Malayappan Committee in its report of 1952, it persisted till 1969 to be abolished then. This system made the tribals ineligible to have proprietary rights on their own lands. From time to time various methods were invented and adopted by vested interests to circumvent the legislation.
The Andhra Pradesh Government in October 1956 set up the Andhra Scheduled Tribes Cooperative Finance Development Corporation to eliminate exploitation of the tribals by middlemen and money lenders. However, according to the report of a study team on tribal development programmes, this corporation also failed in its primary purpose of rescuing the tribals from the strangle hold of middlemen and moneylenders and promoting their welfare. Later Girijan Corporation in 1969 supported by Kamala Manohar Rao came in to existence to which even Naxalism cowed down.
In 1952, the Government of India brought out a new forest policy by classifying the forests into four categories wherein village forests were allotted for the use of tribal communities subject to certain rules. This only pushed the tribal to be turned as a subject placed under the forest department. It somehow caused lot of heart burning to the tribals.
It is mostly in the four districts of Srikakulam, East and West Godavari districts that almost all the tribal revolts occurred. In Adilabad the revolts of Gonds led by Bhimu was put down by the British rule. Some of the tribal revolts took place during the British East India rule. Tribal revolts in the State erupted on four occasions. The first of the revolts led by Rambhoopathi took place in 1802-03, known as the “Rampa Pituri” (rebellion) named after Rampa near Chodavaram. The second revolt broke out around 1879 led by Chandraiah, Sambayya, Thimmandora and Ambul Reddy; spread over 5000 Square Miles in Rampa under Chodavaram taluk.
The third revolt took place in 1922-24, the hero of which was Alluri Sitaramaraju, who was brutally killed by the British army in May, 1924 at Mampa in the erstwhile Vizag district (now in Srikakulam district). The fourth revolt was that of Naxalite armed struggle in Srikakulam between 1968-71 led by Vempatapu Satyam and Adibhatla Kailasam. Both the Rampa revolts, though did not bring any military victory to tribals, they nevertheless pointed out the seriousness of the problem, that led to evolving the new Agency Tribal Policies indicating special treatment and special facilities to safeguard tribal interests with special protection measures.
“Muttadari” system, oppressive in its operation and even more hated in its effect than the Zamindari system, that was one of the causes for Srikakulam tribal revolt, was abolished in 1970. The government passed APST Debt Relief Regulation, which took effect from 1.9.1970, gave tremendous relief to the tribal people. Land Transfer Regulation of 1959 was amended and the AP Scheduled Areas Land Transfer (amendment) Regulation-I of 1970 was brought in by the government. It prohibited transfer of lands in the scheduled Areas in favour of non-tribals and further non-tribals holding lands in the scheduled areas were prohibited from transferring lands to other non-tribals.
After reviewing this Regulation, an amendment was issued through Regulation-I of 1971. Again in 1978 another Regulation-I of 1978 was passed. The repeal of Regulation-I of 1970 by the State Government in February 1989 faced a lot of criticism from many corners. The repeal introduced the presumptive rule that land owned by non-tribal in a scheduled area will be deemed as acquired from a tribal until the contrary is proved. It made imperative that non-tribals holding land in the scheduled area shall not transfer it to any non-tribal. By another clause in the Act, the government was obliged to acquire the land, which the non-tribal or tribal could not sell to another tribal, on even payment of appropriate compensation.
In this backdrop the report submitted by Kamala Manohar Rao, whose long association with tribes and tribal development administration for about four decades could have been an answer to several problems. Kamala Manohar Rao was motivated by Haimendorf in the tradition of applying anthropological knowledge to field situations. As observed by Rao in his report, it requires a constant effort for creation of delivery system attuned to the ideals and objectives set forth in the constitution and the plans. Traditional administrative systems cannot adequately handle the new development tasks. It requires application of skills and technology in various fields and calls for rigorous coordination and integration of skills and technologies in various sectors.
It may perhaps be desirable, that the report of Kamala Manohar Rao, which contains several proposals, based on the study of various commission reports, are afresh gone through once again to workout a new tribal development policy enabling tribals to reap full benefits from all the developmental studies. This is how we can remember that great soul on the occasion of his 78th birth anniversary, falling on December 20, 1996. He remains to this day what Verrier Ellwyn called one of the greatest field-oriented philanthropists of this century, particularly in India the “rara avis” of sociologist-administrators, who are, indeed a vanishing tribe.
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