The current Adivasi movement, demanding removal of Lambadas from the list of Scheduled Tribes, has witnessed the aboriginal people of erstwhile Adilabad district bestow complete authority on the Rai Centres or local advisory councils for leading the long-drawn protest.
The Rai Centres, which were originally known as tribal panchayats established under Notified Tribal Areas Rules 1359 issued on November 16, 1949 by the Nizam’s government, were responsible not only for knitting together all the 110 units spread across Adilabad, Kumram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial and Nirmal districts, but also for bringing together the nine ethnic tribes living in these districts.
Consensus decision
The advisory councils, which work on the principle of consensus, handled all aspects of the ongoing agitation which had its high point in the December 9 public meeting at Hyderabad so far. The councils ‘empowered’ their members, the Patels or headmen of respective villages to collect funds and provide logistical support for the Hyderabad-bound Adivasis.
The all powerful village headmen or Patels from the Raj Gond tribe were members of the Tribal Panchayats who met every month to resolve disputes among Adivasis according to rules of the tribal customary law, wrote Austrian Anthropologis Christoph von Furer-Haimendorf in Tribes of India, The Struggle for Survival published in 1985.
The panchayats were, however, terminated in 1963 with the repeal of the Hyderabad Tribal Area Regulation and its decisions were no longer recognised by the government, he noted, of the ending of a brief but glorious chapter in the direction of ‘self rule’ for the aboriginal people.
Toothless tigers
The Tribal Panchayats were revived in 1981 with their composition being the same but the name changed to Rai Centres. These Centres, nevertheless, had remained toothless tigers until the current phase. “Our empowerment was the need of the hour,” observed Thumram Jugadi Rao, the Sarmedi or the chief of Ginnera Rai Centre in Indervelli mandal in Adilabad district, the largest council which has ‘jurisdiction’ over 45 villages/hamlets.
“We held meetings, discussed the issue at hand and began preparations under the leadership of Patels,” he added throwing light on the functioning of the Rai Centres.
Defined jurisdiction
Each Rai Centre, which has an average of 25 villages under its jurisdiction, has a Sar Medi (Medi stands for the centre pillar of a round structure), two upa medis, a khajandar (treasurer) a geetadar (secretary), a nyayavadi (advocate, usually a Patel) and five ordinary members. The decisions taken during given meetings are conveyed to the villagers through the Patels.
