The most well-intentioned developmental schemes for the tribal community can end up disenfranchising them further if the community is not kept at the centre of the process, said S.M. Vijayanand, former Chief Secretary of Kerala and Head, Sixth State Financial Commission, Kerala.
In an interaction on ‘Mental Health, Identity and Culture: Focus on Indigenous Groups in India’ organised by The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health as part of the Sundaram Fasteners Lecture Series on Mental Health and Social Development on Monday, Mr. Vijayanand said that schemes that did not accommodate the culture of the tribes were susceptible to issues of alienation and maladjustment.
Mr. Vijayanand, who has worked closely with the tribal population in Attapadi, a reserved forest area in Kerala, cited examples from the schemes implemented in Kerala. “As a result of land reforms in Kerala, people from the plains were given land which traditionally belonged to the tribes. Even in mid-day meal scheme, the food served is not what the tribals traditionally consume, because of which their health parameters get affected,” he said.
“They receive education in a language they do not understand, they are economically vulnerable ... and there is strong othering,” he added. Arguing that such interventions had strong implications on their mental health, he said some surveys by tribal activists have found that mental health problems are unusually high in Attapadi. “Some of the main reasons are alienation, inability to adjust, disorientation, sense of inferiority, mistrust, discrimination and self exclusion,” he said.
Pointing out that Kerala was planning to revise its Mental Health Care Act, he expressed hope that the amended Act would include special provisions for tribal people.
He said that post Independence, tribals were the only social group who lost more than they gained. “They (tribals) make for excellent research fodder, using which any theory of development or underdevelopment can be tested, innovative bureaucrats can implement pet strategies on them, environmentalists can extol their way of life, revolutionaries can spit false promises on them, activists and non-governmental organisations can propose outlandish solutions, respected politicians can drown them with doles, distant friends can shed tears at their plight, and unfriendly neighbours can exploit them endlessly, yes, they can be everything to everybody, as passive timid targets,” he said.
Andrew Wilford, Professor, Cornell University, who has worked with the Irula and Kurumba tribes in the Nilgiris, stressed the need for participatory action and cultural humility in steps taken for the welfare of tribal people. Keshav Desiraju, former Health Secretary, Government of India, moderated the discussion.
