Describing as "unpalatable" the condition of tribals in the country,Vice President M Hamid Ansari said on Thursday the struggle to retain their identities and seek empowerment through the Constitutional framework has not yielded "commensurate outcomes". "For the 85 million scheduled tribes in India,the struggle to retain their identities and seek empowerment through our Constitutional framework has not yielded commensurate outcomes," Vice President said after inaugurating an international seminar on 'Adivasi/ST Communities in India: Development and Change'. The event was organised by the Institute of Human Development and supported by UNICEF,IFAD and Planning Commission. Ansari questioned whether "Adivasis" have been accorded the equality of opportunity or treated with "greater" attention and justice as per the Objective Resolution tabled by the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in the Constituent Assembly in 1946. "The reality is unpalatable and the data speaks for itself," he added. Tribal population has the lowest human development index (HDI) in comparison to other sections of society in the country,Ansari said. The Vice President said,"The literacy rate of the STs at 41.1 per cent in the 2001 Census is far below the national literacy rate of 64.84 per cent. Their children suffer from high drop out rates and low female literacy." Compared to other population groups,there is high infant mortality rate and malnutrition among scheduled tribes,who also suffer geographical and social exclusion,high poverty rate and "lack of access to appropriate administrative and judicial mechanism",he said. "Low level of infrastructure endowments and growing gap in infrastructure creation in tribal areas,as compared to the rest of India,has further diminished prospects for progress," he added. Describing the Forest Rights Act,2006 as an "important step",Ansari said "quick implementation" of the provisions of the Act by "various" state governments would go a long way in legalising the vision of "our founding fathers" and ensuring that economic development and social progress is inclusive. He underlined that Constitution provides specific social,economic and political guarantees to scheduled tribes,but said,"The extent to which the Constitutional provisions have been implemented and normative guarantees translated into policy are a matter of ongoing debate.
