All tribal voters get is lip service from politicians

“Neither the Dal nor the BJP has done anything concrete for you. Appreciate this and vote for us”, holler Congress leaders.

It is that time in the political calender when public figures of all hues go out of their way to remind tribals how backward they are and how they have remained so despite the plethora of schemes for them.

They do speak the truth: be it in Bharuch, Surat, Valsad, Dangs, Vadodara or Panchmahals, all tribals have got is lip-service. Every year, at least 10 per cent of tribal welfare grants remain unspent in the State; despite assurances, Adivasis are yet to receive their land titles.

The crunch lies elsewhere: Though each party claims to be the saviour of tribals, the fact is that none of them are.

The ruling BJP has had a chequered track record with tribals ever since it dented the traditional Congress stronghold in South Gujarat in the 1995 assembly polls. Tardy implementation of promises has withered away much of its advantage.

If it was the tribal manifesto — touted as the first ever of its kind — that transformed it into a party of banias into a mass-based party for the 1995 assembly elections, the BJP expects its `tribal autonomy’ moves to do the trick this time.

But talking tribal autonomy is one thing; acting on it is quite another. The first step in this direction would be to dismantle taluka panchayats and then form exclusively tribal village sabhas. Few political parties would dare to risk such a step.

BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya, who is now camping in Bharuch, told Express Newsline, “We are implementing the Bhuria committee recommendations; what more can we do for the tribals? We have already given away land titles to tribals as well as exclusive rights to collecting minor forest produce”.

While Pandya claims the Congress “has not done anything for tribals despite winning in their areas all these years”, State Congress president C D Patel points out that “Rosy announcements are pointless if they’re not implemented. It is totally misleading to say we haven’t done anything for the tribals.

“Whatever schemes there are have come into being because of us. The decision to grant ownership titles to tribals cultivating the land between 1972 and 1980 was taken by a Congress government at the Centre; we began to implement it in 1994”.

Vasava, a tribal himself, however, contradicts this directly, maintaining, “Our Janata Dal government adopted the Bhuria report and it is because of the pressure that we mounted that the government was forced to act on it. They have no idea how to implement it, but we will ensure that this is done”.

With former Congress chief minister Amarsinh Chaudhary shifting focus from the tribal area of Surat district to Khedbrahma in North Gujarat, and Congress veteran Jinabhai Darji quitting politics, Vasava is the only tribal leader of any stature in the State. And he is virtually unknown beyond three talukas of Bharuch district.

Incidentally, highly placed sources in the State forest department, say work is still in progress to turn over 10,000 hectares of forest land to tribals. “The land survey entails massive work, and this will take time”, says a senior official, explaining why work begun in 1994 is still incomplete.