From Self-governance of Forest to Illegal Occupants: The Creation of Exclusion Through Dispossession

Abstract

The tribes were the guardians of the land and forest and enjoyed unrestricted access to forest and forest resources, till the onset of colonial rule in India. With expansion and consolidation of the colonial state, the control and management of the forest were taken away from tribals from the second half of the nineteenth century that led to their restricted access to forests and depletion of forest wealth due to its exploitation for raising revenue, infrastructure development and commercial profit. And yet the full brunt of such legal and policy measures was not so acutely felt until the country-wide eviction drive of tribes from the forest in 2002–2004 following the series of orders of India’s Supreme Court. The tribes and civil society organisations came together and launched the campaign for the restoration of tribes’ rights on land and forest they had historically owned and controlled. The outcome of this campaign was The Scheduled Tribe and Other Forest Dwellers Act 2006 (Government of India, 2006). The scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers Act 2006 (https://tribal.nic.in/fra.aspx.) aimed at undoing historical injustice. The chapter examines the ways and extent the forest-related policies and legislations impacted tribes and explores the nature and types of social exclusion it gave rise to and the vulnerabilities the communities had to encounter.