Securing Tribal Futures in India: Addressing Challenges, Recognizing Contributions, and Reimagining Policy

Abstract

India’s tribal communities are navigating one of the most consequential periods in their collective history, defined by the convergence of long-standing marginalization and new pressures from development-led displacement, ecological degradation, and administrative uncertainty. While recent national initiatives—including the Forest Rights Act (FRA 2006), PESA (1996), PM–JANMAN, EMRS modernization, and Van Dhan—signal renewed attention to tribal welfare, their on-ground impact remains uneven and often disconnected from the lived realities of Adivasi communities. This urgency becomes especially evident in cases such as the continued neglect of nearly 50,000 Gond tribals displaced under the 2005 Strategic Hamlet initiative, which exposes persistent governance failures, weak rehabilitation structures, and the fragility of land and cultural rights even after two decades. The urgency becomes especially evident in cases such as the continued neglect of nearly 50,000 Gond tribals displaced under the 2005 Strategic Hamlet initiative, and the ongoing Hasdeo Arand mining crisis (2022-2025), which exposes persistent governance failures, weak rehabilitation structures, and the fragility of land and cultural rights even after two decades. ndia’s Adivasi communities face deepening marginalisation from development-induced displacement, ecological degradation, and persistent governance failures. Despite progressive laws like the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 and PESA 1996, and recent initiatives (PM-JANMAN, VanDhan, EMRS), implementation remains highly uneven. The unresolved displacement of nearly 50,000 Gond tribals in 2005 and the ongoing Hasdeo Arand mining crisis (2022–2025) illustrate the continued fragility of tribal land and cultural rights.