Government of Gujarat reaches out to migrant tribals

September 3, 2009

Bhadrapad Shukla Chaturdashi, Kaliyug Varsha 5111

Ahmedabad (Gujrat): The state government has made its first-ever bid to understand the problems and assess the living conditions of the migrant tribal population. For this, the Tribal Development Department (TDD) has entrusted the Tribal Research and Training Institute (TRTI) of Gujarat Vidyapith to carry out a door-to-door survey in Dahod, where the tribal population is over one lakh strong.

The survey forms part of the Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana, the Chief Minister’s 10-point programme for the development of tribal areas in the state. The exercise will begin sometime in October, officials said. According to official estimates, the TRTI will cover 1,02,228 people, spread over 696 villages in the seven talukas of Dahod.

Kanti Makwana of TRTI, who will be spearheading the survey, said: "This will include 86 villages in Dahod taluka, 151 in Zalod, 152 in Limkheda, 34 in Garabada, 90 in Dhanpura, 87 in Devgadhabaria and 96 in the Fatepura taluka of the district."

TRTI officials also informed that the survey of the migrant tribals, which constitute almost 60 per cent of the total population, will have a two-fold focus. One will be concerning the causes and affects of their migration in Dahod district, while the other would be to assess their living standards in the places they migrate to.

Devchand Wahoniya, Research Assistant, TRTI, said: "The main focus will be to judge whether this massive migration has led to the loss of the tribal traditional knowledge."

Other aspects will include the education and health of migrant workers’ children, sexual exploitation of women workers by local contractors, the wages earned and whether these are at par with their skill sets, he added.

A M Tiwari, Secretary, Tribal Development Department, could not be contacted for his comments on the matter, despite repeated attempts.

Source: Indian Express