The Major Tribal Problems in India: There are several tribal problems, which are as follows:
(i) Land alienation caused due to the introduction of the monetary economy. For every consumption need, the tribals needed money, but did not have any source of earning. They mortgaged land or sold it off land. Besides, outsiders exploited them and grabbed away their land. Further industrialisation also resulted in acquisition of land by the state.
(ii) Indebtedness cropped in case of lack of adequate sources of income. Private money-leaders (like mahajan or sahukar) are readily available in tribal areas. They provided personal loans at a heavy rate of interest. The consumption patterns of the tribals include regular consumption of liquor, bride price during marriage and fine for any deviant behaviour. All these require money. Hence they go to the moneylender. In this manner they are heavily in debt.
(iii) Bonded labour is a serious problem, which came in due to rampant poverty and lack of stable income. In fact, land alienation, indebtedness, bonded labour and poverty are interrelated problems.
(iv) Lack of money leads to taking loans from moneylenders by mortgaging land. The tribal community is unable to repay, hence serves as a bonded labourer.
(v) Shifting cultivation among tribes is a problem since it involves large-scale deforestation. Shifting cultivation is known by various names such as Swidden (slash and burn) cultivation, Jhum (in the North East Tribes), Khallu (among Maler of Bihar), and Podu (among Khonds and Parajas of Orissa).
(vi) Illiteracy among tribals is a major hindrance towards their development. On account of inaccessible habitat among tribals, education has not spread fast among them. The school timings usually clash with the timings of economic and agricultural operations.
(vii) The problem of health and nutrition among the tribals has been found mainly due to lack of proper medical and sanitary facilities and poverty. Their practice of indigenous medicine and magical practices for treatments have been very good in the past. But today things have changed considerably. Disease ranges between diarrhea, jaundice, small pox, malaria, filaria to AIDS, heart ailments and hypertension etc. They require proper treatment in well-equipped hospitals.
