Land held by tribals in Odisha is shrinking, says a draft CAG report

At a time when political parties are competing among themselves to be seen as the champions of tribal cause, the indigenous groups in Odisha have gradually lost possession over their land, a precious resource for their survival.  

At a time when political parties are competing among themselves to be seen as the champions of tribal cause, the indigenous groups in Odisha have gradually lost possession over their land, a precious resource for their survival.  

A draft report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has laid bare as to how land held by tribals in Odisha has decreased by 12% in a decade while land belonging to Scheduled Caste has recorded growth in the same period.

The CAG has taken 10-year period from 2005-06 to 2015-16 for studying landholding pattern in the Odisha. Total State’s operational land area had shrunk from 50.19 lakh hectare in 2005-06 to 46.19 lakh ha as far as agriculture is concerned.

“During the same period, landholding area of SC and others have registered increase in 2015-06 compared to 2005-06, but that registered decrease in case of tribals. In 2005-06, 17.48 lakh ha of total operational land was held by tribals, that decreased to 15.38 lakh ha in 2015-16 registering a decrease by 2.10 lakh ha (12%),” the apex audit agency finds.

As per 2011 Census, the tribal population of the State is 95.91 lakh constituting 22.85% of total population of the State and 9.20% of India’s tribal population. There are 62 tribal communities including 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups in the State.

Odisha has the third largest concentration of tribal population in the country after Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. As many as 119 out of 314 blocks have been declared as scheduled areas. As of March 2022, 44.70% of State’s geographical area is scheduled areas. The purpose of declaration of scheduled area is to preserve the tribal autonomy, their culture and economic development to ensure social, economic and political justice and preservation of peace and good governance.

The CAG had taken up the study stating that ST population was one of the socially vulnerable groups who needs socio-economic support of the State for their development. “Both State and Centre had enacted several legislations for their protection. Their livelihood basically depends upon forest produce and farming. Therefore, their own land as well as public land of their localities is the main sources of their sustenance,” it said.