www.agpegondwanajournal.co.in | Vol-1, Issue-1, 2020
AGPE The Royal Gondwana Research journal of History, Science, Economics, Political and Social science
109
I. INTRODUCTION
It is a recognized fact that there are
glaring disparities and contrasts in the picture of
health amongst the privileged and the non-
privileged society of India. 80% people of the
country and 70% people of Maharashtra don't
have access to health services of any kind'. The
health services favor a few privileged and elite
urban classes. The cost of health care is rising
without much improvement in the quality.
Against this backdrop India adopted the
policy of health for all by the year 2000 in the
early 80's. A new revolutionary concept of
"primary health care was ushered, Primary health
care was supposed to integrate all the factors
required for improving the Health status of the
population at the community level. It's supposed
to be an essential health care that is universally
accessible to all individuals at every stage
of their development.
Health For All by 2000, UNDP Note :
Goal four is to reduce mortality of
children under five-years-old by two thirds and
the fifth one is to reduce matemal mortality rates
by three quarters by the year 2015. Late nineties
and the early period of the first decade of the 21"
century have seen a generous increase in the
integrated development approach whereby
poverty could be reduced, Infant mortality rates
and maternal mortality could be addressed.
All along there has been a common
structure and common approach of implementing
the health policies throughout India without
taking into consideration the geographical
variations, the socio-economic and cultural
variations, the awareness and literacy variations.
IMPACT OF STATE HEALTH POLICIES ON THREATENED TRIBAL
GROUPS: A CASE OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION AMONG ST
KOLAM TRIBE IN YAVATMAL DISTRICT
Prof. Shriniwas M. Patel
Department of Sociology
Shri Sai Baba Art & Science College, Nagpur
smpatel1989@gmail.com
AGPE The Royal Gondwana Research Journal of History, Science,
Economic, Political and Social Science
ISSN (P): 2582:8800
A Peer reviewed Multidisciplinary Annually
Volume 01
Issue 01 March 2020 Page No. 109-113
OPEN ACCESS
www.agpegondwanajournal.co.in | Vol-1, Issue-1, 2020
AGPE The Royal Gondwana Research journal of History, Science, Economics, Political and Social science
110
The same policy is implemented in the plains as
it is in the hilly regions, similar approach with
the upper urban class, the rural masses, the tribal
communities, the nomads or the particularly
vulnerable tribal communities (PTGs). In this
paper the focus shall be on the impact of these
policies on the particularly vulnerable tribal
communities.
Who are PTGs?
Out of the 698 Scheduled Tribes 75 tribes
have been identified as Primitive Tribal Groups
by Planning Commission of India considering
they are more backward than Scheduled Tribes.
The criteria for this classification were as
follows: numerically very small in a range of few
hundreds to few thousands restricted in a small
defined geographical region on-literates as their
literacy rate is tending towards zero. a population
which is stagnant or declining. threatened as
their infant & maternal mortality rate is very
high. in the pre agriculture stage of technology.in
the earlier stage of economic evolution like that
of hunters, food gatherers and shifting cultivators
economically worse off as compared to the
general tribal population. The 25 lakhs PTG
population constitutes nearly 3.6 per cent of the
tribal population and 0.3 per cent of the country's
population. Maharashtra has 3 PTG
communities, namely Katkari, Kolam and Madia
Gond. Katakari tribe is found in the western
region of Maharashtra, mostly in Thane district:
Kolams mainly in the south-eastern parts of
Maharashtra in Yavatmal district.
II. SITUATION OF KOLAM IN
YAVATMAL DISTRICT OF
MAHARASHTRA AND HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND
Historically. Gond king of Chanda
Kingdom had ruled this region. Kolam, a shy and
submissive tribe served as priest along with other
communities namely Andh, and Pardhan. Later
on this region was unstable and frequently raided
and governed by Nizams and Marathas who
robed their subjects. Kolam being at the lowest
rug of the ladder was at the receiving end
occupied the position of a sincere and hard
working farm Labour. Always at the mercy of
the rulers they were the first to bear the burnt of
successive invaders and it forced them to further
move deeper inside the forest.
Social Status:
It is usually accepted that the Kolam
represent the oldest stratum of population in the
are. In spite of that the Kolam has maintained
there own identity.They live by themselves
separated from other ethnic groups. Thus where
Andh, Gond, Pradhan, Kunbi, Gowari, etc. live
within the same village, the Kolam tend to stay
away from them, living in hamlets dominated by
their own people. These hamlets are locally
called Kolam-pod. These pod are situated at a
distance of 1 to 5Km from the main revenue
www.agpegondwanajournal.co.in | Vol-1, Issue-1, 2020
AGPE The Royal Gondwana Research journal of History, Science, Economics, Political and Social science
111
village. In former days Kolam were hunter,
gatherers, they were dependent on shifting
cultivation practiced on hill-slopes, which they
have given up lately. At present all the Kolam,
living in Maharashtra, have adopted agriculture
as their main occupation However, the lands at
the disposal of Kolam are sloppy and infertile
where the crop productivity is very low. Besides
agriculture, their earnings are supplement by
selling of minor forest produce, which includes
mainly Mahua flowers, seeds, Gum, Palas leaves
and Lakh, Tendu leaves, Honey, Char nut etc.
The socio-economic condition of the Kolam is
very miserable.
III. TRADITIONAL BELIEFS AND
PRACTICES IN HEALTH CARE:
The beliefs, knowledge and practices
regarding mother and new-born health care too
are almost in the rudimentary stage. Though the
pregnant women prefers to deliver her first baby
parents home she carry's on with her regular
physical work in the farms and at home till the
last moment of pregnancy. A number of
vegetables especially beans, eggs, fish and meat,
milk and other dairy products are thought to be
harmful for consumption by a pregnant women.
In most of the cases the pregnant women
herself carries out her own delive"? cuts the
cord, ties the cord, disposes the placenta without
much help from her family, members nor the
TBA. After disposal of placenta and taking bath
the mother takes charge of the baby. Till then the
baby remains on the floor- cold and shivering.
But surprise ugly in this community the mothers'
breast feed the baby immediately after it is
cleaned. Another healthy practice in Kolam is
that the placenta is disposed out across the
hamlet boundary, the mother goes across the
hamlet boundary for toilet as well as for bathing
Neither the baby nor the mother is
touched by any person until the cord fals off.
New clothes are put only after the baby is one
and a half month old. Till then the baby is kept
wrapped in a piece of cloth; similar is the case
with the mother who remains wrapped in a bed
sheet or blanket.
The sick neonates are usually not taken to the
hospital and some local remedies are tried out.
They strongly believe that it's up to the God to
save life, so human beings need not meddle in H
decisions.
IV.GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE
SERVICES:
Government Health system follow the national
pattern, as is true else where in Maharashtra. The
population norms in the five tribal blocks of
Yavatmal are as applicable to the tribal areas.
The villages where SRUJAN is working fall
under jurisdiction of two Primary Health Centres
(PHC). Only one village has a sub-centre but it is
not functional, as there is no staff assigned for
that. Matharjun village also has a sub centre.
www.agpegondwanajournal.co.in | Vol-1, Issue-1, 2020
AGPE The Royal Gondwana Research journal of History, Science, Economics, Political and Social science
112
Cottage hospital is at Pandharkawada which is
40 km from the intervention villages. The
Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS)
has centre in all the revenue villages. The ICDS
worker, popularly known as Anganwadi Sevikas,
is in charge of providing supplementary nutrition
to children, pregnant and lactating women.
Facts and Figures
98% of the deliveries amongst Kolam are home
deliveries. 94% of the women above 25 years of
age have undergone family planning.
Operation
80% of the visits of the ANM to the Kolam
hamlets are to forcibly convince theprobable
'case for target completion 25% of the
pregnancies are unwanted pregnancies. 1 to 2%
of the women have any knowledge regarding
contraceptives for child 55% of the women in
the area are anemic. 0% children receive any
immunization dose except for polio. The birth
rate per 1000 population has come down from 25
in 2000 to 21 in 2005. The still birth rate is
12.10. The neonatal mortality rate per 1000 live
births is 61 22. The infant mortality rate per 1000
live births is 89.80 The child mortality rate is
110.20.
Violation of Human Rights
1. Inaccessibility to primary health care services
- lack of availability of primary health care
services at appropriate places such as hamlets,
leading to high dean rates andlow life expectancy
2. Though there are a number of heath care
schemes for tribal, but conditions so prevail year
after year that the tribal finds it impossible to
avail such schemes. This resus in ineffectivity of
welfare schemes pushing the tribe like Kolam in
furtherthreatened condition.
3. Imposition of two child norm on the PTGs,
without the assurance of life of these children,
when in fact their population has stabilised or is
declining is sheer violation of human rights.
V. CONCLUSION
The region as well as the Kolam
community has a unique character and pattern of
responses to any of the studies and development
program me undertaken so far. Our studies have
concluded that the usual temptation of
generalizing the issues of all the communities as
one has led to further marginalization of small
tribal communities such as Kolam. Thus there is
a need to consider the requirement of such
specific tribes and modify any development
intervention accordingly to achieve maximum
results for ensuring the existence of the tribe
itself.
Coming back to from where we began
the million dollar question is for whose progress
are the MDGs for? A report on the status of
MDGs in different countries by UNDP 2004
states that with only a decade left to achieve the
MDGs India not even half way through the set
goals as far as reduction of infant and maternal
www.agpegondwanajournal.co.in | Vol-1, Issue-1, 2020
AGPE The Royal Gondwana Research journal of History, Science, Economics, Political and Social science
113
mortality rates are concerned. Human
Development Report 2005 too reasserts India's
health state. And according to a recent study
report in Lancet the MDG's would be achieved
even if the indigenous population was left where
it was on the development scale. So do the
governments really care for the most
marginalized and threatened communities?
References:
Basu SK. Genetics, socio-cultural and health
care among tribal groups of Jagdalpur and
Konta tehsils of Bastar district, M.P. In:
Kalla AK, Singh KS, editors. Anthropology
Development and Nation Building. New
Delhi : Concept Publishing Company; 1986.
p.87.
Basu SK. Study on Fertility and Mortality
Trends among Tribal Population of India -
A Review (Monagraph), Indian Council of
Social Science Research, New Delhi 1993.
Basu SK. The state of the art of tribal health
in India. In: Basu S, editor. Tribal Health in
India. New Delhi: Manak Publication Pvt.
Ltd; 1994. p.312.
Forest Rights Act 2006 Rules and
Guidelines, Ministry of Tribal Welfare,
Government of India.
Report of the High Level Committee on
Socio-Economic, Health and Educational
Status of Tribal Communities of India’,
Chaired by Prof. Virginius Xaxa, New
Delhi:
Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of
India, May 2014.
R. Venkat Ramanujan, ‘ Forest Rights in
Baiga Chak, Madhya Pradesh’, Economic
and Political Weekly, June 24, 2000, pp. 47-
50
Herskovits, Melville J., Cultural
Anthoropology (New Delhi: India Book
House, 1974).
Horatio Bickerstaffe Rowney., The Wild
Tribes of India (Delhi: B.R. Publishing
Corporation, 1974).
Hussain, S.K.M., ‘Tribal Inheritance’, Man
in India31(2), 1951, PP 8-7.
India, Registrar General, ‘Scheduled Tribes
in Maharashtra: Ethnographic Notes’,
Census of India, 1961, Maharashtra, vol. X,
Part V-B (Delhi: Manager of Publications,
1972)
Jayant Kumar Banthia., Census of India
1991: Language Atlas of India (New Delhi:
Controller of Publications, 2004)
Jyoshi, S M., Karnataka Samskritiya
Poorva Peethike, Part 2: Karnataka
Veerakshetriyaru-Hattikararu: Danagararu
(Dharwad: Samaja Pustakalaya, 1966)
Kurup, A M. et al., The Dorla of Madhya
Pradesh, Census of India 1961, vol. I, Part
V-B (New Delhi: Manager of Publiations,
1972)
Lakkappa Gowda, S J (ed).,Karnataka
Budakattugalu Vol. I (Bangalore: Karnataka
Janapada mattu Yakshagana Academy,
1998).
Tontapur, N B., Uttara Karnatakada Gond
arthat Kuruba (North Karnataka Gond-
Kuruba) (in Kannada)(Bangalore: Karnataka
Rajya Gond Sangha, Gandhinagara, 1995)
Trivedi, Uma Kant (ed), Nagwanshi:
Ethnographic Notes, Census of India, 1961,
Madhya Pradesh, vol. VIII, Part V (B) (New
Delhi: Manager of Publications, 1971)
