A Tribal Development Index (TDI) will soon be prepared in Jharkhand on the lines of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s human development index (HDI) to understand the current condition of tribal people and find out the areas of improvement.
The TDI will be prepared by the Tribal Research Institute (TRI), a tribal research wing of Jharkhand government, in association with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee.
The project, to be funded by the union tribal affairs ministry and state welfare department, has already been allotted to IIT, Roorkee, to carry out the study. The project, estimated at ₹14 lakh, is likely to complete by year end.
Chintu Doraiburu, who handed over the charge of TRI deputy director on Thursday after his transfer to personnel department, has been instrumental in drafting the project.
“The TDI will be a prototype of HDI. It will concentrate on tribal population. Objective of the project is to understand how government schemes have benefited the tribal to uplift their lifestyles and livelihood. The research work will also look into the areas where improvement is required,” he said.
Doraiburu said, “IIT Roorkee will carry out random sampling covering all tribes of Jharkhand. All indicators prescribed under UNDP’s HDI such as population trends, health outcomes, education achievements, income, livelihood and human security will be covered in the study. The institution is expected to submit its outcome report by December.”
{{/usCountry}}Doraiburu said, “IIT Roorkee will carry out random sampling covering all tribes of Jharkhand. All indicators prescribed under UNDP’s HDI such as population trends, health outcomes, education achievements, income, livelihood and human security will be covered in the study. The institution is expected to submit its outcome report by December.”
{{/usCountry}}He said the project was to start last year but got delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.
Jharkhand has 32 tribal groups, of which eight tribes — Asur, Birhor,Birjia, Korwa, Mal Paharia, Pahariya, Sauria Paharia and Savar— are from Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).
Tribal people form 26.2% of the state population.
According to the Census 2011, population of PVTGs in Jharkhand has increased from 2,23,336 in 2001 to 2,92, 359, around 30.9%.
Former Tribal Advisory Council (TAC), Jharkhand, member Ratan Tirkey said, “If done in a right manner, the TDI would immensely help to understand current situation of tribal people in Jharkhand.”
He said conditions of many tribes, particularly PVTGs, are still not good. Most of them still live in hills or forests without basic minimum facilities, he added.
“I do not know on which parameters the study would be based. But, I would suggest the researchers to study the circumstances under which many tribes are leaving their past tradition and culture,” he said.