resources: education
Education and Change among the Tribal Peoples of Jharkhand
Posted on: May 25, 2005.
Modified on:
By James Toppo, S.J.
... cont'd from page 12.
3. Historical landmarks of change
Several landmark events gave new face-lift and a new personality to the Christian tribals of Chotanagpur.
- Chotanagpur Tenancy Act passed by the lawmakers of the state for protection of tribal land. It had come into existence already in 1909, but its practical significance came to light only by the 20s, 30s and 40s. It was meant for all tribals, but since the Christians had recourse to Clerical leadership, they learnt about its existence and importance before their non-Christian brethren. Incidently, the draft of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act was prepared by Fr. John Baptist Hoffmann, S.J.
- The land survey and the final settlement of 1932, which gave the ultimate ownership rights over the land-holdings of every individual including the tribals. In addition, an order was issued to restitute the land wrongly or illegally acquired or occupied. These developments granted effective safeguard against encroachment of the tribal land.
- The great Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Chotanagpur Mission in 1935, which attracted more than 25,000 Christians to Ranchi to celebrate their own saga of liberation. Some highlights:
- The height of success on several fronts was accountable to the tribal Christians of Chotanagpur; for instance, running excellent educational institutions, Chotanagpur Catholic Cooperative Credit Society Ranchi with its branches at every mission centre in the district, successful organizations like Catholic Sabha, the Marian Sodality, the “dhan gola” (food grain bank), the Zamin Bachao Sabha (protection of tribal land society) and so on. They are unparalleled specimen of innovative thinking, efficacy and efficiency in management.
- The network of primary schools in villages, middle schools in mission centers and high schools in the regional centers, effectively coordinated by the inspector’s office in Ranchi, was recognized as an excellent infrastructure to promote and popularize education.
- Thanks to the Mission’s tenacious efforts to promote education among females in the same breath as among males, the number of literate women in Chotanagpur already surpassed the rest of Bihar.
4. The Christian experience
In addition to the above mentioned reasons for euphoria, tribal Christians were filled with a sense of solidarity and progress, the spirit of political unity and, above all, a sense of respectability in the eyes of non-tribals.
It was a new world the Christian tribals were ushered in: a world of daring and fearlessness, of adventure and homeliness in the midst of new, unfamiliar people and their cultures; of thinking and planning big; of even posing as certain threat to the so-called lords of yester years – the Jammindars, the Thikedars, the money lenders, and so on. Begari or forced labour without remuneration died a natural death.
Significantly, the villages with large number of Christians recorded steady and growing number of school going children, beyond anybody’s guess. Landlords would not any more dare to impose begari in such villages.
Armed with requisite academic qualifications, for the first time tribal young men began to dream jobs. Arguably, this phenomenon may be considered as one of the biggest changes in tribal psyche, since it signified total departure from the agro-dependant family life.
5. Tribals marching out
Armed with requisite academic qualifications, for the first time tribal young men began to dream jobs. Arguably, this phenomenon may be considered as one of the biggest changes in tribal psyche, since it signified total departure from the agro-dependant family life. It implied they were now mentally ready to live a life away from their families, even rubbing shoulders with non-tribals, the dikus. This also implied a cultural ascent to fiscal earnings rather than over-dependency on food grain, hitherto their only source of livelihood. It was 1954, when the first batch of graduates and undergraduates headed for Delhi, looking for jobs in the Capital’s government offices.
6. As good as anybody else
In the post independence industrial era, as the country went on a spree to set up new railway tracks, build new roads and bridges, and establish new industries and factories, large number of tribals engaged in such projects, realized that they could discharge responsibilities with commensurate skills and efficiency. Such exposures led them out of the woods into the man-made jungles of buildings and houses, apartments and shopping complexes.
Similarly, recruitment in the Indian army figured as one of the most popular employment options, till now incomprehensible. From an introvert, inferior stock of humanity, shy tribals moved closer to the main stream. A new self image, imbued with confidence and self assertion, emerging from within the community itself, spurred them on to try out things other than agriculture.
7. The Highest Watermark of Change
Evidently, the wheel of change in the tribal Chotanagpur now seemed to turn faster. A socio-political organization, the Adibasi Unnati Samaj (founded in 1915) with its head office in Hazaribagh, drew tremendous support for its commendable leadership. It snowballed into Adibasi Mahasabha and ultimately into All India Jharkhand Party, speaking volumes about the extent of transformation of the tribal society in Jharkhand.
"Handiya" or rice beer in earthen pot is a popular local brew in Chotanagpur. Indeed, hardly any celebration would be complete without it. Excessive consumption of it is also a regrettably common sight.
"In addition to perpetuating the ills of Bihar, no suitable education policy to emancipate the tribals and backward classes has been worked out, despite several years of autonomy."