The academician gives scholars a research agenda on the need to protect tribal rights
24 August, 2022, Bengaluru: “Public policy experts need to ensure inclusive policies for tribal communities while preserving their uniqueness and protecting their rights,” said Prof. Virginius Xaxa, Visiting Professor at the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi, while delivering the valedictory address on ‘Inclusivity of Public Policy in India’, on 24th August, at the XVII International Conference on Public Policy & Management, organized by the Centre for Public Policy at IIM Bangalore. The session was moderated by Prof. Hema Swaminathan, faculty in the Public Policy area at IIM Bangalore.
Prof. Xaxa, formerly Professor of Sociology at Delhi School of Economics, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati campus, and Tezpur University, is currently Visiting Professor at the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi. He is the author of: ‘State, Society, and Tribes: Issues in Post-Colonial India’ (2008) and ‘Economic Dualism and Structure of Class: A Study in Plantation and Peasant Settings in North Bengal’ (1997). Prof. Xaxa was the Chairman of the High-Level Committee constituted by the Prime Minister to study the educational, health and economic status of the tribal communities in India in 2013.
Prof. Xaxa spoke of Constitutional provisions for tribal rights in land and forest, for training them to administer their own affairs, helping them develop according to own genius, and an overall attempt to integrate tribals into the larger Indian society. He pointed out that it was very important to preserve their uniqueness. “There is significant erosion of language, culture and identity. There was a linguistic survey in India a few years ago which found that almost 600 languages are disappearing out of which a large number were tribal languages. If language disappears, then diversity, knowledge and biodiversity are affected. Public policy is supposed to include everyone, but we see tribals are often excluded, despite special Acts being in place. Then, there is the problem of dispossession of land, forest, dwelling and livelihood,” he explained.
“Technology can play an important role in bettering the economic and livelihood prospects of tribal communities. Policy makers and researchers need to look at innovative ways of integrating them. Social media can also help in reviving and protecting lost cultures,” he said, offering a research agenda to students of public policy at the conference. The discussion was followed by a Q&A session after which Prof. M S Sriram, Chairperson and faculty, Centre for Public Policy, delivered the vote of thanks.
Special session on Public Policy in India
On 23rd August, there was a special session on ‘Public Policy in India, Empirical Evidence: The Missing Link’, by Shri C. Chandramouli, IAS (Retired), Former Registrar General and Former Secretary, DoPT. The session was moderated by Prof. Arpit Shah of the Public Policy area of IIMB. “Policy makers deal with the challenges posed by poverty, inequality, violence, terrorism, global warming and economic meltdown. There are also challenges in terms of information and data retrieval and processing,” he said, adding that rationality in policy and decision making would help frame effective policies. “We must use data analysis to come up with meaningful policy. Big data, AI and ML can prove to be significant game changers.”
The XVII International Public Policy Conference was supported by Bank of Baroda and NABARD.
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