Report of the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Commission: Volume II, 2002-2004

On July 18, 2002, President K.R. Narayanan appointed the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Commission, with Dileep Singh Bhuria as the chairman. (Bhuria, who was from an Adivasi community, was a Lok Sabha member; he was initially with the Congress and later, with the Bharatiya Janata Party). The Commission, also known as the Bhuria Commission, was tasked with investigating and reporting on the problems of the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in India, formulating a comprehensive tribal policy and outlining a vision for the future of STs. It submitted its report (in three volumes) in 2004. The first such Commission, the Dhebar Commission, had submitted its report in 1961. Volume II of the Bhuria Commission Report contains detailed reports on 26 states and four union territories. These reports are based on the Commission’s field visits, interactions with tribal development authorities, the views of Adivasis and social, political and tribal organisations. The Commission’s field visits to each state or union territory assessed various facets of tribal development, including literacy, land, economy, infrastructure, the Tribal Sub-Plan (launched in 1974-78), and the implementation of constitutional safeguards for STs.