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K.G. Kumar

Tribals and fisherfolk are `outliers' in the Kerala model of development. An outlier is something that lies, dwells, or is situated or classed away from a main or related body.

LAST WEEK'S bloody clashes at Muthanga in the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary between the police and tribals organised under the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha was not a mere matter of title deeds or rights to land. Rather, it was a shameful indictment of the Kerala model of development, which, despite having raised the overall quality of life and socio-economic standards of the mainstream Kerala society, has failed to similarly uplift the fringes of the State's population.

These deprived sections are those that eke out a living in the geographic margins of the land, too far away from the central electoral theatre to matter to politicians, and isolated enough to be easily forgotten - until a flashpoint sends everyone scurrying for cover and searching for scapegoats.

In the present case, the tribals of Wayanad, who are largely forest- dwellers and food-gatherers, share the plight of the other occupational group that has been left out of Kerala's developmental progress - fisherfolk. As social scientist John Kurien points out, "It is noteworthy that it is the communities which depend on natural common property resources and dwell on the fringes of the natural boundaries of the State - the sea and the hills - that face these adverse conditions."

Tribals and fisherfolk are thus `outliers' in the Kerala model of development. An outlier is something that lies, dwells, or is situated or classed away from a main or related body.

Statisticians use the term to define a data point that is an "unusual" observation and should possibly be discarded. An outlier is thus an extreme value either much lower or much higher than the rest of the values in a data set. Outliers are known to skew means or averages.

Importantly, though, recognising outliers is not an objective, mathematical process. It is thus subject to easy abuse. The selective elimination of outliers is a favourite tool for justifying the distortion of science by political ideology, economic interest or theoretical bias.

All these can be seen in the official State policy and attitude towards Kerala's fisherfolk and tribals. The latter face a far worse fate, since, unlike fisherfolk and fishworkers, they have only recently begun organising themselves into political formations.

At present, there are nearly 3.5 lakh tribals in Kerala, belonging to 35 different communities, who constitute roughly one per cent of the State's population.

They are supposed to be covered by the provisions of the Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction on Transfer of Lands and Restoration of Alienated Lands) Act, 1975. But political indifference by both the United Democratic Front and the Left Democratic Front has stalled the implementation of the Act.

The 1975 Act proclaims that all transactions of Adivasi lands during 1960-1982 are illegal and invalid. This implies that all such transactions after 1982 without prior permission of the Government stand null and avoid in law. Therefore, all such lands should be restored to the original tribal owners. The Revenue Divisional Officers in the State's districts are responsible for implementing the Act in toto.

However, two amendments to the Act - in 1996 and in 1999 - sought to nullify the pro-tribal provisions of the original Act, through such stratagems as terming tribal land as "agricultural land."

Though the Kerala High Court has stayed various provisions of both these amendments, the Supreme Court overruled the High Court's verdict. Separate cases on writ appeal on the issue are pending before both the High Court and Supreme Court.

But the issue is set to transcend litigation and enter the realm of political mobilisation. Just as fisherfolk organised themselves under the Kerala Swatantara Matsya Thozhilali Federation and the National Fishworkers' Federation in the early 1980s, and wrested socio-economic and welfare concessions from the State, Kerala's tribals have started amassing organisational ammunition.

They expect to make similar gains. That, however, may be at considerable cost to the State's social equilibrium. The Kerala model of development can ill-afford outliers.

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