A Brief Analysis-How the Impact of Covid-19 on Tribal Communities

Political Science

The tribal people also practice Hunting and gathering. In addition animal husbandry and crop cultivation are also undertaken. Hence a specific territorial affiliation and integration obtains. A major factor in community is the tie of blood relationship between the members. They have faith in their having descended from a common real or mythical ancestor and hence believe in blood relationship with other members. Kinship bonds play an important role in tribal organization. Descent groups such as lineages and clans are generally well developed. India is home to 104 million tribal people in India, concentrated in 10 different states. Spread across 705 tribes, they account for 8.6% of the country’s population. Tribal people rank the lowest in various health, educational, societal indicators. Tribal and other forest-dwelling communities are inevitably getting affected by COVID-19 and the lockdown. The COVID-19 hotspots identified by the government include 19 scheduled districts, while positive cases have been reported from other tribal areas as well. The lockdown measures have had a drastic effect on a large population of poor and marginalized communities as it has caused a loss of livelihoods, physical hardships, lack of food and shelter, and economic distress. Tribals and other forest-dwelling communities have been adversely affected by COVID-19 and lockdown measures, according to a joint preliminary assessment report by Community Forest Rights Learning and Advocacy (CFR-LA), All India Forum of Forest Movements (AIFFM) and other rights groups. Earlier this week, the report was sent to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The “high levels of social deprivation and exclusion” has led to a prevalence of diseases and conditions like malnutrition, malaria, leprosy, tuberculosis (TB) and other diseases. “Absence of healthcare facilities can severely limit the capacities to deal with any major COVID-19 outbreak in tribal areas posing a serious threat to the tribal population.

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