Paper short abstract:

The paper based upon empirical data from the Baiga, a Primitve Tribal Group, inhabiting an area exploited by mining, outlines the ground realities responsible for the creation of a situation threatening the very survival of the community.

Paper long abstract:

Mining, in the vicinity of their habitats, has come to pose a big threat to life and the livelihood of people in most parts of India. The affected people are often helpless to face the miner- administration - politician network. On the backdrop of such a situation, an in-situ study has been conducted along the Chattishgarh -Madhya Pradesh border, a scheduled area, inhabited by the Gond, the Baiga, the Panika and the Kisan communities.

The field data, from the Baiga tribe, a Vulnerable Primitive Tribal Group of the area, tracks down the modus operandi in short circuiting the rights of the tribal communities, over their forest, land and other community resources. The study points out that in spite of the TAC (Tribal Advisory Council), and the PESA, massive mining in and around its habitat, has been continuously depleting the fuel, fodder and number of other life supporting minor forest produces; and threatening the very survival of the tribe.