Bionote:
Kasi Eswarappa holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Hyderabad, India. He is currently working with Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, MP, India. His research interests include broadly, Anthropology and the interdisciplinary areas of Development Studies, Area Studies, Tribal Studies, Tribal Development & Politics, Political Sociology, Women leadership and Governance, Marginality and Politics, NGOs, Civil Society, and the South Asia. He has published his research in peer reviewed journals of international repute: Sustainability Science, Critical Sociology, Journal of Asian and African Studies, South Asia Research, Journal of Developing Societies, Contemporary Voice of Dalit, SAGE Open, South Asian Survey and Asia-Pacific Journal of Rural Development. He guest edited special issues on critical ethnography, marginality, social exclusion and inclusive policies and globalization for Journal of Developing Societies, Romanian Year Book of Anthropology and Man in India journals. He has authored and edited seven books published by Rawat Publications, Serials Publications, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, and People’s Literature Publication. He has also contributed several entries to different Encyclopaedia; Encyclopaedia of Psychology and Religion; Encyclopaedia of Gerontology and Population Ageing; and The Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Global Security Studies. He is an Associate Editor, SN Social Sciences (Springer) journal and also serving as Editorial Board Member for South Asia Research & SAGE Open (Humanities), Sage Journals; and S.N. Social Sciences (Springer) journal. Kasi is an Executive Board Member of Research Committee on Political Sociology-International Sociological Association-RC-18/ IPSA-RC-06 (2023-28) & Joint-Secretary, Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropologists (INCAA) 2023- 25 and Governing Council member of INCAA, 2023-25.
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This interview features in TMYS Review December 2024, available worldwide via Amazon.
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TMYS: How did you enter the world of Tribal Studies? We understand the excitement that results during or post research, we are keen to understand your personal motivation that may have led you to commit your years into understanding the community and its environment.
My entry into the world of tribal studies dates back to December 1997 as part of a Post-Graduation fieldwork (which is mandatory of the program at the Department of Anthropology, University of Hyderabad) amongst the Koya tribe of Boddugudem village, Chintoor mandal of Bhadrachalam, Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), in a residuary state of Andhra Pradesh. As part of our fieldwork, we have allotted a topic, ‘Life Cycle Rituals among the Koyas of Boddugudem Village,’ for which we needed to collect first-hand information by being with the community, talking with the community, playing with the tribal children, and working with tribal people to understand the nuances of their life and life cycle. This was my first experience staying among the tribal people for almost a month, and it taught me innumerable lessons. Indeed, it had a tremendous impact on my life and academics.
TMYS: While working on your PhD Thesis entitled “An Anthropological Study of Livelihoods: The case of Two Sugali Settlements in Anantapur District of Andhra Pradesh,” do you recall any significant experience with the tribal communities that has remained with you till date? How did the community respond to you? Are they open to cooperate for research and studies?
Yes, definitely. Hunting and gathering is one of the livelihood strategies of the Koya tribe, and a few of us also participated in their hunting activity and caught an animal, wild pig, I guess. Our teachers have taught us to practice participant observation techniques to understand the life and livelihood of the community or a tribe. My PhD fieldwork among the Sugali tribe was a different experience as this community was originally a semi-nomadic or De-notified tribal community. Later, after our Independence, during the Indira Gandhi regime, the Sugali community was listed under the Scheduled Tribe category in the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh. Initially, I did face non-cooperation from the community. Still, I was able to get entry into the community with the help of a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Social Education Development Society (SEDS), working in the two Mandals of Penukonda and Somandepalle. Later, I used rapport-building strategies and the application of tools and techniques of anthropology, which have become a tonic for me to immerse myself in the community and get their cooperation in completing my fieldwork.
TMYS: While working on the NIRD (National Institute of Rural Development) - UN Project, what kind of women’s leadership did you observe in the tribal community? What kind of gender balance (or imbalance) persists among them and how are their social power-structures rooted?
Working with the NIRD-UN-Women project at NIRD is another learning curve in my academics. As a training manager and capacity development associate for the project at NIRD, my sole responsibility was to help the team develop a trainer’s module for elected women representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). As part of my responsibility, I visited project districts of Karnataka and Odisha intermittently during the project and observed that proxy leadership prevailed in the areas. We conducted numerous workshops and training sessions and prepared trainer modules to mainstream the women representatives across the project districts. These projects will be a game changer in the years to come for the elected women representatives across the country.
TMYS: What kinds of violation of rights do the tribal communities, you have worked with, generally face?
I feel that the tribal people of India face challenges related to their living or livelihoods. The majority of the vulnerable people belonging to tribal people commonly face challenges about their land alienation due to big projects and dams, rehabilitation and resettlement, violation of land deeds and titles, problems of middlemen and exploitation by money lenders, minimum support price for their produce, non-implementation of the FRA 2006, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) ACT, 2006 in toto, etc are some of the critical violation of rights of the tribal communities I have worked so far in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand states of India.
TMYS: Has the advancement of technology and digitization in India ushered inany significant changes in the lives of tribal communities? What are the pros and cons?
Yes of course. Technological advancement and digitization are really helping tribal communities get the government's information and services fast to their doorsteps. For instance, the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme initiated by the center and state governments has cut down the pilferages in wage employment and other developmental benefits for the poor and vulnerable tribal communities to get services at their doorstep or accounts. The AP Government's pension scheme and the central government's PM Kisan initiatives are the best examples of two important initiatives. There is also another side of technological advancement that is hampering the tribal communities, as the majority of them are still not aware of the many schemes and initiatives due to their illiteracy and backwardness. Digitization is creating a divide between haves and have-nots due to a lack of good communication connectivity in the tribal areas of India.
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This interview features in TMYS Review December 2024, available worldwide via Amazon.
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TMYS: Could you comment on some of the initiatives taken to induct members of the tribal community within mainstream society while also preserving the indigeneity of their culture?
Governments since Independence have followed various approaches to mainstream the tribal communities, which have drawn a lot of debate and discussions in academic and political circles during the initial years of independent India. These approaches were further boosted with the Panchsheel initiative by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Later, the government of India appointed different committees and commissions to develop the tribal communities and proposed different schemes and programs such as the Tribal Sub Plan strategy and Conservation and Community Development initiatives. Later, the government of India came up with area development approaches and community-specific initiatives to protect the vulnerable tribal groups of India.
TMYS: How different are Indian tribal movements vis-à-vis the global tribal movements? Are there any fiction or nonfiction books that you would like to recommend to the audience across the world, which can help the tribal sensitivities find mainstream attention?
There is a difference between Indian and global tribal movements. Indian tribal movements are related to their rights of social, economic, religious, and political rights. Global movements focus on climate change and other related issues of the tribal or indigenous communities. Some books of academic that I would like to recommend are Anthropological Perspectives on Indian Tribes by SM Channa (2020), Being Scheduled: Anthropology of Tribes in India by M Renganathan (2018), The Modern Anthropology of India by P Beger and F Heidemann (2013) and State, Society and Tribes by Xaxa (2014) and among others.
TMYS: As a researcher and professor, how do you inspire your audience to aim for an inclusive culture? What kind of initiatives taken up by individuals and organizations to support tribal movements will help amplify your academic vision?
Respecting freedom, dignity, life, and tribal rights by all means is the only possible way to aim for an inclusive culture. To achieve it, we must pledge to implement the different safeguards enshrined in the constitution of India to benefit the tribal and other vulnerable communities. The role of environmental activists and the academic fraternity is equally essential to achieve the goal of an inclusive culture.
(Interview by Barsha Mondal)
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This interview features in TMYS Review December 2024, available worldwide via Amazon.
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