My View of the NCST's Internship Program

Grateful to National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) for having me invited to conduct mentoring sessions with interns participating in its national internship program. Had the opportunity to conduct sessions on "Primary Data Research in Social Sciences" and "Scheduled Tribes in India-Society and Culture: Central India".

The 2011Population Census of India estimates the Scheduled Tribes population to be around 8.6% of India's total population. Based on the position of Scheduled Tribes' population, they have been located in four different zones namely Northern and North Eastern Zone (Zone-1), Central Zone (Zone-2), South Western Zone (Zone-3) & Scattered Territories of Andman and Nicobar Islands (Zone-4).

Central India's 8 administrative regions i. e., Madhya Pradesh (14.69%), Maharashtra (10.08%), Odisha (9.2%), Rajasthan (8.86%), Gujarat (8.55), Jharkhand (8.29%), Chhatisgarh (7.5%), and Andhra Pradesh & Telangana (5.7%) host tribal people hugely. Seven Indian States i. e., Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh alone constitute around 2/3 of India's total tribal population.

The trends in relation to socio-economic and political development of tribal communities in India are not satisfactory even after 75 years of independence. Though India's constitution makers and the successive governments have arranged for many positive provisions, their substantive implantation still illudes. The provisions enshrined in the 5th and 6th Schedules, Panchayat Extension to the Scheduled Areas Act (PESA), 1996, Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 etc. need to be implemented more substantively. Furthermore, certain provisions in these legislations might be in need of revision. Therefore, there is a strong need of real time understanding of the situation prevailing on the ground and data that's needed for further action to resolve long pending issues concerning tribal people in India.

It's therefore, this particular initiative by NCST under the ablest leadership Shri Harsh Chauhan Ji, Hon'ble Chairperson, NCST and his team, is such an appreciable step. As a part of this national level internship program graduates, postgraduates and research scholars from different educational institutions and universities in India would be regularly recruited on a paid internship. The interns thus recruited would be imparted with rigorous training sessions in terms of acquainting them with tribal life and culture. They would also be oriented to various research methods in social sciences before placing them in various tribal districts  for field studies. In the last part of the program, the interns are required to submit their on field experiences in the form of a well designed report.

The ongoing internship program is being jointly conducted by NCST and Rishihood University, Sonepat on the latter's beautiful and sprawling academic campus. It has 25 interns from different parts of India who would carry out their field studies in the districts located in different parts of India. It's quite an overwhelming experience to witness the astute hardwork being put in by the NCST and Rishihood University's team.