i

ii

Overall Coordination

Shri C Achalender Reddy IFS

Director, CIPS
ASCI, Hyderabad

Coordination Team (CIPS)

Mr. KV Subbareddy, Consultant
Dr. Sipoy Sarveswar, Project Officer
Mr. Ch. NV Ashish, Project Research Associate
Ms. Zenia Taluja, Project Research Associate
Mr. Mohammed Ahmed, Project Research Associate
Ms. Deepa Das, Project Assistant
Mr. T. Manish, Project Assistant

Coordination Team (TW)

Office of Director, Tribal Welfare, Vijayawada
Mission Director, TCR & TM, Visakhapatnam

Coordination Team (UoH)

Mr. Mariakumar Mathangi
Mr. Dalibandhu Pukkalla

Technical Coordination
Shri Vadrevu Ch. Veerabhadrudu
Advisor, CIPS

© Centre for Innovations in Public Systems, ASCI, Hyderabad

Layout Designed & Printed by

Samantha Graphics, Vijayawada & Hyderabad
 iii

Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Editors’ Note ix
BV Sharma and N. Sudhakar Rao

Unit 1
Indian Society: Indigenous Populations, Scheduled Tribes and
Scheduled Castes 1
Mariakumar Mathangi

Unit 2
Tribes in Andhra Pradesh: Diversity and Social Organisation 14
Narayana Rao Bonthu

Unit 3
Building Empathetic Interactions with Tribals 36
Anakha Ajith

Unit 4
Contemporary Tribal Challenges 50
Dalibandhu Pukkalla

Unit 5
Approaches to Tribal Policy and Tribal Development 60
Thanuja Mummidi

Unit 6
Constitutional Framework, Human Rights and Child Rights 72
Sama Arun Kumar Reddy

Unit 7
Role of Traditional Leadership and Tribal Institutions in
Developmental Process 87
Anil Kumar.K

Unit 8
Gender Sensitivity in Tribal Administration 100
Bhavapriya Thottakad
 iv

About the Unit Authors

Maria Kumar is an Assistant Professor (Adhoc) in the Department of Anthropology,
University of Hyderabad. He has obtained his Master’s Degree in Anthropology from the
University of Poona. He was the topper of his batch. He is pursuing his Ph.D. in Pondicherry
Central University in the area of Linguistic Anthropology.

Narayana Rao Bonthu is pursuing his PhD in the Department of Anthropology, University
of Hyderabad. He obtained his Masters degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
(Central University of Kerala) and Anthropology (University of Hyderabad). He is qualified
for JRF in Anthropology and also for NET and GATE in Life Sciences. He has been the
President of Yogi Vivekananda Yuvajana Sangham, Lankapeta, Ranasthalam, and
Srikakulam since 2013. He worked as Deputy Director at Sri Sai Junior College in
Ranasthalam, Srikakulam.district during 2012 and 2014.

Anakha Ajith is pursuing Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology, University of

Hyderabad. She completed her Integrated Master’s in Social Sciences from the same
institution in 2016 and is a UGC-JRF holder in Anthropology. Her Master’s dissertation is
titled ‘Illness among the Gonds: Therapeutic Care and Therapy Management’. She
specializes in the field of Medical Anthropology with focus on Nursing.

Dalibandhu Pukkalla is pursuing M.Phil. in the Department of Anthropology, University

of Hyderabad. He has considerable research experience having been involved in the
capacities of Research Coordinator, Research Associate, and Research Assistant in various
research projects awarded to the faculty of Department of Anthropology, University of
Hyderabad. He has also assisted international scholars in their fieldwork in Andhra
Pradesh. He has published articles in refereed journals of Anthropology. His research
interest is Medical and Maritime Anthropology.

Thanuja Mummidi is an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Study of Social Exclusion
and Inclusive Policy, Pondicherry University. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology
from University of Madras. She was awarded the Urgent Anthropology Fellowship by the
Royal Anthropological Institute, U.K. for the post doctoral work. Her interests lie at the
interface of economic and ecological anthropology, food sovereignty, and issues of rights
and development policy of indigenous populations. She started her research on the Konda
Reddis, an indigenous population in South India, in early 2000.

Sama Arun Kumar Reddy is pursuing his Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology,
University of Hyderabad, after having completed his Masters in Anthropology at the
same institution. He was awarded university medal for standing first in the Master program.
He was awarded UGC-JRF in the discipline of Anthropology in the year 2015. He also
worked as research assistant at the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities,
University of Alberta, Canada from May 2015 to August, 2015. His areas of interest include
Agrarian Anthropology, Tribal Development and Anthropology of Development.

Dr. K. Anil Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the Discipline of Anthropology, School of

Social Sciences, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. He obtained his M.A.
M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in Anthropology from University of Hyderabad. His research
interests are on Culture and Environment, Indigenous Knowledge System, Natural