1st Edition
Mainstreaming the Marginalised Fresh Perspectives on India’s Tribal Story
This book offers a comprehensive view of the relationship between the Indian tribes and the mainstream. It covers key topics such as health, education, development, livelihood, disability and culture, and presents new insights by focusing on the perspective of the 21st-century tribal youth of the country. The volume explores inclusive education for scheduled tribes children; mainstreaming tribal children; mental health and superstition; ageing and morbidity and psychological distress among elderly tribal population; empowerment via handicraft; livelihoods via non-timber forest produce; the Forest Right Act; the tribal sub-plan approach; tribal cuisine and issues of food; identity; myths and feminism. The book combines fresh research viewpoints with ideas on implementable solutions that would facilitate a more inclusive development for one of the most marginalized communities while highlighting critical issues and concerns.
An important intervention, this book will be useful to scholars and researchers of tribal studies, sociology, rural sociology, development studies, social anthropology, political sociology, politics, ethnic studies, sociolinguistics, education and public policy and administration.
Introduction
Seemita Mohanty
Part I. Health and Education
1. Inclusive Education for Children with Developmental Disabilities: Scope and Challenges
Ramakrishna Biswal and Pratiksha Satpathy
2. Mainstreaming Tribal Children: Scaffolding English Language Learning Using Multi-Lingual Strategies
K. Viswanath and Seemita Mohanty
3. Ageing, Morbidity and Psychological Distress among Tribal Elderly: Is There an Association?
Jalandhar Pradhan
4. Beliefs on Etiology and Healing Practices of Mental Illness among Tribes in Eastern India
Ramakrishna Biswal, Chittaranjan Subudhi and Abhijit Pathak
5. Educating Tribal Children: Can Information Dissemination Stimulate Community Participation?
Kaushik Chattopadhyay and Seemita Mohanty
Part II. Development and Empowerment
6. People’s Response to Development: A Case of India’s Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
Apparao Thamminaina
7. Empowerment via Handicraft: An Empirical Study on Tribal Women of Odisha
Bikash Ranjan Mishra, Prasanta Patri, Bharat Kumar Dash and Lopamudra D. Satpathy
8. Forest Right Act and the Problems and Prospects of Non-Timber Forest Products Management: A Study on Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups of Odisha
Niharranjan Mishra and M. Sanatan Rao
9. Implementation of Tribal Sub-Plan Schemes in Odisha: An Assessment
Narayan Sethi, Padmaja Bhujabal and Lisma Rout
Part III. Culture and Identity
10. Characters on the Periphery: A Feminist Perspective on Mahabharata and Ramayana
Aditi Dirghangi and Seemita Mohanty
11. Rethinking Santal Identity: A Study of Binti as a Creation Myth and Its Impact among Santals in Contemporary Tribal India
Nandini Tank and Upender Gundala
12. Identity and Individuality: Revisiting Indian Tribal Cuisine
Shraddha Chatterjee and Seemita Mohanty
Index
Biography
Seemita Mohanty is Professor of English in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India. Her current research interests include English language teaching, sociolinguistics and cultural studies. She has published three books, in addition to several publications in national and international journals of repute.
“It would be no exaggeration to say that the process of economic development in India has so far grievously neglected the well-being of the tribal communities. This wonderful and timely anthology presents a detailed picture of the developmental and cultural concerns, and in particular the issues of education and health that confront these communities today.”
Pulin B. Nayak, Former Professor and Head, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India
“The range of themes on tribal issues and problems that have been chosen in the book are very well-delineated. This anthology will certainly be a welcome addition to the existing literature on the subject.”
R. Siva Prasad, Honorary Professor, e-Learning Centre, and Former Professor of Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad, India