TRIBAL COMMUNITIES AND THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION: SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS OF TRIBES IN INDIA AND THE CHALLENGES OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Abstract

Climate change remains a pressing global concern, despite longstanding warnings from environmentalists and academicians. Those most vulnerable to climate change are often deeply connected to nature, relying on it not just for culture and identity but also for subsistence. Many tribal communities in India live in social isolation, employing traditional and conservative lifestyles. Their relationship with the environment differs significantly from that of non-tribal populations, making the impact of climate change on tribes more profound. The constitutional framework that was laid down in an era succeeding the Second World War saw the tribal populace as ‘distinct people’, the administration of whom was attempted to be done effectively through the current Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Indian Constitution. These two Schedules, along with the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 created a legislative framework that directly impacts tribal autonomy in administration and affects the socio-economic rights of tribes in India. This legislative web and its interactions with tribal participation in administration becomes an important area of study, especially in light of an impending climate crisis. Upon such analysis, possible constitutional remedies to counter the effects of growing industrialisation and more importantly, the absence of effective participation of tribal groups in decision making can be discerned. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to explore the constitutional protections and remedies available to India’s tribal population, faced with the effects of climate change, by tracing the participation of tribal groups in law-making and analysing the existing legal framework on tribal rights.