Case study: the Integrated Tribal Development Project in Bharmaur

Detail

1. Where is the Bharmaur tribal region?

• Bharmaur tribal region: the Bharmaur and Holi tehsils of Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh.
• A tehsil is a block of land below a district, used to run government work.

• It was notified as a tribal area on 21 November 1975. "Notified" means the government officially declared it a tribal area.

• Location:

• Latitude: 32°11' N to 32°41' N.
• Longitude: 76°22' E to 76°53' E.
• Area: about 1,818 sq km.

• Height: mostly 1,500-3,700 m above sea level.

• Mountains around it:

• Pir Panjal range to the north.
• Dhaula Dhar range to the south.

• The two ranges meet near Rohtang Pass in the east.

• Rivers:

• The Ravi drains the region. Its tributaries Budhil and Tundahen also flow through it.
• These rivers cut deep gorges (narrow, steep-sided valleys).

• The gorges split the region into four physical divisions: Holi, Khani, Kugti and Tundah.

• Climate:

• Winters are freezing, with snow. January mean temperature is 4°C.

• Summers are mild. July mean temperature is 26°C.

• Population (Census 2011): 39,113 people. Density is 21 persons per sq km, which is very low.

• Why the region is hard to develop:
• Harsh climate: long, snowy winters and a short growing season.
• Low resource base: little flat land and poor soils.
• Fragile environment: steep slopes break and erode easily, so roads and farming can cause landslides.

Division	Position	Benefit from ITDP
Holi	Along the Ravi valley	High
Khani	Along the Ravi valley, near Bharmaur town	High
Kugti	Remote, high and difficult to reach	Low
Tundah	Remote, high and difficult to reach	Low

2. The people: the Gaddis

• Gaddi: the tribal community of Bharmaur.
• They have a distinct Himalayan identity and speak the Gaddiali dialect.

• They traditionally practise transhumance with sheep and goats.

• Transhumance means moving with herds between pastures as the seasons change:

• Summer: herds go up to high-altitude pastures after the snow melts.
• Winter: snow covers the high pastures, so herds come down to low-lying valley pastures.
• Result: animals find grass all year, but the family keeps moving.

• Elsewhere in India, the Bakarwals and Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir and the Bhotias of Uttarakhand also practise it.

• Isolation and deprivation: the Gaddis lived for a long time in geographical and economic isolation and suffered socio-economic deprivation.

• The Gaddis were declared a Scheduled Tribe in the 1970s.
• A Scheduled Tribe (ST) is a community listed under Article 342 of the Constitution. Listed communities get special protection and benefits.

3. Planning tools: Tribal Sub-Plan and ITDP

• Tribal sub-plan (TSP): started in the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974).
• What it does: a share of plan money is set aside for tribal areas.
• How much: at least in proportion to the tribal share of the population.

• Why: to stop tribal areas from being left behind when general plans spend mostly in richer areas.

• Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP): an area development unit. It plans and spends money for one tribal region as a single block, instead of department by department.

• It is an example of target area planning, which means planning for one backward region.

• Under the TSP, Bharmaur became one of five ITDPs in Himachal Pradesh.

• Top priorities of the Bharmaur ITDP: 1. Transport and communications: roads and telephone links to break the isolation. 2. Agriculture and allied activities: farming, horticulture and animal husbandry. 3. Social and community services: schools, health care and drinking water.

• Current status of the TSP:

• The Tribal Sub-Plan strategy is now carried out as the Development Action Plan for Scheduled Tribes (DAPST) [2][3].
• Under DAPST, 42 ministries or departments set aside 4.3% to 17.45% of their budgets every year for tribal development [2].
• DAPST covers over 200 schemes in education, health, agriculture, skill development, livelihoods and sanitation [2].

• Himachal Pradesh is one of 22 states and 2 UTs where the TSP/DAPST applies [3].

• Funding for ITDPs today:

• Himachal Pradesh gets money under the Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS). This grant is used for the economic development of ITDPs/ITDAs, MADA pockets, clusters, PVTGs and scattered tribal populations [3][4].
• MADA (Modified Area Development Approach) covers smaller tribal pockets that lie outside the ITDP areas.
• Because Himachal Pradesh is a hill state, the Centre and the state share the cost in a 90:10 ratio [3].

4. Impacts of the ITDP in Bharmaur

(a) Infrastructure

• New infrastructure came to the region: schools, health care, drinking water, roads, communications and electricity.

(b) Spatial inequality: gains were uneven across the region

• Cause: villages along the Ravi in Holi and Khani lie in easier valleys with road access.
• Process: schools, roads and power lines were built first where they were cheapest and easiest to build.
• Result: most of the benefit went to Holi and Khani. Remote Tundah and Kugti still lag behind.
• Lesson: even a target-area plan can create inequality within the target area if it ignores the most remote places.

(c) Social gains

• Female literacy rose from 1.88% (1971) to 65% (2011).
• The gender gap in literacy became smaller.
• The sex ratio (number of females per 1,000 males) improved.
• Child marriage declined.

(d) Economic change

• More pulses and cash crops are now grown.
• Farming still uses traditional technology such as old tools and little machinery.
• Transhumance is declining: only about one-tenth of households still practise it.
• Seasonal migration: many Gaddis now go down to Kangra valley in winter to earn wage labour instead of herding.

5. Beyond NCERT: newer tribal policy

• PM JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan):
• Launch: 15 November 2023, on Janjatiya Gaurav Divas [2].
• Outlay: ₹24,104 crore. The Centre pays ₹15,336 crore and the states pay ₹8,768 crore [2]. (NCERT-era rounding: about ₹24,000 crore.)
• Target: the 75 PVTGs, about 11 lakh families living in forest and remote habitations in 18 states and 1 UT [2].
• PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group): the most backward tribal groups. They are marked by:
  • pre-agricultural technology;
  • very low literacy;
  • a falling or stagnant population;
  • a subsistence economy.
• What it provides: safe housing, piped drinking water, education, health and nutrition, road and telecom links, electricity and livelihoods. These come through 11 interventions run by 9 line ministries, aimed to be completed within 3 years [2].

• Trap: the Gaddis are a Scheduled Tribe, not a PVTG.

• Polity pointers:

• The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution covers Scheduled Areas in states other than the North-East. In these areas the Governor has special powers and there is a Tribes Advisory Council.
• PESA, 1996 (Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act) gives gram sabhas in Scheduled Areas power over:
  • minor forest produce;
  • land alienation, which means tribal land passing to outsiders;
  • local plans.

Prelims Hooks

• Bharmaur is in Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh. It covers the Bharmaur and Holi tehsils and has been a notified tribal area since 21 November 1975.
• Mountains (north to south): Pir Panjal, then Bharmaur, then Dhaula Dhar. The two ranges meet near Rohtang Pass.
• River system: the Ravi with its tributaries Budhil and Tundahen drains Bharmaur. It is not the Beas or the Chenab, a common trap.
• Four divisions: Holi, Khani, Kugti, Tundah. Holi and Khani gained most. Kugti and Tundah lag.
• Gaddis: speak Gaddiali and practise transhumance with sheep and goats. They migrate to Kangra in winter for wage labour. They are an ST, not a PVTG.
• The Tribal Sub-Plan began in the Fifth Plan (1974). It now runs as DAPST, with 42 ministries/departments setting aside 4.3%-17.45% of their budgets [2].
• Bharmaur was one of five ITDPs in Himachal Pradesh. Its first priority was transport and communications.
• Female literacy in Bharmaur went from 1.88% (1971) to 65% (2011).
• Census 2011: population 39,113, density 21 per sq km.
• PM JANMAN: launched 15 November 2023, outlay ₹24,104 crore, covers 75 PVTGs [2].

Mains Points

• Target area planning works but needs spatial equity (GS-I/GS-III):
• The ITDP raised literacy and brought roads, power and water to Bharmaur.
• But the gains clustered in the accessible Ravi valley (Holi, Khani), not in remote Kugti and Tundah.

• Future plans should rank villages by remoteness and set aside money for the hardest-to-reach places. Aspirational Districts (2018) and PM JANMAN (2023) already rank by how far behind a place is [2].

• Sustainable development in a fragile Himalayan region:

• Steep slopes, snow and a thin resource base limit what the land can carry.

• Roads and cash crops must come with slope stability measures, watershed management and the protection of pasture commons.

• Change in a pastoral society:

• Transhumance has fallen to about one-tenth of households. Many people now do seasonal wage work in Kangra.
• This shows livelihood diversification. It also shows a risk: the loss of traditional knowledge and of the use of high pastures.

• Policy needs value addition for wool and livestock, horticulture and eco-tourism linked to Gaddi culture.

• Institutional evolution:

• The policy line runs from the TSP (1974) to the ITDP area units, then DAPST across many ministries, then mission-mode schemes like PM JANMAN [2][3].
• The aim is to bring funding together under one plan, backed by Fifth Schedule and PESA protections.