A Development Strategy for the Lakshadweep Islands

Educational development among the tribes is one of the major concerns for our academicians, social workers, policy makers, planners as well as the administrators as the tribes constitute one of the most deprived sections of our community. Education for this section of society should not be treated as a social service. It is in the nature of investment for these groups to enable them to cross the social, psychological and economic barriers under which they have been labouring for centuries and millennia. Denying this basic input to the members of these communities is the denial of the very right to participate as an equal partner in the national life. This book makes an attempt to look empirically into the administration of various programmes, projects and schemes meant for educational development of tribes. The implementation of these programmes have been objectively analysed. The study has its focus on the administration of educational programmes among tribes in Darjeeling, a place famous world-over for its tea, timber and tourism. To these ‘3 Ts’, one more ‘T’ can be added for ‘tribes’, which represented a colourful mosaic held together irrespective of occassional political out burst. The prospect of coconut oil industry and its difficulties and the limited possibility of animal husbandry has been discussed in details. On the whole, it will serve as a very practical hand book for the planners and the different development departments as it points out both the possibilities and the constraints which shows that a cautious and selective plan is very necessary for the future of the socio-economic development of the island.