Tribal Land Question: Case of Andhra Pradesh

Land has been and continues to be the most significant asset as well as identity for tribal communities. Tribal survival and sustenance is inseparable from land. This book is an outcome of author’s experience of working with adivasis and their groups involved in fighting for restoration of their land. His work on tribal land issue involved both legal and administrative interventions seeking restoration of alienated tribal lands from non-tribal intruders in the scheduled area of Andhra and Telangana. Providing greater insights to analyse the complexities of tribal land issues, the book highlights the nexus between the non-tribal entrants to tribal areas, political parties and the state which has been party to land alienation among the tribals. Serious investigation and evidence reveals the role of political parties, generally interested in consolidating their vote banks in tribal areas, in pushing the progressive land legislations on one hand and pulling back the executive forces to ensure non-implementation on the other. This book further examines the historical evolution of the protective land laws and the forest laws in the light of the outcome of legal proceedings initiated against non-tribal occupants for restoration of lands, and role of the judiciary in dispensation of justice. This volume is expected to generate a meaningful debate on the tribal land issue and improve access to land in the Scheduled Areas of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.