ABSTRACT
In the context of geographical division, the exclusion of Adivasi populations who have got split from each other occurs at three levels: between nation-states, between states within India and between districts within a state. For example the Adivasis who reside in the border area between East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are not properly recognised by either state. Adivasi groups such as Porja, Savara, Kodulu and Mali who reside in and around 35 habitations are not entitled to any of the normal rights, and are unable to access ration cards from either state. This is one of many similar examples where apathy from the state and civil society have entrenched Adivasi exclusion. As this chapter observes, one of the key strategies of the state was to divide Adivasis into minority populations split between states or districts, making it easier to exclude them from their land and resources. Hence, as the chapter rightly stresses, every promise made to the Adivasi people to respect the uniqueness of their civilisations in the Nehruvian Panchsheel and subsequently was ironically made to be broken.
