ABSTRACT
This chapter details a report on the invisible people of India. In the development paradigms of our time, there are those who do not find a place. Their interests are not merely ignored, they are deeply wounded. Among them is the ecosystem that nurtures life on earth, as also the aboriginal inhabitants of this planet, the Adivasis. This report seeks to document these injustices but also attempts to explain how we can redress them. It chronicles the various ways in which policy has impacted the Adivasis, policies that ignored them and others that tried to benefit them. Over time, in their refuge zones, the Adivasis came to develop a relationship of symbiosis with their immediate environment. As a result, measured on any reasonable metric, among all communities, the Adivasis of India find themselves at the bottom of the development pyramid. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
